"Dog With A Blog": Disney Channel Orders New Show

Over the past two decades, Disney Channel has launched a whole host of young actors to fame. From the now grownup "The New Mickey Mouse Club" alumni group of Ryan Gosling, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera to the more recent tween icons like Hilary Duff, Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez, the Mouse House has been a star-making machine. Their next big thing, however, falls more in line with the another division of Disney icon: the anthropomorphic character.

From Mickey Mouse all the way up through Ratatouille (not to mention newly re-crowned box office champ "The Lion King"), Disney has long traded on giving animals human traits. They often do things like drive, have jobs and talk on the phone, and in a sign of the times, their newest animal star will be a blogger.

According to Deadline, Disney Channel has ordered a pilot called, well, "Dog With A Blog," about a dog that keeps a web log (also known as a blog). He will give his perspective on his newly formed family, with polar opposite teens suddenly thrust together through parents' remarriage. Presumably, he'll also put up links to his Yelp reviews of the best places to poop in the park and Spotify lists of sounds too high pitched for human ears.

Disney's "Newsies" Catches Broadway’s Attention!

New York theater owners have approached Disney Theatrical Productions about mounting the company’s “Newsies the Musical” on Broadway this season after the new show received strongly positive reviews this week at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, according to people familiar with the discussions.
“Newsies,” based on a 1992 Disney film that was inspired by the 1899 New York City newsboys’ strike, would be an unexpected major entry to a Broadway season that has relatively few original musicals set to open.
“Newsies” also represents the second Disney-developed show to receive attention from Broadway theater owners this year; the other show, “Peter and the Starcatcher,” inspired by Peter Pan, is widely expected to open on Broadway in the spring after its critically acclaimed run at New York Theater Workshop last season.
Executives from the Nederlander Organization and Jujamcyn Theaters, two of Broadway’s major chains, have reached out to Disney to talk about opening “Newsies” in one of their houses, according to the people familiar with the talks, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to divulge private business discussions.
Disney executives appear open to the idea of a Broadway run, these people said, but are at this point still planning to release the title for licensing as originally planned. A spokesman for Disney Theatricals declined to comment on Thursday about the overtures from the theater owners.
It is not clear if the star of “Newsies,” Jeremy Jordan, would be part of a Broadway production. He is committed to the upcoming Broadway musical “Bonnie & Clyde,” which is set to open this year.

Disney throws a London parade for 'Princess' Rapunzel

If you have ever witnessed a Disney parade, you will be familiar with the high kicking, high energy performance that either leaves children whipped into a frenzy or utterly spellbound.

If you haven't had the pleasure, then fear not. Disney will this weekend hold its first ever procession in central London in the form of a 'Princess parade' at Kensington Palace. This explains the rope-like lengths of hair that have appeared at some of the city's landmarks.

The free event takes place on Sunday between 1pm and 1.30pm, when Rapunzel - the animated star of latest movie Tangled - will be officially initiated into the pantheon of princesses.

Rapunzel will appear alongside nine of her fellow royals including Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine, Mulan, Pocahontas, Snow White and Tiana in a musical extravaganza that starts at the Queen’s Gate Lodge entrance.
The princesses will make their royal progress through the gardens in horse-drawn carriages before Rapunzel is 'crowned' the tenth princess character in the palace.

To find out more and download a parade map, go to www.disney.co.uk/rapunzel.

Marvel Looking For New Studio To Develop The Avengers game

With the collapse of THQ's Australian studios, Marvel's The Avengers videogame project fell through with the license now having "reverted back" to Marvel.

The comic creators seem determined to have an accompanying videogame for The Avengers, and are in the "early stages" of auditioning new publishers.

"The rights for a video game based on Marvel's Avengers IP have reverted back to Marvel,"

confirmed a Marvel spokesperson. "The company is in early stages of exploring potential publishing and licensing opportunities."

It would be a boom for the upcoming Avengers film, starring notable comic heroes Captain America, Thor, Hulk, and Iron Man, all of whom have enjoyed cinematic success these recent years with Thor and Captain America being the latest.

The Avengers hits theaters next year and includes movie stars Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, and Samuel L. Jackson.

Goosebumps Horrorland 1997: at Disney's Hollywood Studios

Since i've been in a "Halloween mode" this week, lets talk about Goosebumps Horrorland. It was a funhouse style show that appeared briefly during the Halloween season of 1997 at Disney's Hollywood Studios (aka Disney*MGM Studios) on Streets of America.

Basically it was a magic show in which frightfully scary illusions come to life. Among the ghouls in the cast are the Executioner, who performs "The Terror of the Tower" and instructs the audience to "hold on to your heads"; the Amazing Amaz-O, the Master of Magic and Wizard of Wonder; Curly, the Host of Horror; the Sultan of Scare; Sloppy, a dummy "who is no dummy"; Prince Khor-ka, a mummy who comes back from the dead; and Cuddles, the "hungry hamster that got too big."

In 1998, the Goosebumps characters returned this time as part of a motorcade and a book signing from R. L. Stine, the creator of the series.

And Disney's The Lion King 3D roars again this past weekend!

In another surprise victory at the box office, Simba and his friends were able to take down four newcomers this weekend to claim the top spot, THR is reporting. The 3-D re-issue of The Lion King lead the pack with a take of $22 million, bringing its current total to $61 million (and bringing its lifetime gross to a whopping $390 million). It is still unknown if Disney will extrend the film's run--which is set to end on Friday to make way for movie's Blu-Ray debut--,but with no new 3-D releases coming up anytime soon to take away its screens, The Lion King 3-D could possibly see a fairly long if the Mouse House lets it.

Happy 75th Birthday Muppets creator Jim Henson and to Steve Whitmire!

HAPPY 75th BIRTHDAY to Muppets creator, Jim Henson! and also Steve Whitmire, the man who took over Kermit from Jim after he passed, share a birthday today, September 24th.

Disney Gets 'The Lone Ranger' with Johnny Depp Back on the Saddle

It’s been a long, it’s been kind of ugly and very public, but it looks like Disney, Johnny Depp, Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbiniski are now all on the same page as Deadline reports that “The Lone Ranger” is back in the saddle and eyeing a 2012 start date.

A formal announcement will apparently come next week, but it appears all the sticking points have been resolved and the mouse house is good to go. It was about six weeks ago when Disney suddenly and surprisingly yanked the plug on the project, one that had been extensively casting already. Seeing DreamWorks and Universal flop with their expensive western “Cowboys & Aliens,” it seemed the studio was getting nervous about their own project—budgeted around $250 million—and demanded that it be dropped to somewhere between $200-220 million. It was reported that considerable work would need to done to drop some of the supernatural elements of the script and in addition, strip back some expensive set pieces one of which was described as ”the biggest train sequence in film history.” There was even talk of ousting Verbinski himself, whose reputation for going wildly overbudget did not serve him well. But Depp was sticking by his director and it appears everything has been smoothed over with budget being trimmed in every department from salaries to script to the production itself.

So, now that everything is starting over for a January and February shoot, what is happening with the cast? Well, co-stars Armie Hammer and Ruth Wilson are said to still be on board, but it remains to be seen what will happen to folks like Dwight Yoakam, Tom Wilkinson, Barry Pepper, James Badge Dale and Helena Bonham Carter who were all circling roles. We guess phone calls will be made to see what schedules are looking like or they will be re-cast entirely.

As for that December 21, 2012 release date, earlier in the month, word was that Disney was eager to hold onto that spot on the calendar and we’re guessing that’s still the plan. It’s now fairly common for studios to turn around tentpole projects in less than a year and we’d wager the slimmed down version of “The Lone Ranger” will not only be cheaper to get in the can, but quicker too, especially if VFX sequences have been scrapped or reconfigured. Moreover, it doesn’t appear Disney has a movie they can slide in to replace it with, and given that they answer to stockholders, removing a major blockbuster from the end of 2012 could cause some very furrowed brows on the faces of the Scrooge McDucks holding onto stock.

2 BRAND NEW trailers for "The Muppets"

First up we have the trailer for "The Muppets" that aired during the Countdown to the Emmy's Special on September 18, 2011 on FOX.

And next up we have Disney.com's SNEEK peek for "The Muppets"

Avatar' Theme Land Headed to Disney Parks‎

The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday that it has agreed on an exclusive deal to build attractions based on James Cameron's "Avatar" at its theme parks, starting with Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Fla. 

The first "Avatar" land, which begins construction in 2013 and is expected to open about three years later, is to be an immersive experience in a land spanning several acres. 

It will cost around $400 million. Tom Staggs, Disney's chairman of parks and resorts, said the land would be similar in scope to Cars Land, a 12-acre area based on the town of Radiator Springs in Disney/Pixar's "Cars" movies. 

Cars Land is to open next summer at California Adventure Park in Anaheim. Cameron said the attractions based on the top-grossing film of all time would bring the lush, bioluminescent planet of Pandora to life and would include animatronics and 3-D and holographic technology. Fans of the film have said they wanted to visit Pandora, he said. 

"The scenes that people liked best were not the obvious things like the big battle scenes," Cameron said. "It was the creatures, it was learning to fly, it was being in the forest at night. 

"So here's an opportunity ... to bring this world to life and get you to wander in it and see things you didn't see in either in the first film or the subsequent two." 

Cameron is working on the second and third installments of "Avatar," to be released in December 2014 and December 2015. 

The park will include elements of the second and third films and elements that aren't included in any of the films. The first installment of "Avatar" was a 3-D movie about a race of blue-skinned Na'vi who defend the moon they live on from invading humans. 

It has grossed about $2.8 billion in theaters worldwide since its December 2009 release and has brought in many millions more from home video sales. News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox, the studio that distributed "Avatar," also is a partner in the theme park and will distribute the next two films. 

It's not unusual for Disney to partner on projects that weren't produced at its own studio. It opened an "Indiana Jones" attraction at Disneyland in 1995 in partnership with Lucasfilm even though the film was distributed by rival studio Paramount, which is owned by Viacom Inc. 

Disney CEO Bob Iger said the long-term agreement includes the possible expansion of "Avatar" to Disney's other parks worldwide, but there are no immediate plans to do that. Cameron, his company, Lightstorm Entertainment, and producing partner Jon Landau will not get a cut of theme park ticket revenues. 

But they will help develop the area under a licensing deal that includes royalties on food and beverage sales, Staggs said. The area should help create thousands of jobs, he added. 

BREAKING NEWS: Avatar is heading to the Disney Parks!

The world of Pandora will soon be coming to the world of Disney. James Cameron and Disney CEO Bob Iger have just announced that the studio will be creating attractions based off of the mega-blockbuster for Disney parks around the globe, starting with Disney's Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World, FL. "Avatar created a world which audiences can discover again and again and now, through this incredible partnership with Disney, we'll be able to bring Pandora to life like never before," Cameron said. "With two new Avatar films currently in development, we'll have even more locations, characters and stories to explore. I'm chomping at the bit to start work with Disney's legendary Imagineers to bring our Avatar universe to life."

Kermit the Frog in Pistachios Get Crackin' commercial & Miss Piggy to guest star on "So Random"

Theres 63 days left til "Disney's The Muppets" hits theaters on Thanksgiving, and Disney is starting to push promotion for The Muppets! First up Kermit stars in the Wonderful Pistachios Get Crackin' commercial...

And last up out FAVORITE Diva is going to guest star on the hit Disney channel show "So Random" on Oct 2nd!

Disney's Muppets Invade Monday Night RAW‎ on Halloween!

WWE.com announced Monday that in celebration of their first theatrical release in over a decade – Disney's The Muppets, opening this Thanksgiving – the Muppets will step into the ring on the Oct. 31 episode of WWE Raw SuperShow.


WWE teases: "What will happen when Kermit the Frog meets The Viper? Will the Divas make Miss Piggy flip with jealousy? Will Beaker be confused for Sheamus? On Halloween, it's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights, because the Muppets are about to get Raw!"

'Lion King' in 3-D Rules Box Office

The King isn’t quite dead. Long live the King.

As if reappearing from a land before CGI times, when painted cels roamed free, “The Lion King” dominated the domestic box office with its new 3-D release, grossing $29.3-million to exceed predictions and win the weekend, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. (Those are Sunday’s studio estimates; final tallies are expected Monday.)

Buoyed by 3-D ticket prices, the re-release of “Lion King” easily dethroned Steven Soderbergh’s breakneck breakout film “Contagion”(second place at $14.48-million), and also left in the dust the debut of“Drive” (third at $11-million), starring Ryan Gosling. (A reported 92-percent of the “Lion”audience attended 3-D screenings.)

The animated musical’s performance more than doubled the studio’s expectations for the 3-D release. Disney distribution exec Dave Holils told the Associated Press that he expected “Lion King” to gross between $10-million and $12-million this weekend.

“The Lion King (3-D)” is also the first re-release to win a box-office weekend since “Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi” in 1997, BoxOfficeMojo says.

This weekend’s take bumped “The Lion King” up an eye-catching eight spots on the all-time list — to No.-17 — with a $357-million total.

Powered by A-list voice-casting, lush artistry and Elton John/Tim Rice’s swelling songs (including “Circle of Life”), the original “Lion King” won audiences and two Oscars. It was released in 1994, in the wake of such Disney Animation comeback films as “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Little Mermaid” — among the Mouse House’s new round of “princess” films.

1994 represented a last roar, of sorts: The next year, Disney/Pixar unwrapped its first CGI feature film, “Toy Story,” for moviegoers that have been under Pixar’s industry-changing spell ever since.

Of the top-30 animated feature films all-time at the domestic box office, only two — the Hamlet-infused “Lion King” (No.-3) and “The Simpsons Movie” (No.-27) — are hand-drawn. Pixar films and DreamWorks Animation’s ”Shrek” franchise dominate the top of that list.

“But taking a page from the movie, there is a ‘circle of life’ thing happening,” Hollis told the AP (nearly 60-percent of its audience this weekend was younger than 25, Disney says). “You have children of the ‘90s who are now parents of the 2010s and they themselves are taking their kids to share what was, for them, a great experience two decades ago.”

The result: For one weekend, at least, the generation-spanning spirit of “Hakuna Mutata” is hoisted again atop the box-office perch.

'Disney's The Lone Ranger': Johnny Depp's Film May Ride Again

If and when "The Lone Ranger" actually hits theaters, it's getting to the point that the pre-roll could feature a prologue with enough drama to rival the film's actual story arc.

Back in August, Disney confirmed that they had shut down production on Depp's big screen revival of the classic radio and TV western, balking at a $250 million price tag put forward by the star, director Gore Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. The move pitted the studio against its "Pirates of the Caribbean" team, with Hollywood keeping close tabs on whether or not they'd find a happy medium.

Word was that, earlier in the month, the two sides were set to meet to discuss a pared down budget, and according to Deadline, the studio now has "guarded optimism" that the film may get made.

What that means, budget wise, remains to be seen; Disney wants a $200 million film, while Depp and co. may not have come down that far. One bone of contention -- and whether or not it has been shaved down, remains to be seen -- is its supernatural aspects, according to the website Hollywood-Elsewhere.

"It was going to be a Tonto show mainly. Tonto as the top dog and more dominant than the Lone Ranger," a screenwriter tracking the film told the site. Depp would play Tonto, while "The Social Network" and "J. Edgar" star Armie Hammer would play The Lone Ranger. "Tonto and the Indian spirits like Obi Wan Kenobi and the force. The driving engine was going to be Native American occult aspects worked in with werewolves and special effects. But flavored with doses of Native American spirituality in a serious way."

That would, indeed, make sense; for Depp, the film is a passion project meant to make right the injustice of the sidekick role to which Tonto was relegated in the original series.

"I liked Tonto, even at that tender age, and knew Tonto was getting the unpleasant end of the stick here. That's stuck with me," Depp told Entertainment Weekly earlier in the year of his childhood affinity for the show. "And when the idea came up [for the movie], I started thinking about Tonto and what could be done in my own small way try to -- 'eliminate' isn't possible -- but reinvent the relationship, to attempt to take some of the ugliness thrown on the Native Americans, not only in 'The Lone Ranger,' but the way Indians were treated throughout history of cinema, and turn it on its head.

"The Lion King 3D":Go see Simba on the big screen again!

Ah, the circle of life. First a Disney film is released out unto the world to run and jump and play with its paying audience, then it grows up into a strapping VHS that disappears into the vault for years at a time, then a Broadway show, a straight-to-video sequel, an IMAX re-release, a DVD, a special edition DVD, and so on, until finally it is reborn as a 3-D re-re-release. It really is beautiful when you think about it.

The Lion King is one of the early examples of the classic films slated to get an ex post facto 3-D conversion, and quite a few more are on the stereoscopic horizon, including the Star Warsfilms, Top Gun, My Dinner With Andre, and more. So is it worth it? Having seen the new version, the 3-D doesn’t really change all that much. However, it also not nearly as distracting as some recent post-production 3-D  jobs, and other than muting the film’s brilliant color array a tad, the animated classic we know and love has come through the process unscathed. Personally, any chance to see the film back on the big screen, and for parents to be able to introduce it to their children, is all right by me. It’s this or The Smurfs, people.

The inevitable 3-D backlash has already been revving up for a while, and I’m sure some of the other conversions coming down the pike are aiming for a head-on collision with exasperated and headache-y audiences. Still, this should do pretty well, with families bringing in a whole new generation of viewers to enjoy the adventures of Kimba, er, I mean Simba. Plus, parents have the chance to tell their young ones that they can remember the days when times were really tough and people could only afford movies with two dimensions.

The Muppets Parody The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo With New Trailer And Poster

The People at Walt Disney Studios JUST released The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo surprise trailer reveal, and in a bit of good timing that could only have been intentional, Disney has a new trailer for The Muppets that's a direct, hilarious parody of the first Dragon Tattoo teaser trailer. Disney's marketing campaign has managed to get everybody talking while showing off the bare minimum of footage from the film. It's a great way to remind everyone of the sharp Muppets sense of humor while also keeping the movie relatively under wraps. Though, lucky for us, it won't be under wraps a whole lot longer-- the movie finally comes out in just over two months, on November 23.

a NEW Muppet T-shirt Design Contest!

Well over the summer we had one and NOW it’s time for another one, and WeLoveFine.com has a new contest of their own. The winning design will be printed on an actual t-shirt.

The theme is “adventure,” submissions are being accepted from today until October 2, and the winner will be announced on November 11, 2011.

Check out the details of the contest and  the submissions kit right here on WeLoveFine.com!

‘The Muppets’ New Hi-Res Stills, Publicity Images, Movie Fun Facts (Minor Spoilers)

Walt Disney Studios has provided our Disney friends, StitchKingdom.com, with five new hi-res stills from The Muppets as well as publicity images for several of the main characters and, if that weren’t enough (it weren’t), a bunch of fun facts surrounding the film and its legendary stars, where you will learn, for example, which classic film played an integral part in re-creating the Muppet Theatre (which incidentally was re-built based on original blueprints from the Muppets Archive).

BY THE NUMBERS
LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN – Disney’s The Muppets is the 7th feature film featuring the Muppets.
MANY MUPPETS – More than 120 Muppets appear in the film.
STEPPIN’ OUT -  The film tapped 60 dancers to perform with Jason Segel and Amy Adams for the “Everything’s Great” opening musical performance. Hollywood Boulevard was shut down for two evenings to record the finale dance scene of the reprise of “Everything’s Great,” featuring 100 dancers.
PRETTY PIG – A total of 12 different costumes were made for Miss Piggy—more costume changes than any other actor in the film.
SO BIG – The largest Muppet, Thog, stands over 9.5 feet tall and is 4 feet wide.
TOP TEACHER – Amy Adam’s character Mary is a teacher with 16 students. Thus, no less than 16 perfect apples sit on the edge of the stellar teacher’s desk.
FILMMAKER FRENZY
AT THE HELM – Director James Bobin makes his film directorial debut. Bobin co-created HBO’s “Flight of the Conchords,” which he wrote, directed and executive produced.
CUE THE MUSIC – Bret McKenzie of “Flight of the Conchords” wrote and produced three original songs and served as music supervisor for the film. McKenzie fills some big shoes: The Muppet Movie was nominated for two Oscars®: Best Music, Original Song (“Rainbow Connection”) and Best Music, Original Sound Score.
ALL IN THE FAMILY – Choreographer Michael Rooney is the son of Mickey Rooney, who appears in the film in a cameo role. This is the first time the two have ever worked together on a film.
MINI ME – Muppet versions of Gary/Jason Segel and director James Bobin were created.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE ACCESSORIES
HIGH FASHION – Miss Piggy had shoes made for her by Christian Louboutin and a dress by Zac Posen, which she wears in the finale scene.
FANCY DUDS – Kermit had a suit made for him by Brooks Brothers for the scene where he walks through the streets of Paris with Miss Piggy.
TIME WILL TELL – Walter wears a Kermit watch in the film.
TICKLING THE IVORIES -  Rowlf’s original piano is back — incorporated into the Muppet Show orchestra.
STRUMMING THE SAME STRINGS – Kermit uses the banjo from 1979’s The Muppet Movie during the “Rainbow Connection” performance in Disney’s The Muppets. The staging of the scene features Kermit on a replica of the log where he was first found strumming his banjo in the very first Muppet movie. Miss Piggy shows up in a rowboat very much like the one the late Dom DeLuise used when he joined Kermit in their sweet duet.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
SEEING GREEN – Disney’s The Muppets was a green set (in more ways than one) with an environmental steward who made sure the proper recycling receptacles were utilized on set. All of paper products were made from recycled materials and were compostable. The production also provided each crew member with aluminum refillable water bottles to cut down on the use of plastic bottles and paper cups. Water was readily available on set for cast and crew to fill their personal water bottles.
NICE PAD – Kermit’s mansion was filmed at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills.
OUI, OUI – Miss Piggy’s Vogue Paris office was filmed at the Pink Palace mansion in Bel Air.
GO BIG – Tex Richman’s 51st Floor office was shot in the old ARCO headquarters on Figueroa Street in downtown LA.
MAKING MUPPET STUDIOS – The Muppet Theater, built on Stage 28 on the Universal Studios Lot, incorporated parts of the old Phantom of the Opera set into its audience section. The Jim Henson Company gate was turned into the Muppet Studios entrance. A sign showcased a series of tour attractions, along with their sad fates:

• Fozzie’s Joke Room: Closed
• Gonzo’s Cannonade: Closed for Repair
• Rowlf’s Music Parlor: Under Renovation
• Dr. Honeydew’s Laboratory of Fun: Out of Order

TRICKY TOUR – Walter’s tour through Muppet Studios actually went through The Jim Henson Company on La Brea, Crossroads of the World on Sunset Blvd., the outside of Stage 3 on the Disney Lot in Burbank and two soundstage sets on the Universal Lot (Kermit’s Office and the Muppet Theater interior).
SIGNATURE ARCHES – A set design replicating the arches from the opening title sequence of “The Muppet Show” was recreated and used in the Muppet telethon.
THEY’VE GOT CHARACTER
RIBET – Kermit the Frog first appeared on “Afternoon, Footlight Theater” and “Sam and Friends” in 1955.

• A balloon of Kermit appears annually in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
• Kermit has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
• Kermit celebrated his 50th Anniversary in Kermit, Texas, in 2005 and received a key to the city.

PROMINENT PIG – Miss Piggy first appeared in the chorus on “The Herb Alpert Special” in 1974.

• She appeared as 1st Sow in the “Return to the Planet of The Pigs” bit on “The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence” in 1975 (which was, in effect, the pilot for “The Muppet Show”).
• She was also a chorus pig in the first season of “The Muppet Show.” Her break-out performance was in a number called “Temptation” on the Juliet Prowse episode.
• The confident character was called Miss Piggy for the first time on “The Muppet Show” in 1976.

MAKING HIS DEBUT – Walter was a character conceptualized by Jason Segel specifically for Disney’s The Muppets.
THE GREAT – Gonzo first appeared in “The Great Santa Claus Switch” as the Cigar Box Frackle in 1970.

• He appeared on “The Herb Alpert Special” in 1974.
• Gonzo as he’s now known debuted on “The Muppet Show” in 1976.

WOCKA WOCKA – Fozzie first appeared on “The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence” in 1975.
TOP DAWG – Rowlf first appeared on for a Purina Dog Chow commercial in 1962. He began appearances on “The Jimmy Dean Show” in 1963.
HECKLERS – Statler & Waldorf first heckled on “The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence” in 1975.
STAR-SPANGLED – Sam the Eagle first was offended and appalled by the Muppets on “The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence” in 1975.
PRE-HEATED – The Swedish Chef kicked off his cooking career on “The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence” in 1975.
RAT-A-TAT – Rizzo the Rat originally appeared as an uncredited vermin in “The Muppets Musicians of Bremen” in 1972. He was revamped by Steve Whitmire for “The Muppet Show” sometime between 1978 and 1980, and credited as Rizzo the Rat for the first time in 1981’s The Great Muppet Caper.
IT’S ELECTRIC – The Electric Mayhem, including Dr. Teeth, Animal, Janice, Floyd and Zoot, launched their legendary career on “The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence” in 1975.

for MORE Hi-Res movie Stills here!

Winnie the Pooh DVD and Blu-ray in October!

Walt Disney Studios have announced the release of Winnie the Pooh on DVD and Blu-ray on October 25th, reports Blu-ray. Available as a separate DVD and a Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy combo pack, extras on this release will include, "Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon" bonus short, "The Ballad of Nessie" bonus short, and Deleted scenes with introductions by directors Stephen Anderson and Don Hall. Blu-ray disc will add "Winnie the Pooh and His Story Too" behind-the-scenes featurette, "Original Eeyore Intro," "Original Tigger Intro," "Pooh Searches for a Tail", Sing-Along with the Movie feature, and more.

TDDF Remembers 9/11 & 10 Things You Never Knew About The Lion King

With The Lion King 3D bout to be released for the first time in theaters on
September 16th and on Disney Blu-ray™ Hi-Def and Blu-ray 3D ™ October
4th, we step back in time to uncover some fun facts and top secrets about the
animated blockbuster…

SECRET NUMBER ONE… THE ORIGINAL TITLE OF THE MOVIE WASN’T "THE LION KING"

“When I first started work on The Lion King, the movie was called King Of
The Jungle,” reveals the film’s producer Don Hahn. “King Of The Jungle was
a metaphor for this allegorical story about human behavior. We were thinking
about the idea of how it’s a jungle out there and Simba has to exist in this
jungle. However, there was no jungle in our story; they’re out on a savannah.
Another title we looked into was King Of The Beasts, which made more sense
because a lion is the king of beasts – but then we threw that out because
we wanted to focus on a simple story about a lion king. At that stage we
thought, ‘Why not call it The Lion King?’ The story is about a kid who wants to
be king and his uncle frames him for murder, so he grows up in the wilderness
and then he has to come back to claim his throne. That’s the whole story, and
it’s all about a lion king, so the name stuck.”

SECRET NUMBER TWO… PRIDE ROCK WAS CREATED IN BURBANK!

“We took a trip to Kenya to research the animals and the landscape for the
movie,” explains The Lion King co-director Roger Allers. “There wasn’t much time
for sketching during the trip because the animals were always very quick, but
we did a lot of photo research and we absorbed the feel of the landscape and
the weather. In the movie, Pride Lands is modeled after many different areas of
Kenya. There are certain things lifted from the landscape around the Samburu
District, but we used a variety of inspirations. Many people try to say, “Pride
Rock is based on this mountain here.” But they are wrong. An artist in Burbank
invented Pride Rock.

SECRET NUMBER THREE… ZAZU WAS ORIGINALLY A SMALLER SPECIES OF BIRD

“In the early stages of development, Zazu was a little, pointy-beaked bird,”
reveals co-director Roger Allers. “I can’t remember the exact species, but we
decided to change him into something very different after our research trip to
Africa. We kept seeing these wonderful hornbill birds hopping around the place
and they had so much character. The upward curve of their beak suggested
a sense of haughtiness to them; and at the same time they had wonderful
feathery legs that looked like they were wearing pajama bottoms. They looked
so funny and they had so much personality that we knew Zazu would have to be
a hornbill. It really added to his character.”

SECRET NUMBER FOUR… IT TOOK NINE MONTHS TO CONVERT THE MOVIE INTO 3D

“When I first heard that The Lion King was going to be converted into 3D, I
wasn’t sure it could be done,” reveals producer Don Hahn. “However, I was
blown away by the results. It looks fantastic! All in all, it took about nine months
to complete the process. We spent the first three months preparing and testing
the shots, followed by six months of actual production work.”

SECRET NUMBER FIVE… THE CREATIVE TEAM BROUGHT REAL LIONS INTO THE ANIMATION STUDIO TO RESEARCH THEIR MOVEMENTS

“When Walt Disney worked on Bambi, he brought a variety of forest animals
into the animation studio for research,” reveals The Lion King co-director Rob
Minkoff. “The artists could see how the animals looked up close and they could
observe how they moved around, so it was a great way to study the wildlife.
That inspired us to bring real lions and cubs into the studio to research the
animals of The Lion King. A very famous animal expert called Jim Fowler, who
was the host of a television show called Mutual Of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom,
brought the animals in for us. It was very exciting and very informative for all of
the animators working on the movie.”

SECRET NUMBER SIX… RAFIKI WAS A VERY DIFFERENT CHARACTER IN EARLY VERSIONS OF THE STORY

“In the early stages of production, the character of Rafiki was very different to
the character you see in the finished film,” admits co-director Roger Allers. “In
early versions of the story, Rafiki was a serious counselor to the king. He was a
very wise man, so we hired the actor Robert Guillaume to do the voice. However,
by the time Robert came into record the voice, the character had completely
changed. We had come up with the idea of Rafiki being more of a crazy hermit
monk. He was now a wacky and mysterious character with a mystical side and
a wisdom that shows through occasionally – but a very playful, nutty side too.
Robert is a very dignified person and this wasn’t what he had signed up for, so
we spent the first recording session trying to find the voice and the laugh of
Rafiki. Robert nailed it that day and the rest is history.”

SECRET NUMBER SEVEN… NATHAN LANE AND ERNIE SABELLA ORIGINALLY AUDITIONED FOR THE ROLE OF THE HYENAS

“The casting process for The Lion King was extremely long and very involved,”
explains co-director Rob Minkoff. “We went through lots of different ideas for
the various roles in the movie, but two of the great successes were Timon
and Pumbaa. Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella were performing in a Broadway
production of Guys And Dolls in 1992, when The Lion King was being made.

They came to an audition in New York and they bumped into each other in the
lobby, which is when they discovered they were both auditioning for the roles of
hyenas. They asked the casting director if they could audition together and they
were hilarious as they read their lines, but they didn’t seem right for the hyenas.
That’s when we thought, ‘What if we use them as Timon and Pumbaa?’ It was
the perfect fit.”

SECRET NUMBER EIGHT… THE HAKUNA MATATA SONG WASN’T IN THE ORIGINAL SCRIPT

“In the early stages of production, we had a song called He’s Got It All Worked
Out in the movie,” reveals co-director Rob Minkoff. “We wanted a fun, bug-
eating song because we wanted to convey the idea that Simba is not being a lion
when he meets Timon and Pumbaa; he’s giving up his lion ways and he’s moving
into this new life away from his home. However, we couldn’t convince everybody
that making the entire song about eating bugs was a good idea. Soon after,
the research team came back from their trip to Africa with the phrase ‘Hakuna
Matata’. We talked about it in a meeting with Tim Rice – and that’s when the
idea struck. I remember Tim saying, ‘Hmmm… Hakuna Matata. It’s a bit like
Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo.’ A song was born!”

SECRET NUMBER NINE… PUMBAA’S BELLY-RUBBING WAS INSPIRED BY AN ANIMATOR’S WIFE

“My wife was pregnant with our first child during the time I was working on The
Lion King,” explains animator Tony Bancroft. “If you watch a pregnant woman –
– you’ll notice that they like to rub their bellies. It makes them feel comfortable.
It’s appeasing. Well, I used to watch my wife rubbing her belly and it made me
think, ‘That would be such a fun element to put into Pumbaa since he’s a big,
fat guy.’ When you see Pumbaa lying on his back staring up at the stars in the
movie, you’ll notice he does that gesture. I animated that scene and I had him
stroking his stomach softly like a pregnant woman because it seemed so natural.
It makes him more human and relatable.”

SECRET NUMBER TEN… THE FILMMAKERS ORIGINALLY WANTED CHEECH AND CHONG TO PLAY THE HYENAS IN THE MOVIE

“We had a really tough time finding the right voices for the hyenas in the movie,”
reveals co-director Rob Minkoff. “Gary Trousdale, one of the directors of Beauty
And The Beast, helped us out in the early stages of development and he created
an entire storyboard of the hyenas as if they were played by Cheech and Chong.
It was hilarious, but Cheech and Chong weren’t working together at the time, so
we knew we wouldn’t be able to book the pair for the roles. Around that same
time we heard that Whoopi Goldberg was interested in the film and when we
asked her if she’d like to voice a hyena she said, ‘Yeah, great.’ So we got Cheech
and Whoopi instead of Cheech and Chong!”