Month: May 2006

  • Disney Profit May Fall as `Chicken Little’ Trails `Incredibles’

    May 9 (Bloomberg) — Walt Disney Co., the No. 2 U.S. media company, probably will report a drop in second-quarter profit today as revenue from the animated film “Chicken Little” trailed last year’s “The Incredibles.” Net income fell 7.8 percent to $606 million, or 31 cents a share, from $657 million a year earlier, according…

  • Optus partners with Disney

    DISNEY yesterday raised the prospect of broadcasting children’s television over the internet through a new online “channel” created in partnership with Optus. The agreement between the Walt Disney Internet Group and Optus will see Disney re-work its international content in Sydney for delivery to subscribers to Optus’ cable and ADSL networks.The agreement is non-exclusive, but…

  • Disney may see decline in earnings

    LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) — After several quarters of solid growth, investors may find Walt Disney Co. stopped to take a breath during the second quarter, analysts say. The Burbank, Calif.-based entertainment giant will announce its earnings after the close Tuesday, and it could see a decline in net profits from the same period last year.…

  • McDonald’s, Disney deny obesity at fault as alliance ends

    NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – The Walt Disney Co. and fast food giant McDonald’s Corp. have announced they are ending a decade-old marketing alliance but denied the deal was ending because of concerns over obesity. The firms announced the break-up in separate statements, but insisted their lucrative tie-up was ending amicably for business reasons…

  • Disney’s Hong Kong Headache

    Disneyland is supposed to be “The Happiest Place on Earth,” but Liang Ning isn’t too happy. The engineer brought his family to Disney’s new theme park in Hong Kong from the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou one Saturday in April with high hopes, but by day’s end, he was less than spellbound. “I wanted to…

  • Mickey Goes 3D

    Veteran Disney creation Mickey Mouse is joining the 21st century at the age of 78 – by going 3D. The much-loved cartoon character will keep his trademark white gloves, red shorts and yellow shoes but appear in a computer generated format, similar to that used in Shrek and Toy Story. The new programme, titled Mickey…

  • ABC affiliates join online streaming program

    LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – ABC is getting some of its affiliated stations on board its two-month trial of streaming shows online, including “Lost.” Disney-ABC Television Group said Friday the Web sites of outlets in Dallas, Orlando, Milwaukee and Knoxville, Tenn., have begun linking to http://www.ABC.com, which is making free advertising-supported episodes of such series…

  • Will rising gas prices hurt Disney?

    With the average price of gas hovering at just under $3 a gallon nationwide, will Americans cut back on going to theme parks this summer? It’s an important question for Walt Disney, which will report its fiscal second-quarter results on Tuesday. Theme parks account for more than a quarter of the company’s sales and operating…

  • Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre Gets Its 80th Off to a Flying Start

    HOLLYWOOD, Calif., May 8 /PRNewswire/ — Hollywood’s legendary El Capitan Theatre gets its 80th anniversary off to a flying start with a special two- week engagement of Disney’s Oscar

  • Nitches Inks Couture, E-Commerce Agreements With Disney

    NEW YORK, NY–(MARKET WIRE)–May 8, 2006 — Nitches, Inc. (NasdaqSC:NICH – News) today announced that its Designer Intimates subsidiary signed a license agreement with Disney Consumer Products to design, manufacture and distribute Disney Couture

  • Disney Loses Its Appetite for Happy Meal Tie-Ins

    For 10 years, Walt Disney Co. and McDonald’s appeared to have the perfect marriage. Happy Meals bore little figurines of Nemo, Mr. Incredible and 101 Dalmatians. But no more. This is one relationship that’s ending in part because of the children. Disney is not renewing its cross-promotional pact with the fast-food giant, ending the arrangement…

  • Earnings Preview: Walt Disney Co.

    NEW YORK (AP) — Walt Disney Co. reports earnings for its second fiscal quarter on Tuesday. The following is a summary of key developments and analyst opinion related to the period. OVERVIEW: Disney officially took over Pixar Animation Studios Inc. last week, after Pixar shareholders voted to approve the company’s $7.4 billion acquisition. The vote…

  • ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Sequel Set for Summer

    Come this July, Hollywood hunk Johnny Depp is yet again all set to step into the shoes of Captain Jack Sparrow in the first ever sequel to the 2003 Blockbuster, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.” Of course, Depp won’t be alone in his next big adventure, as his Pirate co-stars…

  • Disney for the under-5 set

    Disney parks in Florida and California have launched a new program called “Magical Beginnings” aimed at families with children age 5 and under. The programs were developed in response to research from the Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown and Russell firm showing that 80 percent of families believe the ideal age for their first major vacation is…

  • ‘Uncle Walt’ lives on in Disneyland exhibit at Oakland museum

    DIANE Disney Miller doesn’t like it when people suggest that her father, Walt Disney, was a cold, aloof workaholic. “He may have been all business at the office, but at home he was a hugger,” Miller said earlier this week at the Oakland Museum of California. “He was a warm, affectionate man.” The occasion for…

  • Disney losing appetite for fast food

    For 10 years Disney and McDonald’s appeared to have a beautiful billion-dollar marriage. Happy Meals bore little figurines of Nemo, Mr. Incredible, and Peter Pan. But no more. This is one relationship that’s ending because of the children. Disney is not renewing its billon-dollar, cross-promotional pact with the fast-food giant, which ends with this summer’s…

  • ANAHEIM, May 5, 2006

  • Disney to Withdraw Listing on NYSE Arca

    BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Media giant Walt Disney Co. said Friday it plans to withdraw listing of its shares on the online stock exchange NYSE Arca.Disney said the move will lower costs. The withdrawal will happen within the next two weeks, the company said, adding that it will keep its listing on the New York…

  • Tourist found dead in pool at Disney hotel

    LAKE BUENA VISTA — A tourist from Colorado has drowned at a Walt Disney World resort. Nancy Heizer, 58, of Colorado Springs, was pronounced dead Thursday night after another guest noticed her floating motionless in a swimming pool at the Coronado Springs Resort, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said Guests, including a registered nurse from…

  • 7.4-billion-dollar Disney-Pixar merger finalised

    LOS ANGELES (AFP) – The board of Pixar Animation approved its 7.4-billion-dollar acquisition by US entertainment behemoth Walt Disney Co., sealing a deal that reshapes the animated movie industry. The much-touted deal, aimed at restoring Disney’s lustre as a leader in the animated film business, was completed just over three months after it was unveiled…

  • Pixar Holders OK Takeover by Disney

    LOS ANGELES – Shareholders of Pixar Animation Studios Inc. Friday voted to approve the company’s acquisition by The Walt Disney Co. for $7.4 billion in stock. The vote makes Pixar a wholly owned subsidiary of Disney and makes former Pixar Chief Executive Steve Jobs Disney’s single largest shareholder with about a 7 percent stake. The…

  • Disneyland exhibit coming to Oakland museum

    The “Behind the Magic — 50 Years of Disneyland” exhibit at the Henry Ford Museum is going on tour and the first stop is the Oakland Museum of California. The exhibit opens on Saturday and runs through Aug. 20. The 7,500-square-foot attraction features a wide variety of conceptional drawings from Disneyland’s planning and construction stages,…