My Disney Blog

Disney•Pixar's Toy Story 3 Will Cross $1 Billion Today

DISNEY•PIXAR’S TOY STORY 3 WILL CROSS $1 BILLION TODAY; DISNEY TO BECOME FIRST STUDIO WITH TWO $1 BILLION FILMS IN ONE YEAR

BURBANK, Calif. – August 27, 2010 – Two weeks after becoming the highest-grossing animated film of all time, Disney•Pixar’s Toy Story 3 will cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office today,  joining Alice in Wonderland as the second $1 billion film this year from The Walt Disney Studios – the first studio in history to accomplish this feat.  Disney first crossed the $1 billion threshold with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest in 2006.  Toy Story 3becomes the only animated film to reach this milestone and the seventh title in industry history.

“It’s been an incredible year as we saw the Pixar team bring Buzz and Woody back to the big screen and watched Tim Burton’s vision for Alice in Wonderlandtake the world by storm,” said Rich Ross, Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios.  “These box office triumphs prove that creative storytelling brought to life by imaginative, inspired and talented professionals is something audiences respond to the world over.”

As of Thursday (8/26/10), Toy Story 3 tallied more than $592.9 million internationally, Disney’s largest international animated release. Latin American audiences have contributed $138 million making Toy Story 3 the highest grossing Disney film ever released in the region.  Toy Story 3 is the most successful UK release in Disney history and currently stands as the fourth biggest title in territory history with $102.4 million in box office receipts so far.  In Japan, the film has taken in $111.2 million and spent five consecutive weeks as the #1 movie.  Toy Story 3 currently ranks as the #7 film in global box office history and domestically ranks #9 with $404.6 million in receipts to date.

Alice in Wonderland began setting records during its opening weekend (March 5-7), becoming the biggest March opening in industry history, the highest 3D opening ever and The Walt Disney Studios’ biggest opening for a non-sequel film.  Internationally, the film went on to tally more than $690 million, becoming Disney’s biggest overseas release of all time and the fourth biggest title ever released overseas.  Worldwide, the film took in $1.0243 billion, ranking it as the #5 film in global box office history.

About The Walt Disney Studios
For more than 85 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under four banners: Walt Disney Pictures, which includes Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios, Disneynature, Marvel, and Touchstone Pictures, which includes the distribution of live action films from DreamWorks Studios. Through the Home Entertainment and Television divisions, innovative distribution methods provide access to creative content across multiple platforms. Original music and motion picture soundtracks are produced under Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records, while Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Broadway theatrical productions, Disney on Ice and Disney LIVE!.  For more information, please visit www.disney.com.

--- DisneyDean (@DisneyDean on twitter)

Retro Disney Channel Update for August 25, 2010

Well, I have some progressively interesting news regarding the Retro Disney Channel project. I spoke with a friend of mine at Disney, and pitched the idea of starting some kind of Retro Disney Channel (showing the classic shows and movies that many of us grew up watching). The response was EXTREMELY enthusiastic, and they will be trying to find the right person for me to make a "pitch" to via conference call. For now, they suggested a really interesting approach to see if we can make progress on our own, via fan feedback. 

Here is what she suggested:

Sometime in September, Disney Online will start the following website:
http://www.disney.com/moviesonline

This will soon become your home for your digital movies. I was able to log in with my Disney Movie Rewards username and password, and my online movies were on there. It also gave me the option to buy the digital rights to other movies that I've entered codes for - at a low price of $5.99. Basically, once you have the digital rights, you would be able to watch them on your computer, through a link to your HD televisions, on many Smart Phones, etc. etc.

HERE IS WHAT THEY SUGGESTED to get the ball rolling. They would like everyone to use the "Share Your Ideas" link on that page to make the suggestion to add Disney classic television shows and movies. You can use specifics, such as "The Hardy Boys", "Zorro", specific films, shows, etc. She said that it hasn't been officially launched yet, so NOW IS THE TIME to see if we can influence this! It would not exactly be a 'channel', but it is one way to get classic content in a way we can watch whenever we'd like - over and over again - and only pay for the content that you'd like. I would FLIP to be able to watch The Hardy Boys, The Mickey Mouse Club, the Wonderful World of Disney episodes, WHENEVER I WANT on my iPhone, iPad, laptop, computer, or HDTV.

Anyway, this is in addition to trying to find a person to pitch the idea to at Disney. Things are happening with this, and hopefully we can at LEAST get classic content added to the moviesonline portal!

Can I count on you guys to do this? I'll be doing it tonight - she STRONGLY HINTED to me that we may be able to influence the direction of this new page by doing what I'm suggesting to do.

Thanks in advance, and I'll keep ya posted!

--- DisneyDean (@DisneyDean on twitter)

Disney.com Launches All New Music Site!

This is absolutely AWESOME - the press release was released a few days ago, but just in case you didn't hear about it - it is very exciting! - DisneyDean

Disney.com Site to Feature Exclusive Content and the Latest in All Things Music

BURBANK, Calif., August 20, 2010 - Disney.com, the No. 1 ranked community-family and parenting destination on the Web*, has launched an all new music site(Disney.com/Music) that, together with Disney Music Group and Radio Disney, offers the latest and greatest in music for Disney fans. To kick off the new music hub Radio Disney's Jake Whetter will give guests a sneak peek at his behind-the scenes coverage of the three continent Jonas Brothers Live in Concert tour with Special Guest Demi Lovato plus Special Friends from "Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam" featuring interviews and concert footage.

In addition to granting guests a sneak peek at Radio Disney.com's behind-the-scenes access with Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato, the new online music hub will also feature interviews with popular recording artists, and some of the latest music videos including "It's On" from the Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam soundtrack, "I'm Still Good" from the Hannah Montana Forever soundtrack, and Selena Gomez's "Round and Round."

“We stream nearly 200 million videos per month on Disney.com and are always looking for new ways to bring exciting and exclusive content to our guests,” said Paul Yanover, executive vice president and managing director, Disney Online. “On our new music site, we’re blending the hottest Disney music with even more great video content to create the ultimate Disney music destination.”

The new online hub will also offer Disney music fans video exclusives, cross-platform premieres as well as weekly sweepstakes and opportunities to win prizes.

At Disney.com/Music, guests will find:

• Radio Disney
• Official artist sites
• Movie music
• Preschool music
• Music-themed activities
• Latest Disney music releases
• Music news

The Disney Music page will also feature content including:

• Music video premieres
• Song and album premieres
• Access to samples of over 1600 Disney songs
• Radio Disney "Take Over with Ernie D" segments (in studio interviews & performances)
• Radio Disney "Celebrity Take with Jake" segments (behind-the-scenes access)
• Interviews with top music stars
• Exclusive music events such as concert footage
• Acoustic performances from Disney artists

About Disney Online
Disney Online (www.Disney.com or text MOBILE to DISNEY**) a unit of Disney Interactive Media Group, produces the No. 1 ranked community-family and parenting destination on the World Wide Web. Launched in 1996, Disney.com is the online and mobile web gateway to all of the company's Disney-branded entertainment initiatives, providing comprehensive access to, and information about Disney movies, travel, television, games, music, shopping and live events.

Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG) is an affiliate of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS).

 

* comScore Media Metrix July 2010

** Standard carrier fees apply.

--- Disney Dean (@DisneyDean on twitter)

 

Volunteers Needed: Petition to Start Retro Disney Channel

Hey everyone!

OK, so a few posts back, I mentioned that a friend of mine told me that there should be a Retro Disney channel. We discussed that it could be in a few different formats - 1) Cable Network (probably not enough viewers for a whole channel, but WHO KNOWS!) 2) Online channel, most likely via subscription 3) Via D23 membership 4) On Demand Channel (thanks to MSDinNH for the idea). Another option could be through Hulu, perhaps, but that may not work.

Well, I brought it up again on twitter tonight, and the support for a Retro Disney Channel of some sort is OVERWHELMING! Unbelievable how much support there might be for this! I would definitely subscribe to this channel if it meant I could get it on my iPhone in some way.

ANYWAY, I am now trying to see if there is support amongst you for volunteers to help make this happen. I want to see how much volunteer support there is before we start a petition. We will need people to do the following:

1) Someone to create a graphic button for folks to share on their blogs/websites - we will probably have graphical-type people make a button and then there will either be a contest to come up with one consistent graphic - or several to choose from.

2) Volunteers for people to write articles on their blogs/sites about the project

3) Volunteers for people to pass the word on to their Disney friends

4) Volunteers to help create the text for the petition, and to manage the petition

5) Someone to write a press release, maybe?

6) Someone to start a Facebook Groupe, perhaps?

7) Someone to draw up a webpage talking about the need for this? (maybe?)

8) Anything else?

Anyway, leave your information in the comments section if you can. Otherwise, you probably know where else to find me - twitter.com/DisneyDean :)

--- DisneyDean

Disney Online Breaks All-Time Traffic Record in July 2010

Disney Games, Disney Channel Features and Disney Movies Drive Increased Guest Traffic and Growth

BURBANK, Calif. – August 19, 2010 – According to recently released data from comScore Media Metrix, Disney Online, the No. 1 ranked community-family and parenting destination on the Web, reached a record-breaking 36 million unique visitors in July, beating the previous all-time record of 34 million uniques set in June 2009 by two million unique visitors. This growth was in great part due to increased traffic to areas of the site such as Disney Games, Disney Channel and Disney Movies. Most notably, Disney Games climbed to the No. 3 spot in the Online Gaming category.

Traffic growth highlights include:

• Strong interest in online games (+6% vs. prior month), due to the wide variety in Disney Online’s portfolio of casual games and virtual worlds. Among Disney virtual worlds, Club Penguin continued to be the most popular on the Web (based on monthly traffic), while Toontown Online had a 64% increase in unique visitors and Disney Fairies Pixie Hollow saw an 80% lift month-over-month.
• High traffic numbers to Disney Movies (+27% vs. prior month) due to the popularity of movies such as “Toy Story 3”
• Disney.com’s unique programming and special events drew increased traffic and participation from guests, including Disney’s “U Rock” user-generated music video promotion and the launch of the Create portal’s new Group Wall feature, an online mosaic that enabled thousands of guests to create and share original pieces of art
• Unique visitors in July represent a 16% increase from the prior month

“The online environment sets a very competitive landscape, making record-breaking traffic numbers like these a tremendous achievement,” stated Paul Yanover, executive vice president and managing director, Disney Online. “Year after year, our traffic growth demonstrates our dedication to delivering innovative content and guest engagement, making Disney Online an unparalleled destination for kids and families on the Web.”

In addition to its record-breaking Web traffic, Disney Online continues to lead the way in the online video and mobile Web sectors.

• Disney Online’s reach of the Web video viewing population came in at an all-time high of 14%.
• Disney Online achieved a record-breaking amount of video streams with kids ages 6-14 (56.4 million).
  • In the mobile space, Disney reached new milestones in July in great part due to the traffic driven by games and apps including, Toy Story, Camp Rock 2 and Radio Disney.
  • Mobile video views and game starts reached new highs in July with 1.9 million views and 900,000 game starts.
  • The Disney app recently surpassed 1 million downloads, with an app engagement rate 14% higher than the average entertainment app.

Sources:

o    Traffic: comScore Media Metrix July 2010

o    Video: comScore VideoMetrix July 2010

o    Mobile: m:metrics July 2010 and internal tracking

o    Club Penguin ranking based on a Disney pre-selected list of 95 key known virtual world gaming competitors

About Disney Online
Disney Online (www.Disney.com or text MOBILE to DISNEY*) a unit of Disney Interactive Media Group, produces the No. 1 ranked community-family and parenting destination on the World Wide Web. Launched in 1996, Disney.com is the online and mobile web gateway to all of the company's Disney-branded entertainment initiatives, providing comprehensive access to, and information about Disney movies, travel, television, games, music, shopping and live events.

Disney Interactive Media Group (DIMG) is an affiliate of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS).

--- Disney Dean

Disney Aulani Resort Update

A friend of mine, Mike from TimeStream Software, emailed me some GREAT photos a few days ago, and I just had to share them with you all. The photos are courtesy of TimeStream Software, the developer of the "Walt Disney World Guide" Notescast for the iPhone and iPod touch. Great resource, by the way!

Check out the rest of the images (12 in all) at www.Notescasts.com, or more specifically at this link:

Some facts about the Aulani - A Disney Resort & Spa - as taken from a recent Disney press release:  It will have 359 hotel rooms, 481 time-share units, restaurants, a convention center, a 15,000 square-foot spa and a massive water play area overlooking the lagoon, which will feature a volcano tube slide and snorkel lagoon.  It's located on 21 acres on Oahu's Leeward coast in the Ko Olina development, located about 1/2 hour from Honolulu.  It's currently scheduled to open August 29, 2010, with hotel reservations already starting! Time-share sales started three weeks ago. 

Mike from Notescast/TimeStream also noticed that Disney has a couple reps located on the beach side of the construction site right now answering questions for anyone who stops by.

Seeing these pictures really makes me miss Hawaii. In September, my family stayed in the Ko Olina development. The first night we were there, we stayed at the neighboring property (J.W. Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa), as we could not get into the house we rented (looong story!). The house we rented was just on the other side of the golf course, which will be in between the house we rented and the Aulani. We used the golf cart from the house to get to the beach all the time, and usually went to the lagoon in front of the Disney property. It was one of our favorites, and we swam with Giant Sea Turtles, octopus, gorgeous fish, and tons of other little creatures. The lagoon is pretty well protected, as it is man made, so it is pretty safe for swimming in. We even had a Tsunami when we were there, which was pretty amazing to see. Disney could not have made a wiser choice! The area is GORGEOUS, the swimming is protected, the sand AMAZING, and it is the driest area on the island (southwest corner).

Makes me want to go back so much, seeing these pictures!

--- Disney Dean (@DisneyDean on twitter)

Mickey Mouse Club: The Annette Sound

OK, so I had always liked the Mickey Mouse Club, but it wasn't until recently buying Walt Disney Treasures: Annette that I knew what a special and amazing actress Annette Funicello is. The Annette serial was just plain awesome, and we watched the entire thing over two nights recently when we rented a cabin for a week. Our kids were absolutely transfixed on the show and could not WAIT to watch disc 2 of the series. I honestly don't know if they spoke one WORD during the 4 1/2 hours that we watched the Annette serial.

I found this great clip of Annette talking about how the "Annette Sound" was created. I thought it was so interesting and I thought others might think so as well. Annette, we love you! Thanks for all the great memories over the years.

--- DisneyDean (@DisneyDean on twitter)