Disney on the News!
September 29, 2009 by Goro
The Walt Disney Co. today unveiled a new promotional campaign for 2010 to spur volunteerism — even as it sought to boost attendance in its domestic theme parks.The company will offer a free one-day admission ticket to Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., or Disneyland in Anaheim to as many as 1 million people who volunteer through HandsOn Network, a giant volunteer organization. HandsOn is part of the Points of Light Institute, which operates 250 centers throughout the country, connecting volunteers to more than 70,000 nonprofit agencies seeking help.
“It’s a great way to honor guests who are making a positive contribution to their communities,” Disney President and Chief Executive Robert A. Iger said in a statement.
The “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” campaign represents another installment in promotions designed to keep visitors coming to the theme parks despite the recession. Hotel and ticket discounts this last year stabilized attendance in Orlando and boosted traffic to Anaheim, even as it squeezed profit margins.
Starting Jan. 1, people can go to DisneyParks.com to browse for volunteer opportunities in their area and sign up for a day of service. Many of the opportunities will be projects that the entire family can participate in. To be eligible for the promotion, volunteers must pre-register and sign up through the parks website.
– Dawn C. Chmielewski
Photo: Flanking Mickey and Minnie are Michelle Nunn, chief executive of the Points of Light Institute and co-founder of HandsOn Network, and Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts at the Bethune School of Excellence in Chicago to announce the “Give a Day, Get a Disney Day” program. Credit: Walt Disney Co.
Two remaining copyright and trademark suits are dismissed by U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper, bringing to an end a feud with the Slesinger family that dates back to 1991.
Peter Fox adjusts a display of Winnie the Pooh toys in a World of Disney store in New York. The bear is entertainment giant Disney’s most profitable character. (Daniel Acker / Bloomberg News)
After 18 years of dueling lawsuits, courtroom clashes and allegations of impropriety, Walt Disney Co. finally can close the storybook on its battle with the family that holds lucrative rights to Winnie the Pooh.
On Friday, a federal judge ruled in favor of Disney by granting the company’s motion to dismiss a copyright and trademark infringement claim brought by the family of Stephen Slesinger, who was a pioneer in the commercialization of cartoon characters.
In 1930, Slesinger acquired the Pooh merchandising rights from British author A.A. Milne, who created the popular children’s stories. After Slesinger died, his widow assigned the family’s rights to Disney, which eventually turned the honey-loving bear into a multibillion-dollar franchise and the Burbank entertainment giant’s most profitable character.
U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper determined that Disney — not the Slesinger family — controlled the copyright and trademark to the bear and his forest friends.
“Stephen Slesinger Inc. transferred all of its rights in the Pooh works to Disney, and may not now claim infringement of any retained rights,” Cooper wrote in her ruling.
Cooper’s decision — which brings to an end the two lawsuits outstanding — means that Disney is free to exploit Pooh. However, the company must continue to pay royalties to the Slesinger family when Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Eeyore and the rest of the Hundred Acre Wood gang appear in movies, merchandise and other products.
“We are pleased with the ruling of the federal court dismissing all of SSI’s remaining claims,” Disney said Monday in a statement.
The legal feud dates to 1991. That year, the Slesinger family sued Disney for breach of contract, alleging the company was not fully disclosing the amount of its Pooh sales nor was it paying sufficient royalties as outlined in a 1983 licensing agreement.
The breach-of-contract lawsuit was ultimately thrown out when a state judge found misconduct on the part of the Slesingers. Private investigators hired by family members turned up secret Disney documents, which the state judge determined were stolen in an effort to give the Slesingers an unfair advantage in the lawsuit.
After that case ended, the drama shifted into federal court, where the two sides concentrated their efforts on copyright claims. Disney two years ago asked the federal judge, Cooper, to terminate the company’s obligation to pay royalties to the Slesingers but was unsuccessful.
Slesinger’s daughter, Patricia Slesinger, said Monday that she hoped the latest Cooper ruling would allow the two sides to cooperate with each other, as they once did.
“Judge Florence Cooper provided a potential and elegant middle-ground solution that will allow us to go forward with our business relationship — hopefully without more litigation,” Slesinger said.
LOS ANGELES — The Walt Disney Company hopes an ambitious new digital service it plans to unveil on Tuesday will transform how children read its storybooks.
In what it bills as an industry-defining moment — though rivals are sure to be skeptical about that — Disney Publishing plans to introduce a new subscription-based Web site. For $79.95 a year, families can access electronic replicas of hundreds of Disney books, from “Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too” to “Hannah Montana: Crush-tastic!”
DisneyDigitalBooks.com, which is aimed at children ages 3 to 12, is organized by reading level. In the “look and listen” section for beginning readers, the books will be read aloud by voice actors to accompanying music (with each word highlighted on the screen as it is spoken). Another area is dedicated to children who read on their own. Find an unfamiliar word? Click on it and a voice says it aloud. Chapter books for teenagers and trivia features round out the service.
“For parents, this isn’t going to replace snuggle time with a storybook,” said Yves Saada, vice president of digital media. “We think you can have different reading formats co-existing together.”
Publishers, of course, have been experimenting with e-books for the children’s market for years. About 1,000 children’s titles are now available digitally from HarperCollins. Scholastic has BookFlix, a subscription service for schools and libraries that pairs a video storybook with a nonfiction e-book on a related topic. “Curious George” is available on the iPhone.
“It’s not surprising that people are going to be doing more subscriptions with their content libraries,” Margery Mayer, president of Scholastic Education, said of Disney’s new service.
But some e-book observers are impressed. “There isn’t anything like Disney’s product on the market,” said Sarah Rotman Epps, a media analyst at Forrester Research who got a sneak peek at the Web site. “They are the first to say, we’re putting our whole catalog online in this one place, and we’re selling it straight to parents.”
By pursuing a subscription online model — as opposed to focusing on downloads and sales for devices like the Kindle — Disney is placing a specific bet about where the children’s market is going, at least in the next three to five years. The move could send ripples through this corner of publishing, if only because of the size of Disney, which annually sells 250 million children’s books.
“The company feels that devices don’t offer a Disney-level experience for kids and families, and I agree with them,” Ms. Epps said.
Disney Publishing has digital aspirations for cellphones and devices down the road, Mr. Saada said, but for now will focus on the site, which it has designed with safety concerns in mind. Controls are built in, for instance, that make it difficult for children to drift to a seedier section of the Web.
“We want to make reading an even bigger deal in a kid’s life, and if we can do that in a new and interactive way — great,” said Russell Hampton, president of Disney Publishing.
But make no mistake, this is about business. Children are reading less, and Disney, like other publishers, is scrambling to reverse the trend. Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, has also put the entire company on notice that digital media must now be a money maker in and of itself; marketing extensions are no longer enough.
Mr. Hampton said the Disney Digital Books site was designed so other businesses — language learning, for instance — could be added. Disney sees education services as a fruitful area of growth, particularly overseas.
A huge marketing effort will set about drilling the site into the public consciousness. Three million promotional postcards will be distributed at screenings of Disney films, and a social media and advertising component is intended to reach 14 million mothers. In the works are demonstrations at Apple’s retail stores.
Until now, Disney Publishing has only dabbled in the digital arena, offering some young adult titles for the Kindle and licensing a handful of storybook titles to LeapFrog, the educational toy maker. About 500 books will be available on the site Tuesday, with more added twice a month. (Disney owns thousands of titles.) Exclusive content will follow by the end of the year. Disney Digital Books will begin introducing titles in foreign countries in 2011.
The company tested a version of the site with 1,000 children and families earlier this year. Children spent an average of three hours using the product over five days, according to Mr. Saada. After completing the trial, 76 percent of parents said they would subscribe.
Some children who tried the site had trouble navigating between reading levels, however. Ms. Epps, the Forrester analyst, complained that she had some “usability problems.” Mr. Hampton said the bugs had been fixed.
“There is going to be a lot of trial and error anytime you add a new dimension to your business,” he said.
Motoko Rich contributed reporting from New York.
WALT DISNEY PARKS AND RESORTS CHAIRMAN JAY RASULO UNVEILS NEW ATTRACTIONS AND EXPERIENCES AT FIRST D23 EXPO
Re-Imagined “Star Tours” Coming to California and Florida in 2011 and Major Fantasyland Expansion at Walt Disney World Scheduled for 2013
ANAHEIM, Calif. (Sept. 12, 2009) /PRNewswire/ — Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo detailed plans for future lands, attractions and adventures that will be delighting Disney guests for years to come, at the first D23 Expo. Most notable among the announcements were the confirmation of an all-new Star Tours attraction and the largest expansion in the history of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.
“Storytelling is the DNA of Disney dreams and we’re always exploring new ways to tell new stories in new places,” Rasulo told a crowd at the Anaheim Convention Center in California before taking them on a “behind-the-magic” tour of their favorite Disney destinations.
Rasulo announced that a new 3-D version of the tremendously-popular “Star Tours” attraction will debut at the Disneyland Resort and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in 2011. Based on the iconic Lucasfilm “Star Wars” films, the attraction will include immersive new elements that will take guests to many familiar places in the Star Wars galaxy.
For Walt Disney World in Florida, Rasulo outlined plans for the largest expansion in the history of the Magic Kingdom, vastly increasing the size of Fantasyland by 2013. Guests will soon be able to:
-Visit their favorite Disney Princess in her castle, cottage, or chateau to share a dance with Cinderella; celebrate Sleeping Beauty’s birthday with the Good Fairies; or join Belle in an enchanting story performance in the Beast’s castle library.
-Be Our Guest and dine in one of three enchanted rooms inside the Beast’s castle.
-Fly with Dumbo high above brand new circus grounds, twice the size of the existing attraction with a new interactive, three-ring circus tent.
-Journey under the sea with Ariel, The Little Mermaid, in her very own attraction – also opening at Disney’s California Adventure in Anaheim in 2011.
-Meet Tinker Bell and her friends in the magical world of Pixie Hollow.
Rasulo provided updates on the multi-year expansion of Disney’s California Adventure including the new “World of Color” attraction slated to open in the spring of 2010 and the addition of the 12-acre Cars Land scheduled to open in 2012 where guests will literally step into the town of Radiator Springs and its six acres of hand-carved rockwork.
Rasulo noted the progress of several other recently-announced projects including the three new lands coming to Hong Kong Disneyland by 2014; the Disney Dream, the new ship being built by Disney Cruise Line; the many diverse itineraries being offered by Adventures by Disney that take guests on 19 unique, once-in-a-lifetime guided vacation experiences; and Disney’s first family destination resort on the island of Oahu in Hawaii.
Rasulo’s keynote presentation was only part of the D23 EXPO experience. Guests were able to discover:
Never-before-seen models of upcoming Disney attractions.
Up close and personal visits with Lucky the Dinosaur and Wall-E.
A preview of the most advanced Audio-Animatronics figures ever created by Walt Disney Imagineering.
Displays showcasing cutting-edge effects technologies that are being developed for Disney attractions, shows and venues.
ABOUT WALT DISNEY PARKS AND RESORTS
Walt Disney Parks and Resorts are where families experience and enjoy the magic of Disney’s beloved characters and where dreams come true. More than 50 years ago, Walt Disney created a new kind of entertainment families could experience together, immersed in detailed atmospheres and vibrant storytelling. His vision now includes a collection of five of the world’s leading family vacation destinations – Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, Calif.; Walt Disney World Resort, Lake Buena Vista, Fla.; Tokyo Disney Resort, Urayasu, Chiba, Japan; Disneyland Resort Paris, Marne-la-Vallée, France; and Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, located on Lantau Island. In addition, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts includes the world-class Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation Club, with nine resorts and more than 400,000 members; Adventures by Disney, a guided group vacation experience to some of the world’s most popular destinations; the World of Disney stores; and Walt Disney Imagineering, which creates and designs all Disney parks, resorts and attractions.
Big thanks to John M. for the heads up!
Rich Ross, the television executive who helped revive the moribund Disney Channel, now has to prove he can work movie magic at Walt Disney Studios.
The 47-year-old former talent department head has been tapped by Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert A. Iger to fill the post formerly held by Dick Cook, who was ousted as chairman of the studio Sept. 18 after clashing with his boss and failing to deliver enough hits over the last year.
Iger will look to Ross to reinvigorate Disney’s flagging box-office fortunes and develop film franchises that can be sold across the entertainment giant’s lines of businesses — including theme parks, consumer products and television — as well as grapple with a host of technological issues that are quickly reshaping Hollywood. In his new role, which begins immediately, Ross will oversee worldwide production, distribution and marketing for the company’s live-action and animated film labels, including Walt Disney, Touchstone, Miramax and Disney/Pixar. He will also head Disney’s theatrical and music groups.
“Rich has an outstanding record of creating high-quality family entertainment that delights audiences around the world,” Iger said in a prepared statement. “With his success in building the Disney brand across many of our businesses, his astute marketing sensibility, his proven ability in working effectively with talent and his skill at navigating complex global markets, I’m confident he’s the perfect leader for our studio group.”
By picking an executive from outside the clubby precincts of the movie business, Iger is signaling that he wants Ross to shake up a studio that the Disney chief views as entrenched in the past, with its reliance on high-priced, aging stars to open films and extravagant spending on marketing.
To achieve this, Ross may be borrowing liberally from the playbook he followed to turn around Disney Channel, which has eclipsed the movie studio in recent years as a hothouse for talent and ideas that could be packaged and resold across the company’s various platforms. Ross has proved himself adept at turning entertainment into brands — high-profile examples include “Hannah Montana,” which launched pop star Miley Cyrus’ career, and “High School Musical,” which was created for television but quickly found life — and revenue — in recorded music, a big-screen blockbuster and a stage show.
At a company that stresses team playing among executives, Ross may be the ultimate team player.
“I am very excited to play a key role in continuing the storytelling legacy of the Walt Disney Studios. There has never been a better time to entertain our global audiences with high-quality and compelling content and introduce new characters that will become family favorites. I look forward to working with Bob, the team at the studios and all of our Disney family toward that goal,” Ross said.
Even as Ross’ promotion was being announced, Iger introduced Ross to Cook’s former studio lieutenants. The CEO assured senior staff that everyone’s job was secure and there would be no restructuring.
Since his arrival at Disney Channel in 1996, Ross worked closely with other divisions of the Burbank company. For example, when the channel cast Cyrus as Hannah Montana in 2005, Ross ordered an internal “road show” to introduce the program to other parts of Disney. Within six months of the show’s debut, the consumer products group was shipping Hannah Montana clothing to stores — shaving a year off the time required for new TV-linked merchandise to reach retail outlets.
Such cross-division collaboration is a priority for Iger and something he felt was lacking at the movie studio. Moreover, Disney Channel, under Ross, has become a model for Iger’s oft-touted franchise strategy, in which entertainment properties can feed other parts of the Disney empire.
A prime example is 2006’s “High School Musical” — an update of “West Side Story” set in a high school, where rival cliques strive to keep the young couple apart. Ross revved up the Disney marketing machine, leading to the release of a soundtrack that was a top-selling CD, a sold-out 42-date concert tour in North and South America, a show at Disney’s theme parks and a slew of merchandise.
The 2007 sequel, “High School Musical 2,” became the highest-rated telecast in cable history at the time, and the third installment in 2008, “High School Musical 3: Senior Year,” raked in more than $250 million in worldwide box-office sales. Merchandise based on “High School Musical” and other Disney Channel movies and television series accounted for $3.6 billion in retail sales worldwide last year — not including DVDs and CDs.
Despite his success in television, Ross has virtually no experience in feature films — which involve a more protracted process encumbered by big egos, longtime habits and much higher cost structures. He must quickly reach out and calm anxieties among Disney’s movie talent, including director Steven Spielberg, producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Scott Rudin, and stars like Johnny Depp — all of whom were close to Cook and distraught over Iger’s pushing him out.
“I think it’s an interesting choice,” said Bruckheimer, the producer behind the studio’s lucrative “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise. “He’s done a great job at everything he’s been involved with.”
Bruckheimer said it didn’t bother him that Ross doesn’t know the movie business. “Smart executives are smart executives.”
Ross will not have oversight of the latest planned addition to Disney’s family, Marvel Entertainment, whose library of superhero characters the studio will seek to exploit. Disney has lagged behind rival studios that have successively produced film adaptations of Marvel properties such as X-Men and Spider-Man. Ike Perlmutter, Marvel’s chief executive, will report directly to Iger.
Another priority for the incoming studio chief will be forging ties with Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios, which recently signed a multiyear distribution deal with Disney and expects to supply the studio with four to six movies a year.
But Ross’ greatest challenge will be to address Disney’s creative slump. Although Disney isn’t the only studio to have suffered a bad year at the box office, the division lost $12 million in its most recent quarter — its first loss in four years. A number of its recent movies, including the Adam Sandler family comedy “Bedtime Stories,” the costly 3-D guinea pig saga “G-Force” and the latest installment in the “Witch Mountain” sci-fi adventure franchise, “Race to Witch Mountain,” failed to attract wide audiences.
And like all studio heads, Ross will find himself grappling with a number of sea changes in the business caused by a slump in DVD sales — the most lucrative part of a film’s revenue stream — and technological shifts that have changed how, when and where people watch movies.