Note the outside corporate sponsorship listed on the sign Browsing through my Facebook one day I saw an advertisement on the side, for the official Disney Alliance Facebook page. I’ll let the Facebook page speak for itself, pulling its description from under the “About” heading: “Welcome to the official Facebook Page of Disney Corporate Alliances! Learn about the latest news, promotions, and experiences our Alliance Partners help create across Disney Parks and The Walt Disney Company.” Basically, Disney Alliances, and all of its related websites (though so far that just seems to be Facebook and Twitter), are just there to … Continue reading →

Now I’ve had some time to think about it, I have more sophisticated thoughts about the Disney-Lucasfilm buyout. The idea that I’m struggling with the most is that Disney wants to keep releasing more films every few years into infinity. One day soon, the original trilogy will be buried under a pile of new films, and I just feel so strange about that. According to George Lucas, the script treatments for episodes 7-9 are totally original; they won’t follow any specific plots from the novelized extended universe. Disney’s most likely going to follow Lucas’ scripts, but if it keeps making … Continue reading →

This is probably the hugest and craziest Disney news story I’ve ever heard, and possibly ever will, I can’t think of anything bigger: this week, Walt Disney Company announced that it is buying Lucasfilm for about $4 billion dollars. That’s right: Disney will own Star Wars. The news is entirely shocking. In the past year George Lucas has announced his intention to retire from film making, or at least big-budget film making, instead focusing on smaller projects. But no one expected him to sell his company (Lucas is the sole owner), and certainly not to Disney. When one thinks about … Continue reading →

A number of us here at families.com are big fans of ABC’s Disney-rific show “Once Upon A Time Some of us don’t have the time to watch the show when it airs, so we’re able to catch up with it online later. However, we might not have that option for much longer. One of the best ways to catch up with shows is through media website Hulu. Hulu streams dozens of shows from various channels: NBC, ABC, FOX, and many of their cable affiliates. In most cases shows are available the morning after they air (FOX makes free viewers wait … Continue reading →

The kind of thing Disney’s after This is a story too bizarre not to report: on Monday July 9 Mickey Mouse, along with other Disney characters, appeared on North Korean television with the country’s new leader, Kim Jong-Un (son of Kim Jong-Il). No, Disney is not sending representatives to the isolationist country. These were images of Walt Disney Company characters used without permission. The use presents some interesting questions that reflect upon Disney’s own corporate policy. The New York Times’ Media Decoder explains. You see, Disney is very strict about unauthorized use of its properties. The company complained to Mexican … Continue reading →

At a Walt Disney Company shareholder’s meeting in Kansas City last Tuesday, Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger announced a new plan for the company to hire 1,000 armed forces veterans over the next three years. “As a new generation of America’s military men and women transition into civilian life, we are increasing our commitment and support for these modern day heroes,” Iger said in a press release on the Disney corporate website. ”It’s a measure of our respect for how much they have sacrificed on our behalf, and our sincere gratitude for their extraordinary contributions to this country.” Because this … Continue reading →

When I went to see “The Muppets” I was so excited for my favorite puppet troop’s long-awaited big screen revival that I didn’t notice something interesting. In fact, I didn’t even realize that this something had happened until December, when all of a sudden a ton of news stories broke about it (perhaps I wasn’t the only one who didn’t notice right away). Disney’s changed its famous pre-film logo again. This time, instead of giving it another animated overhaul, they’ve changed the name. Rather than saying “Walt Disney Pictures,” it just reads “Disney.” The funny thing is, even when I … Continue reading →

In late September the Walt Disney Company received what I would consider one of the highest possible honors: the Jane Goodall Institute Global Leadership Award. This might not be a trophy for anything related to movies, and I’ve always said I wish that the company’s main focus was movies, but like it or not Disney’s a global conglomerate now. If they must be so, then at least they’re the type getting one of the top tributes a big company can get. The Jane Goodall Institute Global Leadership Awards are given out to people and companies whom the Institute, including its … Continue reading →