Disney World

Spira Footwear (www.spirafootwear.com) has signed a three-year agreement with Disney’s Wide World of Sports in which Spira will serve as the official performance footwear sponsor of Disney’s Endurance Series events at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Fla. and Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif. As part of the agreement, Spira Footwear will be included in key marketing and promotional efforts for Disney’s Endurance Series. Disney’s Endurance Series events include the Walt Disney World Marathon, which is one of the top marathons in the U.S., the Expedition Everest Challenge, Disney’s Race for the Taste 10K, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 13K, and the Disneyland Half Marathon.”We are excited to have the opportunity to partner with Disney’s Wide World of Sports,” Andy Krafsur, CEO of Spira said. “Their brand is among the strongest in the world and connotes excellence in every sense of the word.” Spira is the company behind an innovation called the WaveSpring™, a patented spring technology that is enclosed in the heel and/or forefoot of its shoes. Spira elite runners have been winning or placing in the top three of many national and international marathons, half marathons and 10K races in the past year, including Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Atlanta, Ottawa, Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Istanbul to name a few.”The spring system not only cushions but also returns energy, making the shoe more comfortable and allowing runners to run harder for longer periods of time with less stress on their muscles and joints,” Krafsur said.The company also produces walking and casual style footwear. “Our shoes are not only beneficial for elite athletes and serious runners, but are also wonderful for people who want extra cushioning and energy return if they are walking or are on their feet for long periods of time,” Krafsur said. “This is a technology that can help people recover faster from the Disney’s Endurance Series races and go on to enjoy their days and evenings with their families and friends at the Disney theme parks,” said Krafsur.

In an open letter to critics of planned changes to Disneyland’s It’s a Small World attraction, Walt Disney Imagineering executive vice president Marty Sklar put to rest several “swirling” and “inaccurate” rumors that the theme park giant’s creative arm was intent on “ruining Walt’s creation.”The Small World boat ride, currently down for a 10-month rehab at the Anaheim theme park, will not be removing the Papua, New Guinea, rainforest scene to make way for an “Up with America” scene and will not be adding Mickey and Minnie Mouse characters in an effort to turn the “classic attraction into a marketing pitch for Disney plush toys,” according to Sklar. “Now, based purely on rumors that are mostly inaccurate, we are being criticized for touching another one of Walt Disney’s ‘classics,’” Sklar wrote in a letter published by Mouse Planet staff writer Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix. Sklar’s fury appeared directed at another open letter by the family of Small World creator Mary Blair that accused Walt Disney Imagineering of a plan to “bastardize” her stylized artwork and “marginalize” the original theme of the attraction. Imagineering officials recently acknowledged that Alice in Wonderland and other Disney characters would be added to Disney’s Anaheim attraction. “To make It’s A Small World even more relevant to our guests,” Sklar wrote, “We decided to seamlessly integrate Disney characters into appropriate thematic scenes in the attraction and do it completely in the distinctive ‘Mary Blair style.’” A recently launched online campaign to “Save the Rainforest” urges Small World fans to call, write or e-mail Disneyland, Walt Disney Imagineering or Disney’s corporate headquarters to put a halt to the proposed changes. “We all agree that It’s A Small World is a Disney classic,” wrote Sklar, a 50-year Disney veteran. “But the greatest ‘change agent’ who ever walked down Main Street at Disneyland was Walt himself. In fact, the park had not been open 24 hours when Walt began to ‘plus’ Disneyland, and he never stopped.”.

If you think you see Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Malin Akerman or Betty White on Cape Ann in the next month, you probably won’t be mistaken. Disney is going to be filming “The Proposal” at several locations in Rockport, Manchester and Gloucester in April and May. Filming in Rockport will begin next week, and in Manchester on April 22. Jim Duggan, administrative assistant to Mayor Carolyn Kirk, was meeting with the film representatives this week to discuss the logistics of filming in Gloucester.Rockport will be first stop. The landscape that locals know well to be Cape Ann will play the part of the Alaskan coastline in the film. Scott Levine, unit publicist on “The Proposal,” said the locations that will be filmed, such as Rockport’s Main Street, Bearskin Neck and Bradley Wharf, can be dressed to look even more like a small town on the Alaska coastline. “It’s always nice to bring major Hollywood movies into Rockport and show off our natural beauty, even though we will be standing in for Sitka, Alaska,” said Rockport Town Administrator Mike Racicot. Ben Thomas, a location scout for “The Proposal,” said he was working with some of the business owners on Dock Square and Main Street for permission to put up different signs on the stores, because they are part of the script. According to information from Levine, the movie is a romantic comedy for Touchstone Pictures centering around a publishing executive, played by Bullock, who forces her assistant, played by Reynolds, to marry her so she can avoid deportation to Canada. Anne Fletcher is the director. Filming inside Rockport’s Haskins Building, home to the Rockport Chamber Music Festival (RCMF), is scheduled for April 15 and 18. The construction team began building the set inside the building on Tuesday. “We were approached by the folks at Disney who asked to use the interior of the Haskins Building for filming a number of scenes in the movie,” said Kristen Harrington, general manager of the RCMF. “We are thrilled to be supporting the arts and specifically the film industry, which since 2006, according to the Department of Revenue, has generated over half a billion dollars in new direct spending in Massachusetts from filmmakers. This means jobs for artists, technicians, craftspeople and a positive economic impact on our state.” Peter Webber, manager of the Rockport Chamber of Commerce, said most businesses are pleased to have the filming in town. “My sense is that this crew is going out of their way to work cooperatively with property owners and the businesses to minimize any impact, and make sure it’s a beneficial and positive thing,” Webber said. “They seem to be doing all the right things and it looks like it’s going to be a good experience.” Rockport Harbormaster Rosemary Lesch said the film company was looking into using some local boats for background, and that they are bringing in one or two of their own boats. “Our harbor is small, but they’d like to use it,” Lesch said. Filming in Rockport will take place April 9 and 10 on Bearskin Neck, April 14 and 16 at Motif No. 1 on Bradley Wharf, April 15 and 18 at the Haskins Building on Main Street, and April 17 on the water and on Main Street near the Old Fire House.Manchester also a locale. The cast and crew will move on to Manchester for filming weekdays from April 22 to May 8. Town Administrator Wayne Melville said they are using town-owned property for parking, but not filming. “The movie company has learned it’s much better to pay people for use of their private facilities than to make use of public facilities,” Melville said. “If you tried to [film] on Singing Beach, we would have to abuse them financially, charge them an enormous price, and crowd control would be a problem.” Manchester is renting the town-owned parking facilities to the company. Although a price has not yet been determined, Melville said the money would go into the general fund. The Singing Beach parking lot will become what Melville called a “base camp” for wardrobe, make up, and cast and crew trailers. They are going to be parking four tractor-trailer trucks on Old Neck Road and shuttling equipment and materials between the primary shooting site and Old Neck Road every day while they are filming, he said. Tuck’s Point parking lot and the Singing Beach Club parking lot will also be used for parking. Gary and Diane Kaneb’s house on 5 Gales Point Road will be used for four days while a wedding scene is filmed, and a private beach will also be used. Melville said the film company has massive security needs, and it will consist of local police as well as private security. “I think there’s going to be some degree of rubbernecking, people who are curious who are going to want to go down and catch a glimpse of somebody,” Melville said. Levine could not confirm a release date for the movie, but according to The Internet Movie Database online at www.imdb.com, it will be released on Sept. 25, 2009.

A YOUNG South Wales singer will perform in a TV talent show.
Bryony Minney, 11, from Merthyr Tydfil, beat thousands of other hopefuls to get to the semi-final of the singing category in category in the Disney Channel talent show My School Musical.Bryony, who has sung since she was two, found out she had made it to the semi-finals on her 11th birthday.The talent contest, themed around the popular film High School Musical, attracted more than 5,000 video entries.Bryony’s semi-final performance will air tonight between 4.50pm and 5.20pm on the Disney Channel.After watching her sing, Bryony’s fans will be able to vote online for her to reach the final on April 25. To vote, visit www.myschoolmusical.co.uk.

Walt Disney Studios is looking for extras to appear in what it calls “a major motion picture based on a hit television series starring a well known pop teen sensation.”Hmm. … Could that be Disney’s upcoming “Hannah Montana” movie that’s set to be filmed in Middle Tennessee and Los Angeles?A receptionist for Dave Wong, the studio’s vice president of publicity, said Friday that they’re not ready to confirm that. But strangely enough, the on-hold music at Wong’s office was “Ready, Set, Don’t Go,” a country duet by “Hannah Montana” star Miley Cyrus’ and her father, Billy Ray Cyrus.The open casting call for extras is 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 6, at the Sommet Center in Nashville.The studio says it’s looking for background actors of all ages for non-speaking parts. No experience is necessary.Everyone must bring a recent nonreturnable snapshot and a pen. Filming begins in and around Nashville on May 6.

Dancing has joined singing at the top of the television charts.The return of “Dancing With the Stars” last week gave a boost to ABC, which has been struggling through a tough winter. The competition’s two editions last week were second in viewership behind television’s dominant show, “American Idol,” according to Nielsen Media Research.With 17 million viewers for its second edition, “Dancing With the Stars” even managed to hold up well while directly competing against Tuesday’s “Idol.”A Britney Spears guest shot on “How I Met Your Mother” meant a million to CBS (nyse: CBS - news - people ) - in curious viewers. Her appearance Monday was seen by 10.6 million viewers, or a million more than the audience for the comedy’s first new episode back from the strike last week. Among the 18-to-49-year-old demographic, it was the most-watched episode of the series ever.
The CBS drama “Jericho,” which has its series finale Tuesday, was seen by 5.7 million people last week. That’s a smaller audience than CBS reruns of “CSI: NY,” “NCIS” and “Cold Case,” explaining why the network is canceling the series for a second time. CBS cut “Jericho” after last season, but revived it following a campaign by its fans.Don’t expect the same outcry for the Parker Posey comedy “The Return of Jezebel James.” Fox axed the series following three showings after it was seen by only 3.1 million people last week.Fox won the week, averaging 10.1 million viewers (6.0 rating, 10 share). ABC was second with 9.2 million viewers (5.8, 10), CBS had 8.8 million (5.5, 9), NBC 7.1 million (4.8, 8), the CW 2.4 million (1.6, 3), My Network TV 1.2 million (0.8, 1) and ION Television 540,000 (0.4, 1).Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision led with a 3.4 million viewer average (1,7, 3), Telemundo had 1 million (0.6, 1), TeleFutura 650,000 (0.4, 1) and Azteca 140,000 (0.1, 0).NBC’s “Nightly News” won the evening news ratings race, averaging 8.9 million viewers (6.0 rating, 12 share). ABC’s “World News” had 8.5 million (5.8, 12) and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.6 million (4.4, 9).A ratings point represents 1,128,000 households, or 1 percent of the nation’s estimated 112.8 million TV homes. The share is the percentage of in-use televisions tuned to a given show.For the week of March 17-23, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: “American Idol” (Tuesday), Fox, 27.34 million; “American Idol,” (Wednesday), Fox, 26.08 million; “Dancing With the Stars,” (Monday), ABC, 21.15 million; “Dancing With the Stars,” (Tuesday), ABC, 17.02 million; “Two and a Half Men,” CBS, 14.06 million; “Survivor: Micronesia” (Wednesday), CBS, 11.56 million; “60 Minutes,” CBS, 11.54 million; “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” CBS, 11.47 million; “Lost,” ABC, 11.46 million; “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” ABC, 11.37 million.

Clean, tween role model Miley Cyrus - star of Disney’s very popular Hannah Montana comedy series - sings and struts her way across an oversized stage in a series of scrupulously designed, pretty, non-sexual G-rated outfits as an arena crammed with kids scream, cheer and wave their arms from side to side.
Comin’ at ya
The 3-D effect works extremely well and adults will get a big kick out of hearing six-year old Miley fans react with piercing shrieks every time somebody points a guitar neck at the camera.
Between the energetic concert sequences - during which Miley sometimes looks like she’s being stalked by enormous camera cranes - we are taken behind the scenes to speak to fans and to watch the show being put together.
There’s plenty of Miley horsing around, joking and going through her steps. Also in the frame is her dad Billy Ray, the country-and-western rocker who delivered the world the monster hit Achy Breaky Heart in the 1990s. He also pops up in the Hanna Montana series and, judging from his demeanour here, is clearly happy to spend his latter years as a smiling footnote to his daughter’s megalithic fame.
It might also be something of an eye-opener to many Miley fans to see that one of the key people behind the success of this teen sensation is a gentleman called Kenny Ortega - a middle-aged man who looks like he came to deliver the pizzas.
Grooming an image
The concert is a great deal of fun - who wouldn’t enjoy seeing Miley Cyrus perform to an arena of adoring fans? - but it also provides some insight into how closely Miley’s pop image is managed. The young star and her team are clearly eager to tell Miley’s huge fanbase of the important distinction between character and performer.
This is something too many young stars neglect to do, with the result being that they end up spending the rest of their careers trying to escape being identified with the role that made them famous. The peril of being stereotyped is clearly one Miley is determined to avoid.
A new-age role model
And wholesome doesn’t appear to be a punchline any more. Along with Hilary Duff, the Olsen twins and the troupe from High School Musical, Miley Cyrus has emerged as one of a new breed of carefully groomed, post-Britney, anti-Bratz pop icons for young girls.
The values promoted through Miley’s act and TV show place emphasis on family, friendship and respect - something that is not lost on the parents interviewed in the film. The refusal to sexualise Cyrus is particularly evident in how, despite all the young dancers on stage, there’s not a midriff in sight. To illustrate, compare Miley’s outfits with the revealing ones Britney Spears wore when she was her age.
Fashion and teen tastes have clearly - and thankfully - moved on from the era of bare bellies and low-rider jeans. It seems that in a celebrity-saturated age where former teen icons have a tendency to end up staring at their fans from the covers of supermarket tabloids while posing for police mug shots, performers such as Miley Cyrus represent something refreshing and positive for young girls and their parents.
Clean has become the new cool.

The rocky road to campus social success leads a new generation of sorority sweethearts and fraternity brothers into an action-packed semester of side splitting misadventures, hilarious hookups and hard won triumphs in Greek: Season One-Chapter One, coming to DVD on March 18, 2008 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. Sexy, funny, and completely cool, Greek: Season One-Chapter One features the first 10 episodes of television’s most entertaining look into the world of contemporary fraternities and sororities. The DVD also features exclusive bonus material including deleted scenes, interviews with the cast and creators, an extended music sequence and a sneak peek of Chapter Two.Greek: Season One-Chapter One begins with the students of Cyprus-Rhodes University as they navigate the social minefield of college life in the original hilarious series, Greek. Join Casey, a sorority social climber during her quest for President of Zeta Beta Zeta. Casey’s world begins to spin out of control when she finds herself in the middle of a love triangle between her ex-boyfriend Cappie, a fifth year slacker, and Evan, the handsome president of the top fraternity on campus. To top it off, her nerdy little brother Rusty is about to destroy her reputation as he tries to join Evan’s fraternity and finally make the transformation from geek to Greek.
Pledge with the hippest young cast on TV. Experience every moment of Greek: Chapter One, Get initiated into an entertaining world full of people and relationships that you won’t want to miss.Greek: Season-One Chapter One showcases the talent of a hot young cast of rising stars including Spencer Grammer (”As the World Turns”), Jacob Zachar, Scott Michael Foster, Jake McDormand (Bring It On: All or Nothing), Paul James (Cry Wolf), Clark Duke (Superbad), Amber Stevens (The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift), Dilshad Vadsaria, Jessica Rose (”Lonely Girl 15″), Tiffany Dupont (One Night with the King) and Aaron Hill (”Lost at Home”) as undergraduates eager to experience the joys and drama of college and build lifelong relationships.

Disney’s California Adventure’s new Pixar Play Parade - or, as I’ve taken to calling it, Pixar Puddle Parade - is about as much fun as watching a parade in the rain. Actually, it’s exactly like watching a parade in the rain.
Some people like to get wet at theme parks. I prefer to keep water where it belongs — in water parks. The mere sight of drenched people stepping off a white water raft ride sends chills up and down my spine.
The new Pixar parade, which features characters from the animated movies, replaces the old Pixar parade, Block Party Bash, which — wait for it — featured characters from the animated movies.The water theme of the new parade is immediately evident as “Cars” star Lightning McQueen leads the procession accompanied by a pair of women dressed as mops (no, sadly, I’m not kidding) who squirt the crowd with water bottles and sponge off the red roadster. The car wash gag is an apt metaphor because you are about to be put through a soaking fit for a Ford Mustang.
Before the first float had even passed, I’d been squirted in the eye twice and dried my face three times with my shirtsleeve. By the time the second float went by, I was suitably annoyed — as were others who were fleeing the parade route as if attacked by a swarm of bees. As the third float passed, I uttered words not appropriate for a family publication.
After the 12th and mercifully final squirting, spitting and splatting float rolled by, a mop brigade brought up the rear — a first for any parade I’ve ever seen. And an apt ending to parade, that in my opinion, is all wet (sorry, it was unavoidable).
It’s a shame, really, because the Pixar Play Parade looks like an improvement over Block Party Bash, of which I was never a big fan. I loved the beautiful new floats, the must-see “Incredibles” hovercraft and the twirling acrobats.
But mostly I felt bad for the 100-odd performers in the show, whom I shielded my eyes from for fear they’d assault me with a water pistol or douse me with a fire hose. Sadly, it may take a tragic slip and fall by one of the 12-foot-tall stilt walkers to force the Disney lawyers to switch the H20 to bubbles.

 Dr. Suess’ Horton Hears a Who (Fox) delivered an elephant-size $13.75M at America’s box offices Friday, and the animated film will finish the weekend with a monstrous $42.62M. If that number holds, Horton will be the 14th-biggest animated opening in modern box office history.

ALL-TIME TOP 15 ANIMATED OPENINGS
1. Shrek the Third - $121.6M
2. Shrek 2 - $108M
3. The Simpsons Movie - $74M
4. The Incredibles - $70.4M
5. Finding Nemo - $70.2M
6. Ice Age: The Meltdown - $68M
7. Monsters Inc. - $62.5M
8. Cars - $60.1M
9. Toy Story 2 - $57.3M
10. Shark Tale - $47.6M
11. Madagascar - $47.2M
12. Ratatouille - $47M
13. Ice Age - $46.3M
14. Horton Hears a Who - $42.62M (estimate)
15. Shrek - $42.3M

The Jimmy Hayward and Steve Martino-directed Suess adaptation will be the all-time 4th-biggest opening for a Fox animated film, trailing only The Simpsons Movie and the 2 Ice Age movies. Even more impressive is that Horton Hears a Who, by Monday morning, will be the all-time #4 March opening, behind only last year’s 300 and Fox’s Ice Age movies. In the #2 spot for the weekend is the critically-reviled 10,000 B.C. (Warner Bros), which is apparently receiving very bad word-of-mouth. The Roland Emmerich prehistoric spectacle managed $5M on its 2nd Friday, and it will manage only an estimated $15.5M in the frame, diving 57% from its opening weekend. Disney’s College Road Trip will be third for the 3-day with only a 40% dip on its 2nd weekend. After a $2.1M Friday, big Saturday and Sunday matinees will drive the Martin Lawrence tween road movie to an $8.19M frame and just shy of $25M total domestic. Never Back Down, the new Karate Kid-like release from Summit, sold $2.65M in tickets on its opening day, and it is headed for a $7.2M weekend, good for 4th place. Sony’s Vantage Point continues to hold well, dipping only 24% from last weekend with $1.7M or so on Friday and a likely $5.78M in the 3-day. The other new wide release, DOOMSDAY from Universal, is a disaster. Despite opening on 1,936 screens, it lurched to just $1.5M Friday, and it will only reach $4.2M for the weekend. The limited specialty releases have met with relative indifference. Michael Haneke’s Funny Games (Warner Independent) delivered a meager $632 per screen at 289 locations on Friday, and its weekend PTA will be something in the $2,100 range. Overture’s 2nd release, Sleepwalking starring Nick Stahl, generated only $420 per screen at 30 locations on its opening day. Its 3-day Per Theatre Average will be an estimated $1,433 or so. Looking at Friday numbers, Warner Independent’s Snow Angels got a nice surge and may win the weekend PTA race with an estimated $14,000+ per location. Horton Hears A Who (Fox) and Oscar winner The Counterfeiters (Sony Classics) are in a tight race for #2.