Wow, it’s been a crazy last couple of days. So let’s get right to it.

• Disney’s acquisition of Marvel is still not official, but already it’s having an impact. Of course, it’s not always the type of impact that Disney might hope for. For instance, Super Hero Squad is a new television cartoon with pint sized Marvel Heroes. It had a wild debut with great ratings. The only problem, it’s on Cartoon Network, not Disney XD. Now Jack Kirby’s relatives want to reclaim the copyright on the Marvel characters he created. Of course, those are the core characters of the Marvel Universe. So that’s another fun lawsuit for Disney, who is still healing from the Winnie-The-Pooh fight.
• Congrats to Kristin Chenoweth for her Emmy win for Pushing Daisies, I definitely miss that show. Her acceptance speech was cute too. I hope she finds a job on Mad Men. She’d be perfect. Or Disney could bring back Pushing Daisies… that would work too.
• Also, congrats to Michael Emerson for winning for his chilling portrayal of Ben on LOST.
• Congratulations to the script writers of Pixar’s WALL-E. They won an Humanitas Award which are presented to television and film writers who celebrate humanity and liberty.
• If you work at Pixar you get cool stuff. This is a t-shirt for the Toy Story III crew. Via @LeeUnkrich’s twitter stream.
• Jason Garcia at the Orlando Sentinel looks at how Disney is scaling back the ‘Adventures by Disney’ offerings during these slow economic times. Anyone out there even think of these when planning their next vacation?
• Disneyland has a wonderful website promoting their Halloween time fun.
• You may have missed this during D23, but there was a rather large protest over health care right outside the Anaheim Convention center. Unite Here is not happy at the Disneyland Resort for how they want to handle health care going forward. I don’t see this matter ending well for the workers in the current economic climate. But it is another market for how sad the health care situation has become in America. Let’s hope something gets done, and soon.

I haven’t really covered much video game stuff here on The Disney Blog, not that I haven’t wanted to, just that I don’t do much gaming myself. But now we have a Nintendo DS and a Wii in the house and games are becoming a larger part of our lives.

So it was with some great gladness I saw that the Wii version of Toy Story Midway Mania has hit the shelves at the local game store. I love the theme park version and definitely have to add that Wii version to my small game library.

Then came a little bit of serendipity where I was sent this photo of Disney*Pixar Animation Chief John Lasseter playing the Wii version of the game for “The Princess and The Frog.”

John Lasseter, chief creative officer, Walt Disney Animation Studios, playing The Princess & The Frog video game at the Odeon Leicester Square in London, UK.

If you do a little pixel manipulation you can even see this scene from the game which comes out in November.

Anyone out there in Disney Blog readership a big player of Disney games on the Wii or Nintendo DSi? What games do we need to buy first and what games are perfect for a 5-6 year old.

Videos 3 & 4 in the Disney Living series featuring John Lasseter talking up the new definitive edition toys from his Toy Story feature. Today we have Rex the dinosaur and RC.

Follow below the jump for the videos.

[Read more →]

The following is my review of the Sheriff Woody toy from the new Toy Story Collection, published earlier today on The Pixar Blog:

Made by Thinkway Toys, the deluxe 16″ Woody toy (with stand) is as close to an exact replica of the character from the Toy Story films as possible, produced directly from Pixar’s original data files.

As John Lasseter has pointed out, the quality really is superb; the fabric and stitching on Woody’s clothing especially stands out. You’ll be surprised at the detail when you open the package. The pictures you’ve seen online simply can’t convey that.

The voice recognition feature also works pretty well, but the pull-string is so much more fun for some reason! About that, Woody says a total of fifty different phrases in two different modes.

Honestly, major fun to play with, even if you’re an adult. Doctors should hand these out as antidepressants.

All the toys from the Toy Story Collection (including Buzz, RC, and Rex) are now shipping from the Disney Store online and will be available at your local store soon.

Remember that recent acquisition made by the Walt Disney Company, no not Spider Man, but Buzz Lightyear. Pixar has turned out pretty good for Disney and the rest of the world knows it. Now John Lasseter and the team from Emeryville has been honored at the Venice Film Festival with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

“We really set out to deeply entertain an audience, not just children but adults as well,” Lasseter told reporters Sunday.

Lasseter said he was “tremendously honored” that the festival chose to give the award to the team of five Pixar directors, including Brad Bird (Ratatouille and The Incredibles), Pete Docter (Up and Monsters Inc.), Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo and Wall-E), and Lee Unkrich (Toy Story 3). Lasseter directed the first two Toy Story movies and Cars.

“Filmmaking and animation is one of the most collaborative art forms there is in the world, and it is never more collaborative than it is at Pixar,” Lasseter said.

I guess they can all retire to their vineyards now. (Please don’t do that!)

(via the Orlando Sentinel)

We had to upgrade The Disney Blog this weekend and I’m still seeing some minor problems around. If you notice anything please let me know.

Meanwhile, it’s time to close some open tabs in the latest trip Around The Hub.

• The ‘final’ schedule for the D23 expo has been made available for download. Those attending look to be kept very busy. What do you think? Are they trying to do too much for the inaugural event?
• Attractions Magazine has posted concept art for “The Sum of All Thrills” attraction coming to EPCOT’s Innoventions. Looks like Disney found a loophole in the robocoaster exclusive Universal Studios has. Guests will be able to design their own thrill experience and ride vehicle and then go on a simulation of the attraction.
• An arrest has been made in a sexual assault case that occurred at Fort Wilderness back in May. Neither party appears to work for the mouse, but still a bit troubling that this would occur on property.
• Still trying to plan your Halloween costume for this year? Instructables has your back with these EVE and WALL-E costume How-tos. Best of all, most of the materials you probably have around your house already.
• Don’t dress yourself up as Luxo Jr, the famous icon for Pixar Studios, or you might get sued. Apparently Luxo and Pixar’s relaxed relationship has tensed up a bit after Disney*Pixar started making the iconic lamp part of its theme parks and product mix. Now there’s a lawsuit. Did someone forget to get a license for that character?
• Rumors are that we’ll soon see and hear more about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter attraction and Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure. Here are some recent photos from the construction. Hogwarts is really beginning to take shape.
• Worth1000’s Disney Vs. Marvel Mashup contest has received 52 entries. Fun with Photoshop, for sure.

The second video from Disney Living featuring John Lasseter pitching Disney*Pixar’s new ultimate toy collection is now up. Sadly this is beginning to take on a bit of a home shopping network feeling. All that’s missing is that little scrolling bar tell you you’re about to miss out on this once in a life time deal.

I had to check my calendar to make sure it wasn’t April Fools when the news of The Walt Disney Company’s latest acquisition rolled across my screen. Disney is now the proud owner of Marvel Entertainment at a cost of a cool $4 billion. That quickly adds 5000 new characters to Disney’s cast including some of the most famous and hot properties in the market today – Iron Man, Spiderman, Thor, Captain America, and the X-men.

With Stan Lee, the creator of much of Marvel’s super hero cast, working closely with Disney for about a year now. I guess he’s had plenty of time to sow Bob Iger’s ear with how valuable a product this would be for Disney. At $4 Billion it is practically a steal compared to Pixar and Pixar has turned out to be a good buy for the Mouse House. Frankly, many analysts wondered why Disney just didn’t acquire Marvel at the same time it acquired Lee’s POW entertainment. No sense making up new superheroes when those with strong existing brands are there for the taking. Plus this might put Stan Lee back in a position of power at Marvel, which is where he belongs.

News reports indicate that there are no immediate plans to have Mickey and Ms. Marvel co-habiting at any of the theme parks or other properties. But at the same time Iger admits that Disney is now in a position of power to renegotiate all the deals that its competitors, like Sony, hold in regards to Disney. There is also ‘Marvel Island’ over at Islands of Adventure Universal Orlando. Wonder when the license agreement runs out on that (Aside: Can you say fifth gate Walt Disney World fans? WDW might finally get its thrill park. Let that sink in.) It also puts Disney head to head with Warner Brothers in the comic book to movie market place.

Is this a good deal? Well time will tell. But Disney has always been about ‘Story’ and Marvel Entertainment has some great stories to tell. So, that’s a good sign if you ask me. With Spielberg’s production company, aka Dreamworks, now on board with Disney I have to think the possibilities are endless.

I’m just waiting for the first Condorman / Spiderman crossover. You?