High School Musical is ready for a remake. But this time it will be in Chinese!
The Walt Disney Company announced they would work together with their partners Shanghai Media Group and the Huayi Media Corporation to make a Chinese version of the 2006 Emmy award winning High School Musical. The movie is expected to have a cinematic release in the summer of 2010.
Picture copyrights Disney
A couple of months ago Disney had a private showing of the Captain EO movie for some of their executive and the Jackson family. Fans around the globe hoping this would indicate a return of the classic Disney attraction.
According to the Hollywood Reporter those hopes might come true as guests at Disneyland might get to see it again as of January.
This would be a fantastic tribute to Micheal Jackson and to this fantastic classic attraction which deserves a premium spot in the Disney theme parks. Obviously, from a business point of view, it’s the right time to revise this classic and to jump on the success wagon of the “This is It” production.
Good guest attendance at Anaheim’s Disneyland and Disney’s California Adventure, even with the economic downturn it’s 15% up compared to the numbers from the same last quarter of the previous fiscal year. Unfortunately it’s not all good news for the company as guest spend a lot less on merchandise. 10% less is bought by the visitors, a big drop for the company. Walt Disney World lost about 3% in visitors during the same time period.
The hotels are also seeing a drop, loosing 4% compared to last year. This translates in 84% occupancy for the Disneyland hotels in Anaheim, the same number as the Disney hotels in Florida.
Disney parks and resorts revenues has gone down by 7% to a total of $10.7 billion in the recent fiscal year compared to the prior year.
The new Disney Theme Park for Shanghai has been approved by China’s planning agency. With the approval China and Disney can now start working on the final details of the new project for the city’s eastern Pudang district.
“China is one of the most dynamic, exciting and important countries in the world, and this approval marks a very significant milestone for The Walt Disney Company in mainland China,” Robert A. Iger, president and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said in a statement.
The first phase of the project will include a Magic Kingdom style park but with characteristic tailored to the Shanghai region and China. There is no time frame set to when the park will open its gates but the investment is set for $3,6 billion for the 4 square mile park. However a Shanghai based Disney executive said that the deal is not final yet and final negotiations could last several months. But Disney says that the approval will allow both sides to move forwards to a final agreement.
President Barack Obama will be visiting China next month and according to Reuters this might be the right time for Disney to announce their Shanghai project.
Anticipation is riding high that good news on Disney will be timed to coincide with Obama’s visit to China from November 15 to 18 — granting Disney its decade-old wish to locate a theme park on the mainland of the world’s most populous country. (Reuters)
The park is said to cost $3,6 billion and would include a large main gate and a hotel complex. Investors seem to believe the project will get green lighted as those companies involved in building the resort are seeing their shares go up in value.
Could this rumor be the first indication that Disney will start to use the big Marvel Comic characters collection in their new parks? The imagineers have been asked to look at the Marvel super heroes and the stories and how to use them in new attractions. They might not find a home in any of the US parks at this time. Especially with the big Marvel theme already at Island of Adventure next door. (and the fact they have the sole rights to use it in a theme park).
Good idea? To use the Marvel characters and to put new rides out there; yes! But to put it in a Disneyland park? I am not sure how they would want to fit that in. If it would be in a second gate they can make it work. But, even being a massive Marvel fan myself, I do think it should stay out of the main gate.
Source; Screamscape
Disney launched a new Website to celebrate the Haunted Holidays. The site invites guest to see some “scary Disney” videos. How scary can this magical place get? Not to scary in my honest opinion. However, loving Disney villains and Disney Haunts makes browsing this site real fun. You get to see videos related to Haunted Mansion, Snow White, Pirates of the Caribbean, the Muppets, A Christmas Carol, Nightmare Before Christmas, Tales of Two Cities and the new The Princess and the Frog. (more…)
The opening of the Walt Disney Family Museum is very near. 1st October is the big day where fans, Disney addicts and the regular public will have access to all the beautiful Disney treasures. Just before opening day we have two more preview galleries to show you. Once you seen these little gems make sure to book your tickets for the museum in San Francisco. (more…)
Here another preview gallery with more Walt Disney gems.
Walt—who had a love of nature since his youth in Marceline—also ventured into live-action documentaries during the ‘40s and early ‘50s. The first of these was a nature documentary, Seal Island, a 27-minute account of the seasonal habits of seals that won the 1949 Academy Award™ for best two-reel documentary. Later documentaries in the series, “TrueLife Adventures” continued to focus on nature, while “People and Places” highlighted peoples and destinations around the world. (more…)
This is like heaven to me! Disney and Marvel comics, my two big hobbies. So I am a little excited about Disney acquiring Marvel. With Universal having the rights to use the characters in the park, Disney might be looking to fill some loop holes so they can use the characters too. According to rumors on Screamscape we might get Marvel characters at the park in some limited way. With the success of Star Wars weekends, Disney might be using the Marvel universe in the same way and will add some sort of special Marvel event to the parks. Sounds like fun to me. I wonder if the comics characters will find their way into the special event or if Disney will get the movie variants into the park. Could they get some of the actors of the many Marvel movies to participate during these events? We will have to wait and see.
The history of Walt Disney is one interesting road. If one didn’t think so before then I think the gallery previous have proven that now. I really hope this museum turns into the success in deserves and that many Disney fans will enjoy this amazing historic story. I can’t wait to see it all myself, I just hope I don’t have to wait to long to visit. Until I do make it out there I’ll keep on enjoying the galleries.
Opening time for the Walt Disney Family Museum is getting closer and we have some catching up to do with the amazing preview galleries.
So here is the fifth one with some amazing artwork related to the Bambi movie, a Fantasia Hippo statue and a Pinocchio character model statue.
Walt Disney Company agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment Inc for $4 billion. This could be one of the biggest media deals of this year, but is certainly Disney’s biggest acquisition since the $7,6 billion Pixar deal in 2006. Marvel is the home of 5000 characters, many of them with a big history. Mickey will now be able to welcome such characters as Captain America, The X-Men, The Avengers, The Hulk and many more. I never thought I would be able to mention Mickey Mouse and Wolverine in the same sentence, but this has now changed.
Disney will be able to use their massive marketing programs to promote anything from Marvel to expand the well known brand even more. While Marvel movies already did very well at the box office, new movies such as Spider-Man 4 and Avengers will benefit from even more exposure. This on Cable TV or even in and around the parks.
It was make or break when Walt created the full length feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The film industry was convinced a feature animation would be a failure and even his wife Lillian and his brother Roy tried to talk him out of it. Lillian, told him: “No one’s ever gonna pay a dime to see a dwarf picture.”. But Walt didn’t listen and continued his dream… the rest is history.
It would be impossible to create a Disney museum without a special gallery dedicated to this milestone in Disney’s life…
It will be to nobodies surprises that Disney’s profit has fallen during the economic downfall the world is experiencing. Disney’s profit is 26% down and a recovery is not in immediate sight at the moment. Walt Disney World is packed with the same amount of guest as in the previous year, Disneyland even had 10% more visitors, but with the big discounts and special deals Disney isn’t making more money out of it.
Operating profit at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts fell 19 percent to $521 million, while total revenue was down 9 percent to $2.8 billion, despite favorable timing of the busy Easter holiday. Disney blamed the division’s struggles in part on lower guest spending at Disney World, where widespread discounts eroded average hotel rates and average ticket prices. Combined per-capita guest spending at Disney World and Disneyland fell 6 percent during the quarter compared with a year earlier. But the discounts again helped Disney sustain attendance levels despite the tough economic environment: Combined attendance at the company’s U.S. parks rose 3 percent from a year ago, with Disney World flat and Disneyland up 10 percent. (Orlando Sentinel)