Mousekingdom Blog

Just an hour ago I posted the story, that according to Jeffrey Katzenberg his DreamWorks Animation studio was still contractually barred from releasing any movies on BluRay instead of HD DVD. How fast a story can change … According to the reliable German technology website heise, DreamWorks is “off the hook” and usesd his new won freedom to cancel the already announced release of ”The Bee Movie” on HD DVD scheduled for March 11.

BUT heise fails to give any source for the statement, that DreamWorks is “off the hook“. Until we get more information I’d be cautious, since the cancellation of the HD DVD release of “The Bee Movie” does NOT imply that there will be a BluRay release anytime soon or that DreamWorks would be allowed to make such release (whether anyone really would miss such a release is a different story - but let’s not get into bashing any bees, afterall they are important insects who are not responsible for DreamWorks movie). Anyway, DreamWorks might just have decided to cut the losses here that the production of the HD DVD discs could have caused.

Once upon a time there were two formats fighting about the future of high defintion DVDs: BluRay and HD DVD. Each of the formats was playing with al tricks it could do gain the upperhand, while the majority of us customers waited in the wings. Soon enough both formats got the idea to sign up studios exclusively to release their films only in one of the two formats. Disney signed up with BluRay which makes all the Disney fans rather happy - now that BlueRay has won and they know that their nifty BluRay players will be useful for more than only their collection of Disney releases.

Disney did gamble here by throwing their weight around - and won. What could have happened if Toshiba’s HD DVD would have won … well better don’t think about it. But if you are really curious - just take a look at the dismal situation DreamWorks is suddenly facing…

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Can I have Your Credit Card Number Please? How often do you get asked that? And how often do we give it without thinking about the risks attached to it? Especially when you’re at Walt Disney World, do you expect to be conned by a scam artist. (they really should find another name for them as they are NO artist.)

Unfortunately since a couple of weeks people are being scammed while they are at WDW.

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In my first post yesterday (yep, I am back … finally after several weeks crushing under the workload unrelated to this project and DLP.info) I mentioned that Disney in all its different animation units is busy and has various projects under preparation for the coming years. I didn’t go into any further detail as I assumed that most of you already know the list and would be bored … but after I got some questions … let’s take a look what is known to be in production or development:

Certainly there are numerous rumors on various blogs and sites, not to mention the real word of mouth. I don’t even want to try to sum all of those up, especially since I am in no position to judge on their credibility. BUT there is that great TAG blog … a daily must-read for anyone interested in animation. It published one of its Toon Studios Overviews of projects in various Los Angeles area studios nearly two weeks ago.

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Dubai has been putting itself on the map big time! To become the biggest vacation destination they have already surprised us many time. If it is the islands they build, or the amazing theme parks that are announced, it all sounds awesome. Next on the list; Shamu! (See Previous Entry from Dirk “Where can you find Seaworld and Universal”

On The Palm Jebel Ali on the section known as “the Crown”, 4 new parks will be build in one big resort; “Worlds Of Discovery” including SeaWorld, Aquatica, Busch Gardens, and Discovery Cove. The resort will be on the tip of the palm and will be in the form of “Shamu”.

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