Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at DisZine!

When the Summer of Heroes kicks off May 27 at Disney California Adventures guests will have the chance to meet Groot.

The new Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT opens May 27 too – all part of the launch of the Summer of Heroes.

There’s also a new dance party planned for this summer – Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Dance Off! with Star Lord and Gamora. During the dance-off the duo returns to the Collector’s Fortress to get Star Lord’s boombox and then enlist everyone to dance!

And for the first time ever, Groot (full grown version, not the Baby Groot) will be on hand to meet guests. He’ll arrive just as the dance off is ending.

The Summer of Heroes will also include the Avengers Training Initiative with Black Widow and Hawkeye.

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Two new Disney Dooney & Bourke collections are debuting this month at Cherry Tree Lane in the Marketplace Co-Op at Downtown Disney.

The first collection is called ‘Runway Princess’ and features Disney Princesses. The design is similar to the purple collection sold at this year’s Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend.

The new Runway Princess collection features full-color princesses on a black background and includes a zip satchel for $228, a wallet for $198, a Pouchette for $148, a letter carrier for $178, and a shopper tote for $268.

The second new collection is called Beach and is a nylon collection featuring a shopper tote, a backpack, a satchel, and a letter carries. The Beach collection features a blue ocean background and Disney characters on the beach.

The product launch is April 25 at Cherry Tree Lane in the Marketplace Co-Op. Ian Ray, Creative Director for Dooney & Bourke will be at the launch from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m.

The Runway Princess collection will launch at Disneyland Resort on April 25 but there are no plans for the Beach collection.

Both collections will be available at the Disney Parks online store later this summer.

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Belle and the Beast are headed to the big screen in a live-action adaptation of the beloved Disney film.

Director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls) has reportedly been tapped to direct the film, while Evan Spiliotopoulos is writing the script.

The animated Beauty and the Beast was a box office success in 1991 earning more than $375 million worldwide and earning a Best Picture Oscar nomination. The film also spawned a Broadway musical.

In addition to Dreamgirls, Condon also wrote the script to Chicago and directed two of the films in the Twilight series.

Disney’s latest live-action fairy tale, Maleficent, earned $170 million during its opening weekend at the box office. The company is also developing a live-action version of The Jungle Book, while the live-action Cinderella opens next March.

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The Walt Disney Company released its first quarter earnings report for the first fiscal quarter of 2014 and profits were up 33 percent for the quarter that ended on December 28, 2013.

Walt Disney Studios reported a 75 percent increase in operating income to $409 million. Studio revenue increased 23 percent to $1.9 billion.

These increases were due mostly to the success of Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World which earned $633.1 million in global box office sales, and the worldwide success of the monstrous hit Frozen which is on track to earn $1 billion in global ticket sales.

Frozen cost the Studios $300 million to produce and is currently nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Film. The movie will continue to be a moneymaker for the company through merchandise sales, Blu-ray and DVD sales, and more.

The Parks and Resorts operating income increased 16 percent to $671 million, and was primarily due to increased guest spending at the parks and resorts, and reflected higher prices for tickets, food, beverages, and merchandise.

Disney’s Consumer Products division reported a 24 percent increase in operating income to $430 million thanks to an increase in merchandise and licensing product sales. The sales of Star Wars toys plus merchandise sales from Planes and Monsters University fueled the 24 percent increase.

The Walt Disney Company reported a net income of $1.84 billion for the first fiscal quarter of 2014, up from $1.38 billion in the first quarter of 2013.

One area that is still struggling appears to be Disney Interactive which is reportedly planning to eliminate at least 200 jobs in the near future. The division reported $55 million in operating income, which is an increase from $9 million last year. However, the company said Disney Interactive will still report a second quarter operating loss.

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Fans are buzzing about one of latest announcements from the D23 Expo. On August 5, this announcement could be seen on the Expo website and on Twitter:

This weekend, only at the Walt Disney Parks & Resorts pavilion during the Disney D23 2013 Expo, ask for something WEIRD and get your first look at an all-new project coming from Marvel & Disney!

Considering the logo at the bottom of the image, some fans are hopeful that the message may indicate a new MARVEL movie or presence at one of the parks. Newsarama.com suggests that an animated series on Disney XD might be a possibility, as well.

Don't forget that the “Museum of the Weird” was a concept for the Haunted Mansion drawn up by Imagineer Rolly Crump. The museum featured oddities from around world, all of which were in actuality created by Crump, himself. (Some museum pieces did make it into the final Mansion, such as the red high-backed chair with the creepy white face.) According to Jason Surrell, Walt's initial reaction to Crump's museum idea was “This stuff is really weird, Rolly. What in the heck are we going to do with it?” to which Crump replied, “I'm not sure, Walt.” (For more on the planning phases of the Haunted Mansion and other ideas that never made it into the attraction, see Surrell's book The Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies.) Many of Crump's ideas were thus abandoned, but then in 2010 news was that Ahmet Zappa had signed on as director of a movie based on the Museum of the Weird. That was all we ever learned, though: the movie never came to fruition.

Could the “weirdness” of this new announcement have something to do with the abandoned movie? With Crump's ideas for the Haunted Mansion? With a new comics, animation, or film series?

What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

And if you're going to the D23 Expo from Aug 9-11 (you lucky, lucky dog you), don't forget to stop by the Walt Disney Parks & Resorts pavilion and ask for something WEIRD!

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This summer, Disney Channel’s popular duo Phineas and Ferb will join up with some of the iconic Marvel superheroes in the new crossover special Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel. However, that won’t be the only crossover for the hit series, as it was announced this week that Phineas and Ferb will soon travel to the world of Star Wars.

Phineas and Ferb creators Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh announced the news this weekend at the annual San Diego Comic-Con. The special will find Phineas and Ferb on the Star Wars planet of Tatooine, as their enjoyable stay takes an unsuspected turn when they accidentally uncover a plan to destroy the Death Star.

The new Star Wars episode is currently set to air next year on Disney Channel and Disney XD. Stay tuned for more news on this exciting special.

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Have you ever wished that you could bring home the synchronized lighting of Disney’s Glow With Show ears and Disney’s World of Color? Well, now you can. Bedtime stories will never be the same with new interactive lighting from Philips and Disney.

As part of their new product line in collaboration with Disney, Philips introduced the StoryLight Mickey, an LED-based Friend of Hue (Hue accessory). The Hue, according to Philips, is “the world’s smartest connected LED lighting system.” The new StoryLight Mickey communicates with iPad e-books, allowing the light to project colors synchronized with the story (think Glow With the Show Ears, but for your child’s bedroom). The StoryLight Mickey has a range of over 16 million colors, so even when you reread the same story, you can select different colors so the show never gets dull!

Other products in the new line include the SleepTime Mickey and SleepTime Minnie table lamps. These lamps encourage children to stick to bedtime, using LED technology to relax them to sleep and then gently wake them in the morning. Another featured product – and one I wish I could’ve had as a kid – is the Philips Disney LED candles. These cool-to-the-touch, realistic flickering “candles” are easy for children to use; to turn them on or off, just tilt the candle to one side. The various products feature Mickey and Minnie, Monsters, Inc. characters, Cars, Planes, Ariel and Princess characters.

Eric Rondolat, Chief Executive Officer of Philips Lighting, noted,

“This collaboration fuses Disney’s unrivalled ability to create characters and stories that spark the imagination of children of all ages with our lighting innovation leadership. Together, we will deliver an exciting portfolio of advanced and interactive lighting solutions that the whole family can enjoy.”

Will you be trying any of these lights? Let us know in the comments section!

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On Monday, amid friends, fans, and former Mouseketeers, Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger officially renamed Stage 1 on the Disney World Studios lot as the Annette Funicello Stage. Funicello passed away on April 8, 2013 after fighting with multiple sclerosis for more than two and a half decades. But Funicello’s legacy lives on in her films, albums, and her place as an official Disney Legacy, an honor she received in 1992, in addition to the recent posthumous renaming of Stage 1.

The choice of Stage 1 was no mistake, as that was the soundstage on which the original Mickey Mouse Club featuring the original Mouseketeers – including Funicello – was filmed. The only other actor to have a namesake stage at the Walt Disney Studios is Julie Andrews, who is known for her iconic performances in Mary Poppins and The Princess Diaries; both were filmed on Stage 2, which was subsequently dedicated to Andrews on August 2, 2001.

Funicello, who was chosen by Walt Disney to be the final Mouseketeer in 1955, became an enduring icon of American – and Disney – sweetness, innocence, and talent. She is remembered for her many song recordings, including popular tunes by the Sherman Brothers such as “Pineapple Princess” (from the 1960 album Hawaiiannette) and “Tall Paul,” her first big hit. She was also featured in multiple movies in the 1960s that started the teen beach movie craze, a movement that Disney perhaps hopes to revitalize with the July 19 release of Teen Beach movie on the Disney Channel.

According to Funicello’s best friend, actor Shelley Fabares,

“She loved Mr. Disney, first of all, everybody says. And she did. She always called him Mr. Disney. She just loved him dearly, and to have this studio give that honour to her, I’m telling you, it would mean the world to her.”

Commenting on her passing, Bob Iger, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, said,

“Annette was and always will be a cherished member of the Disney family, synonymous with the word Mousketeer, and a true Disney Legend. She will forever hold a place in our hearts as one of Walt Disney’s brightest stars, delighting an entire generation of baby boomers with her jubilant personality and endless talent. Annette was well known for being as beautiful inside as she was on the outside, and she faced her physical challenges with dignity, bravery and grace. All of us at Disney join with family, friends and fans around the world in celebrating her extraordinary life.”

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It has been two days since the New York Post published an article exposing the recent practice of New York haute monde hiring disabled “guides” to masquerade as family members during Walt Disney World vacations.

Why? So they can skip the lines at the parks.

Disney’s reaction has been brief but decisive. According to Disney spokesperson Bryan Malenius, Disney is investigating these and other, similar claims of guests abusing handicap considerations at the parks. As Malenius told CNN,

“It is unacceptable to abuse accommodations that were designed for guests with disabilities. […] We are thoroughly reviewing the situation and will take appropriate steps to deter this type of activity.”

Disney has been attempting to find ways that guests can avoid long lines (ethically) through the use of the FastPass program and pagers, like those being offered at the Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride in Storybook Circus. Advances in ticket technology, such as the MagicBracelet, could help alleviate long lines even more with services like FastPass+ and the MyMagic app and website. And where those options aren’t practical or an’t doing quite enough on their own, interactive waiting queues are being added to help make the wait more entertaining for guests.

These “black market Disney guides” have caused much discussion via social media over the past few days, discussion which ranged from outrage – such as Twitter posts reading “Con artists!” (Twitter username Ruth) and “This has blood shooting from my eyes this morning” (username Kaneshow) – to posts on the Divamom website asking how moms can make their children appear handicapped to receive similar special treatment. Lyss Stern of Divamom told the NYPost “I never understood how parents could have a clear conscience doing this.”

The practice of hiring a handicapped guide at a cheaper rate than Disney offers private tours of the park was first uncovered by social anthropologist Dr. Wednesday Martin while she was doing research for her forthcoming book, Primates of Park Avenue. Her find was published in the NYPost on Tuesday.

Since then, the news has spread to international news sources, including the French website Gentside.

The original company that came under fire for ostensibly offering black market Disney guides, Dream Tours, has suspended their VIP tours. Their webpage for this service currently reads “Due to inaccurate press and slander, Dream Tours is not offering VIP tours at this time. Our focus has primarily always been providing magical vacations for adults with special needs and helping their dreams to come true.”

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