Blog: FanBoy's Blog: Happy New Year Well it is time to start celebrating. The New Year started off good since my second favorite team played in the Rose Bowl for the fourth straight year. I figured I would have a great time cheering my team while watching the game on “ESPN on ABC”. However, stupid USC decided to win the game and it put me in a bad mood. And to add insult to injury, the game was filled with Disney Parks commercials that kept reminding me that I should be celebrating in 2009.But alas, there was a reason to celebrate.
Alas, help was on the way. After the game, ABC aired America’s Funniest Home Videos. If you can’t celebrate the small things in life such as pets doing silly things and images of folks you don’t know hurting themselves, why bother celebrating anything at all. ABC knows how to mend my heart, and for a moment made me think that the Years of Two Million Dreams might not be over, because my dream had come true.
Quick Takes:
Parks and Resorts: So “What Will You Celebrate” has started, and since it is not my birthday yet, and the entertainment associated with the celebration doesn’t start until the Spring, all I really have to talk about is the new buttons. What started as the basic Birthday button got expanded with the Year of a Million Dreams and they have added more for the new celebration. Some of the new ones include, Just Engaged, Family Reunion, and Magical Triumph. My favorite is the “Happily Ever After” button which I want to wear at my funeral. Hopefully that will not be what I am celebrating this year.
Disney Interactive Media: Disney.com has an exclusive video of Miley Cyrus singing “7 Things” on GMA. With the Hannah Montana film being released soon and additional episodes being ordered, Disney is trying to have the Miley Cyrus phenomenon last just a little bit longer.
Consumer Products: We all know the Disney Princess franchise is huge for Disney. Recently, Disney launched a new Disney Princess website. It includes Princess products from all parts of Disney and also includes a section on parenting a princess. I wonder if they would consider adding a section about being married to a princess. Rebekah could use it to help with being married to Doobie. (Yes, I did not swap the names).
Studio Entertainment: Here is the new G-Force trailer. I was really excited to see this movie...until I saw the trailer. But who knows, maybe G-Force will be this year’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua
What to Watch: Its New Years so the pick for January 2nd has to be a Bowl Game. And since ESPN doesn’t get the BCS Bowls until next year, check out the 50th Anniversary Autozone Liberty Bowl as Kentucky takes on East Carolina. For those of you that don’t follow College Football, all you need to know about the whole season is that UCLA did not lose a Bowl game.
Video of the Day: Hear is a special New Year’s wish from Kermit the Frog. I hope it warms your heart.
News from Around the Web:
ABC News: ABC News has a video feature on the top movies of 2008. Disney’s Wall-E and Miramax’s Doubt are amongst those listed. I still ask, should they be eligible? Isn’t there an inherent conflict of interest? I wonder what their favorite morning show of 2008 was.
NY Times: Viacom and Time Warner reached a deal to keep popular cable channels on Time Warner’s system. Viacom tried to make their case for increasing fees by having advertising that featured Sponge Bob and Dora the Explorer crying because the mean cable operators wouldn’t agree to Viacom’s terms. Could you imagine if Disney sunk this low during their negotiations with Time Warner? Viacom’s Sumner Redstone is now on my list. You shouldn’t use cartoon characters as a part of contract negotiations.
USA Today: Times Square revelers left 40 tons of trash after their celebration. Your might think this is excessive, but you probably only know half the story. The Jonas Brothers performed live in Times Square and the celebrants brought all that trash to give to the true star of the group. But the Trash Can was nowhere to be found. You see, Trash Can’s birthday is January 1st, so he ditched the gig in order to get in to the Magic Kingdom for free. With all that trash, and no Trash Can, the New Yorkers had no other choice but to leave it behind. And now you know the rest of the story. Good day.
LA Times: Page 2. The sun shined on the 120th Rose Parade in Pasadena. Disney has a long association with the New Year’s tradition, and this year was no exception. Cloris Leachman, best known for her role on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars was Grand Marshall. Trivia question for you.... Which is older; the Rose Parade or Cloris Leachman?
Orlando Sentinel: The Orlando Sentinel has a picture of the first Walt Disney World “free-on-your-birthday) ticket recipient. Seattle resident, Andrew DaCosta, got his ticket at the Magic Kingdom at 7:31am. And while I would love to go to the Kingdom for free, what I really want is Andrew’s hat. Now that, is a reason to celebrate.
Variety: Variety reports that the holiday brought a box office boost which means that ticket sales in 2008 will probably break last year’s record, despite the tough economy. For example, Disney’s Bedtime Stories made $56.7 million in the first seven days of release. This shows that the holidays are a great time for family films. I can’t help but wonder if Disney released Prince Caspian at the holiday season, would they be producing a third film?
