Redbox isn’t taking Walt Disney Studios’ 28-day delay policy on its DVDs sitting down, no siree. It’s cutting out the middleman and heading to retail outlets and the Internet, buying up copies of John Carter and stocking its kiosks instead of waiting 28 days to rent the flick. [More]
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Redbox To Disney Over 28-Day Delay Rule: No Thanks, We’ll Buy Our Own Darn Copies Of ‘John Carter’
By 6.7.12
Dress Up For Your Visit To Disney And You Probably Won’t Be Allowed In
By 6.7.12
A 15-year-old girl in Florida is making headlines because she says she was not allowed to wear her Tinker Bell costume inside of a Disney theme park, citing company policy against teens and adults dressed as characters. [More]
Disney Networks To Stop Airing Junk Food Ads To Kids
By 6.5.12
With growing public and regulatory interest in how not-exactly-healthy foods are advertised and marketed toward children, the Walt Disney Company is announcing today that any foodstuffs advertised during kid-focused TV programming on its many channels will have to meet the company’s nutritional standards. [More]
Disney Rewards Kid Who Gave Away His Free Trip With Another Vacation, Which He Then Gives Away
By 5.31.12
It was like a game of Good Samaritan Hot Potato on Good Morning America today, as Disney offered a free vacation to a 9-year-old Massachusetts boy — who had given away his Disney trip to a young girl whose dad was killed in Afghanistan — only to then have the boy say he’d be passing that vacation on to yet another person. [More]
Disneyland Hikes Ticket Prices As Much As 30%
By 5.22.12
Prepare to pay even more to stand in line waiting to enjoy rides. For the second time in less than a year, Disney is hiking prices at its California theme parks. The cost of tickets will increase 9% (from $80 to $87) for the humble one-day pass for guests over 10, and 30% (from $499 to $649) for annual passes that include the cost of parking. [More]
Report: Hulu Thinks Maybe You Shouldn't Cut Your Cable Cord Just Yet
By 4.30.12
Hulu is one of the many streaming services that have led a growing number of cable and satellite subscribers to cancel their subscriptions and get most of their TV entertainment via the Internet. But a new report claims that Hulu is now looking to appease cable companies by eventually making the service available only to those who are also paying for cable. [More]
Starbucks & Disney Form Overly Cheerful, Caffeinated Alliance
By 4.23.12
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum — and also a grande nonfat caramel macchiato with extra whip, please. A new joint venture between Starbucks and Disney means visitors to the theme parks will be able to get their caffeine fix in cafes designed to blend in with their surroundings. [More]
Help Donald Duck File His 1941 Federal Tax Return
By 3.29.12
Filing a federal tax return is an ingrained habit now, but most middle-class Americans didn’t have to before World War II. The Revenue Act of 1942 made 15 million more people eligible to pay taxes. How could the government explain this to the masses? Cartoons! The U.S. Treasury department commissioned Disney to make a short animated film that explained how to fill out a simple tax return, and why paying income taxes was so important. (Spoiler alert: Defeating the Axis powers.) [More]
Disney Decides To Let Workers Don Beards
By 1.24.12
Disneyland employees no longer must choose before rocking a goatee and receiving a paycheck. Disney’s strict theme park employee grooming code has always banned beards — it’s only allowed mustaches since 2000 — but the company is overturning the rule. [More]
Report: Disney Blocks Johnny Depp From Talking To ABC Stations About "The Rum Diary"
By 10.25.11
Things get weird and ugly when journalism collides with the inelegant demands of outlets’ corporate masters. A Houston TV reporter alleges Disney prevented reporters from ABC affiliates from interviewing Johnny Depp at the Austin Film Festival because he was there to promote the upcoming movie The Rum Diary while his film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has just come out on home video. [More]
Disneyland Hotel Workers Face "Electronic Whip"
By 10.21.11
Above ground, Disneyland is a world of wonder and enchantment. But getting the bedsheets as tight as the smiles on the workers faces takes a lot of hard work, and it happens underground. [More]
Disney To Run 3D Re-Release Idea Into Ground
By 10.6.11
Never afraid to exploit a good idea for all its worth and more, the studio that brought you Bambi II announced it will capitalize on the success of its 3D theatrical re-release of The Lion King by using its cattle prod to jolt four more golden geese back to life. [More]
DOT & Disney Team Up To Fight Distracted Driving, Promote New Movie
By 6.15.11
The Department of Transportation’s campaign against distracted driving is becoming animated. Literally. [More]
Disney Is No Match For The Navy SEALS
By 5.27.11
The Walt Disney Company has dropped its efforts to trademark the term SEAL Team 6. The Navy had objected to Disney’s plans to market products based on the name of the unit that killed Osama Bin Laden, and filed its own trademark claims to block Disney. [More]
Disney-Owned Studio Pays $3 Million For Violating Kid Gamers' Privacy
By 5.16.11
The Federal Trade Commission is not about to let anyone, even Disney, get all up in the U.S. Child Online Privacy Protection Act’s business without paying dearly for it. Playdom, a social games studio owned by Disney, is in trouble to the tune of $3 million for collecting kids ages and email addresses without requiring parental consent. [More]
Report: Netflix & Miramax To Make Pulp Fiction And 700 More Movies Available For Streaming
By 3.28.11
With every big dotcom, electronics manufacturer and cable provider suddenly jumping on the streaming video bandwagon in the last 18 months, it’s safe to say that industry leader Netflix is experiencing some big changes. The company’s mainstay content providers, Showtime and Starz getting skimpy with their shows, Netflix is looking to make friends elsewhere. And according to the Wall Street Journal, the video service is oh-so-close to making a deal with Miramax that would stream the studio’s library of more than 700 films to customers. [More]
Disney CEO Declares DVDs Are Not Dead, They're Just Ignored
By 3.10.11
Interviewed on Charlie Rose, Disney CEO Bob Iger addressed the decline of one of the company’s former cash cows. The days of people collecting DVDs like baseball cards have apparently passed, but there’s still a little life left in the market, he says. [More]
Family Sues Disney, Says Too-Hot Nacho Cheese Burned Son
By 2.17.11
A family in California has filed a lawsuit against Walt Disney World, alleging that the nacho cheese served at one of its restaurants was so hot it scalded their 4-year-old son. [More]
