Thomas S. Mulligan, Charles Duhigg and Claudia Eller of the Los Angeles Times profile Viacom (Paramount) and CBS Chairman Sumner Redstone and News Corp (Fox) Chairman Rupert Murdock. With institutional shareholders – who are often disinterested in the particulars of content and day to day studio operations – in charge of most of the big… Read More »Two Men Who Wield Studio Power Like Walt
Gina Piccalo of the Los Angeles Times examines a recent trend of some major studios to cater to or at least market to specialized markets, such as religious communities, and families in general who are looking for cleaner entertainment. Instead of focusing only on what the critics in Los Angeles and New York say, they… Read More »Studios Discover the Spending of Families, Faithful
According to China Hospitality News, Hong Kong Ocean Park is doing well even with competition from Disney, but they are still postponing plans for mainland China. Looks like China is the new hot market to consider opening up a theme park. Allan Zeman said that a lot of cities from the mainland are contacting them… Read More »Ocean Park Thriving With Hong Kong Disneyland Competition
Sarah Tully of The Orange County Register brings us a short update accompanied by an informative map pointing out recent and new projects around the Disneyland Resort. A big-time building boom is under way by the Anaheim Convention Center and Disney parks as a record number of tourists visit five years after 9/11 spurred a… Read More »Investing in Anaheim
Christopher Reynolds of the Los Angeles Times asks if the Disneyland Matterhorn could be Orange County, California’s defining structure. It’s actually a story related to the opening of a new concert hall. Sydney has its Opera House. San Francisco has its bridge and Transamerica pyramid, St. Louis its arch, Seattle its needle. New York had… Read More »Disneyland Matterhorn as Architecture
The official site for Disney Fairies, DisneyFairies.com, has just been relaunched. This site includes features that let girls meet the Fairies, visit Pixie Hollow, play games and get access to a variety of extras. This whole campaign, the Disney Fairies, smacks of something that started… Read More »Disney Fairies, Disney’s new product push
According to Richard Verrier of The Los Angeles Times, airplane hangars are helping to keep some film production in the greater Los Angeles area, including some of the filming for "Pirates of the Caribbean". Southern California has traditionally been a primary locale for the aerospace industry. Hollywood’s quest for cavernous spaces to bring big-budget movies… Read More »Hangers Can Make Great, Big Soundstages
Cedar Fair reports slightly lower attendance at the company’s theme parks. You may recall that the company, which owns Disneyland-competitor Knott’s Berry Farm, recently acquired Paramount Parks. "Some of our northern parks have faced tough economic conditions, which we believe was the main factor affecting attendance during this season," said Dick Kinzel, chairman, president and… Read More »Disney Park Competitor Cedar Fair’s Attendance