Meg James and Matea Gold of the Los Angeles Times report that NBC will make the announcement today. The media company, which made the town of tract houses the butt of endless jokes, but also brought it prominence as the base of "The Tonight Show," is decamping to nearby Universal Studios. The media company plans… Read More »Disney’s Burbank Neighbor Going to Universal City
I’m betting that somewhere in Burbank there are a lot of crossed fingers and rabbit’s feet right now. They’ll need all the luck they can’t to break out of the Hollywood Box Office slump. The studio is trying to tap into the audiences of both Harry Potter and Lord of The Rings with the Narnia… Read More »Narnia: Interview with two young stars
You may have known him as the voice of Heimlich the caterpillar from Pixar’s hit film "A Bug’s Life", but to the folks at Pixar in Emeryville Joe Ranft was so much more. He was a story man, a voice artist, a humorist, a family man, and an artist. As a lead on nearly every… Read More »Pixar’s Joe Ranft killed in Auto Accident
From Cartoon Brew comes two more interesting articles on Disney’s presence at SIGGRAPH L.A. (Next year in Boston!). First up is the long rambling, but oh so informative, trip report of one Bill, CG Student at RIT. I was very interested in what Ian Gooding and Dan Cooper had to say about Art Direction in… Read More »SIGGRAPH, Disney Mating Grounds
In a recent interview Diane Disney Miller recounts some of the familiar stories of her childhood as a Disney daughter. What’s new and interesting is the information on the Disney Family Museum that is scheduled to open in a refurbished barracks at the Presidio in San Francisco… Miller said the museum will be in a… Read More »Diane Disney Miller Interview
News is coming in that Dalt’s Classic American Grill in Burbank, CA might be closing due to a dispute with their rent. Due to its proximity to the Warner Bros and Disney Studios it is a popular hang out for staff, management and celebrities. They served good food at decent prices in a unique atmosphere.… Read More »Dalt’s Closing?
I’m lost without my Lost. If you’re like me you’ll be wandering around in this TV wasteland until JJ Abrams and the ABC powers that be decide to drop whatever additional hints they chose to in the September (I can’t believe I have to wait until September) season two premiere. So here are some things… Read More »I’m Lost
Despite improved attendance numbers, apples to apples profit numbers reveal that the parks are having their worst years since the 80s. I’m sure the number crunchers up in Burbank have better models than me, but since you asked… the company is now reaping what it has sowed. The 90s were supposed to be the Disney Decade at the Themeparks. Instead we saw cuts in attraction budgets, a reliance on the cheaper (sometimes! remember the expensive mistake that was Light Magic) entertainment, cuts in training, and an across the board slashing of maintenance budgets. Not only has this resulted in death and injury at the theme parks, but it affected Disney brand as the top quality family entertainment vacation destination.