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Exclusive: A multi-part film about the Fleischer Brothers, creators of a pioneering animation studio that launched Betty Boop, Popeye The Sailor, and Superman cartoons, has won the richest prize in documentary.

Today, the Library of Congress, The Better Angels Society, Ken Burns, and the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation today announced Cartooning America as the winner of the sixth annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. The $200,000 award will go to director Asaf Galay.

“Most people have never heard the names Max and Dave Fleischer, but their legacy on American animation is profound, having preceded – and also inspired – Walt and Roy Disney,” notes a release about the prize. “Unlike the polished characters produced by the Disney studio, the Fleischer characters came right off the streets of New York City: the subtly Jewish Betty Boop, the muttering, street-smart Popeye, and Superman, the first-ever superhero cartoon. The Fleischers were...

The 1992 Disney film Aladdin is a lot of things. An accurate representation of the Middle East is not one of them.

That said, since the movie takes place in the fictional city of “Agrabah,” it’s easy to argue that it was never meant to portray the real world at all. The city was, after all, invented wholly by the creators, since the story from Arabian Nights that it’s based on originally took place in China, which, I’ll admit, is confusing enough that I understand simplifying it to minimize the amount of cultures and geography packed into an animated movie for children.

The city of Agrabah, however, wasn’t the first location change made by the movie’s creators. When they first started working on the movie that would become a modern classic, they set it in a very real city: Baghdad. Most likely because it was one...

Fred R. Krug, a producer, director and cinematographer who worked on such nature-focused TV programs as Animal World, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and The Magical World of Disney, has died. He was 94.

Krug died June 4 of natural causes at his home in Solvang, California, his daughter, Vivian Krug-Cotton, told The Hollywood Reporter.

A pioneer in wildlife TV documentaries and travel shows, the Swiss-born Krug dined with Picasso, worked with The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl and danced with the Nicholas brothers.

He also collaborated with the likes of Gypsy Rose Lee, Louis Armstrong, Cornel Wilde, Jayne Mansfield, Dana Andrews, Jean Simmons, Agnes Moorehead, Art Linkletter and Tippi Hedren.

Krug’s career took him to the jungles of Peru, Ecuador and Brazil; to India, Zululand, South Africa and the Serengeti in Kenya; to the high country of New Zealand; and to the mountains of Italy.

Friedrich Roy Krug was born on Aug.

Anyone who knows anything about Abigail Disney knows that she is a Democrat. The granddaughter of Roy Disney has not had to worry about money thanks to her grandfather and great-uncle Walt Disney. She is financially set because of the two men, but that doesn’t stop her from calling her great-uncle Walt someone who “bordered on fascism.” Now, she is using her money to attempt to force Joe Biden out of running for President of the United States again in 2024.

According to reports, Abigail is threatening to withdraw her donations from the Democratic Party unless President Biden is removed from the race and Kamala Harris is put in instead.

“I intend to stop any contributions to the party unless and until they replace Biden at the top of the ticket. This is realism, not disrespect. Biden is a good man and has served his country admirably, but the stakes are far too high.

The History Channel’s How Disney Built America dives into the history of the Disney brand and its impact on generations of fans. The six-episode nonfiction series is set to premiere April 28, 2024 at 10pm Et/Pt, with new episodes arriving on Sundays.

Produced by A+E Factual Studios group, the new addition to the network’s That Built franchise is executive produced by Sharon Scott, Steve Ascher, Matthew Pearl, Kristy Sabat, and Andy Seestedt. The History Channel’s Mary E. Donahue, Jim Pasquarella, and Alex Hicks also serve as executive producers.

The network released this lengthy description of the six-part series:

“How Disney Built America is a nostalgia-filled ride that paints a vivid picture of the world of Walt Disney and the history-making empire he and his brother Roy Disney built. Each hour-long episode focuses on a different example of game-changing brilliance in Disney’s history including creating the world’s most recognizable characters,...

In a win for The Walt Disney Co. and CEO Bob Iger, Disney says that all of its director nominees have been elected by shareholders, rebuffing the activist investor Nelson Peltz, who had been running a high-profile campaign to put himself and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo on the company’s board.

Disney announced the preliminary result at the end of its annual shareholder meeting Thursday, noting that final results will be filed with the SEC later.

Peltz’s Trian Partners had been seeking to oust Disney directors Maria Elena Lagomasino and Michael Froman, replacing them with Peltz and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo.

A source says that Iger secured 94% of the vote for his board seat. Lagomasino beat Peltz by a margin of about two to one, with the activist securing about 30% of the vote for his seat. Rasulo lost his vote by a margin of five to one.

If Bob Iger were a Marvel superhero, his power would be persuasion. The Disney CEO has long leaned on his ability to convince others of his plans. From film and TV writers, directors and stars, to Disney shareholders, to the company’s own board members, Iger’s track record has been impeccable.

Consider possibly the most important deal he ever led: Disney’s $4 billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment in 2009. While Marvel’s success since then is not in dispute, at the time the idea of Disney chasing young men via the comic book brand was seen as a real risk. In his 2019 memoir The Ride of a Lifetime, Iger recalls how he pitched a skeptical Steve Jobs on the deal.

Jobs, who had sold Pixar to Disney just a couple of years earlier, was Disney’s largest shareholder and a member of the board. He also told Iger that he...

As the Disney board proxy fight nears its deciding day, activist investor Nelson Peltz is taking aim at what he calls the company’s “woke” film strategy, particularly as it pertains to Black Panther and The Marvels.

In a recent interview with The Financial Times, Peltz questioned the leadership of Marvel chief Kevin Feige and the larger movie strategy under Disney CEO Bob Iger. Though he said he did not want either leader unseated (Peltz is outwardly campaigning to take the board seats of current members Michael B.G. Froman and Maria Elena Lagomasino), he questioned how long Feige should remain and what the strategy should be moving forward.

“People go to watch a movie or a show to be entertained,” Peltz said in the interview. “They don’t go to get a message.

“Why do I have to have a Marvel that’s all women? Not that I have anything against women,...

Another prominent voice is weighing in with support for Disney CEO Bob Iger and the company’s board of directors in its proxy fight with Nelson Peltz’s Trian Partners.

Michael Eisner, Iger’s predecessor as CEO of the company, released a statement Friday that calls back to the 1984 activist campaign from Peltz’s fellow corporate raider Saul Steinberg, and warning that “bringing in someone who doesn’t have experience in the company or the industry to disrupt Bob and his eventual successor is playing not only with fire but earthquakes and hurricanes as well.”

“In 1983, Disney was under attack by corporate raiders trying to take over the company. That would have ended the Disney Company as we know it, for the studio, theme parks, and hotels were suggested to be sold off,” Eisner wrote. “The board turned to me and Frank Wells, and a different story was written, one...

In yet another twist to the Disney proxy fight drama, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner has publicly thrown his support behind current Disney CEO Bob Iger and the Walt Disney Company Board.

Michael Eisner was removed as Disney’s CEO after 11 years in the position (1984-2005.) He stepped down early and handed the position over to Bob Iger, who was COO at the time. Now he’s supporting Iger, asking people not to repeat what happened in 2005.

Before Eisner was made CEO, there was a previous “attack” by “corporate raiders” in 1983 that could have fundamentally changed the company. He is equating that situation to the current situation with Trian Partners and Blackwell Capital.

Here’s what he said:

“As I told @nytimes@dealbook, in 1983, Disney was under attack by corporate raiders trying to take over the company. That would have ended the Disney Company as we know it, for the studio,...

As the board proxy fight between The Walt Disney Company and Nelson Peltz’s Trian Partners comes down to the wire, Disney and CEO Bob Iger have locked up the support of another high-profile Disney shareholder.

Laurene Powell Jobs said in a statement Thursday that she is urging shareholders to vote in support of Disney’s board nominees.

“My family and I have been significant investors in The Walt Disney Company for nearly two decades, and in that time, we have seen the company transformed thanks to the steady and visionary leadership of Bob Iger and Disney’s expert Board of Directors,” Powell Jobs wrote. “What has always set Disney apart is the way it combines unbridled creativity with technological innovation to tell timeless stories—stories that inspire and enrich the world around us.

“There is no one who understands Disney’s important legacy or the responsibility to protect it more than Bob Iger,...

In a move that could shape the high-profile proxy fight between The Walt Disney Co. and Nelson Peltz’s Trian Partners, the influential advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services is recommending that its clients vote to add Peltz to Disney’s board of directors.

Iss ultimately recommended a vote for Peltz, but not Trian’s other nominee, Jay Rasulo, and to withhold a vote for current Disney board member Maria Elena Lagomasino.

Iss released a detailed report Thursday outlining Disney’s performance, and evaluating the proposals from both Trian and another activist, Blackwells. Iss noted Disney’s underperformance in recent years, and places particular emphasis on Disney’s succession issues.

And while it praised the strategic moves made since CEO Bob Iger’s return, the firm nonetheless argued that change is needed at the board level.

“Because the company has made positive changes to its board as well as operational changes...

Corporate board room proxy battles can be frustratingly unpredictable. Even a company confident in its leadership and strategy cannot afford complacency when someone is seeking to depose board directors. It’s something Disney CEO Bob Iger knows a thing or two about.

The last time Disney faced a full-fledged proxy fight was 20 years ago. More than 40 percent of shareholders voted against the Disney board and its then-ceo, Michael Eisner. The executive lost his chairman title within hours and told the board of his plans to step aside as CEO in mere months.

A turning point in that battle, as Bob Iger recalled in his 2019 memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime, was the decision by the influential Institutional Shareholder Services (Iss) to back the activists. “I remember thinking that it was like we’d entered a conventional war … and now another party had launched nuclear weapons,” Iger wrote of learning about the Iss recommendation,...

Descendants of Walt Disney and his brother Roy O. Disney have weighed in on the bid by two activist investment firms to win seats on the board of the Walt Disney Co. — and they’re in Bob Iger’s corner in the fight.

Nelson Peltz, the activist investor who runs hedge fund Trian Partners, is waging a proxy-fight battle to install himself and ex-Disney CFO Jay Rasulo as directors; Peltz’s stated aim is to drive up the price of Disney’s stock. Another investment firm, Blackwells Capital, supports the leadership of CEO Bob Iger and the current board but is urging Disney shareholders to vote for its own three candidates instead of Disney’s or Trian’s nominees.

Disney opposes the candidates put forward by Trian and Blackwells as lacking “the appropriate range of talent, skill, perspective and/or expertise,” and is urging shareholders to vote for its own 12 nominees.

Disney will unveil fiscal first-quarter financials after market close Wednesday – but this isn’t any earnings report. It’s one that comes with two separate activist shareholders lobbying aggressively to push new directors onto the company’s board because the stock has lagged and, they say, Disney hasn’t made any big moves to create value.

One potential game changer came late yesterday with Disney, Warner Bros. and Fox announcing the launch of a new sports streaming joint venture pooling the sports rights of three big media companies. That will generate a lot of conversation on Disney’s earnings call — but is it enough for Nelson Peltz to back off? He retreated from a proxy fight a year ago, but Disney’s stock was higher then.

The shares are trading at $99 — up nicely from a 52-week low of $79, but still down significantly from a year high of over $118.

Estimates for...

As it prepares to sell off linear channels and tries to reenergize its movie business, some think Disney has hit rock bottom.

A 100th birthday is always cause for celebration, no matter the circumstances. Very few American companies reach the century mark, and when they do it’s usually because they’ve managed to provide a service or product that American consumers have taken to their hearts as indispensable.

As Disney turns 100, many shareholders view the company’s position as the worst it’s ever been. The company’s linear channels are in decline and may could be sold in the next few years. Disney hasn’t had a box-office hit in years, despite valuable franchises and in the face of success by rivals like NBCUniversal. Sign Up Now $7.99+ / month disneyplus.com

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Happy Birthday?

Walt and Roy Disney first founded Walt Disney Studios on Oct.

In 1937, Walt Disney was desperate to find a way to make “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,”the first feature-length animated movie ever made, actually feel like a feature-length movie. He’d been doing his best to ignore the naysayers who christened the very idea of the film as “Disney’s folly.” But they did trigger a nagging concern for the 35-year-old studio chief: Audiences might reject an animated movie if it remained stuck in the realm of the flat, two-dimensional shorts that had propelled Mickey Mouse to worldwide celebrity.

“People said, ‘Nobody will sit through an hour-and-90-minute cartoon,’” Becky Cline, director of the Walt Disney archives, tells Variety. “‘Their eyes will start bleeding.’”

So Disney decided to do the thing that had served him so well since he and his brother Roy founded the Walt Disney Co. (originally the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio) in 1923: Innovate.

He tasked...

Tom Hanks portrayed iconic artist Walt Disney in the 2013 movie Saving Mr. Banks. But his initial instinct was to walk away from the project before a conversation with Disney head Bob Iger.

Why Tom Hanks initially didn’t want to play Walt Disney in ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ Tom Hanks | Cindy Ord/WireImage

Hanks has built an impressive resume of biopics in his career, from Philadelphia to A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Although he was well aware of this reputation, when he was approached to play Walt Disney himself, he refused. Being Walt Disney would’ve been too much even for Hanks.

“The burden, you know. Honestly, the responsibility. I heard about it first from Tony. I think he’s head of physical production at Disney. But he and I executive produced and worked and created From The Earth to the Moon, Band of Brothers, The Pacific. We had done a lot of stuff.

Striking writers now have a new punching bag: Bob Iger.

After telling CNBC’s David Faber Thursday that the labor situation is “very disturbing” and how the Hollywood unions aren’t being realistic about the current financial climate, WGA picketers went postal on social media by pointing out the massive pay disparity between the Disney CEO and most working writers today.

In a lengthy sit-down with CNBC from Sun Valley, Idaho, Iger addressed the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes and his ongoing feud with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Though his digs at DeSantis were lauded — he called the governor’s claims that Disney is sexualizing children “preposterous and inaccurate”— he lost the Tinseltown rank and file when he said “this is the worst time in the world” to walk off the job.

“I understand any labor organization’s desire to work on behalf of its members to get the most compensation...

The Walt Disney Company announced that they are extending Bob Iger’s contract as CEO through 2026. The former head of the company had returned to the position, after retiring in 2021, in November of 2022.

This is not the first time that the board has extended Iger’s tenure at the company. In fact, this is at least the third time that his contract has been extended — in 2017 (when it was supposed to be up in 2018), when it was extended until 2019 and then later that same year when it was elongated further until 2021.

When he returned to the company in November 2022, after a brief and disastrous run by Iger’s chosen successor Bob Chapek, he swore that he was just there to choose a successor (which he has yet to do) and that he would only run the company for another two years.

This is a total reversal of that and speaks...

There wouldn't be "The Little Mermaid" without Howard Ashman. There probably wouldn't be many of the most beloved Disney movies without him. Ashman was credited as a lyricist on 1989's "The Little Mermaid," 1991's "Beauty and the Beast," and 1992's "Aladdin," but he also worked as a storyteller behind the scenes, whipping the movies into shape and helping create the framework of a Disney animated movie that the studio continued to use throughout the '90s.

Don Hahn, who produced "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Lion King," said in his 2009 documentary, "Waking Sleeping Beauty," about the history of Walt Disney Feature Animation, "Howard is referred to by Roy Disney as another Walt. To us, and to our generation, he was a Walt Disney type." Hahn also directed the 2018 documentary "Howard" about Ashman's life and his work for Disney.

"The animation studio was basically shutting down," Jodi Benson, who voices Ariel in the original film,...

Celebrating six decades as the animation industry’s premier international showcase and cementing a growing position as Hollywood’s preferred French getaway, the Annecy Intl. Animation Festival revealed its 2023 program in Paris on Thursday, unveiling a formidable selection of world premieres and industry debuts.

If only for the breadth of this year’s official selection, Annecy looks set to for its most fulsome and abundant edition.

Among the 11 titles competing for this year’s Cristal – Annecy’s top prize – Jérémie Périn’s sci-fi drama “Mars Express” and Jim Capobianco & Pierre-Luc Granjon stop-motion Leonardo da Vinci epic “The Inventor” will make their world premieres. Other eagerly anticipated titles include “Chicken for Linda!” from Chiara Malta and Sébastien Laudenbach, “Four Souls of Coyote” from by Áron Gauder, and “The Inseparables” by Jérémie Degruson.

Titles like Liu Jian’s “Art College 1994” and Sepideh Farsi’s “The Siren” will arrive in the idyllic French...

For 50 years, it’s been a safe place for storytellers – musicians, animators, directors, writers, artists of all kinds – to learn, grow and thrive. As CalArts celebrates its golden anniversary, it also faces the future head-on.

Broad trustee emeritus Tim Disney, whose great-grandfather, Walt Disney, laid the foundation for what is now a world-class arts school, says that CalArts was founded with very large-scale, utopian ideas by Walt Disney. “Disneyland and CalArts were very grand things,” Disney says, adding that Walt died before the school opened and that his grandfather, Roy Disney, “had the very hard job” seeing the plans through. “His commitment was a very beautiful thing.”

It’s not a coincidence that Tim Disney spearheaded the Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (RedCat) in Downtown L.A., which hosts cutting-edge performances.

“Walt Disney was inspired by CalTech. He had radical ideas about education, and wanted to create a kind...

Three years have gone by since director Stuart Gordon passed away at the age of 72… but he left one more piece of entertainment for us to enjoy. Fab Press has announced that they will be publishing Gordon’s memoir Naked Theater & Uncensored Horror on July 20th, and copies can be pre-ordered at This Link.

Here’s the information on Naked Theater & Uncensored Horror: In this engaging candid memoir, horror legend Stuart Gordon gives a vivid account of his remarkable journey, from a student manning the barricades during the civil unrest of the 1960s, via an infamous stint as an experimental theater maverick, to ultimately becoming an iconic figure in cult cinema. While he’d started his professional career as a theater director, Gordon’s first love was cinema, and in 1985 he shocked the world with his wickedly witty debut feature Re-Animator. The film established an unofficial Gordon repertory company, including...

We lost Master of Horror Stuart Gordon back in 2020, but he leaves us with one final gift this year. Just announced and put up for pre-order by Fab Press, Naked Theater & Uncensored Horror is a memoir written by the late filmmaker.

Fab Press previews, “Stuart Gordon’s final completed work is presented here unexpurgated, and fully endorsed and approved by the Gordon family trust.”

The book features a special tribute written by frequent Stuart Gordon collaborator Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator), and it’s set to be released on July 20, 2023.

“In this engaging candid memoir, horror legend Stuart Gordon gives a vivid account of his remarkable journey, from a student manning the barricades during the civil unrest of the 1960s, via an infamous stint as an experimental theater maverick, to ultimately becoming an iconic figure in cult cinema.

“While he’d started his professional career as a theater director, Gordon’s first love was cinema,...

Disney has churned out many classic animated hits. However, at the turn of the century, the studio was experiencing a slump and needed something that would revive it. So they decided to take a risk with a movie about an elephant in a nightclub. The movie was in the works for several years, but it eventually got scrapped.

The proposed Disney movie ‘Wild Life’

Production art from Wild Life, an abandoned Disney movie project from the late 1990's. Loosely based on Pygmalion, the movie was the story of an elephant who became a hit on the New York club circuit. pic.twitter.com/sLwdRJAwjF

— Paul Tobin (@PaulTobin) June 3, 2019

During the early 2000s, Disney was not experiencing the incredible success the company was used to. Following hits like The Lion King, the House of Mouse’s releases were not catching on like they used to. And the studio was desperate to...

Roger Allers joined Disney in 1985, becoming part of a group of artists tasked with reviving public interest in Disney’s animated films by producing fresh theatrical releases. Allers directed his first feature picture, the Oscar-winning The Lion King (1994), which was adapted into a smash-hit Broadway musical.

The filmmaker spent the next many years at Disney, contributing to every animated feature film the company released. Among these are Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Rescuers Down Under, The Little Mermaid, and The Prince and the Pauper. Allers would later leave the studio after one of his projects was rejected.

Roger Allers’ 1994 film ‘The Lion King’ was a massive success

#TheLionKing directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff say they wanted Malcolm-Jamal Warner to play Simba in the original film pic.twitter.com/Gs7YXEm7nb

— Variety (@Variety) July 10, 2019

Twenty-five years before Jon Favreau’s 2019 photorealistic remake, co-directors Allers, Rob Minkoff, and a...

(Welcome to 100 Years of Disney Magic, a series examining the history, achievements, and legacy of The Walt Disney Company over the last century. Part 2, "The Dream Comes True: The Birth Of Disney Brothers Studio," investigated the animator arriving in Hollywood and founding the Disney Brothers Studio with his brother Roy. In Part 3, we explore the rise and fall of Walt's first breakout hit, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.)

When we think "Walt Disney," one iconic cartoon character comes to mind -- the shrill-voiced optimist, Mickey Mouse. Much like Kermit the Frog is to Jim Henson, the squeaky lil' anthropomorphized rodent is a reflection of his creator. Mickey Mouse is humble, yet bold. He works hard. He loves his friends and family. He's distinctly American. Heck, Mickey was even voicedby Walt Disney initially. It's no wonder that mouse ears became a trademark icon for the Disney brand as a whole, appearing on T-shirts,...

Exclusive: The non-fiction space is heating up in terms of M&a as Boardwalk Pictures, the company behind long-running Netflix series such as Chef’s Table and Last Chance U, has struck a deal to sell a minority stake.

The company, founded by Andrew Fried, has sold a stake to investment firm Shamrock Capital. No one is commenting, but we understand that the deal is in the nine-figure range.

The move is the latest big-ticket deal in the booming non-fiction space and follows deals such as Sony Pictures Television’s 350M acquisition of Industrial Media, Peter Chernin’s North Road Company’s 200M purchase of Red Arrow Studios, Fremantle’s acquisitive streak including companies such as 72 Films, and ITV Studio’s 126M deal for Plimsoll Productions.

Fried, who directed We Are Freestyle Love Supreme, founded the company in 2010 and also makes series such as FX’s Welcome To Wrexham, HBO Max’s The Big Brunch,...

Disney is stepping up consumer marketing for its year-long 100th anniversary celebration by unveiling a 90-second commercial during the Super Bowl that highlights the company’s centennial milestone.

The spot features a range of images from Disney old and new, from “Steamboat Willie”-era Mickey Mouse to the Na’vi characters from “Avatar” and “Avatar: The Way of Water.” The spot reflects titles and characters from the Disney vault and other major entertainment imprints in the Magic Kingdom, including Marvel Studios, Pixar and Lucasfilm.

Titled “Disney 100 Special Look,” the commercial blends footage of children dressed as Disney princesses, Buzz Lightyear and other characters, in addition to those playing with “Stars Wars” lightsabers. It also features the voice of Walt Disney expressing his thanks to “all the artists, all the workers and all of you” for taking the Disney brand to such heights. It closes on a title slate that declares...

Bob Iger is gearing up to take the earnings stage on Feb. 8 for his first quarterly report and public Wall Street conference call since his surprise return to the Disney CEO post that he exited in February 2020. But running what is likely to be a less-than-stellar quarterly financial presentation for the company is far from the most surreal experience Iger has faced in recent months, thanks to Nelson Peltz.

Trian Fund Management founder Peltz is a billionaire activist investor who hosted a fundraiser for President Donald Trump in February 2020. He’s known to be unhappy with Disney’s response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and at present he’s in the midst of a lawsuit against the wedding planner for his daughter Nicola Peltz and her now-husband, Brooklyn Beckham. For most of last fall, Peltz was also busy trying to engage with Disney brass, asking for meetings and phone calls.

In 2004, Roy Disney — Walt’s nephew — summoned Disney shareholders to the company’s annual meeting, asking them to oust then-chairman and CEO Michael Eisner, who had been running the place for 20 years. Roy had Walt’s face and his “Save Disney” movement brought emotional Disney-loving individual shareholders of all ages to chilly Philadelphia, some leaning on canes and others with babies in strollers. After a stunning 43 percent voted against re-electing Eisner to the board, a new chairman was named immediately and Eisner, despite vowing to remain as CEO until the end of his contract in 2006, departed in 2005.

At age 80, Nelson Peltz is old enough to remember one of the most successful shareholder revolts in corporate history. Presumably he also knows that he is no Roy Disney and CEO Bob Iger, back on the job only since November 21, is nothing like the increasingly imperious and isolated Michael Eisner of 2004.

But together...

Walt Disney Co. Archives director Becky Cline has spent the past several months shuttling between the studio’s Burbank lot and Philadelphia, where a sprawling exhibit is debuting in February as part of the conglomerate’s yearlong 100th anniversary celebration in 2023. After Philly’s famed Franklin Institute, Disney100: The Exhibition will embark on a global five-year tour. The 15,000-square-foot spectacle will showcase more than 250 items, including Mickey Mouse sketches through the years, the storybook seen in 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the snow globe from 1964’s Mary Poppins, not to mention Marvel, Star Wars, Avatar and Pixar paraphernalia.

None is more important than the contract signed by Walt Disney and his brother Roy O. Disney on Oct. 16, 1923, to make a series of six Alice in Wonderland-themed cartoons for distributor M.J. Winkler, who booked animated shorts to play before silent movies. The pact marked the founding of the Disney Brothers Studio,...

It is said that the typical gap of time for nostalgia to take root in the public consciousness is 20 years. Consider how the '70s were rife with rose-tinted fondness for the '50s, with the popularity of "Grease" and "Happy Days." Nostalgia for the 1980s hit hard in the early 2000s, although it never truly left if the success of shows like "Stranger Things" is anything to go by. We're now two whole decades on from the beginning of the new millennium. While we once again embrace emo rock and digital cameras, perhaps it's time to look back on the Disney film that ushered in a new era for the company, and may have killed it in the process.

In November of 2002, Walt Disney Feature Animation released "Treasure Planet." Based on the novel "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson, the sci-fi adventure tale was the long-time passion project for...

A well-liked executive with a lengthy history at the Walt Disney Company is called upon to serve as its CEO after a public fracas resulted in troubled shareholders and concerns about the company's future legacy. When the executive is installed as the CEO, those public concerns quickly dissipate and are replaced by pleased reactions from Wall Street and Disney fans. The executive is, as you may have guessed, Robert Iger. The year? Why, 2005, of course. No, you have not traveled back in time — but history is genuinely, inexplicably repeating itself again. On the Sunday night before Thanksgiving 2022, industry watchers were legitimately stunned by the one-two punch: Disney's current CEO, Bob Chapek, was being ousted, and his replacement was Bob Iger, the man who literally chose Chapek to replace him as CEO. Iger has the advantage of weathering 15 years as the CEO of the House of Mouse, which may help or...

Abigail Disney has shut down Fork Films, the documentary and feature film company behind “Crip Camp,” “One Child Nation” and “The Tale,” a drama about sexual abuse that starred Laura Dern.

As part of the closure, fewer than 10 positions have been eliminated. Abigail, a filmmaker and philanthropist, is also the granddaughter of Roy Disney, the co-founder of The Walt Disney Company.

A spokesperson for Fork Films said the staff was notified of the closure in February, and have been working to wind down the company by Sept. 30, 2022. Disney’s most recent film, “The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,” which she co-directed with Kathleen Hughes, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and was recently released digitally. The film examines the issue of economic inequality and ballooning CEO compensation packages. The movie made headlines as Disney drilled down on the employment and union practices at the theme parks run by The Walt Disney Company.

One of the greatest Halloween moments in any movie occurs when Bette Midler first ascends the stage of a costume party near the midpoint of Hocus Pocus (1993). Up until that sequence, we’d seen the legendary actor/singer play Winifred Sanderson, the eldest of three witchy sisters, but now Winifred was about to become Bette Midler. Bathed in a pale green light, befitting the spooky Halloween atmosphere, Midler takes the microphone and, along with Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, begins to belt a barn-burning cover of “I Put a Spell on You.”

To millennials of a certain age, it remains a Halloween anthem.

It’s also wildly different from what David Kirschner, the movie’s producer and co-writer, originally had in mind. For context, consider this: Kirschner’s first choice for Winifred Sanderson was Cloris Leachman, the perfectly deadpan, but severe, comedic presence of Young Frankenstein (1973) and The Last Picture Show...

The sequel to a beloved British family film, a heavy metal re-release, an Apple title from TIFF and Abigail Disney’s takedown of the American Dream populate the specialty film weekend in a market that may have found sturdier footing ahead of awards season and amid a dearth of blockbuster fare.

“I think there’s a lot we should be celebrating,” said Kyle Greenburg, marketing and distribution chief of Utopia. Its release, with Abramorama, of the latter’s restored 2009 doc Anvil!: The Story of Anvil rocked a 16K gross, or 8K per screen, from two single-show premiere events ahead of a one-day run coming Tuesday on 200 screens including AMC and Regal theaters and top arthouses. It played Thursday night in LA at the Saban Theatre, with Anvil performing live alongside Scott Ian of Anthrax, followed by a Q&a moderated by Steve-o. Last week, Peter Dinklage hosted a screening...

(Welcome to SlashClips, a series where we bring you exclusive clips from hot new Digital, Blu-ray, and theatrical releases you won't see anywhere else!)

In this edition:

The American Dream and Other Fairy TalesDigSection 8Railway ChildrenFor Walter and JosiahThe American Dream And Other Fairy Tales

First up, we have an exclusive clip from Abigail E. Disney's documentary "The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales," which explores income inequality through the lens of her family's namesake theme park. Co-directed by Disney (daughter of Roy E. Disney and an heir to the company) and Kathleen Hughes ("The Armor of Light"), the film is now playing in Orlando and New York. It will hit additional markets and VOD on September 23, 2022.

Here is the official synopsis:

Abigail Disney looks at America's dysfunctional and unequal economy and asks why the American Dream has worked for the wealthy, yet is a nightmare for people born with less.

Click here to read the full article.

Safety, including adequate rest during productions, is the top priority of camera technician Baird B. Steptoe Sr., who started his term this week as newly elected national president of the International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600), which represents 9,000 members.

The first Black guild member to be elected to the office, Steptoe started his industry career in the mail room at Walt Disney Studios, while at the same time attending night school in the Los Angeles City College film department. The first production he worked on as a paid professional was Disney’s 1976 TV movie Flight of the Grey Wolf, produced by Roy Disney Jr.. Since then, he earned more than 100 credits on projects including Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Signs, The Sixth Sense, Young Sheldon and True Blood.

Steptoe comes into office as safety is top of mind, after the death of Halyna Hutchins,...

David Crow Nov 15, 2019

Thirty years later, The Little Mermaid remains one of the most important Disney movies, changing the studio’s entire trajectory.

She sits atop a rock, wind blowing through her red hair. In the distance the object of her desire recedes from the surf, and something suddenly shifts. It is the moment of epiphany for Ariel, and the one on which The Little Mermaid turns. Yet it’s also the moment of transformation for the studio that gave her life. She would change her world, all right, and ours with it.

Originally a creature of tragedy in Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale, the once nameless heroine was reshaped by Disney, and more precisely Walt Disney Animation Studios during a moment of crisis, into an animated life so vibrant it is recognized as the beginning of the Disney Renaissance: the era in which Disney Animation reclaimed its legacy...

There's a map of Disneyland that exists that was hand drawn by Walt Disney himself. He drew it with the help of artist Herb Ryan back in 1953 and according to Van Eaton Galleries, the map was used by Walt and Roy Disney "to secure the financing they needed in order to build the park.” It worked and as a result, the park opened two years later on July 17th, 1955.

The map sold to a very wealthy Disney fanatic, who paid $708,000! That's a lot of freaking cash! There's no information on who bought it, but auctioneers were hoping it would bring in $900,000. The previous owner was Ron Clark who bought it from a Disney employee 40 years ago. There's no doubt he made a good profit.

Walt Disney's Original Disneyland Presentation Map Sells for $708,000 at Auction https://t.co/KzrtVcgsP2 pic.twitter.com/eNg6NQwH7m

— The Dis (@TheDIS) June 26, 2017...

It’s a whole new world.

Beauty and the Beast director Bill Condon confirmed in the April issue of Attitude that Josh Gad’s take on LeFou in the live-action reboot is intended to be Disney’s first openly gay character.

Condon, who is gay himself, points to B&TB as a deeply personal work for Disney lyricist Howard Ashman — also a gay man — whose partnership with Alan Menken yielded some astounding work, including the Little Shop of Horrors musical (which Ashman directed) and songs from The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.

There are various Disney characters...

Ryan Lambie Dec 7, 2016

Space horror in The Black Hole. Animated death in The Black Cauldron. Ryan looks back at a unique period in Disney's filmmaking history...

When George Lucas started writing Star Wars in the early 70s, the space saga was intended to fill a void left behind by westerns, pirate movies and the sci-fi fantasy of old matinee serials. "Disney had abdicated its rein over the children's market," Lucas once said, according to Peter Biskind's book, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, "and nothing had replaced it."

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Indeed, Disney was one of many Hollywood studios that Lucas had approached with Star Wars and they, just like Universal, United Artists and everyone other than 20th Century Fox boss Alan Ladd Jr, had turned it down flat.

Last night, I was on the Disney lot for a screening of Pete’s Dragon, and I had both of my kids with me. Both before and after the film, Allen had one thing on his mind, the same thing he’s had on his mind since the beginning of the weekend when I downloaded the Pokemon Go app to my phone. He’s been a Pokemon fan for the last few years, and he’s managed to put together an impressive mountain of the cards. He and his friends are all avid players, and I was impressed to see just how robust things are for Pokemon in general. When it first popped up in pop culture, I was way too old to care at all, and that was true until the day my kids discovered it. Even then, it was something that they did, not something that we all played together.

At a loss for what to watch this week? From new DVDs and Blu-rays, to what's new on Netflix and TV, we've got you covered.

New Video on Demand, Rental Streaming, and Digital Only

"Joy"

Jennifer Lawrence, who has a Best Actress Oscar from David O. Russell's "Silver Linings Playbook," was nominated for another one as the title character in this bio-drama about Joy Mangano, the real-life self-made millionaire who created the Miracle Mop, among other things. "Joy," written and directed by Russell, is out on Digital HD April 8, and on DVD/Blu-ray May 3. Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, who co-starred in "Silver Linings Playbook," are back in supporting roles in this family story that crosses four generations. When the Blu-ray shows up, it'll feature the extras "Joy, Strength and Perseverance," and "Jennifer Lawrence and David O. Russell Times Talk with Maureen Dowd."

"Catastrophe" Season 2 (Amazon)

Amazon's smart,...

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs is a true Hollywood classic. Released for the first time in December 1937. the first full-length Disney feature is a brilliant portrayal of the brothers Grimm’s chilling tale of an evil queen and the beautiful Snow White. The film reflects many of the social conditions of the time; the depression had just passed and songs such as “whistle while you work” were intended to promote a strong work ethic to the young children of America. The budget of the film was a staggering $500,000, around double the cost of an average film, yet the payoff was huge as this was the film that launched Disney’s decades-long domination of the animated features market.

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs arrives on Blu-ray February 2nd in a new two disc set packaged in a slipcover that replicates the artwork beneath. This is not the first release of the film.

Disney

Despite the suspicions that it might be no more than a money grab, the Diamond Edition release of Disney’s Aladdin does actually seem to promise on the special edition billing.

Not only does it include a tribute to the late, great Robin Williams, but it also features a lot of unseen footage and voice performance material from Williams that didn’t make it into the film. And on top of that the directors have just confirmed a long-held fan theory on the publicity trail for the film.

Speaking to E! News, directors Ron Clements and John Musker confirmed that the musical stall-holder who introduces the film is – as suspected by fans for years – the Genie himself in disguise:

“That’s true,” said Clements. “That was the whole intention, originally. We even had that at the end of the movie, where he would reveal himself to be the Genie,...

A version of this story first appeared in the Oct. 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe. Though Hollywood often dismisses or mocks evangelical Christians, director Abigail Disney is specifically courting them with her new anti-gun documentary, The Armor of Light. Disney boasts a calling-card name, hailing from the legendary Disney family (her father is former Disney vice chairman Roy E. Disney, who famously worked to oust Michael Eisner from the company, and her grandfather Roy O. Disney co-founded The Walt Disney Co. with her great-uncle Walt Disney.

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Disney is bringing their treasure trove of their short films from the last deacde and a half to blu-ray/DVD for you and your family to enjoy together in one complete set. Come inside to learn more about the shorts being collected!

With each new release, Disney continues their tradition of having a short animated film play before their movies, and now they're brining all of their latest (including this year's Frozen Fever) together in one collection on Blu-Ray/DVD...and it's available Now!

From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes an extraordinary new collection of award-winning and beloved short films featuring the never-before-released Frozen Fever, starring Frozen's Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Sven and Kristoff, and the Oscar®-nominated Lorenzo. The Short Films Collection features contemporary shorts starring classic characters, including the 2012 groundbreaking Mickey Mouse cartoon, Get A Horse!, holiday treats like Prep & Landing: Operation Secret Santa as well as hailed Oscar® winners Paperman and Feast.