D23

After more than a decade away from the big screen, the Muppets are poised to return to the multiplex with the Nov. 23 release of their new self-titled movie musical. The film features the expected marquee names — Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear — but also introduces a newcomer, Walter. A sweet little guy from Smalltown U.S.A. who’s always sensed that there’s something a little bit different about him (especially growing up alongside his brother Gary, played by Jason Segel), Walter helps reunite the gang after he learns about a nefarious plot to tear down the old theater where they used to stage their variety show. Segel co-wrote “The Muppets’” screenplay with his “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” director Nicholas Stoller, and the pair, along with director James Bobin (HBO’s “Flight of the Conchords“), focused on capturing the same comic tone as […]

The Walt Disney Co. announced two new original Pixar feature films at D23 on Saturday, an untitled movie about dinosaurs directed by “Finding Nemo” screenwriter Bob Peterson due in 2013 and an untitled movie about the inner workings of the brain directed by “Up” and “Monsters Inc.” director Pete Docter due in 2014. Disney and Pixar Chief Creative Officer John Lasseter introduced the two new projects at the media company’s three-day fan event in Anaheim, in a demonstration that the animation studio best known lately for the sequels “Toy Story 3″ and “Cars 2″ is still committed to original stories. Peterson showed a single piece of concept art of a dinosaur walking in tall grass with what appeared to be a small child riding on it. The movie, he said, was about what would happen if “the asteroid missed the […]

The Disney D23 Expo 2011 kicks off today at the Anaheim Convention Center with a weekend of all things Disney (as well as Pixar and Marvel),  and our Geoff Boucher caught up with Steven Clark, the head of D23, to get some insight into the three-day event. GB: This is the second D23 Expo. What are you hoping for this time around? SC: In the first year we didn’t necessarily know exactly what to expect from our fans or just in general what the response would be. We knew we had a good show and knew that we were giving people the insider look at across the company. The one thing we’re trying to do even more of this time is to provide the fans with that touch-point with the creative executives or the talent or the archivists — those people within the Disney organization who never get […]

Marvel’s muscle-bound superheroes will join Mickey Mouse, Kermit the Frog and new characters from Pixar Animation this weekend for the Walt Disney Co.’s D23 Expo in Anaheim, marking the first time the company will attempt to bring together fans of the comic book world and devotees of other parts of its corporate kingdom. The three-day consumer event at the Anaheim Convention Center, which begins Friday, will feature star-studded panel discussions, presentations on theme park attractions and first-look footage from upcoming films and TV shows, a formula borrowed from Comic-Con International, the annual San Diego pop-culture extravaganza. Disney used that template for its first D23 Expo in September 2009, the same year that the company bought Marvel Entertainment for $4.24 billion. Now, for this second edition, Marvel heroes like Iron Man and Captain America will be part of the presentations. The […]

“The Avengers,”  ”Brave” and “John Carter”  are coming to Anaheim this weekend. The three-day D23 Expo 2011 opens Friday with previews and promotions representing every corner of the Mouse’s universe but the brightest of all spotlights will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday when Walt Disney Studios begins a preview of upcoming film projects that will include movies from Disney proper as well as Pixar and, for the first time at the Expo, Marvel Studios. At the first Expo, back in September 2009, the same preview program in the Anaheim Convention Center’s arena included appearances by Johnny Depp, John Travolta, Tim Burton and Nicolas Cage, and you can expect a similar parade of famous faces this year as Disney looks to further establish the D23 event as its own in-house version of Comic-Con International’s Hall H — the place where Hollywood studios reach out to fans, bloggers and the media […]