I'm not sure people were reading my ongoing Thread, so instead I'll post a news round up every Sunday.
Lots to get through this week (some of which will already have been discussed elsewhere).
Disney to report Q3 earns Tuesday
Wall Street analysts expect Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday to report a higher fiscal third-quarter profit than it did in the year-earlier period, fueled by greater revenue from the company's theme park division.
According to a survey of analysts conducted by Thomson First Call, Disney (DIS: news, chart, profile) is expected to earn 27 cents a share on revenue of $7.15 billion, compared with its profit of 19 cents a share on $5.8 billion a year earlier.
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DISNEY hopes 'Diaries 2' boosts its sagging fortunes
The folks at the film arm of Walt Disney need a hit badly. Nothing is working - not "The Alamo," "Home on the Range" or "Around the World in 80 Days." It's a far cry from last summer, when "Finding Nemo" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" smashed box-office records.
Finally, last weekend the Mouse House hit paydirt with "The Village," which topped the box-office charts. It has even higher hopes for its sequel "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement," which bows Wednesday.
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Less a Sleeping Beauty, more a rude awakening at Euro Disney
As the theme park falls from fairy tale to the brink of bankruptcy, Katrin Roberts asks if the Mickey Mouse set can escape a date with the bailiffs
It has withstood mudslinging, cash crunches, strikes and bouts of anti-Americanism. But now Disneyland Paris, 12 years old and slowly being strangled by debt, is undergoing the challenge of its life. The biggest tourist attraction in Europe is facing a standoff with its creditors that could send operator Euro Disney into bankruptcy.
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JUDGE Keeps Disney's Pay Data Confidential
Former Walt Disney Co. Roy E. Disney can't disclose company executives' compensation information to boost his campaign to oust Chief Executive Michael Eisner. Delaware Chancery Court Judge Stephen P. Lamb ruled that Disney didn't have to drop confidentiality restrictions on documents outlining how directors set Eisner's and other executives' pay over a two-year period starting in 2002.
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PIXAR thrives despite tension with Disney
In announcing another hugely profitable quarter, Pixar Animation Studios outlined how it was preparing for possible life beyond Walt Disney following the dissolution of the companies' long-time marriage.
Pixar said it had struck a new interactive games deal with publisher THQ for its first four wholly owned movies that would be produced outside its existing partnership with Disney, beginning in 2006.
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UNION Urges Rejection of Disney World's Offer
Union officials are urging members to reject a contract offer covering almost half of Walt Disney World's more than 50,000 employees, claiming it is as tightfisted as anything Scrooge McDuck would concoct.
Leaders of the Service Trades Council Union, a coalition that covers about 22,000 costumed characters, ticket takers, food service workers, housekeepers, bellhops and bus drivers, recommended rejecting the preliminary offer when members voted on it today.
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DISNEY To Launch Abc Network In UK
The Walt Disney Company is to launch its ABC television network in the U.K, announcing a new addition to the multi channel world with the launch of a major new TV channel, ABC1.
ABC1, a general entertainment channel, will launch on Freeview on Monday 27th September with plans for a multi-platform roll-out. It will be the first non Disney branded channel to launch outside of the U.S.
ABC1's schedule will focus on high quality U.S acquisitions including drama, comedy and serials, many of which have never been seen in the UK before. Once launch objectives have been achieved the channel intends to commission and invest in original UK production and to introduce a regular movie slot.
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Disney film sails into Sept. 11
Tiger Cruise began as a lighthearted look at a Navy tradition, Operation Tiger, in which crew members' relatives spend a week aboard ship. But the Disney Channel movie (tonight, 8 ET/PT) took a much more serious turn after producers learned of a particular Tiger cruise: one that was in the Pacific with 800 guests on Sept. 11, 2001.
The aircraft carrier USS Constellation's combat alert status after the attacks added gravitas and served as a turning point for the main plot, a young teen's struggle to understand her officer father's continual separation from his family.
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REPORT: Disney Cruise Ship Evacuated
330 Passengers Aboard Disney Wonder When Terminal Ordered Closed
A port terminal for the Disney Wonder cruise ship at Port Canaveral was evacuated Thursday after a bomb-sniffing dog gave an alert while inspecting supplies being loaded aboard.
About 330 passengers were aboard Disney Wonder when the terminal at Port Canaveral was ordered closed at 9:25 a.m., Disney spokeswoman Rena Langley said.
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Federal District Court Allows Stephen Slesinger, Inc. to Plead Claims Against Disney for Inducing the Attempted Termination of Winnie-the-Pooh Contract
The U.S. District Court, Central District of California today issued an important decision in the ongoing Federal copyright case between Disney and Stephen Slesinger, Inc. ("Slesinger"), among others, in which the heirs of A. A. Milne and Ernest H. Shepard are seeking to terminate the rights of Slesinger to the Winnie-the-Pooh franchise and regrant such rights to Disney.
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KIDS glean magic, morality from Disney's animated tales
The empire built on Mickey Mouse's moon-shaped ears seems to be in the midst of an eclipse.
Several Disney films flopped in recent years. Then, the partnership with Pixar Animation Studios, makers of "Finding Nemo," seemed to fizzle this past winter. And now rivals at DreamWorks SKG, the house of "Shrek," are breathing down Walt Disney Co.'s neck.
Thirty-eight years after Walt Disney's death, his prophetic vision of fantasy as a healthy realm of imagination has triumphed. From "Shrek" to "Harry Potter," the genre has never been hotter. So, before we race away from Disney to embrace the latest in special effects, let's consider the spiritual content that fueled Disney's dominance.
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Disney News Round-Up 8th August 2004
Disney News Round-Up 8th August 2004
Most of my Blu-ray collection some of my UK discs aren't on their database
