| A century of Disney magic sparkles in ice extravaganza | | Posted Saturday, December 30, 2006 3:11:55 PM by Blog57 Team | | The touring juggernaut that is "Disney on Ice" is back in Boston this weekend with an elaborate new show, and prostrated parents desperate for an entertaining, if not inexpensive, diversion should enjoy it. Called "100 Years of Magic," the production is described as a commemorative celebration, which means kids get a glimpse of all of their favorites, from Goofy to Mulan, Pinocchio to Pumbaa, during the two-hour show at the TD Banknorth Garden. But bring your billfold. Parents who have paid up to $71.50 for a ticket will be called upon to pony up $12 for a program, and perhaps several more simoleons for Disney doodads such as light sabers, action figures, and snow cones. (Don't bother seeking refuge in your seat, the stuff is hawked in the aisles as well.) Where does all of that money go? It's impossible to say, but as usual, "Disney on Ice" hasn't skimped on production costs.... | |
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| | | Everett Huskies earn trip to Disney World | | Posted Friday, December 01, 2006 1:18:51 PM by Blog57 Team | | The Malden Pop Warner football team lost the Division 1 Midget New England championship game Sunday in Providence, 6-0, to the New Haven Steelers, while the Everett Huskies cruised to the regional Pee Wee title by shutting out another New Haven team, 28-0, to earn a trip to the Pop Warner National Championships, which start Sunday at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Fla. The Malden game was scoreless until the closing seconds, when New Haven scored on a 38-yard pass play. "They were 45 yards out, with 21 seconds left," said George Paone, the Cyclones' offensive/defensive line coach. "They threw a perfect pass... They got behind us, and we let them through." The loss was the first for the Cyclones, who ended the season 12-1. "I feel bad for the boys.... | |
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| | | Governor Brad Henry Heading For Disney World After Election | | Posted Sunday, November 12, 2006 7:25:18 PM by Blog57 Team | | OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Governor Brad Henry ties up loose ends and prepares for a trip to Disney World after beating Congressman Ernest Istook in the gubernatorial race. Henry's wife and children will accompany him to Orlando, Florida, on an official state trip that includes officials from the Centennial Commission, the Tourism Department and other agencies. Henry spokesman Paul Sund says Disney World is considering a way to showcase the state's 100th birthday next year. Henry told reporters yesterday that he's looking forward to leading the state for four more years, focusing on the same things he concentrated on in his first term. He says the new makeup of the state Senate wouldn't be a detriment to his legislative goals. After Tuesday's vote, the Senate was split with 24 Democrats and 24 Republicans, setting up the possibility that new Democratic Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins could decide the balance of power.... | |
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| | | Disney to create games at Salt Lake plant | | Posted Thursday, November 09, 2006 11:44:29 AM by Blog57 Team | | Walt Disney Co., the world's second-largest media company, is creating a video-game studio in Salt Lake City to make titles exclusively for Nintendo Co., targeting audiences for its animated characters. The studio, called Fall Line, will be based in Salt Lake and run by Scott Novis, who led the team that created the game based on the Pixar film "Cars." Novis' designers will build games for the Nintendo Wii console to be released this month and the DS and Game Boy handheld players. Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger said in September that Disney can earn more by developing its own games rather than licensing characters and content. Disney has spent $200 million in the past two years to buy or start game-development studios. The company, based in Burbank, Calif., will spend another $200 million in the next two years, said Graham Hopper, general manager of Disney's Buena Vista Games.... | |
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| | | Account of Disney looks at the man behind the brand | | Posted Monday, November 06, 2006 7:44:12 AM by Blog57 Team | | Say "Walt Disney" and most will assume you are refer ring to a brand, not a name. Disney conjures up images of a movie studio, a line of toys, a television station, amusement parks, a certain breed of popular culture. So omnipresent is the brand that it subsumes the man. Neil Gabler, in his exhaustive - and exhausting - biography, "Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination," makes this confusion part of the story. Walt Disney was "less original than quintessential" and his "personal experience converged with the national experience." A biography of Walt Disney threatens to become a biography of 20th-century America. If anyone would be able to thread a narrative arc from this world-historical subject it would be Gabler, whose "Winchell: Gossip, Power and the Culture of Celebrity" and "An Empire of Their Own: How the Jews Invented Hollywood" render cultural history absorbing by centering on individuals while keeping context in the frame.... | |
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| | | Disney is in talks to sell stake in the E! channel to Comcast | | Posted Friday, November 03, 2006 7:50:14 AM by Blog57 Team | | The talks are part of broader contract negotiations for Comcast, the world's largest cable company, to continue carrying Disney networks like ESPN, the people said. A Time Warner Cable spokesman, Mark Harrad, said his company was in similar programming discussions with Disney. Disney is seeking higher licensing fees for cable networks including ESPN and has sold some operations, like its stake in the magazine US Weekly. The E! Entertainment stake may bring about $1.2 billion, while Disney gets about $1 billion a year from its current contract with Comcast, one of the people said. A deal on E! Entertainment, could be months away, the person said. .... | |
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| | | Man Falls Off Tram In Disney World Parking Lot | | Posted Tuesday, October 31, 2006 1:42:53 PM by Blog57 Team | | ORLANDO, Fla. -- A man was airlifted to a local hospital after he fell off a tram in a Walt Disney World parking lot on Monday morning. Officials said the tram was approaching the ticketing area of the Magic Kingdom when the 49-year-old man fell, WESH 2 News reported. A stroller fell off the tram, and the man was attempting to retrieve the stroller when he jumped off the tram and fell. He hit his head on the pavement. .... | |
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| | | Man conscious, alert after jump off tram at Disney | | Posted Tuesday, October 31, 2006 3:18:55 AM by Blog57 Team | | A 49-year-old man who reportedly jumped off a parking lot tram at Walt Disney World fell and hit his head and was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center this morning. The man, at Disney with his wife, daughter and grandchildren, leaped off the parking lot tram after a camera fell off in the Magic Kingdom parking lot, said Walt Disney World spokesman Jacob DiPietre. (An earlier version of this article said it was a stroller that fell off, based on information Disney provided.) The incident occurred around 9:30 a.m. The man was conscious and alert and taken to the hospital "as a precautionary measure" but did not appear have life-threatening injuries, he said. .... | |
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| | | Azinger's future (golf and TV) remain cloudy | | Posted Friday, October 27, 2006 7:17:51 AM by Blog57 Team | | Paul Azinger arrived at Walt Disney World wondering if he was continuing a career or starting a very long vacation. Azinger entered the week sitting at No. 122 on the money list ($672,675), barely clinging to a spot on Tour for 2007. At the same time, the 1993 PGA Championship winner has been coming to grips with the surprising demise of his once-promising TV career. His employer, ABC, put on one of its last golf telecasts, and while his partner, Nick Faldo, has become the king of TV golf, taking over next year as lead analyst for both CBS and the Golf Channel, Azinger remains unsigned. With his options dwindling, holding on to his Tour card has taken on greater urgency. But as Joe Durant shot a 25-under 263 for his fourth career win, Azinger went 72-71 to miss the cut by four. Lucky for Azinger, no one passed him, so he remains 122nd and will have a chance to control his own destiny at this week's Chrysler Championship.... | |
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| | | Durant Does It In Disney | | Posted Tuesday, October 24, 2006 11:12:41 AM by Blog57 Team | | Joe Durant fired a seven-under 65 on Sunday to earn his first PGA Tour win in five years by capturing the Funai Classic at Walt Disney World Resort. He finished at 25-under-par 263, which was good for a four-shot victory. The win was Durant's fourth on the PGA Tour, but his first since he won back- to-back starts at the Bob Hope and at Doral in 2001. His first-place check of $828,000 vaulted him from 66th on the PGA Tour money list to 29th with a good chance of making it to the Tour Championship in two weeks. "It feels great," said Durant. "Watching Davis win a couple of weeks ago at Greensboro inspired me. You never know when or if you're going to win again. I'm just going to keep plugging." Troy Matteson, who held the overnight lead, lost out on his chance to become the first player since David Duval in 1997 to collect his first two PGA Tour wins in back-to-back weeks.... | |
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