Mousekingdom Blog

The first movie from 1982 wasn’t the success Disney had hoped for but over the years it did became the cult classic it deserves to be and Disney saw potential in a sequel. The second movie isn’t out yet, but is already generating a followers of fans who can’t wait to see it.

This time Disney isn’t going to wait another 28 years before they’ll add another Tron to their list of many projects. It looks like we might get a Tron; Legacy animation series for Fall 2011. If green lighted the new series should find it’s way to the target public of 9 to 14 year olds on Disney DX.

Picture Copyrights Disney

The Disney Channel and Disney XD has released their plans for the 2010-2011 television season and as expected will have some of their famous usuals return.

But there will be some new shows to and one of them will be a new Avengers animation series: “The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”.

The new show will target kids age 9 to 14, will be 52 episodes long and will feature Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, Giant Man and Wasp.

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Depsite having received a nomination for the Razzies Joe Jonas seems to have a growing interest in becoming an actor and not “limiting” himself to his career in music. The member of all brothers’ trio The Jonas Brothers whichDisney made into the latest pop-phenomenon for the audience of The Disney Channel and Radio Disney (after they had failed to come out big when Sony released their debut album), is going to guest star in one of ABC’s big Sunday evening shows: Brothers & Sisters. Whether one likes the music of The Jonas Brothers or has any interest in the brothers it is just amazing how well the various segments of The Walt Disney Company group manage to work together to create and now sustain the success of this band and even branch it out into new markets, as “Brothers & Sisters” surely is not the regular tv-fare of the fans of the band.

Joe Jonas should be showing up in two episodes later this season as the show (airing in the USA right after Desperate Housewifes) is preparing a two-part flashback in which viewers will be traveling back in time to meet the Walker siblings as young teens. So obviously the big question was who was going to play the younger versions of the family members of the Walker family around whom the show evolves. Which brings us back to Joe Jonas… (more…)

Disney has show interest in the TV subscription plan from apple. If rumors are correct apple wants to reinvent the television as we know it with offering TV subscription via their iTunes platform. It’s no surprise Disney has shown interest in this as they where the first to come on board when iTunes offered movie and TV content.

Apple would like to offer a $30 per month iTunes TV subscription where costumers would get the chance to see a collection of TV channels. Others interested in the online TV serve is CBS. This would be a new step for iTunes who normally offers individual shows for a flat fee.

The big problem for Apple would be convincing other companies to join in on this new venture. Mayor networks might have difficulties setting up another platform for their programs without angering the traditional cable providers. Those might not want to give away some of their costumers through this new platform.

Are you ready to visit some real magical history? Time to order your tickets!

The Walt Disney Family Museum’s website is up and you can now order your tickets for the October opening. For those getting a Museum membership, you could get the opportunity to visit the museum in The Presidio of San Fransisco before the general public during a special preview weekend before the official opening.

Here is another preview, straight from the museum…

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Lost fans will still have to wait until 2010 before the can spend their well earned money on one of the many Lost items that will go up for Auction. Those visiting the San Diego Convention can run to booth 315 at the San Diego Comic Convention for a preview look at the collection of items that will go under the hammer next year. Some great and amazing stuff that will not go cheap.

Can’t make it to the San Diego Convention, visit this flickr Lost auction picture collection.

Ready for another treat coming straight from the Walt Disney Family Museum? Well here it is. The second gallery will again host some amazing Walt Disney treasures, including the telegram send by Roy to Walt which read “Don’t worry everything OK will give details when arrive”.

There is also picture of the marriage license and certificate of Walt and Lillian and a great drawing of Oswald from 1927. Feast your eyes on these gems in this second preview…

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The Emmy awards for 2009 have been announced and two disney productions will now have to fight it out against each other in the category “Outstanding Children’s Programs”. Both Wizards of Waverly Place and Hannah Montana made the cut and will both be fighting for the Emmy. The third production in the category is iCarly from Nickelodeon.

Phineas and Ferb was also nominated. The fun Disney Channel animation got a nomination in the Outstanding Special Class – Short-format Animated Programs category. They will have to face the immensely popular SpongeBob SquarePants series from Nickelodeon.

For more Emmy nominations, including Disney’s ABC department, visit the official Emmy website.

One of the most amazing conventions ever is the San Diego Comic Con. I was lucky enough to have been there both as a professional comic shop owner (in a previous life) and a comic fan. There is always a lot to do, especially for the comic fans and the movie buffs. But Disney fans have every reason too to go and visit the convention. Disney has announced their plans for this years comic con (July 23-26) and will make sure their presence will not go unnoticed.

The most exciting news (for me) is that they’ll be showing some more TRON footage. The already bedazzled the crowd last year but I am sure that Disney will blow the fans away with the footage they’ll bring this year. This could be the first 3D footage of the movie! I am so excited… and I’m not even going (because, well, it’s on the other side of the planet. Or it sure feels like it).

The will also show footage of some of the other 3D projects they are working on. Alice in Wonderland and Disney’s A Christmas Carol. There will also be previews of The Princess and the Frog, Beauty and the Beast, Ponyo and the Toy Story Trilogy.

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Camp Rock has been a Disney success with 10.1 million viewers watching it. To no big surprise  Disney announced a sequel.

The Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato will reprise their roles and this time will have to try to save their Camp Rock against a rival camp that has been set up across the lake. Not a very original story. One we have seen in multiple, especially teen, movies before.

The title of the sequel. “Camp Rock 2 The Final Jam”

Picture copyrights Disney.

Yesterday Farrah Fawcett died at the age of 62 after a long  widely in the media covered battle with cancer. The actress might be best known as Jill Munroe – one of the original “Charlie’s Angels” in the world smash hit tv-series as of 1976. After that series came to an end she starred (as before) in various TV projects but also added several big screen movies to her cv. Among those big screen productions there was also the 1995 Walt Disney Pictures movie “Man of the House” in which he played Sandy Archer, the mother of Ben Archer (played by Jonathan Taylor Thomas, best known for is part of Randy Taylor in the tv series “Home Improvement” from 1991 till 1998 in) who puts Jack Sturgess (played by Chevy Chase) through various trials and tribulations trying to scare him off becoming his new stepfather. However, her tree Emmy-nominations were awarded to her neither for her part in “Charlie’s Angels” nor for any Disney productions, but grittier material (such as her part of a battered wife in “Burning Bed”) showcasing that she was a much more complete actress than the picture parts of the audience and it seems parts of Hollywood had of her after her earlier breakthrough.

The whole team of the Mousekingdom Blog wants to say thank you for entertaining us through the years and further extend its heart felt condolences to the friends and families that Farrah Fawcett had to leave behind.

… I know I am a bit late … but with Daisy and Donald both having birthday bashs I must have missed my deadline on this one – so here a belated but still heartfelt “CONGRATULATIONS!” to Angela Lansbury for winning her fifth Tony Award this past weekend in New York at the young age of 83 - this time for “best performance by a featured actress in a play” for her role in “Blithe Spirit” making her only the second woman to win five Tony Awards in her career.

And what a career she already had … and I am not just talking about her Disney career as star of the 1971 animated / live action feature “Bedknobs and Broomsticks”, being the voice of Mrs. Potts and performing the original version of the title song “Beauty and the Beast” of Disney’s now already classic animated feature (which btw she also performed as part of the live telecast for the opening of Disneyland Paris on its Central Plaza) or starring in the tv show “Murder, She Wrote”. Long before that (and still on-going) she has been one of the great dames of Broadway creating amongst others the title role in Jerry Herrman’s Mame (and recoridng the original version of “We Need A Little Christmas”) as well as Mrs.Lovett in Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeny Todd. And I am not even going to talk about her various hits on the big screen thanks to Hollywood.

It is time to congratulate the Duck, Donald Duck – happy birthday from everyone here at the Mousekingdom Blog … and thanks for 75 years of fun, laughter, love and entertainment! Today 75 year ago (June 9, 1934) Donald Duck had its big debut as he was first seen in a Disney production and squawked his first words (“Wo? Me? Oh, no, I’ve got a bellyache”) when the short “Wise Little Hen” premiered (and just for trivia specialists: yes, he was mentioned before – in the 1931 Disney book “The Adventures of Mickey”, but he did not appear in the story himself). And what a career he made out of that one line … congratulations!

There are so many highlights in Donald’s career that they can not be mentioned all … so let’s just skip that part and talk about Donald himself. Afterall we all love him for his unique character and especially his (short) temper … as Walt Disney once said “Donald is a duck of distinction” or at another time “an outrageous fellow fellow with bad manners and a worse temper. And everyone is very fond of him, including me” … or as a 1939 character analysis of the Disney story department had it in a bit more detail:

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On May 18th the Disney legend Wayne Allwine passed away. Wayne provided the voice of Disney’s most beloved character Mickey Mouse. He started voicing the character back in 1977 on “The New Mickey Mouse Club” and spoke the “Mickey Mouse” language up to “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (2006-2008).

His career at the Disney Company started even earlier when he started in the Mail room in 1966. After a small stay in the wardrobe department he moved over to the Audio Post Production where he worked for about 7 ½ years. He worked on project like Splash (1984) and Three Men and a Baby (1987) as well as many other project. For his work he received an Emmy Award and the 2 Golden Reef awards.

He married Russi Taylor, the voice of Minnie Mouse. Both of them where named Disney Legends in 2008.

Wayne was fighting Diabetes and needed a kidney transplant. On May 18th Wayne died as a result of his illness.

Everybody at the Mouskingdom.blog sends their condolences out to the Wayne family.

Thank you for your devoted time you gave to our beloved character.

Read Wayne Allwine’s full Bio on the Disney Legends website.

It’s a desperate situation … while US-fans of Desperate Housewives can look forward to the final 6 episodes of season 5 (episodes 23 and 24 airing as back to back finale on May 17) here in Germany we are back in waiting position since Pro7 has decided to send the housewives into the “summer break” after airing episode 13 of season 5 last wednesday (which clearly is NOT a good episode to air before a multi-month break, since it includes NO cliffhanger whatsoever but comes across as a “filler”-episode instead).

So what am I supposed to do till this fall? Well, for now the jucy details from behind the scenes keep me entertained just as good as the show itself did recently … to learn what I am talking about read the rest of the post – but be warned there is at least one spoiler included regarding the character of Edie Britt (played by Nicolette Sheridan) – if you want to avoid the spoiler, return to this post after watching the (in the US) upcoming episode to be aired coming Sunday, April 19.

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