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  • New Disney Villains show opens next summer at Hollywood Studios

    New Disney Villains show opens next summer at Hollywood Studios

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    Artist rendering via Disney Parks

    Something wicked is coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios next summer.

    An all-new live show featuring dozens of Disney Villains will take the stage at the Sunset Showcase venue, which currently houses Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy. Disney Live Entertainment’s creators have crafted a new show exploring the realm of the Magic Mirror and its dastardly inhabitants.

    Breaking through the Magic Mirrors will be Cruella de Vil, Captain Hook, Maleficent and many more new and classic Disney Villains. Artist renderings tease appearances by Hades, Jafar, the Queen of Hearts, Scar and Ursula.

    Before the show can materialize, Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy will take its last laps on Oct. 7. The interactive show opened on March 31, 2019, with a story that takes place after the events of Cars 3.

    click to enlarge New Disney Villains show opens next summer at Hollywood Studios

    It’s been a long time coming for Disney World to embrace its darker side and showcase its beloved Villains beyond character meet and greets. This new show is the first big step, followed by an entire Villains-themed land announced for Magic Kingdom.

    The Disney Villains land was the much-anticipated reveal for the Beyond Big Thunder Mountain project, announced at this year’s D23 parks showcase. Part of Magic Kingdom’s largest expansion ever, Villains land will include two major attractions, dining, shopping and immersive theming to all of our favorite evildoers.

    And while Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy will close next month, a whole Cars-themed land will open at Magic Kingdom. Construction on that area of the park begins next year.

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    Chelsea Zukowski

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  • Disney World would cross the line by removing Muppets from the parks

    Disney World would cross the line by removing Muppets from the parks

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    The Muppets land at Hollywood Studios is on the chopping block to make room for Monsters, Inc., and fans are once again outraged and confused about what exactly Disney is trying to do with its park that was once themed around movie-making magic.

    Shortly after Disney’s parks news showcase at D23, TheWrap reported a tip that Imagineering “has only a few weeks to decide whether to keep Muppet*Vision 3D” and the Muppet-filled Grand Avenue courtyard of the Orlando park. TheWrap’s source told them the attraction’s closure was originally going to be revealed during the D23 panel.

    The Aug. 10 Horizons showcase revealed all the new lands and attractions coming to Disney’s parks worldwide. For Disney World, each of the four parks is getting at least one new attraction — Cars and Disney Villains in Magic Kingdom, Indiana Jones and Encanto in Animal Kingdom, Monsters, Inc. in Hollywood Studios and a reimagined Test Track at Epcot.

    The concern for the Muppets grew out of TheWrap’s reporting as well as an artist rendering of the Monsters, Inc. land. It wasn’t revealed where in Hollywood Studios Monstropolis would go, but fans spotted a familiar water tower in the background of one of the images. It was the signal the Muppets fandom needed to express their dismay over Disney even considering getting rid of the Muppet*Vision 3D show and the Jim Henson character-filled courtyard.

    Outlets like Nerdist, Paste magazine and USA Today likewise decried the possibility of removing the Muppets, calling the move a “colossal mistake” if Disney went through with it. A month before D23, Vulture writer Rebecca Alter waxed poetic about how “the greatest moviegoing experience you can have in America” is at Muppet*Vision 3D. She also called for the 33-year-old attraction to be designated a cultural heritage site on the National Register of Historic Places.

    If the Muppets were removed, Disney would cross the line from “typical fan discourse surrounding the removal of an attraction” into further tainting Hollywood Studios’ legacy by continuing to dump random IP they don’t have anywhere else to put.

    I say all this as a huge fan of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge and the nearby Toy Story Land. Both of those lands — and the upcoming Monstropolis — belong in a Disney park. But at what cost? What is Disney even doing at Hollywood Studios?

    There’s no longer a cohesive “ride the movies” theme to compete with Universal Studios Florida. The old Hollywood-themed park that used to have The Great Movie Ride inside a replica Chinese Theatre, a Studio Backlot Tour and actual Walt Disney Animation satellite studios now has crowd control issues for a couple of thrill rides alongside swaths of the park that remain largely empty every day.

    Looking at you, Animation Courtyard, Star Wars Launch Bay and Pixar Plaza.

    Back to the Muppets. They’re part of a timeless franchise that perfectly balances goofy kiddie pranks and puppetry with subtle adult humor. The Muppets are one of the few franchises that truly appeal to all ages. The absurdist ensemble of lovable felt puppets remains as relevant today as 70 years ago when Jim Henson created it.

    Speaking of Henson, Muppet*Vision 3D was the last project the creative legend directed before he died in 1990. It was also one of the last times Henson performed as Kermit, Waldorf and Swedish Chef, and veteran Muppeteer Richard Hunt played Scooter, Statler, Beaker and Sweetums.

    With that status, Muppet*Vision 3D is a cultural landmark and place of remembrance.

    It’s no secret Disney has struggled to land a sustainable future for The Muppets. Their comedic storytelling style doesn’t need any changing, but they do need to be included in more Disney projects to stay relevant. Still, there are few franchises and stories from seven decades ago that are still funny, entertaining and appropriate for all ages like The Muppets.

    Plus, everything is made better with The Muppets. Let them host the Oscars. Create alternate-universe short stories like “what if Kermit the Frog was Iron Man?” Put Swedish Chef in an episode of The Bear. Let Miss Piggy guest star on Drag Race (not a Disney property, but can you imagine?).

    Critics will cry that The Muppets is no longer relevant to today’s kids. That families are more interested in immersive lands based on blockbuster IPs that aren’t more than several decades old (I’ll remind you that Monsters, Inc. came out in 2001). That older kids want thrill rides and escapism — not reminders of the past or anything that could possibly educate them on entertainment history.

    Bringing Monstropolis to a Disney park is a great idea. The Monsters, Inc. films are fun, sweet and beloved by several generations of Disney fans. And that door vault coaster is going to be epic.

    But sacrificing the one tiny area of the park that celebrates The Muppets is too high a cost. The Muppets — and Henson’s masterful puppetry — deserve better than to be written off into obscurity because they aren’t “trending” in today’s screen-obsessed world.

    Removing The Muppets and Muppet*Vision 3D would not only further taint Hollywood Studios’ legacy but also the legacy of Disney parks as a whole. One of the core tenets of Disney parks has always been immersive, relatable nostalgia. In every park are attractions that let fans get a taste of childhood whimsy. Time slows down in a Disney park, letting you stop and smell the flowers (and churros) and get a small taste of historic days gone by.

    Few things exemplify that joyous, comedic mentality quite like The Muppets. Closing Muppet*Vision 3D and the surrounding courtyard would rid the world of a priceless and irreplaceable piece of cultural magic.

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    Chelsea Zukowski

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  • U.S. actors union agrees to mediation with studios, but keep strike deadline – National | Globalnews.ca

    U.S. actors union agrees to mediation with studios, but keep strike deadline – National | Globalnews.ca

    Negotiators for the SAG-AFTRA actors union agreed late Tuesday to call in a federal mediator to try to forge a last-minute agreement with Hollywood studios and avoid a second simultaneous strike in the entertainment business.

    The 160,000 members of SAG-AFTRA, Hollywood’s largest union, have authorized a strike if a new labor deal cannot be reached before midnight on Wednesday. The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since early May.

    In a statement late on Tuesday, SAG-AFTRA said it was sticking with the Wednesday deadline and would “exhaust every possible opportunity to make a deal.”

    “However we are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining toward an agreement,” the statement said.

    SAG-AFTRA is demanding higher compensation in the streaming TV era plus safeguards around the use of artificial intelligence (AI). A-list stars including Jennifer Lawrence and Meryl Streep have said they are ready to walk off the job if union leaders cannot reach a “transformative deal.”

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    Click to play video: 'Writer shares experience picketing at Paramount Studios during strike'


    Writer shares experience picketing at Paramount Studios during strike


    On Tuesday, SAG-AFTRA said the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the group that negotiates on behalf of studios, “has abused our trust and damaged the respect we have for them in this process.”

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    The union said studio sources had leaked the request for a mediator to the press before SAG-AFTRA negotiators were informed.

    “We will not be manipulated by this cynical ploy to engineer an extension when the companies have had more than enough time to make a fair deal,” the union said.

    A spokesman for the AMPTP, which represents Walt Disney Co , Netflix Inc and other major studios, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

    Negotiations were taking place at a difficult time for media companies that are under pressure from Wall Street to make their streaming businesses profitable.

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    Disney, Comcast Corp’s NBCUniversal and Paramount Global each lost hundreds of millions of dollars from streaming in the most recent quarter. The rise of streaming has also eroded television ad revenue as traditional TV audiences shrink.

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  • Studios Call AI Conversations “Complicated” as 2023 Strike Heats Up

    Studios Call AI Conversations “Complicated” as 2023 Strike Heats Up

    Since the Writers Guild of America began striking on Tuesday, they’ve been driving the narrative about the work stoppage. Thousands of writers have spread out across Los Angeles and New York to picket outside the biggest entertainment studios, including Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Netflix. The famous faces who have joined the picket lines and their clever signs—they are writers, after all—have dominated headlines. So, too, has their long list of demands. 

    After the WGA announced plans for the strike on Monday night, it released a document outlining just how far it was from a deal with the studios. According to the two-pager, WGA’s proposal for the regulation of AI on Hollywood projects was met with a rejection from the group negotiating on behalf of the studios, which instead offered to hold “annual meetings to discuss advances in technology.” WGA said that the studios also outright rejected its proposal to establish minimums for the size and duration of writers rooms. The document had its intended effect, riling up writers as they headed out to the picket lines. “When the Writers Guild said here’s what we proposed and here’s what their responses were, it was like, oh my God, we were miles apart,” said showrunner David H. Steinberg from the picket line outside Fox on Tuesday afternoon. 

    Beyond issuing a statement as negotiations broke down, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers remained rather quiet during the first two days of the strike. And the studios it represents have followed suit, directing press inquiries back to the AMPTP. Now they’ve issued a response. 

    In a four-page document dated May 4, the AMPTP—which is led by Carol Lombardini—laid out its argument for why negotiations with the WGA broke down. On the issue of the writers room and the WGA’s request for mandatory staffing and minimum duration of employment—which seems to be a key negotiating point for the WGA—the AMPTP said, “If writing needs to be done, writers are hired, but these proposals require the employment of writers whether they’re needed for the creative process or not….We don’t agree with applying a one-size-fits-all solution to shows that are unique and different in their approach to creative staffing. Some writers are the sole voice of a show and others work with only a small team. The WGA’s proposals would preclude that.” 

    The AMPTP also clarified its position around the use of AI, which has become a hot-button issue in the early days of the strike. “We’re creative companies and we value the work of creatives. The best stories are original, insightful and often come from people’s own experiences,” it said in the document. “AI raises hard, important creative and legal questions for everyone. For example, writers want to be able to use this technology as part of their creative process, without changing how credits are determined, which is complicated given AI material can’t be copyrighted. So it’s something that requires a lot more discussion, which we’ve committed to doing.” 

    The studios are taking issue with writers’ complaints that their jobs have essentially become “gig economy” work thanks to the shrinking size and duration of writers rooms, which has forced them to seek jobs in multiple rooms in one year. The AMPTP said that working as a Hollywood writer “has almost nothing in common with standard ‘gigs’ jobs. For one thing, most television writers are employed on a weekly or episodic basis, with a guarantee of a specified number of weeks or episodes. It’s not uncommon for writers to be guaranteed ‘all episodes produced.’ Plus, writing jobs come with substantial fringe benefits that are far superior to what many full-time employees receive for working an entire year, including employer-paid health care, employer-paid contributions into a pension plan and eligibility for a paid parental leave program.”

    As if to illustrate just how generous the studios have already been, the AMPTP pointed out that its most recent offer to increase minimum wages would equate to an extra $97 million annually for writers. (The WGA had previously said it would increase writers’ pay by $41 million per year.) And it noted that the 46% increase in streaming residuals negotiated three years ago only recently took effect, meaning that writers might not be feeling the full effect of those bigger checks just yet. Vanity Fair has asked the WGA for a response. 

    It’s unclear when the WGA and the AMPTP will resume their talks. WGA negotiating committee cochair Chris Keyser said earlier this week that the writers are prepared to strike as long as it takes to “get the deal that we need to make sure that writing is a viable profession.” AMPTP seems to be arguing that it already is—which means Hollywood might want to settle in for a long work stoppage. 

    Natalie Jarvey

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