When I was in high school, I loved to collect Tinker Bell merchandise (mugs, snowglobes, stickers, etc.), but Tinker Bell wasn’t nearly as popular as the Disney Princesses at the time, and it was hard to come by quality products.
The Fairies of Pixie Hollow, image copyright Disney
Now ten years later, thanks in part to a series of direct-to-DVD movies that focus on Tinker Bell’s adventures in Pixie Hollow with her fairy friends (Tinker Bell, Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure, Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue, Tinker Bell and the Pixie Hollow Games), Tinker Bell is more popular than ever.
The first direct-to-DVD release, Tinker Bell, came out in 2008, followed by three sequels released over the next three years, and a fourth sequel, Tinker Bell and the Mysterious Winter Woods, due in 2012. The Tinker Bell series is the first of the Disney films to feature Tinker Bell as a computer animated character who speaks, as Disney’s traditionally animated Peter Pan (1953) and Return to Neverland (2002) had the fairy communicate entirely with churlish expressions and pouty body language.
Read More: http://www.disney-blog.com/?p=1826
Hurricane Irene has been battering the East Coast of the United States all weekend, and on Sunday morning when the eye of the hurricane passes over, Irene will be the first hurricane to hit New York City since 1985’s Hurricane Gloria. As a city resident in a non-evacuation zone, I am hunkered down in my apartment with my flashlight and fully-charged laptop, ready to weather the storm.
2011's Hurricane Irene, image from earthobservatory.nasa.gov
To commemorate this historical event in true Disney-fashion, I present some of the memorable storms from Disney’s past. Good luck to everyone in Hurricane Irene’s path! I wish you, your family, and your property the best!
Read More: http://www.disney-blog.com/?p=1804
Promotional image for Jake and the Never Land Pirates, image copyright Disney
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides may have grossed more than $1 billion worldwide, but Jack Sparrow is not the only Disney pirate making waves this year. The fearsome Captain Hook from 1953’s Peter Pan has returned in a gentler form in Jake and the Never Land Pirates, a preschool-friendly animated hit on the recently launched Disney Junior (formerly Playhouse Disney).
Read More: http://www.disney-blog.com/?p=1794
San Diego’s Comic-Con may be the preeminent event for comic book fans eager for sneak peeks of new properties, but for Disney fans, the can’t miss event is the D23 Expo.
The D23 Expo is hosted by D23, the Official Disney Fan Club. For $34.99/year (Silver Membership) or $74.99/year (Gold Membership), D23 members enjoy special member events, a subscription to the D23 FanFare e-newsletter, promotional offers and discounts, and four issues of the Disney twenty-three collectible magazine (Gold members only).
In 2009, the first D23 Expo was held in Anaheim, California and featured pavilions from Walt Disney Imagineering and Disney Consumer Products which showcased models for future attractions and Disney-exclusive products. There were also sneak peeks of upcoming Disney films and appearances by celebrities such as John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Johnny Depp, and Nicholas Cage. The Expo’s most anticipated announcement confirmed the planned expansion of the Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland in 2012-2013. These expansion plans were later revised, scrapping Cinderella’s chateau and Sleeping Beauty’s cottage in favor of a Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and the Princess Fairytale Hall.
Read More: http://www.disney-blog.com/?p=1778
L Frank Baum’s Ozma of Oz (1907), the third book in the popular Oz series, was one of my favorite childhood stories. When I was in middle-school, I bought Ozma of Oz and Tik-Tok of Oz (1914) in a special 2/$1 book promotion at WalMart, and they were my first introduction to the world of Oz outside of the beloved MGM film starring Judy Garland.
Over the ensuing years, I have read almost all of the 14-book series and have been awed by Baum’s imaginative and colorful characters, from the mechanical man Tik-Tok to the patchwork girl Scraps and everyone’s favorite trio, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion.
Screenshot from Return to Oz, image copyright Disney
In Ozma of Oz, Dorothy Gale is transported to the magical land of Ev after being swept overboard in a terrible storm and stranded in a floating chicken coop. Dorothy’s only companion is Billina, a spunky hen who starts to talk as soon as the two land on Ev’s enchanted shores. In Ev, they are confronted by the terrible Wheelers and they rescue the run-down mechanical man Tik-Tok who tells them about Ev, a land separated from Oz by the great Deadly Desert, and formerly ruled by the royal family of Ev who have been captured and transformed into ornaments by the evil Nome King.
Read More: http://www.disney-blog.com/?p=1762
