New Walt Disney Studios President Rich Ross is already making big waves by canceling production of the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea remake. Obviously, this either upsets or excites you depending on your feelings about the film. I definitely thing it had the potential to become a 3 or 4 film franchise like Pirates, but I am also happy that the original will remain as Disney’s classic take on the story.

What Disney attraction would you like to see get the Pirates Of the Caribbean movie treatment next? I still think they could do a better job with Haunted Mansion (perhaps a series of Halloween time PG13 scare flicks) and I’m dying to see a film based on Space Mountain.

Every year at the beginning of the Holiday season my family went to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular in New York City. When I attended in the early and mid-nineties the show included a version of “A Christmas Carol”, which to this day I still remember vividly and brings me back to the wonder of the holiday season in New York. Needless to say I entered with high expectations and hopes that Disney’s A Christmas Carol could return that sense of child-like wonderment.

As always The El Capitan was an assault on the senses. The garlands strung across the red suede draped interior wall between the lobby and the theater are the first evidence of Christmas cheer. As you head to your seats the huge garlands strung across the sides of the theater lovingly usher you into the holidays. Rob Richards’ fabulous renditions of Christmas songs on The “Mighty Wurlitzer” are the final touch completely enveloping you in the holiday spirit.

At the El Capitan, Disney often likes to create pre-shows for their movies which usually involve the featured characters appearing and dancing to a musical number. This is fun and the children love it. While marketed as “Disney’s Holiday Spectacular”, I expected something similar. I was wrong. The Disney Holiday Spectacular is a large production with five characters and 10 singers and dancers, not to mention multiple sets and numbers. I was completely blown away by what Disney put on; all of the classic Christmas carols are included. The show goes out with a bang, which I wouldn’t want to spoil, but let’s just say it involves high-kicks that rival the Rockettes and a little white Christmas. Usually the pre-shows at the El Capitan are mostly for the kids, but by the last number I doubt there was anyone who wasn’t singing along.

Robert Zemeckis has created a movie, which is not only a wonderful and fitting adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel, but one that also manages to do so while appealing to the whole family. Some have questioned whether it is appropriate for children and while there are some frightening scenes all the kids in my screening handled it very well. This latest rendition of A Christmas Carol breathes life into a story so prevalent it has descended into cliché and manages to imbue the Christmas spirit in each viewer.

I’ve often questioned the use of motion capture technology and 3D as they seemed to be a gimmicks not necessary to enhance the plot, A Christmas Carol has given me at least one example where this is not true. These technologies as well as the ability of director Robert Zemeckis help you fly through London and into Ebenezer Scrooge’s past, without even getting dizzy. This film made me glad that Disney had not attempted this earlier, because I can’t imagine a better film. As soon as I left the theater I wanted to see it again, I hoping I can wait to go with my family, on Christmas day.

If you live in the Los Angeles area I highly recommend you check this out at the El Capitan, where it is playing until January 3rd, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Even if you don’t live in Los Angeles it’s worth checking out in the theaters, as Robert Zemeckis’ use of 3D is by far the best I’ve seen.

Disney’s ‘art house’ studio Miramax will be a small shell of it’s former self by January. Its president will be gone and just 20 employees will be left to shepherd any future projects. They’ll also move the studio from New York to Los Angeles.

Much of this reduction began even while the studio’s founders, the Weinstein brothers, were in charge. After their ouster, the studio continued to struggle to produce hits. And now, with Dick Cook gone, the comes another hit. Some of this has to be chalked up to the much more complex market for art house films than when Miramax was at it’s peak.

While I may not have loved all of the films that Miramax produced for Disney, I liked enough of them to see the value for Disney Studios. I hope they’re able to find a niche for these sort of specialty films in the Disney stable.

Via the NY Times.

The Walt Disney Family Museum has launched to much acclaim drawing fans from all over to see the story of Walt’s life laid out as only his family could tell it. But the museum is not resting just on its exhibits. A full series of events is planned.

The December calendar has just been released. Head to the official website to buy tickets for anything you like.

CONCERTS

December 12th – String Circle Quartet
4:00pm, Special Exhibition Hall, 122 Riley Avenue

Concerts in our Special Exhibition Hall continue to shine light on composers of Fantasia with Schubert’s String Quartet in G. Henry Purcell’s delightful Suite from The Faery Queen—a bit of musical fantasy—is also performed. Joseph Edelberg, Anthony Martin, and Kati Kyme, violins, and Thalia Moore, cello.

December 19th and 20th – Artists’ Vocal Ensemble Concert: A Candlelight Christmas
4:00pm, Special Exhibition Hall, 122 Riley Avenue

Nothing is more magical than a choir performing classic Christmas songs and carols. Our candlelight program will include European Renaissance motets and carols, contemporary American carols and anthems, and an audience sing-along led by Jonathan Dimmock.

FILM

Film of the Month: Christmas with Walt Disney
Christmas with Walt Disney runs until January 4
12:30pm, 3:30pm, 6:30pm, Theater
(except Tuesdays, December 25, January 1, and December 5th at 12:30pm and 3:30pm)

This special holiday screening includes The Nutcracker Suite from Fantasia (1940), Pluto’s Christmas Tree (1952), scenes from the television Christmas specials, and rarely seen home movies of Walt and his family. See how Walt celebrated Christmas at the Studio, at Disneyland, and at home.

LECTURE

December 5th – Memories of Walt: A Conversation with Legends
2:00pm, Theater

Join us on Walt’s birthday as we hear from Disney Legends Blaine Gibson, Rolly Crump, and Richard Sherman as they share special memories of Walt. Blaine is the sculptor behind the Hall of Presidents, Rolly is one of the Imagineers behind “It’s a Small World” and “Haunted Mansion” and Richard wrote such Disney music classics as “It’s a Small World” and “Chim Chim Cher-ee”. It will be an extraordinary afternoon filled with stories, laughter, and reflection.

December 25th – Christmas Day
Museum is closed

Editor’s Note: Please welcome guest author Matt Feige to The Disney Blog.

Last night was opening night for The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D at the El Capitan. The El Capitan runs The Nightmare Before Christmas for Halloween as part of an annual tradition. The line outside the theater was an eclectic mix of fans, not usually seen at Disney’s films, but a given for this film, now a too popular to call a cult classic.

As you file in, passing an authentic box office and beautifully decorated ceiling, you enter a completely different era, the golden age of Hollywood. The beautifully painted and sculpted interior is almost as welcoming as Rob Richards’ wonderful organ playing. Rob, who recently won the American Theater Organ Society’s Organist of the Year award, began with selections from Danny Elfman’s stunning Nightmare before Christmas score before moving on to more classic Disney fare and then finished with Hooray for Hollywood.

For opening night, we started with a panel discussion.

Don Hahn, a Disney figure in his own right, interviewed Director Henry Selick for about 15 minutes about the making of The Nightmare Before Christmas, the difficulty of making stop-motion films, and the exclusive use of in-camera effects. When Hahn referred to stop-motion as “painfully” built, Selick quickly interjected “Wonderfully.”

While explaining the subtle adjustments the animators make in order to make a character seem fluid and real Selick said the to be a great stop-animator must “Feel that Character in your whole body.”

After Ken Page, the voice of Oogie Boogie, appeared in a clip Don brought out Ken Page to perform “Oogie Boogie’s Song.” His onstage performance made clear the energy he brought to the role.

After Selick and Page left the stage Kahn acted as if the movie were about to begin, but the stage began to fill with fog and a candelabra floated across the stage. The Disneyland Dapper Dans then launched into a stirring rendition of “Grim Grinning Ghosts.”

While the performances and appearances were amazing and set the stage for this wonderful film, as always Disney’s details sold the show. It was the Christmas wreaths and pine garlands strung on the walls of the theater that got me in the mood to experience a film that has achieved Disney Classic Status. I highly recommend that you check out The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D at the El Capitan before November 1st when it is gone for another year.

When not busy turning Christmas into Halloween, Matt Feige can be found chattering on twitter.

Tron Legacy (aka Tron 2.0) is still more than a year away from it’s theatrical release. Primary shooting just wrapped and now the intensive post-production process begins. Olvia Wilde (whom you may know from her role on “House”) sat down with ComingSoon.net for an interview where they talked about Tron Legacy.

We shot some 20-hour days, we were wearing the suits, which are not easy to wear. I was doing a lot of my own stunts and training a lot of the time. Really pushing myself physically as well as mentally. It was an epic undertaking. It was a HUGE film to shoot in those few days. I was so proud to be a part of it. The morning that we wrapped it was an unbelievable feeling. We all just lost it. It was sunrise and we couldn’t believe we were actually done.

So when do we start camping in line?

The NY Times peers into the magic behind converting a pair of animated movies from their original 2 dimensional state into a 3-D state. As it turns out, Pixar keeps all their previous films backed up somewhere. So the trick was to write software that would insert a second camera into each scene and give the illusion of depth on the big screen.

One person charged with that task was Bob Whitehill, the lead stereographer. And his role was not just technical; emotional impact also informed some of the changes. “When I would look at the films as a whole, I would search for story reasons to use 3-D in different ways,” he said. “In ‘Toy Story,’ for instance, when the toys were alone in their world, I wanted it to feel consistent to a safer world. And when they went out to the human world, that’s when I really blew out the 3-D to make it feel dangerous and deep and overwhelming.”

The 3D versions of Toy Story 1 & 2 are in theaters now. They’re supposed to be running with an exclusive trailer for Toy Story 3. However, there have been some reports of theaters not showing the trailer. So call ahead to make sure your theater has it.

Disney is rolling out the big guns to promote its next animated musical feature, “The Princess And The Frog”. To help bring families out, they’re offering a free child’s ticket to see “The Princess And The Frog” if you visit a Disney World theme parks. The promotion runs Monday, Oct. 5, through Nov. 22

The offer is for guests 10 or older. You have to show your valid WDW admission media at a specific shop and you’ll receive a voucher worth up to $8. The child must be accompanied by a paying adult and it must be used between Dec. 11 and 31.

Here’s a list of participating locations:

Magic Kingdom: The Emporium, Main Street Confectionery, Main Street Cinema, Town Square Exposition Hall, Uptown Jewelers, Cornelius Coot’s County Bounty

Epcot: Mouse Gear, Gateway Gifts, Epcot Camera Center, World Traveler, Port of Entry, Disney Traders

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park: Island Mercantile, Outpost, Garden Gate Gifts

Disney’s Hollywood Studios: Mickey’s of Hollywood, Keystone Clothiers, The Darkroom, Celebrity 5&10, LA Prop Warehouse, In Character, Disney Studio Store, Animation Gallery

(via the Orlando Sentinel)