News Update: Monday June 2nd 2014

Lots of major breaking news this week, and here we are trying to keep track of just some of the major news unveiled by Disney this week around the globe with breaking news from many films and theme parks across the Disney company.

Earlier today Disney/Lucasfilm unveiled more details on the cast of Star Wars Episode VII. Today actresses Lupita Nyong'o (12 Years a Slave) and Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) are joining the cast of actors starring in the latest installment of the Star Wars saga. Previously announced were original actors, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher Anthony Daniels and Kenny Baker, along with new-comers Andy Serkins, Oscar Isaac, Domhall Gleeson and Max von Sydow.

The announcement was made on the official Star Wars website earlier today. As we speculated earlier, it as rumored that Nyong'o will be playing the character of Asaaj Ventress from The Clone Wars series. This has yet to be confirmed if there is any truth to it.

James Cameron  gave a few more details on the upcoming Avatar expansion in Disney's Animal Kingdom. The land is supposedly be called Pandora: The Land of Avatar and will feature brand-new lifelike Audio-Animatronic and gave some other details on the expansion: (Source: Slashfilm.com)

It’s going to have floating mountains. It’s pretty cool. I’ve seen the model and the design work the Imagineering people have done is spectacular. They’ve got a quarter inch to the foot scale model of the whole park and I’ve looked at all the sight lines…it’s not a park, it’s a land within the park but a land is not just a ride. There will be several rides and a number of other attractions. It’s really just a place you’re gonna wanna go and hang out. It’s gonna be gorgeous. Of course it’s gonna be gorgeous at night and they’re using every new trick, every new bit of technology that they’ve created. The animatronics for the Na’vi characters are gonna be fantastic. For example, their early animatronics would use 12 axis of motion and I think the most they’ve ever done was 32 axis recently. I think they’re up to 64 just in the face of the Na’vi characters. So it’s gonna be remarkable. They really see it as a major, major attraction.  

Disney still has yet to officially announce this, but this is the current name according to Avatar director James Cameron. Pandora: The Land of Avatar is scheduled for a 2017 opening.

In order to make way for Avatar, Animal Kingdom closed up Camp Minnie-Mickey in Animal Kingdom, which included the popular Festival of the Lion King stage show. Don't worry: The show was only moved temporarily and just opened up for it's first showing at the New Harambe theater in the Africa section of Animal Kingdom. Showtimes are daily and vary depending on time of visit, but it's back and has shows almost daily as it did before the Avatar expansion began construction. The show has remained unchanged.

Maleficent opened in theaters this week in North America at #1 with $70 million total in weekend estimates. The opening amount is similar to 2013's Oz the Great and Powerful which also recieved $79 million it's opening weekend, but far from 2010's Alice in Wonderland which opened to a mighty $116 million. In case you missed it, read our review of the film.

DisneyToon's Planes: Fire and Rescue soars into theaters July 18th nationwide. Walt Disney Films Quebec (a division of Walt Disney Films Canada) announced that Canadian Olympic participants Chloe, Justine, and Maxime Dufour-Lapointe will be lending their voices to three different characters in the French Canadian version of the film. With a stunning performance at the 2013 World Championships, Chloe currently holds the title of world champion FIS moguls. Justine, the Olympic champion, has meanwhile won the bronze medal at the 2013 World Championships FIS moguls. Maxime debuted in the World Cup in 2007 and is a regular competitor u on the circuit since 2008. She also finished 4th in moguls in 2014 making themselves a house-hold name throughout all of Canada during the entire Sochi Winter Games.

In French, the film is titled The Aircraft: The Fire From The Sky.


A few weeks ago Disney Interactive unveiled details about the mega-Marvel addition to Disney Infinity. This week, they unveiled that Merida from Pixar's Brave and Maleficent (Sleeping Beauty) will be joining the cast of characters available to play in the game. Video was released by Disney Interactive earlier this week.

In Theme Park news, Universal Orlando continued to unveil details on the Diagon Alley expansion of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter with an all new video, sharing some insight on the creation of the attractions included in the expansion:

Seaworld responded to the controversial documentary Blackfish once again this week, with "69 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Believe Blackfish". You can read the entire list here. 

Did you enter our giveaway for a free copy of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Around the Clubhouse World yet? There's only one more day to enter, so be sure to enter right here before time runs out! Good luck!

That's it for your news this week! Have a magical week! 

The Mickey Mindset: mickeymindset@gmail.com

News Update: February 21st 2014

Mitchell Stein-Big news these past couple of weeks! First off, taking place just yesterday, popular pop culture rendition group The Piano Guys released their latest video, which is a brand-new beautiful instrumental rendition of Frozen's "Let it Go", which is also nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. If you haven't seen it yet, watch it right here:

Also new in Frozen news, it was officially confirmed that Idina Menzel would in fact be performing "Let It Go" live at the Academy Awards on March 2nd. The Oscars will be hosted by comedian Ellen DeGeneres, who has quite a few Disney connections in her career. Make sure to watch and to cheer Disney on during Hollywood's biggest night.

 Also, reportedly a new TV spot for Muppets Most Wanted will air during the Oscars. Be on the lookout for other movie TV spots, and possibly a Muppet cameo (hey, it's possible!). 

In Star Wars news, it was announced that the sixth and final season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars has been produced, and it's heading to Netflix on March 7th 2014 in both Canada and the U.S. 

The Clone Wars has been running on Cartoon Network since 2008 and then Disney XD before being cancelled without a season finale. The ending will now be finally available to fans, as they get ready for the next new Star Wars TV series, Star Wars Rebels. 

As you probably read elsewhere online, there is a brand-new (Disney-Pixar's) Ratatouille themed section coming to Disneyland Paris summer 2014, which is only a few months away. They teased the internet with this video, as well as a piece of conecpt art as to what the finished project will look like. The attraction seems to be currently going under the name of Ratatouille: The Ride, which seems kinda bland if you ask me. I hope they have another name for the attraction in the park, but either way, the ride looks like it'll be a lot of fun. Now all I have to do is catch a plane to Paris this summer....

This isn't an official Disney released video, but AVbyte released this fun video, showing Disney princesses taking things into their own hands and being tired of being "damsels in distress". 

When Queen Elsa is tired of hearing how all the princesses are waiting for a prince to come and help them, she convinces them that they can handle things on their own and they sing "I Don't Need A Man" with music and lyrics by Anontius Nazareth. 

Watch it here, and then make sure to watch some of their other pop-culture videos, such as "Doctor Who: The Musical" and "Harry Potter: The Musical". 

Besides Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Marvel has a brand-new film being released this summer, named Guardians of the Galaxy. Marketing for the movie has been rather quiet, but now with the release only a few months away, Disney/Marvel aired the first official trailer during Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC on Tuesday night. The movie is released in North America this August. 

As well as the trailer, they released the new poster for the movie, which reveals the movie's tag line "You're Welcome" which is quite an amusing one in my opinion. This movie looks like it'll be playing more for the comedy with a large dash of action. The trailer is interesting, but the movie is sure to be promising.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, Blank: A Vinylmation Love Story was released online for free and is available for free on the Google Play store. It's free to make an account, so make sure you sign up and download this truly amazing feature. 

The Academy Award nominated film, The Wind Rises, from Disney and Studio Ghibli opens nationwide tomorrow! The film marks the last directing job of award-winning director Hayayo Miyazaki. It gaining tremendous reviews and from what we hear, it's pretty good. I suggest checking this one out as well. 

In sad news this week, John Henson, late son of Muppets' creator Jim Henson has passed away. Read our tribute to John here and then take a look at how some Muppet magic happens every day with Chase Beecher's new article, Our Friend Kermit. 

For the last bit of news this week, Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade which has been performing for the past 13 years in Animal Kingdom will close to make way for 2017's Avatar-themed area. The last parade show will be in June, Inside the Magic reports. No new parade has been announced yet, but we bid a farewell to Mickey's Jungle Parade as that area gets lots of construction walls placed around it in the coming months. 

That's all for this week's news! Have a magical week! 

The Mickey Mindset: mickeymindset@gmail.com

My Favorite Places in Walt Disney World, Part 4

Ryan Dosier - Here it is! The fourth and final installment of my Favorite Places at Walt Disney World photo series. Did you miss my articles on Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios? Click those links! Anyway, let's journey to Animal Kingdom!

ANIMAL KINGDOM

Animal Kingdom needs work, sure, but it's the most beautiful Walt Disney World park. The foliage and decoration and art style are all incredible. I love to walk around the park and just marvel at all the pretty things everywhere. You can't find an ugly spot in Animal Kingdom.

Mickey & Camp; Friends near Camp Minnie Mickey

I'm actually not sure this spot is even there anymore... with the closure of Camp Minnie Mickey for Avatar Land (UGH.) these charming little statuettes might be gone. They featured Mickey, Goofy, Pluto, Donald, Daisy, Huey, Dewey, and Louie enjoying nature. They weren't too special, but I always thought they were beautiful and simple and fun. I hope they find a new home.

Parrot Viewing Areas

I can't remember exactly where in the park this is, but there's a wonderful area where you can watch vibrant, chattery, and colorful macaws in a play area. It's nothing impressive, but seeing these beautiful and brilliant birds is always a treat.

"Finding Nemo: The Musical" Theatre

I really, really love this show. The puppets and performers are incredible, the sets are immense, and the effects are awesome. But the theater itself is really impressive. First of all, it's huge, but doesn't feel like it. There's a lot of space to stretch out and relax on a hot day. It's a great spot.

"Tree of Life" Trunk

Walking through the queue to "It's Tough to Be a Bug" you get to see perhaps the most incredibly designed portion of the park: The Tree of Life. The carvings of countless animals in the "bark" of the tree are truly amazing. I always manage to spot one I haven't seen before.

"Expedition Everest" Surrounding Area

The motif in the Asia area of the park is really ornate and beautiful. The props and decorations always impress me.

Africa

It's not just one spot in the Africa area that I love, it's all of it. It's wider and more open than the other areas, giving room for the incredible musicians you see above. I love the airy Tusker House, the spacious open-air market that sells fresh fruit, the unique gift shop... all of it!

Anywhere on "Kilimanjaro Safaris"

How can you not love this attraction? The amount of animals packed into the 15-20 minute trip is incredible. And they always seem so happy and content, which is wonderful to see. Getting to see rhinos and ostriches so close to the ride vehicle is incredible.

That's all I've got! There are quite a few favorite spots in every park that got left out simply because I didn't have pictures of them... and that's frustrating to me. Now I know what to take pictures of next time I'm in Walt Disney World! Anyway... thanks for reading!