Sources announced recently that both Starz Entertainment and Walt Disney Co. have filed a lawsuit against Dish Network. The claim? Both companies are unhappy with Dish Network’s decision to give subscribers a free year of Starz, a service that normally costs subscribers $13 per month.
While Starz has their own lawsuit regarding Dish Network’s decision, Disney, which is one of Starz’s biggest suppliers of content, says that Dish Network’s decision to give away Starz for free is hurting the value of Disney’s movies. Additionally, Disney also claims that the actions of …

With a long-standing history of honor and commitment to the military, Disney Parks has taken it a step further and extended their special offers for military families until September 2012. All military personnel and their families, including active and retired military, as well as the National Guard members and Reservists, will be able to take advantage of special hotel and theme park rates.
This news is in conjunction to the Walt Disney Company announcing their participation in Joining Forces, a campaign created by the Obama Administration. To learn more about this …

According to reports, Hong Kong Disneyland will complete the first phase of its current expansion a year ahead of schedule – in 2013, to be exact.
In response to worries that the latest expansion will compete with the upcoming Shanghai Disneyland, Andrew Kam, the theme park’s managing director, said, “We have no overlapping market with Shanghai Disneyland… the two theme parks have their own characteristics.”
Hong Kong Disneyland has suffered from poor attendance and monetary losses since it opened in 2005, which means the expansion could not come at a better time. Critics of …

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Debutts Marcus Productions., founded by Russell Marcus (former executive producer of Married… With Children), is suing the Walt Disney Co., the Jim Henson Co., and The Muppets Studio.
Marcus claims that the Muppet Workshop, which allows customers to build their own Muppet characters, was his idea – and that he’s being stiffed out of alleged royalties from the workshop.
According to the plaintiff, he came to an agreement with Tadpole Productions in 1998, the development division of Jim Henson. In the agreement, it …

We wrote earlier this week about Disney’s final approval to begin work on Shanghai Disney Resort. This week, a groundbreaking ceremony was held to celebrate the start of construction on the new theme park and resort – the first Disney theme park to be built in mainland China.  Today, we’re sharing news of the ceremony, as well as the latest concept art that Disney has released for the resort.
President and CEO of the The Walt Disney Company Robert Iger, who was on hand for the festivities, had this to say:
Our …

A ground-breaking ceremony will be held this Friday in Shanghai to celebrate Walt Disney Co.’s final approval for building a much-anticipated theme park and resort.
The project, which was originally introduced in 1995, has now been given the final green light to move ahead with construction, ending a 16-year wait for the Walt Disney Company and fans who were speculating when Disney would open its first theme park in mainland China.
Disneyland Shanghai, a $3.6 billion project, will be the Disney company’s fourth theme park/resort outside of the United States, and nearly …

Despite the opinions of the advisory firm Glass Lewis & Co., Disney shareholders re-elected Steve Jobs to the board on Wednesday – even though he has missed about 75% of the meetings last year.
Jobs’ absences from most of the meetings are allegedly due to an illness that also had him take a leave of absence as CEO of Apple.
Even though the advisory firm recommended Jobs not be re-elected, the Disney shareholders reinstated him at their annual meeting in Salt Lake City, as well as re-electing the company’s 12 other nominees.
The meeting …

A California family who visited Walt Disney World last March is suing Disney, alleging that their son was scalded by nacho cheese he was served while at the resort.
Maria Carmen and Michael Jerome Harris, Jr., allege that the company is negligent for serving their four year-old the hot cheese sauce, because they did nothing to regulate its temperature, and that the company was reckless.
The couple, who live in San Diego, is seeking $200,000 in damages for causing “suffering, anguish, fright, worry, and shock,” among other concerns.
When asked for a statement regarding …

2010 was a good year to be Bob Iger.
The Walt Disney Company Chief Executive saw an increase in pay in 2010 of 35%, jumping to $16.3 million from $12 million the year before, bringing his total compensation to $28 million.  The increase by the board of directors’ compensation committee was in recognition of Iger’s “exceptional performance” during a year otherwise marked by a slow economy.
The committee pointed specifically to the success of three of Disney’s cable channels, Disney Channel, ESPN, and ABC Family, as they delivered record ratings.  Also noted …

Disney shares surged to a 10-year high on Wednesday according to the Los Angeles Times, thanks to favorable ratings by a trio of notable analysts on Wednesday.
Caris & Co. and Morgan Stanley have both increased their earnings estimates for Disney’s fiscal first quarter, which just ended.  Goldman Sachs further added to the trio of optimism by adding Disney to its coveted “conviction buy” list on Tuesday. 
Goldman Sachs analyst James Mitchell credits consumer spending with helping the entertainment giant to rebound from a period of flat growth.  Two new cruise ships added to the …