Today, November 18th, 2009, is Mickey Mouse’s 81st birthday, so be sure to enjoy a nice slice of mouse ear cake or take a ride over to the Magic Kingdom and wish him well. You have to admit, the old mouse looks pretty good for his age, and he’s come along way since his old black-and-white cartoon days.
But how did he get his birthday? Well, today marks the 81st anniversary of his famous cartoon ‘Steamboat Willie, though it’s worth noting that this was NOT Mickey’s first appearance. The iconic mouse appeared in two cartoons prior to that, the first being ‘Plane Crazy’ (which debuted about six months prior to ‘Steamboat Willie), which marked Minnie’s first appearance as well.
Still, it can be argued that ‘Steamboat Willie’ is the first true Mickey Mouse classic, and remains one of his best loved cartoons, introducing generations of fans to a big-eyed, whistling rodent who would ultimately become the most famous and celebrated cartoon character of all time.
Johnny Depp is reportedly very excited to be a part of Pirates of the Caribbean 4…that is, if’n Disney is willin’ to pay. GearLive reports that Depp is demanding a staggering $35 million to appear in the upcoming Disney sequel, which would make him one of the highest paid actors in the world, joining the ranks of Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson and Jim Carrey (who amazingly earned his highest payout for ‘The Cable Guy’ of all things).
It’s also being reported that Disney is planning 5th and 6th installments of the Pirates series, though it is less likely that Depp will participate in those. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, who famously played the roles of Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan in the first three films, have stepped away from the franchise altogether and have no plans to continue on in the series. Telegraph reports that Penelope Cruz is rumored to be taking the female lead in Pirates 4, with Geoffrey Rush reprising his role as the snarling Captain Barbossa.
Perhaps by demanding a boatload of booty, Johnny Depp is just getting into character. After all, pirates don’t come cheap.
They grow up so fast. Once the perky little Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus is now taking on a decidedly more grown-up role. Based on the bestseller by Nicholas Sparks (of ‘The Notebook’ fame), ‘The Last Song’ features Miley as the frustrated offspring of a divorced mother and father, sent to spend the summer with the dad she barely knows. It’s a Nicholas Sparks story, so you can bet there will be plenty of emotion and some profound life lessons, as well as attractive people making out on a beach (seemingly a staple of Sparks films).
Anyway, you can now check out the official trailer for the film, which also stars Greg Kinnear and Liam Hemsworth. It hits theaters in April, so you’ll have to be patient, but you can bet it will be a huge hit.
Some encouraging news today from the LA Times: despite a weaker-than-projected opening weekend for Disney’s ‘A Christmas Carol,’ the movie is still holding strong, with one of the smallest second-week drop-offs of 2009. As you may remember, Disney originally responded to the disappointing opener by pointing out that ‘A Christmas Carol’ would be successful by holding on to its momentum for the weeks leading up to Christmas, much as Robert Zemeckis’ other animated holiday film, ‘The Polar Express,’ did back in 2004.
“Christmas-themed movies opening in early November tend to have a much greater multiple than others and we know [director] Bob Zemeckis always tends to over-deliver on his multiple,” said Chuck Viane, Disney’s president of domestic distribution. Now, as the LA Times reports, ‘A Christmas Carol’ is holding up in theaters even better than ‘The Polar Express.’ Ticket sales over the weekend fell 25.8%–as the disaster epic 2012 seized the number one spot at the box office–whereas ‘The Polar Express’ dropped 32.8% after its first weekend.
The new 3D ‘Christmas Carol had an especially strong Veterans Day, as hoards of young people and grownups alike took advantage of their day off and hit the cinemas. The total domestic earnings for the film are now at $63.3 million, and will likely top $80 million by Saturday. In other words, don’t write off this movie just yet.
With two holiday hits, ‘The Grinch’ and now ‘A Christmas Carol,’ perhaps Jim Carrey should next consider doing a remake of ‘Santa Claus Conquers the Martians,’ one of the most celebrated and beloved holiday classics the world have ever seen.
The youngest Jonas Brother is officially one step closer to unleashing his solo magic on an unsuspecting world. The cover art for Nick Jonas and the Adminsitration’s new single ‘Who I Am’ has been released, and you’ll be able to download the full song on December 3rd.
No official word yet on what the title of the album will be, but some sources are saying that it will also be called ‘Who I Am,’ and include a cover of the Jonas Brothers single ‘Tonight.’
Nick has described his solo music as “heart and soul,” adding “because the music that I make is from my heart, and the lyrics I write are from my soul.”
And to those concerned about the fate of the Jonas Brothers, you can rest easy. The brothers have all stated numerous times that they are NOT breaking up, and their popular sitcom Jonas has just been renewed for a second season.
Reuters reports that Disney’s A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey is no longer the #1 movie at the box office. The film opened last week with the #1 spot, earning an estimated $31 million, but fell to #2 this weekend as the highly-anticipated 2012 earned $65 million (based on early estimates). A Christmas Carol only brought in $22.3 million on its sophomore weekend.
George Clooney’s The Men Who Stare at Goats took the #3 spot this weekend, followed by Precious and This is It.
So far, A Christmas Carol has brought in a total of $63.3 million.
Although Disney’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ proved to be a #1 hit in America last weekend, beating out the popular Michael Jackson concert film ‘This is It’ with a $31 million opening, the story overseas is quite different.
Variety reports that ‘This is It’ has remained the #1 film in the international market, and that Jim Carrey’s new 3D Scrooge story only grossed $12 million in 18 territories. By contrast, ‘This Is It’ brought in $29.5 million from 8,623 screens in 110 markets, bringing it to a worldwide total of $186.2 million.
‘A Christmas Carol’ has brought in disappointing numbers across the board for Disney, with less-than-projected sales even in America. Still, Disney execs are confident that the film will make up loss revenue by continuing to pick up steam as the holiday season approaches, much like ‘The Polar Express’ did back in 2004.
But with James Cameron’s highly-anticipated ‘Avatar’ coming to 3D screens in time for Christmas, theaters may have to push 3D-showing of ‘A Christmas Carol’ aside to make room.
There’s a fascinating new article by the Associated Press that examines the significance of Princess Tiana, Disney’s first black Princess in The Princess and the Frog, and how parents and children tend to view said character differently.
To parents, Princess Tiana represents an important cultural and historical milestone: an African American Disney princess from New Orleans, surrounded by black culture and celebrated as someone who will forever join the revered ranks of Snow White and Cinderella in Disney princess lore. Children too are excited about the new princess, but they may not see the same level of cultural significance.
“[My daughter] understands that this is a princess who is African American,” said Holly Price Halford, an African American mother living in Virginia, to the Associated Press. “But do I think it’s a big deal to her? No.”
Another African American mother, Erica Branch-Ridley of New Jersey, told the AP that her 7- and 11-year-old daughters are excited about a new Disney princess, but that the younger one doesn’t really understand the importance. “She sees Obama, the first girls, she’s like, ‘that’s nice.’”
So what does this mean? One could make the argument that African American children are failing to learn the true significance of their history, and thus taking milestones for granted, but an argument could also be made that children are seeing less importance because America is finally starting to become a more accepting and colorblind society. Perhaps some combination of the two.
The hype is building for Disney’s upcoming ‘Alice in Wonderland,’ the Tim-Burton-directed 3D spectacle that hits theaters on March 5th. Little by little, we’ve been offered teaser trailers, assorted still photos and the occasional interview, and now the company has released two exclusive posters on Facebook. Become a Loyal Subject of the Mad Hatter and receive all the important Alice updates.
The posters (featured above) include gorgeous backdrops from Wonderland as well as images of Alice, the White Rabbit, the Red Queen, the White Queen, Tweedle Dee, Tweedle Dum, the Cheshire Cat and the Mad Hatter. You can view enlarged versions here and here.
More and more, companies are using social media to spread the word and build anticipation for new films: Facebook posters, Twitter updates, and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before the Mad Hatter starts picking up underage girls on MySpace.
It has officially happened…Princess Tiana has arrived at the Magic Kingdom. Escorted by a jazz band and many of her friends from Disney’s upcoming film The Princess and the Frog, Princess Tiana is bringing a bit of creole hospitality to Disney World.
Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee, an elaborate song-and-dance extravaganza featuring the new Disney princess, is set to run for the next ten weeks, in honor of the new film. Featuring jazz music, pyrotechnics and a revamped Riverboat ride, this is sure to wow Disney lovers young and old. The show runs three times daily, and features characters like Prince Naveen, Dr. Facilier and Louis the jazz-singing alligator, in addition to the princess of honor, of course.
But if you can’t make to Disney World in the next ten weeks, you can still see a glimpse of the action. Orlando Attractions Magazine has released this video of the show, which looks to be quite the spectacle. Check it out:
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