Many Disney fans blame Disney’s marketing efforts for the less than stellar box office for most of the recent animated features to come out of Burbank. Now eyes have again turned to the marketing team, but this time for the lackluster performance of Jerry Bruckheimer’s… Read More »Is Disney Movie Marketing Undergoing a Shakeup?
Was just sent a teaser trailer for the new Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora segment coming to The Disney Channel. I’m intrigued. I’m hoping there’s some Swedish Chef action too. I’m thinking Iron Chef battle spoof.
Dave Stevenson: The Art of the Map – A New Exhibition at The Walt Disney Family Museum
To Run from September 15, 2010 – January 3, 2011
Special map of The Presidio of San Francisco created for the exhibit
When The Walt Disney Family Museum in the Presidio of San Francisco was looking for a way to illustrate the ancestry and family roots of Walt Disney, they turned to an imaginative Bay Area artist and mapmaker named Dave Stevenson. His work, which will be on exhibit in the Lower Lobby of the Museum from September 15- to January 3, has been seen at the entrance to the Museum’s first gallery by thousands of visitors since the Museum opened. Stevenson’s colorful map charts the journey of Disney family ancestors from Isigny-sur-Mer, France ( d’Isigny was Anglicized to Disney,) through England, Ireland and Canada to the United States.
Stevenson uses geography, cartography, graphic design, and artistic inspiration to create his maps. These works of art include history and landmarks, people, plants, and animals to communicate an accurate yet romantic, playful, or dramatic view of the places and events that he charts. Included in the exhibition are maps of Maui, Antarctica, Egypt, and India, as well as the famous map, Treasures of the World, included as an insert in National Geographic. Also featured are maps of Antarctica, Egypt, the Galapagos Islands, the Lewis and Clark expedition used in marketing Lindblad Expeditions and maps of the Mediterranean, and India, as well as a dramatic piece that charts the spread of the Black Death. A map of the Presidio of San Francisco drawn especially for this exhibition will also be on display.
Read More »Walt Disney Family Museum to debut new Art of the Map exhibit
Last week Abigail Disney, Walt’s grandniece, published an opinion piece in the USA Today. The subject was the status of the Estate Tax, she’s for it. …the estate tax is an expression of our deepest American values: that we live in a meritocracy, not an… Read More »Abigail Disney speaks out on the Estate Tax, she’s for it
I was very sad to hear that Glenn Shadix died after a fall in his home. He was best known as Otho from Beetlejuice, but had many memorable roles, including a number for Disney. Shadix’s performance as Gertrude Stein in a stage play was spotted… Read More »Glenn Shadix RIP
So I’m assuming you’ve heard or seen the Double Rainbow meme. Now keep that in mind while watching this: That is Disney Marketing’s attempting a viral video to promote Tangled, the next Feature Animated Film from Walt Disney Animation Studios. With a few minor consistency… Read More »Disney releases Tangled Viral Video – Double Rainbow Meme
I sat through at least two showings of Camp Rock 2 with my daughter. Disney is about nothing if not over-exposure, and they showed it on the Disney Channel all weekend long, every night including tonight’s Labor Day holiday.
My admiration of the Jonas Brothers is known to readers of The Disney Blog, but less well known is my admiration for the versatile Ms. Lovato. Disney has a stable full of talented young people, but Demi Lovato is definitely the strong horse, to continue the metaphor. Her versatile vocals are really quite good and she is one of the few, I believe, who doesn’t get put through a voice-over computer generated wash. She can sing, she can dance and she’s got a great deal of charm.
My daughter thinks so, too and seeks to emulate her. She was a Hannah Montana and Miley fan and still is, but I notice something different with Demi and I’m not sure if that she’s older and so Demi’s more adolescent approach appeals to her (as opposed to Hannah’s “tween” approach) or if it’s an honest difference of style. Whatever the case, after each episode of Camp Rock 2, the boom box came out, the toy microphone in hand and she was busy being her favorite rock star.
Camp Rock 2 worked, though I don’t know if it worked for Disney on the High School Musical level. I have theories for this, but none of them are provable. One thing I noticed about HSM is that in the first movie, most audiences were seeing these young actors for the first time. Zac Efron, Corbin Bleu and Vanessa Hudgens weren’t household names until after HSM. In fact, the most well known member of the cast to Disney audiences was Ashley Tisdale because of her role on the Disney Channel program The Suite Life of Zac and Cody (episodes of which I have also sat through endlessly…).
The Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato, who sort of own Camp Rock 2, are well known to their audiences. These performers come in with recognition and so suspension of disbelief isn’t the entire point. In my opinion, Disney isn’t making enough use of Allyson Stoner, the talented singer and dancer who appears in Camp Rock 1 and 2. She can hold her own and I don’t understand why they don’t let her run. Either way, the film is about the Jonas Bros. and Ms. Lovato. They have an appeal that is beyond simple rock star idol worship and that appeal is a very 21st Century thing—at least, my daughter and her friends have picked it up.
The film is typical Disney Channel fare with a competition against a rival camp, the winner of which takes all. The other camp has to shut down if they lose. The ending is a nice twist that I won’t bother to give away, though and the message that comes through is pretty strong and it’s a good one about how what counts is the music and the friendships.
But the film felt awkward at times and it fell short of its predecessor, which was just fresh enough to be different. The singing and dancing were once again top-notch, but the story was a little bit hackneyed and the relationship between Lovato’s Mitchie and Joe Jonas’s Shane didn’t ever feel realistic. None of the relationships did and that downside drew my attention from the story, which was keyed, after all, on successful relationship building.
I have to confess to being a bit bothered by Disney’s stable of films and shows having as their premise the extraordinary lives of famous people. The Jonas Brothers, Sonny with a Chance, Camp Rock, Hannah Montana—the theme gets pretty old and it would be terrible were it not for the fact that the stars of the shows themselves are alluring to young folks.
Still, Disney hit another home-run here if my daughter is any gauge of measurement. She can’t wait to watch it again and sing the songs along with it. I’m glad she has it—all kids need shows and movies they will be able to look back on and Camp Rock 2 will certainly be one of those.
If you can’t catch Camp Rock 2 on cable, or you want to add it to your library so you can play it at your leisure, OR you want to view some of the special extras that come with a DVD edition, then you’re in luck. Follow us below the jump for details on the DVD:
The Disney company appears desperate to make their Hong Kong Disneyland Resort appear to be a good decision. They’re now reporting that the park would be profitable if they didn’t include taxes, loan interest, amortization, and depreciation. So basically, they’re still losing money. Great. Hong… Read More »Hong Kong Reports a Profit, if you don’t include a bunch of costs