The Lawsuit filed by the folks at SaveDisney.com is being allowed to go forward by a Delaware Judge. The suit alleges members of the company’s board of directors made false statements to shareholders about the search for a successor to Chief Executive Michael Eisner. Roy E. Disney and Stanley P. Gold claim they would have run an alternate slate if they had known the truth at the time.

According to the BBC, not only has Pixar tripled their sales they’re back in talks with the Disney Company now that Bob Iger is in and Eisner is out.

Of course all that may be in jeopardy again as the ousted Disney board members (Roy Disney and Stanley Gold) sue to have the appointment overturned and a new election for the Board of Directors. Haven’t they learned anything from the last two presidential elections. These things can’t be won in the courts. You have to take pre-emptive action, just ask George Bush.

Barb, CelebrationInfo.com, continues her detailed look at the life of a Disney fan in Celebration. This week — the endless pie buffet.

WebMikey, a previous guest author here, finally gets around to reviewing some of his Disney books starting with The Art of Finding Nemo.

Muppets.com, did I mention Muppets.com was nominated for a webby,  has some pics of the upcoming Muppets Wizard of Oz film including two concept art sketches.

Animated News has a great report on the recent Aladdin Reunion show at the El Capitan.

Jim Hill wonders conspiratorily about the presence of Eisner and Iger, Disney’s leaders, in India. Could it be a new themepark? Talk about the flattening of the world.

Sorry blogging has been slow. Getting started at a new job, more on that later, and am working hard to ramp up.

CNN picks up the story of Jim Hill’s booting from Disneyland as a result of his rogue tours. More bad publicity for Disney. (Update: btw, just thought I’d point out that Jim Hill is technically not a blogger but is in fact online magazine. CNN calling Jim a blogger has erked some people.)

Meanwhile Jim Hill is reporting on the growing possibility of the long awaited update to the Star Tours attraction at Disneyland and Disneyworld. (Why this wasn’t tied to any of the recent film releases, I don’t know. Well I do know… George Lucus was less than enthused about Michael Eisner as CEO of Disney.)

Kevin Yee writes about changes in the Fast Pass system at Epcot. (All attractions are stand alones now.)

Ben at Themepark Insider (nominated for a webby!) thinks there are at least 10 reasons to love Disney Studios Paris.

Animated News reports on two new previews for the upcoming direct to video Lilo and Stitch sequel.

Disney Studios has launched the official website for the upcoming Narnia pic. (Good for those bored of Harry Potter or looking for a Lord of the Rings fix replacement, I suppose.)

Finally, SaveDisney.com has put up an incredible column with Animator and Imagineer Ward Kimball’s rememberances of Walt Disney.

A new article in Slate ponders Eisner’s legacy and what he did to turn a struggling movie studio and themepark company into the entertainment giant it is today.

They’ve painted the castle pink…. Bright Flamingo Puke Pink. They have even colorized the
bricks to be a bunch of different colors. It’s always been off white
with blue tiers. It is supposed to be Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. Now
I’ll watch Sleeping Beauty again, but I’m pretty sure that her castle
was NOT pink. It’s iconic, and they’ve changed it. It’s like saying
that they want to "restore" the Statue of Liberty and replace all the
copper so that it is back to being copper colored instead of what
happens to oxidized (totally spelled that wrong) copper.

Paige over at SnapDragons is back from her trip to Disneyland. While there she saw some good stuff and some bad stuff. I agree with her conclusion… I sure hope Eisner’s replacement can bring back some of the magic that has been tarnished the last decade or so.
 

Remember that little trial where all the dirt between Eisner and Ovitz was revealed. Well, it’s not over yet. Ovitz has just filed a brief asking again to be excused from the trial.

"Unable to prove that Ovitz left Disney voluntarily, or
that he wanted to leave at all, the plaintiffs again resort to
character assassination, claiming loudly that Ovitz could be
fired because he was a habitual liar," the filing said. "What
is so amazing, though, is that after full discovery and a
lengthy trial, when asked to state even one specific material
lie Ovitz told while at Disney, plaintiffs are silent."

If you’re a stock holder do you think he should be let off the hook? Btw, expect a result from the trial as early as next month.

According to the LA Times the Weinstein brothers and the Walt Disney Company has agreed to the details of their upcoming split. Sadly the brothers will have to give up the name that was derived from the names of their parents. I’m sure they’ll get over it. Hundreds of other company founders have.

Miramax will continue to exist as a part of the Walt Disney Company. It will return to producing mainly art films with a smaller budget and under the watchful eye of the the Studio bosses. I very much hope that the spirit of Miramax is not totally lost in the change. The company is known for taking chances with subject material other studios wouldn’t touch.

The Harvey and Bob Weinstein are not leaving this deal empty handed. Aside from the money they have already made they do get a fairly nice parking package. They have already announced their intentions to continue making films. Now they’ll just have to do it with their own money or money they can raise personally. They stated they back their films 100%, now they get a chance to put their money where their mouths are. I have no doubt they will continue to be a force in the entertainment industry.

This looks to be the first in a number of deals that were waiting to go through until Eisner’s successor was known. Following soon is Pixar, ESPN vs. various cable companies, and other deals that have been on hold. I’m keeping my fingers crossed Iger and Jobs can reach some sort of agreement that is beneficial for all parties.