D23 is the center of the Disney universe

ANAHEIM, California — There are fans, and then there are Disney fans. As we learned at this year’s D23, a convention just for Disney, this biannual get-together is an ever-expanding nova of cosplayers, collectible hunters and those jonesing for  cutting-edge reveals on Frozen II, Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker and Marvel Phase Four.

And celebrity sightings? The D23 Convention Hall turns into a cavalcade of Disney Legends — this year it was Robert Downey Jr., former Mouseketeer Christina Aguilera, Jon Favreau and James Earl Jones, among others getting their handprints and signatures enshrined at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank — plus surprise onstage appearances by Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Angelina Jolie, Ewan McGregor, Anna Kendrick, Michelle Pfeiffer, Tina Fey, Jaime Foxx, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Kristen Bell, Pedro Pascal, Dick Van Dyke and many others. Way beyond cool. (Read more in upcoming Disney studio releases article.)

And now, with Disney set to launch its own entertainment streaming service (Disney Plus on Nov. 12), there’s a “Sorcerer’s Apprentice”-level flood of news series and movie titles coming all at once. You’d need a host of Mickeys with an army of walking buckets and mops to gather it all in.

Every two years, Anaheim becomes ground zero for hundreds of thousands of Disney fans for one weekend as D23 (the “D” stands for Disney, the “23” for 1923, when Walt Disney founded the company) takes over the central convention floor with programs dedicated to Disney panel discussions, Marvel signings, fan moments, upcoming park innovations and throngs of people in a galaxy of costumes encompassing princesses and princes, villains, cartoon characters, Muppets and superheroes (Fat Thor was particularly popular this year).

After “Disney Legends,” fans heard the big news about Disney+, the streaming service that will include the entire Disney archive of movies, cartoons and features, plus Pixar, Marvel offerings (eventually the home base for all MCU), Lucasfilm (all the Star Wars canon plus way more) as well as 20th Century Fox picks. (See more on Disney Plus in feature article.)

Day 2 at D23 featured a mind-blowing run-through of upcoming studio releases, from Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and Disney Studios (more on that in sidebars). There were Marvel surprises (Wow! Kit Harrington now filming in London for Marvel’s upcoming The Eternals), a jaw-dropping poster for the ninth Star Wars entry Rise of Skywalker (featuring Rey and Kylo Ren squaring off with lightsabers against an ominous Palpatine sky. Whoo-hoo!), as well as a movie trailer that has got people scraping up what’s left of their blown minds from laptop screens.

In addition to the overwhelming sizzle reels and fantastic array of Disney releases, for this fifth staging of D23, we saw a bigger focus on two areas:

1) A migration outward, to upcoming park expansions, which began to shift into overdrive with Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opening at Disneyland last May 31 (14 acres of pure immersive Star Wars fun for fans) as well as a Disney World version in Florida on Aug. 29, and a sneak peek at the upcoming Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance ride (coming January 2020) to complement the popular Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run ride. Other reveals — all in Florida — include a planned Cirque Du Soleil attraction based on Disney characters, a vast Epcot Experience makeover/transformation next year, a new Star Wars-themed Galactic Starcruiser two-day hotel experience (travel in space!!!!), and (for Disneyland and Disneyland Paris) an Avengers Campus that bring fans closer to Marvel’s Stark and Pym technologies; plus Disney cruise experiences in the Bahamas, lakeside Disney retreats in Florida and much more.


2) A migration inward, or towards home screens, with Disney+, which the company is in an excellent position to steer and oversee. Not only does Disney have vast studio resources to spin off endless new content from blue chip properties (Marvel, Lucasfilm, Pixar), as we learned from panel discussions with Disney’s creative heads Kevin Feige (Marvel president), Kathleen Kennedy (Lucasfilm president) and Disney Studios chief creative officer Alan Horn, the TV series format offers limitless freedom in storytelling that had before been slowed down by the Hollywood tentpole movie release cycle. Thus, a flood of new, very intriguing content coming your way.

The D23 Convention Hall — packed with 7,000 people for the Day 2 Disney Studios rollout — has become the most anticipated event for fans, who always expect big reveals. Those who’ve attended the earliest D23 conventions recall that, back then, only a sliver of that big, blue-draped hall was filled with fans; now it’s always packed to capacity, the Twitter-verse burbling with tidbits at hyperspace levels (a bit more freedom with phones and social media posting this time, which was good).

So, with all that, it’s safe to say that it’s good to be Disney these days. And millions of D23 fans definitely would agree.

source: philstar.com

Disney’s ‘Big Hero 6′ delights with new kind of Marvel star

LOS ANGELES | The huge cuddly white robot in “Big Hero 6″ could hardly be less like a typical Marvel superhero — and yet the Michelin man-style star could be a sure winner for studio giant Disney.

The movie, to be released on Friday in the United States, is Disney’s first based on Marvel comic book characters since it bought Marvel Entertainment Inc. in 2009.

Set in fictional San Fransokyo, the Japanese-themed film tells the story of young Hiro Hamada, a robot-obsessed nerd who is devastated when his older brother Tadashi dies in an accident.

Baymax is the inflatable robot Tadashi was working on before his death. He is designed to care for sick humans, which he promptly does for the depressed teenager.

Along with six friends, Hiro and Bymax embark on a dangerous mission to hunt down the thief who stole Hiro’s latest creation: tiny microbots which can form themselves into any shape and be controlled telephathically.

Hiro’s friends are voiced by a star-studded cast, with Jamie Chung voicing for GoGo Tamago, Damon Wayans Jr for Wasabi, Genesis Rodriguez for Honey Lemon and T.J. Miller for Fred.

The movie is directed by Don Hall, whose past credits include “Winnie the Pooh,” and Chris Williams, who co-directed “Bolt.”

It is produced in part by the team which won Disney’s first animated Oscar with princess blockbuster “Frozen.”

MANGA, KARATE AND KABUKI

The filmmakers submerged themselves in the world of manga, karate and kabuki theater to create “Big Hero 6,” and the cast is clearly proud of what they have made.

“It’s nice to see two very strong male Asian protagonists, characters, in an American production,” said Daniel Henney, who voices Tadashi and whose mother is American-Korean.

“It makes me very proud because for a long time I feel like we can be misrepresented at times in the media, and this movie is not doing that.”

At a roundtable discussion in Los Angeles before the film’s release, the cast underlined the strength of both its male and female characters.

“It’s very empowering for little girls. I remember I was a Disney princess my whole life… I was one of them, I wanted to be a part of that world,” said Rodriguez.

“I hope that this world is a little bit more attainable for them. These kinds of skills are realistic for a girl to want to be like.”

The film also unashamedly takes the side of tech geeks.

“These kids are not born with any superpowers, they’re just born like any normal kid. But they are just very studious and they fall in love with science,” Rodriguez added.

“They have very curious minds… so I hope that inspires kids to want to be curious and to want to explore the science and technology and to want to create and invent something new,” she said.

The band of diminutive heroes eventually hunts down the evil thief, but not without some plot twists, and plenty of cute action involving the bumbling Baymax, voiced by Scott Adsit.

Audience in preview screenings have been won over — the movie has a whopping 98 percent approval rating on film review site Rotten Tomatoes, while 87 percent of critics are positive.

“East meets West to immensely satisfying effect in the vibrant mash-up of an animated romp,” said the Hollywood Reporter.

Others were equally as glowing.

“It’s a movie that’s as fun to watch as it is funny,” said the Washington Post.

“(It) is fresh and inventive enough in every important way… to satisfy even the most jaded animation fan.”

source: interaksyon.com

Disney joins online distribution biz with acquisition of large YouTube network

LOS ANGELES - The Walt Disney Co has agreed to buy Maker Studios, one of YouTube's largest networks, for $500 million, a deal that makes Disney a major online video distributor and should help draw more teens into the Disney entertainment empire.

The price tag could rise to $950 million if Maker hits certain performance milestones, Disney said, confirming what a source told Reuters earlier on Monday.

Maker, founded in 2009, is one of the largest video production networks on Google Inc's YouTube. Its producers target the younger millennial generation, known for its high appetite for online video.

"This gives a presence online to reach the millennial group that is increasingly getting its video online," said Kevin Mayer, Disney executive vice president for corporate strategy. "And it gives us a lot of data to help promote our other businesses to them."

The deal will be "mildly dilutive" to earnings per share through fiscal 2017, Mayer said. Disney's fiscal year closes at the end of September.

Maker helps produce and distribute videos to more than 380 million subscribers worldwide across more than 55,000 channels. Its videos now collectively garner some 5.5 billion views every month, according to the source.

The company, whose backers include Time Warner Investments, Upfront Ventures and Greycroft Partners, is partners with PewDiePie, the online persona of 24 year-old video gamer Felix Kjellberg. Kjellberg has more than 25 million subscribers and is YouTube's single most-subscribed star.

"Short-form online video is growing at an astonishing pace and with Maker Studios, Disney will now be at the center of this dynamic industry," Disney CEO Bob Iger said in a statement.

The deal is expected to close in Disney's third fiscal quarter.

source: interaksyon.com

Long queues at Star Wars auditions in Britain

LONDON - People queued up overnight for open auditions in the English city of Bristol on Saturday as the search began for lead roles in the next Star Wars film.

Disney announced last week they were looking for actors to play a 17-year-old woman who is "street-smart" and "strong", and a "smart and capable" young man for roles in "Star Wars Episode VII".

The two-day auditions at the southwest city's Arnolfini arts centre are the first of a series of open sessions being held across Britain and Ireland over the coming weeks.

Doors at the Arnolfini were scheduled to open at 11:00am, though some people arrived as early as 2:00am to secure a place in the queue.

Estimates for the size of the rain-sodden queue ranged from hundreds to thousands. It was so long that officials closed the line early, leaving many more disappointed.

The seventh film in the science-fiction saga and the first of a new trilogy is set to be directed by Star Trek film-maker J. J. Abrams. The film is due to go into production in Britain next year with a planned release in December 2015.

According to Disney, the new trilogy will carry the story of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia beyond "Return of the Jedi", the sixth episode in the saga.

David Prowse, who played villain Darth Vader in the original trilogy, hailed from Bristol.

However, his West Country accent was overdubbed with the memorable, more menacing tones of US actor James Earl Jones.

Prowse has urged local hopefuls to disguise their Bristol twang.

"You can't go 'oo-aar my dear, here's my lightsaber'," he said.

Star Wars creator George Lucas launched production house Lucasfilm in 1971 and the first smash hit movie in the series was released in 1977.

Disney bought Lucasfilm a year ago for 2.6 billion pounds ($4 billion).

source: interaksyon.com