Friday, April 22nd marks the 41st anniversary of Earth Day, a yearly tribute to the preservation of Earth’s natural environment and celebrated by more than 500 million people in 175 countries worldwide.
In Theaters
Since 2009, Disneynature, an independent division of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, has released a nature documentary on Earth Day in U.S. theaters, beginning with Earth in 2009, a film which chronicles the migrational journeys of polar bears, African bush elephants and humpback whales, and followed by 2010’s Oceans, an exploration of the mysteries and dangers of the deep.
Every year, Disney pledges environmental contributions that are contingent on the success of the films. Past pledges were to protect 35,000 acres of coral reef in the Bahamas based on Ocean‘s opening week ticket sales and to plant 2.7 million trees after 2.7 million people saw Earth in its opening week.
Excerpt from Disneynature's film poster for African Cats, copyright Disney
This year’s film, African Cats, which opens today, tells the true story of a family of cheetahs and a family of lions as they struggle to survive in the wild African savanna, with narration by Samuel L. Jackson.
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The High School Musical franchise has launched three High School Musical films, a reality series (High School Musical: Get in the Picture), a concert tour, a stage musical, an ice tour, a book series, numerous video games, and now a direct-to-DVD spin-off film starring Disney Channel darling Ashley Tisdale who reprises her role as ambitious blonde diva Sharpay Evans.
Screenshot from Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure, photograph by Ben Mark Holzberg, copyright Disney
In Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (out today on DVD and Blu-ray), Sharpay is finally Broadway-bound after a producer scouts her dog Boi during a musical performance at the Lava Springs Country Club. Sharpay moves to New York City, convinced that fame, fortune, and a fabulous penthouse apartment await, only to realize that the Big Apple is a dog-eat-dog world and the path to stardom is not an easy one. As one of the main antagonists in the first two High School Musical films, Sharpay is the narcissistic prima donna that everyone loves to hate, and the spin-off presents a new challenge for Tisdale to show the softer side of Sharpay… which should be a cinch for the actress who spent three years as lovable candy-counter girl Maddie Fitzpatrick on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
Read More: http://www.disney-blog.com/?p=695
In July, my husband and I are taking our first Caribbean cruise together out of New York on Princess Cruise Line’s Caribbean Princess ship. As New Yorkers (and Disney fans), we were excited to hear that Disney Cruise Line will add New York as a port of call on two new cruise itineraries beginning in 2012.
Disney Sails from New York, image from Disneycruise.disney.go.com
Disney’s first two cruise ships: Disney Magic, which launched in 1998, and sister ship Disney Wonder, which launched in 1999, are highly ranked on Cruise Critic’s Cruisers’ Choice Poll, earning a 4.6 and a 4.5 Overall ranking, respectively, and ranking especially highly in Entertainment (3rd & 4th overall) and Family & Children rankings for Kids Ages 10-12 (3rd & 6th overall), Kids Ages 13-15 (1st & 4th overall), and Kids Ages 16+ (2nd & 5th overall). And with two new Disney ships on the way: Disney Dream, which had its maiden voyage on January 26, 2011, and Disney Fantasy, which is set to launch in March, 2012, Disney Magic and Disney Wonder will soon debut at brand new ports of call.
Read More: http://www.disney-blog.com/?p=670
On June 21st, 2011, three days before the American box office debut of Disney/Pixar’s Cars 2, Disney will release Cars 2: The Video Game on all five major game consoles: XBox 360, Nintendo Wii, PC, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo DS.
Cars 2: The Video Game, screenshot from Disney.go.com
Cars 2: The Video Game will allow players to become one of twenty different characters and explore dozens of locations from the Cars 2 universe as they train to become a super spy agent of C.H.R.O.M.E. (Command Headquarters for Recon Operations and Motorized Espionage). While the original Cars video game focused on players winning 50 races in the Piston Cup, the gameplay in Cars 2 has been expanded so that players can take on dangerous missions, become the fastest racecar in the world, and use spy skills in action-packed combat racing.
Read More: http://www.disney-blog.com/?p=658
Fifteen years ago when Radio Disney first debuted, Selena Gomez was in preschool, Justin Bieber was in diapers, and Willow Smith hadn’t even been born. Back then there were no iPods, iPhones, or iTunes, and streaming music online and through mobile applications was inconceivable. In the late ’90s, the Dallas-based network and its affiliates played the latest hits from fresh-faced former Mickey Mouse Club stars Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera, as well as pop sensations the Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, and Hanson.
Now that Radio Disney is celebrating its 15th birthday, the technology and celebrities may have changed, but Radio Disney’s core mission to promote Disney-approved performers and properties through kid-friendly, contemporary mass market music remains the same.
Selena Gomez, Ernie D, and Jake Whetter kick off Radio Disney's 15th Birthday celebration (DISNEY CHANNEL/RICK ROWELL)
Read More: http://www.disney-blog.com/?p=644
