Blu-Ray Review: Captain America The Winter Soldier

Mitchell Stein- In quite possibly what is the most brilliant Marvel movie yet to date, Captain America returns to the big screen, in an unbelievable nail-biting adventure that keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. It's intelligent story keeps the movie fast-paced and suspenseful, and the characters that fill it are all incredibly enjoyable to watch move the story along. Marvel has yet created another masterpiece and set Anthony and Joe Russo to direct it. Major kudos go out to Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely for giving it such an entertaining and suspenseful story, being far more than just "your average comic book movie", but rather a political spy thriller, but with the same action and excitement you'd expect from Marvel.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a major game-changer for the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, preparing us for what's to come in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and by the looks of it so far, we're in for a pretty awesome ride.
Finally, this awesome adventure is available to own on Blu-Ray, so let's take a quick look at the Blu-Ray release to see if it matches up with the theatrical film.

Most notably, there's On The Front Line: An Inside Look at Captain America's Battlegrounds which gives insight from the Russo brothers and stunt coordinators at the wonderfully-choreographed battle sequences of the film and some behind-the-scenes looks at how they filmed some of the iconic scenes of the movie.
Along with that, there's Steve Rogers' Notebook, which is a short two minute feature about Steve's notebook, and specifically how the notebook was edited for international versions of the film according to the culture. Also there's another short delightful feature, On Set With Anthony Mackie: Cut the Check! with Anthony Mackie, a.k.a Falcon, (a.k.a your new favorite Marvel character) and how Mackie has brought life to the character on set, ending off each of his perfect scenes with "Cut the Check!". I have no idea where Mackie even thought up the idea, but it's pretty hilarious.

That's not it though! There's also an awesome Audio Commentary, four deleted scenes, and a hilarious blooper reel. The deleted scenes are rather short but still perfectly incredible, and the reason it was likely cut was due to the movie's time duration.

In the end, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a worthy Blu-Ray release, adding fun and exciting bonus features to an already brilliant movie. I very much reccomend you pick up a copy of this fantastic masterpiece.

Film: 4.5/5 
Blu-Ray Bonus Features: 3.5/5

Review: Iron Man & Captain America Heroes United

Mitchell Stein- Following the events of Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United Captain America must team up with Iron Man in order to stop HYDRA and the Red Skull from taking over the globe with a new army of super soldiers. The two Avengers must face off the villainous Red Skull and his trigger-man, Taskmaster.

 From the moment it begins, Iron Man and Captain America is a visually stunning treat. Featured in a brand-new groundbreaking CG animation platform first unveiled in Iron Man and Hulk the film shows spectacular new animation which raises the bar in the direct-to-video superhero flicks, keeping Marvel ahead of the game once again, although the lip sync isn't very exact with what the characters are saying, the design and the animation, (especially in the battle sequences) are stunning. Kudos the entire VFX and animation team on the great work.

With Leo Riley, one of the men responsible for the brilliant short-lived television series Tron Uprising, it's not much of a shock of the greatness of this film. The entire film is fast-paced and hilarious, with a talented voice cast as well. Credit is also due to writers Henry Gilroy and Brandon Aurman for the story. Ever since Marvel's The Avengers, the studio has been on a roll, on and off-screen and expanding into their short television shows and direct-to-video films. With Guardians of the Galaxy released just last week, I hope the DTV universe will continue to expand to those franchises as well.

For Marvel fans, I'd highly recommend this film. It's a great new addition to the DTV Marvel universe, and is far more enjoyable than Iron Man and Hulk was and features longtime legendary Marvel antihero Taskmaster. There's not much of a shortage of fun to be had in this film. Strangely enough, there is no additional scene found at the end of the credits which the last film did have. I hope this is still more to come from this series and the team, even though there is no sneak pek at what is yet to come.

Unfortunately, unlike it's previous film, this feature is only available in Digital form through Disney Movies Anywhere and iTunes, and there's no bonus features. The film alone stands up greatly, but it does make me upset that this isn't available in DVD/Blu-Ray form and is missing the bonus features it deserves.

Hulk and Iron Man: Heroes United is now available to own on Disney Digital Copy 

Book Review: The Marvel Character Encyclopedia

Mitchell Stein- Well, DK Publishing has done a great job once again. In this latest revised and expanded (strong emphasis on expanded! This thing is huge) edition of The Marvel Encyclopedia, the folks at DK have provided us with in-depth analysis and info on much information throughout the entire Marvel world beginning from the early days of Marvel up until today, with the exception of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Encyclopedia gives us info on big-name characters like The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man and Wolverine, as well as info on some more lesser-known characters whom I’ve never heard of. This book helps readers rack up knowledge on all aspects of Marvel, including some that are large in the cinematic universe. It helps really give some more insight on the Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise for example, which is being adapted into a film later this summer from Disney/Marvel, so if you are like me and didn’t really know anything about the Guardians prior to this movie announcement, this book is for you! This book is also for the die-hard Marvel comics’ fan who would like to read about new and old info about their favorite heroes and villains in a fun brand new way and all in one place. It also made me remember how many incredibly strange Marvel characters there are out there (Ego the Living Planet, Egghead, MODOK, Howard the Duck, Hammerhead just to name a few).

I would have to say it was rather disappointing to see the absence of any references to the current Marvel films, but of course the legal contracts surrounding those properties would just be far too complicated, and the chances of seeing live action Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) standing aside live action Captain America (Chris Evans) would probably be very unlikely. It does make references to newcomers like Agent Phil Coulson (in comic book form), Agent Maria Hill, and others. For a fan of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D this book sort-of comes in handy too. It gives valuable insight to characters old and recently created that are involved in the show, such as Deathlok, Victoria Hand, Nick Fury and others.

Overall, I’ve truly become more of a fan of the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe (or MCU for short) and less fond of the comics, but overall this encyclopedia was insightful and entertaining throughout. A must-have for any Marvel comics fan! 

The Marvel Character Encyclopedia: Updated and Expanded Edition is now available. 

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D "Beginning of the End" Finale In-Depth Recap and Review

INCLUDES MAJOR SPOILERS TO AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D, CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER AND THE AVENGERS: 

Mitchell Stein- Almost a year ago, I was unsure of where this TV show would be heading. I loved Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) in the Avengers films, but if there's anything I dislike, it's when characters are resurrected after the studio realizes killing them off was a bad idea.

Well, I will say I'm glad that Coulson was brought back to life, otherwise Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D would have felt a bit of a boring show if he weren't, and becuase of this mistake, the writers needed to create a story to back it up. They introduced the TAHITI project, which we keep finally digging up and learning more about the way that Coulson was brought back to life. When Nick Fury showed up in last night's episode, I was super excited. Finally! It was time to get some answers from the man himself. What is the TAHITI project? Why was Coulson brought back to life? But the answers just continue to pile up, and Fury doesn't really answer any questions but just leave Coulson in the dark even more. The entire season, Coulson was chasing after Fury looking for answers, but finally he shows up with no answers and Phil just lets him go on his way, without getting the answers he's looking for.

I really liked where the show was going with this whole T.A.H.I.T.I project, but it was time to wrap things up on that case already. Questions are piling up too much, and it's time to give us the info we're waiting for, before we get bored and give up on waiting for the answers. I give this show one more season to wrap up all these loose ends before they pull a "Lost" and leave all the answers open or pretend like they never even happened.

Above that complaint, this season has been nothing short of incredible. At first, a bunch of ordinary agents fighting crime didn't really appeal to me all that much, but it was Marvel, so I chose to watch it. I was rather disappointed with the pilot episode, but things picked up really quickly with it's next episode, "0-8-4", but it was the next episode "The Asset" that really got me hooked. It introduced many important plotpoints that will come into place in future episodes, and was really exciting and fun.
The first nine episodes took some time establishing the story and all, but shortly after returning from the holiday hiatus, things really picked up with gripping nail-biting mysteries and betrayal, and the rise of Hydra.

Last night's story begins with "the clairvoyant" John Garrett, who just got a major boost of GH-325 and seems to be going mad, at least in the eyes of Ward. Garrett has completely gone off the course of the plan, and keeps speaking about seeing things behind his eyes and stuff, which Raina finds quite interesting and impressive. Apparently, Raina and Garrett have the same sort of abilities and so do Skye, who we found out is an 0-8-4 earlier this season.
During Garrett's crazy outbursts, Ward is growing suspicious and less on board with Garrett in the operation. Much of the time it seemed like Ward was having a change of heart (like not killing Fitz-Simmons in the last episode) and would end up being the good guy. I was totally speculating that Ward would end up having a change of heart and would be welcomed back in open arms back into the group, which did not end up happening, (and I was glad), but I'll talk about that more in a moment.

It was nice to see the spotlight a lot more on Mike Peterson again. If you look at it, he's really the one that brought the S.H.I.E.L.D agents together in the first place, so he actually plays an integral role in the origins of the show. I liked the story plot with Mike being forced to become the next Deathlok, but now that Garrett is dead, he's free and now allowed to go back to his son! Except he doesn't.
Once Mike becomes Deathlok, the only thing he wants it to be reunited with his son again, just like things were before, but when the clairvoyant is gone (for now at least) he chooses not to go to his son, for he's concerned that his son will see what kind of monster he has become, so in trying to help him not see what you become...he won't see you at all? This didn't really make any sense to me, and I find it frustrating that they choose to continue with this Mike & Ace story with the same plot for another season. How long can they keep this up for already? Hoping this will wrap up early next season and move on.

Throughout the episode, I thought they would pull a typical cliche with Ward, and have him somehow save the day and then they'll magically forgive him and welcome him back into the group as I mentioned earlier. Luckily that didn't happen.

Although Ward does seem to have a bit of a change of heart the past couple of episodes, mainly because of his feelings for Skye, he's a rotten, back-stabbing villain who killed countless people. Although he's been evil from the start, the reveal was completely shocking and well-done, putting us on the same level as the other agents and making us feel just as shocked as the characters in the show. I think I liked his betrayal element on the show, but it killed my liking for the character in retrospect, and he murdered Patton Oswalt's character (which I'll weigh more on later) so I can never forgive Ward for that.

I also thought that they could have possibly gone a different way and have him be the hero of the episode, but then fall to his cinematic death, and then be deemed a hero. None of that happened, and they went the opposite direction and his justice is serving time in solidarity confinement, (although I have no idea where they'll be holding him, as SHIELD doesn't exist anymore). I would have liked it if they killed him off at this point, so we wouldn't have to see him again, but since they have not, I'm positive this will not be the last we've seen of Grant Ward.

How fantastic were Fitz-Simmons in this episode? We really need to see more of this side of the characters. They have a few various episodes where they really shine, and they play well into the story. But the other half of the time they are just two annoying science-sidekicks who spout out random scientific terms that no one ever understands. When they get their chance to shine and sacrifice themselves for each other and the group is when they are really fantastic. There are some episodes where their roles are really well written and I actually enjoy the characters in the story. Many SHIELD fans will disagree with me on this one, but that's my own opinion.

My favorite would probably have to be in the episode "F.Z.Z.T." where Simmons sacrifices herself for the rest of the group by jumping out of a plane. That was the first time I actually cared about these characters. Before that, they were just annoying to me.
In this episode, the roles are reversed and Fitz sacrifices himself to save Simmons, which puts him in limbo and left his fate unanswered for now but to be explored in season two.

Now about Patton Oswalt:
Okay, so this is a bit of a rant. When they introduced Patton Oswalt to play Agent Eric Koenig, I was excited, because I'm a fan of Oswalt, he's a fantastic and hilarious actor and he fit in really well. So when Ward killed him, I was pretty bummed, but I got over it the character death.
When they re-introduced Patton back to the show last night, I had mixed feelings. On one hand, I love Patton, but I hate character resurrections. To make matters worse, they revealed that Patton Oswalt is not Eric Koening, but rather, Bobby Koening, his identical brother! It seems that whenever a Marvel character dies, they come up with some excuse to bring them back. I love everything Marvel so, so much but please Marvel, even if you kill off my favorite characters, just please, leave them dead. Please think twice about killing them off in the first place so you don't have to come up with excuses for their return. Please. Character deaths strengthen my love for the series, so don't come up with any more excuses to bring back dead people.

If I didn't know better, I'd say the writers quickly came up with an excuse for bringing back Oswalt after they saw the out-pour of love after the character death.

That aside: Was John Garrett really the Clairvoyant? I'm not convinced he actually was, and I still believe there's someone far above him pulling the strings. They also need to wrap up the story with Skye's parents, which WILL be covered next season as the teaser at the end promised, plus, I do hope Gravitonium has a prominent role in the next season, which I'm certain it will. They just quickly got to wrap up the current questions they have right now quickly before people get bored of them.

Overall, really fantastic first season. It went places most first seasons don't and normally don't attempt making it one of the greatest breakout TV shows in recent history. The Captain America: The Winter Soldier tie-in was incredible (the Thor: The Dark World tie-in not so much). It looks like they didn't even bother to do a tie-in to Guardians of the Galaxy in theaters August 1st. I'm just curious if Guardians and the Avengers will ever cross over (maybe in Days of Ultron? Who knows?)

 I really feel sorry for the people who chose to give up after it's mixed pilot episode, because things really picked up shortly afterwards. It's been nail-biting and gripping, hilarious and exciting.
Maybe we'll even get an appearance by one of the Avengers next season! I really hope one of these guys make an appearance in some future Marvel movie, most preferably in The Avengers: Days of Ultron for May 2015.

Can't wait to see what the writers have ready for us next season.

The Mickey Mindset: mickeymindset@gmail.com

Captain America: The Winter Soldier Film Review

Mitchell Stein- Following up to Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers, The Winter Soldier follows up directly after the events of The Avengers which took place in New York, and Steve Rogers (a.k.a Captain America) is currently trying to settle down in Washington D.C. and adapting to his new current lifestyle in the present day. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D colleague comes under attack, Steve gets tangled up inside a series of events that would ultimately put the entire world at risk.

Ever since Disney purchased the Marvel franchises in 2009, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown tremendously with incredible new movies, and they have really outdone themselves this time around, really stepping up the game in superhero flicks in general. This movie steps up from being the "silly comic book" movie with the typical building smashing and the good guy vs. bad guy for two hours. Rather, this movie felt more like a spy thriller, filled with suspense and uncertainty. No one can be trusted any longer.
I won't go any more in-depth than that, as there's just an enormous amount that can easily be spoiled for this movie, but I will say I enjoyed it throughout the whole fim. Although, if you are expecting another version of "The Avengers", you'll be disappointed. The Avengers was a once-in-a-decade kind of film, and therefore is not manipulated in the other Marvel films. This is probably one of Marvel's more realistic movies, which ends up being a fairly good thing.

Chris Evans returns to play Steve Rogers, Scarlett Johansson reprises her role as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, and Samuel L. Jackson returns to play SHIELD director Nick Fury. One of my favorite things about this film is the spotlight that Fury gets. In the other movies, he’s overshadowed by all the other superheroes and only makes cameos in the other ones, but in this installment, we finally get to see some more of Jackson’s interpretation of Fury, and he does it rather well. I would have to say that Fury really steals the stage in this movie out of all the characters.
Also starring in the movie is Anthony Mackie as Falcon, and Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce, who seems to be one of the people who currently run S.H.I.E.L.D.

As a fan of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC) I enjoyed this movie on an even higher level. The two current story-lines inter-connect to each other but doesn't affect any of the continuing stories. Since The Winter Soldier is mostly based around "S.H.I.E.L.D", it would only make sense for Agents of SHIELD to have a tie-in to this film, which is rumored to air next week. I’m assuming this film is really just a preparation for next year’s Avengers: Days of Ultron, unless Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is also supposed to tie into that film, which there’s a lagre possibility which could end up happening.

The Winter Soldier is directed by brothers Joe and Anthony Russo, who you may know from directing episodes of Arrested Development, Community and Up All Night. They translate well into this this new Marvel action thriller, and fill it with a lot of great comedy.

If you didn't know, every Marvel film has an additional scene at the end which teases at an upcoming movie. Please stay all the way until the final credits to see both additional scenes.

Overall, I really enjoyed this film a lot. It really raised the bar in super-hero films and sets the stage for next year’s Avengers movie which will wrap up “Phase 2” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe before heading into “Phase 3”.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier opens nationwide today across North America 

The Most Patriotic Disney Moments in History

As we make our transition into our new website, The AMERICAN Mindset, we decided to share what we think we describe as the most "patriotic moments in Disney history". Yes, Disney is not only enjoyable for it's great films and music and such, but the reason why the company stands today is because of it's wonderful moments where it pays tribute to the land of the free and the home of the brave. Today we decided to pay tribute to the most inspiring and heartwarming of American moments under the Disney umbrella.

Muppets Studio- Stars and Stripes Forever! 
In this beautiful video, American patriot Sam the American Eagle delivers an inspiring tribute to the mother country. Unfortunately, there were a bunch of weirdos hanging around and ruined everything.

Muppets Studio- American Woman: 

In this video, Sam the American Eagle sings in a beautiful melody in tribute to one of the nation's great legends. 

Enchanted: 

Did you know the only reason Disney made this movie was just so it could take place in beautiful New York City? We just watch it for it's beautiful AMERICAN scenery. 

The Avengers: 

In this film, extra-terrestrial aliens discover what a beautiful place AMERICA truly is, so they decide to take it over, but only to be stopped by The Avengers led by Captain AMERICA. Of course, not to ruin the truly beautiful New York, they had to digitize the entire scene. 

Cars:

This film pays tribute to the old days on Route 66. In June 1956, American president Dwight D. Eisenhower (he is our favorite opera singer!) signed a law that 41,000 new highways across America were to be constructed. As a result, the small town surrounding the highways were passed-by when they once thrived by by passers. This scene plays tribute to those days before 1956 and before the financial crisis that arose after the highways were built. 

The Muppet Movie: 

The Muppet's first feature film pays tribute to the free land throughout the whole film and also takes a look back at the golden years of Hollywood. but by far the most inspiring and patriotic American moments can be heard in this scene. Patriotism swells in the heart of the American bear. 

That's all for now! What are some of your favorite American-related moments from the Disney films and television shows? Email us at our former email, mickeymindset@gmail.com to have it featured on the site! 

The American Mindset: The Most Patriotic Place on the Web

News Update: March 28th 2014

Starting off out weekly news roundup is Victory Hill Exhibitions is teaming up with Marvel for an all-new exhibit, Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N, which will take an all new look at the box-office smash and will be premiering at Discovery Center Times Square on May 23rd 2014! (Source: Stitch Kingdom)


Disney Parks have released some more info on their upcoming Destination D event, named "Attraction Rewind". At this D23 event, celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1964-65 Worlds Fair and debut of It's A Small World, Carousel of Progress, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln and Primeval World. Also, see video concept art for these attractions and other fan-favorite attractions including If You Had Wings, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and many other beloved attractions that don't stand today. This event is not to be missed. The event will take place on November 22nd and 23rd at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Disney purchased company Maker Studios this week. Maker Studios is an online leader of Youtube video content with over 55,000 channels, 380 million subscribers, and 5.5. billion views per month. The purchase will cost $500 million, and another $450 million if the strong performance targets are met.

Muppets Most Wanted hit theaters in North America last weekend! If you still haven't decided to see the film or not yet, make sure to check out our review! Muppets Most Wanted takes the Muppets on a European World Tour only to get caught in the diabolical schemes of Constantine, the World's Most Dangerous Frog and his plan to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. There's lots of fun to be had, great gags, and the human cast is brilliant. Check out our review!

ABC'S Once Upon a Time in Wonderland airs it's series finale this upcoming Thursday on ABC at 8/7c. Once Upon a Time will remain on the air, and will probably be renewed for a fourth season, but it's Wonderland spin-off show will be airing it's final episode this week.

Going viral this week in the Disney fan circles is this brand new "Cell Phone Crashing" video, released by Mediocre Films on their Youtube Channel. The "cell phone crashes" decide to pay a visit to the Happiest Place on Earth and crash fellow visitors phone discussions, which result in very hilarious results.

Sofia the First: The Floating Palace arrives on DVD on April 8th! The film features Sofia visiting some her mermaid friends, including one you probably know from a 1989 classic Disney Animated film. See the clip below! 

Two new clips from Captain America: The Winter Soldier hit the internet this week! The first one is named "Blast from the Past" and the second listed is "Engine Room Secure". Captain America 2 hits theaters next Friday in North America. Check back next Friday for a review!

Because this was too fun not to share, Digital artist Chris Alcoran has taken photos from Disneyland's Tomorrowland and combined them with outer space visions. It's truly beautiful and awe-inspiring.

That's all for now! Have a magical week! 

News Update: January 31st 2014

Mitchell Stein- The Disney masterpiece Frozen, hits theaters again today with an all-new special sing-along version of the film! Over 2,000 theaters across North America are taking place in this all-new experience to Frozen. As the movie's soundtrack is heard in the film, a bouncing snowflake will follow the on-screen lyrics. The rest of the movie will remain untouched.

Along with that, a special version of Get A Horse! will accompany the Sing-Along at the El Capitane Theater in Los Angeles. The sing-along will also include appearances by Anna and Elsae and flurries inside the theater itself.

Check local listings to find a showing of Frozen Sing-Along near you!


Saving Mr. Banks the Disney biopic telling the story of how Walt Disney wooed P.L. Travers into the rights of her books Mary Poppins into a film adaption is to be released on March 18th 2014. The release date was made official by Amazon.com and the Walmart website but not yet confirmed by Walt Disney Home Entertainment.

Last week we reported that The Muppets would be starring in an all-new commercial alongside Terry Crews promoting The Toyota Highlander during the Super Bowl this year. Toyota released the entire ad online as well as a whole bunch of extra bonus videos. Read some more about it on our sister site, The Muppet Mindset.

The Muppets will also be appearing on Jimmy Fallon's final show on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon as announced last night. The final show will premiere February 7th on NBC as Fallon prepares to take over Jay Leno on The Tonight Show. 


Maleficent, the film based on the villain from Sleeping Beauty and starring Angelina Jolie released an all-new trailer this week, includes Lana Del Ray's rendition of Once Upon A Dream from the original Sleeping Beauty film. The trailer can be seen on the right.

Maleficent hits theaters May 31st, 2014.  The soundtrack will be released on May 27th.

With the Super Bowl approaching, be prepared to see several Big Game Spots for many upcoming Disney movies. So far announced was for Need For Speed, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Maleficent and probably many more. Be on the lookout for an ad for Muppets Most Wanted, The Wind Rises, and more.

Speaking of Captain America, an all new poster for Captain America: The Winter Soldier was released late last night. The poster showcases the return of Steve Rogers (A.K.A Captain America) Natasha Romanoff (A.K.A Black Widow) and S.H.I.E.L.D director Nick Fury.
The Winter Soldier arrives in theaters April 4th 2014.



Continuing in the promotion for Need For Speed, the Disney distributed film set under the Touchstone Pictures banner in partnership with Dreamworks, released yet another incredible behind the scenes look at how they filmed the movie. This week's video includes Dominic Cooper in "Driving School...Again."

Construction has already begun on Avatar Land in Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando. This week, John Rhode and John Landau held a press conference and explained lots of new info about the expansion. Here's video of the event, courtesy of Big Fat Panda.  

                                  That's it for this week's news! Have a great weekend! 

The Mickey Mindset: mickeymindset@gmail.com

Looking Ahead to 2014

Mitchell Stein- As we prepare to close 2013 and now look ahead to 2014, instead of taking a look back at the year that was 2013 like most Disney fan sites are doing, we decided to go the other way and look ahead to what we're most looking forward to and hoping for in the coming year in no particular order at all.

Muppets Most Wanted: 

The Muppets (2011) was awesome. It had great humor, story and some really touching scenes that brought the Muppets back together after a long 12-year hiatus with a brand new movie that completely re-launched the franchise. It only made sense that another (and many more!) Muppet movie should be produced, and Disney jumped right on that only four months after the last one came out. 

Now that there are posters and trailers and all, we know this movie is going to be incredible, and maybe even better than the first one. Plus, our site's co-runner Ryan attended a filming for the movie which he said was incredible, and guaranteed this movie will be awesome, and that's all he'll tell us. 

If you've been behind on news, we've been talking about it like crazy on our sister site The Muppet Mindset. Check it out here!    

Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier

Continuing in the Avengers saga is the avenger Captain America, continuing right where The Avengers (2012) left off. The last Captain America movie was awesome, and it's another prep for The Avengers: Days of Ultron which is coming to theaters May 2015.


Phineas and Ferb Star Wars Special: 
While the Marvel/Phineas and Ferb special could've been better, I have high hopes for this one. It should be fun, exciting and maybe even take a look at Star Wars Episode 7, coming out in the far, far away date of December 2015.

More ARGs from Disney: 

This summer Disney launched the greatest thing ever. They called it The Optimist. 

The Optimist was an 'alternate reality game' (or ARG for short) that took Disney fans on adventures through the actual Disney park and online world and uncovering many Disney secrets and visiting other legendary locations in promotion for their upcoming movie, Tomorrowland. Tomorrowland's release date has been pushed off to May 2015, but writer Damon Lindelof promised Optimists that more ARGs would be coming before the movie's release. 

The Optimist was not only a lot of fun, but it created many friendships and spawned a fantastic close-knit community of fans. I hope more ARGs will be made in the future, whether connected to The Optimist or not, it was a lot of fun. 

(Visit the official main website: http://optimist.disney.com/ and read some more about it: http://www.wired.com/magazine/2013/07/disney-the-optimist-arg/) 

Guardians of The Galaxy: 

Another Marvel movie, but this will mark the first time to make a superhero film not related to The Avengers since being bought out by Disney. It's a little unclear as to what the movie will be about, or if it will have any connection/reference to The Avengers. But, it is the last Marvel movie until The Avengers: Days of Ultron in May 2015. It opens on August 1st, 2014. 

More Roger Rabbit Appearances: 

Seriously, whenever this guy makes an appearance in the parks, the Disney fan community goes crazy.                            There's a major demand for more Roger and other characters from the film in the parks, so whenever he finally does make an appearance, the lines can be over three hours long to meet Roger.                                                                 C'mon Disney! Make these meet-and-greets a regular thing! It only makes sense that Roger should be hanging out by his own ride in Toontown, and give him a spot at Walt Disney World as well. 

Also, once you're at it, give Sweetums a meet and greet at Muppet-Vision 3D as well! There would be a major demand for that! 

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train Opens in Magic Kingdom: 

There's no official date, but it's set to open sometime in 2014. 

The last stage in the New Fantasyland expansion will finally open this upcoming year, and being placed half in the spot of it's preceding ride Snow White's Scary Adventures. It looks like it's a super fun ride, so we're super excited. 

Star Wars Rebels: 

Another attempt at a Star Wars TV show. After The Clone Wars ended earlier this year, Disney/Lucasfilm is producing another series, this time based on the timeline in-between Episode 3-4 as the Sith hunts down the final living Jedi in the world. It sounds like a much darker, less kid-friendly and more intense series. You had us at 'Star Wars'. 

Into the Woods: 

Looks like Disney is continuing in their fairy-tale reboots since the success of Once Upon a Time on ABC, but this movie looks somewhat different. This story is actually based off the 1987 Tony Award winning Broadway musical of the same name.
The film centers on a baker and his wife's quest to break a witch's curse in order to start a family.
On the way, they encounter many fairy-tale characters including Red Riding Hood, the Big Bad Wolf, Rapunzel, Cinderella, and many more.

The movie stars Meryl Streep (pictured), Johnny Depp, Emily Blunt, James Cordon and many more. Film opens December 25th 2014.

Three Disney Channel Shows Ending: 
If there's anything I mock Disney for, it's for their current Disney Channel shows. Some of them are bland and un-enjoyable, especially compared to what Disney Channel and Disney Afternoon would produce years ago.
I'm excited for Fish Hooks, A.N.T. Farm and Good Luck Charlie to air their series finales. I'm starting to get tired of all three of them. I don't know if there's a big fan-base for these things, but I personally just can't stand them anymore. Hopefully we can start getting some better shows on the channel, it's too bad Tron: Uprising didn't work out.


Big Hero 6: 
The next animated feature from Disney is a Marvel crossover, but not technically a Marvel film. It will focus on a group of six heroes protecting a fictional city of San Fransyoko (a mix of San Francisco and Tokyo). It looks like lots of fun is to be had around.

The movie opens November 7th.






That's it folks! Have a Happy New Year!