Last week, Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney World Resort announced plans for a summer celebration at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.  This new celebration includes: the return of the Main Street Electrical Parade to the Magic Kingdom (It has been in Disney's California Adventure and actually hasn't been on Main Street for some time); a new fireworks show and new effects for the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in Disney's Hollywood Studio (NEE MGM).

More after the jump.

I've been on the road and haven't had a chance to post on this topic.  Clearly, the biggest news in comics last week was DC's new leadership.  As you may recall, a few months ago WB announced that it would be restructuring to create DC Entertainment (For more info click here), which would be run by  Diane Nelson, the movie executive that oversaw the Harry Potter franchise at Warner Brothers.  The company also announced that it would be removing long time DC Publisher Paul Levitz.  There was a lot of speculation of whether this would be the death knell of traditional comics publishing at DC.

We need not have feared.  DC announced that Dan DiDio  and Jim Lee will be taking the reigns as co-publishers.  This was a smart decision by Nelson and a great move for the company.  And while I will certainly miss Paul Levitz, both Lee and DiDio are respected and established comic book staples.  Together,  I believe will usher DC into a new era of greatness.  Of course, this probably means that we will never see the end of Frank Miller and Jim Lee's All Star Batman and Robin, which has been plagued with delays.

Equally interesting, DC has decided to take a page from Disney's book and promote Geoff Johns to the position of Chief Creative Officer.  (In April 2006, Disney purchased Pixar named John Lasseter as Chief Creative Officer of both Pixar and Disney animation studios--it worked out pretty well for them :-).  I only hope that Johns' new title doesn't distract from his top notch writing and that he at least continues to be the writer on Green Lantern.

Congrats to everyone at DC.

The press release after the jump:

I was digging through my old email and found an invitation from Marvel.com to attend the previews of Spider-man musical.  That was over a year ago. The show was delayed and then they were forced to refund the ticket priced for the premiere.  I am assumed the project was dead and went the way of the Captain America musical (see the ad at left) I often wonder what happened to the poor little kid who won the contest to be on stage with Captain American.

But I digress.

Back on point, After the jump.

Universal has announced a brand-new microsite for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Accessible through UniversalOrlando.com, the site currently features:

• A first-person perspective, photo-realistic video of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts castle
• The Wizarding World News, which will provide guests with information about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
• Visuals and details about the various shops, attractions and the eating establishment in the land
• Owl Post e-cards for friends and family
  

And, over the next couple of months, the microsite will also continue to be updated with ground-breaking interactive elements.  

The website begins a new brand campaign – “Be Courageous. Be Outrageous. Be Extraordinary.” – showing viewers that Universal Orlando Resort is the only theme park destination in the world where you can soar above Hogwarts castle with Harry Potter, swing above the streets with Spider-Man and help Shrek save Princess Fiona in Shrek 4-D and more.

“We are incredibly excited to be launching our new brand campaign for Universal Orlando Resort with a glimpse of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter,” said Alice Norsworthy, executive vice president of marketing and sales for Universal Orlando Resort.  “We know our guests will be thrilled to see the excitement in store for them once this new area opens this spring.”

Inspired by J.K. Rowling’s compelling stories and characters, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will provide visitors with a one-of-a-kind experience complete with multiple themed attractions, shops and a restaurant. 

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It’s President’s Day in the United States.  Originally, called Washington's Birthday, the federal holiday was originally created by the United States Congress in 1880 for government offices in the District of Columbia and expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices and was the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen.  Originally, celebrated on February 22 (Washington’s real birthday), in 1971, the federal holiday was shifted to the third Monday in February by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. In true government efficiency, this means that the holiday can never actually fall on Washington's birthday.  

Because of the close proximity of Lincoln's and Washington Birthdays, Washington's Birthday holiday would become known as Presidents Day.

In honor of that day, I thought I would highlight top appearances of Abraham Lincoln throughout Science Fiction.

ScifiWire has the new Toy Story 3 Trailer.  I can't wait for this movie; especially since I was able to experience Toy Story 1 and 2 on the big screen my four year old daughter during its most recent rerelease.  With regards to Toy Story 3, i expect creative gags and a compelling story. I also expect there to be an opening montage that shows how Andy has outgrown his toys will make me openly weep (like I did in Pixar's Up). 

The movie opens June 18, 2010.

On June 1, 2008, a three alarm fire broke out on the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood.  Several areas were destroyed, including  Brownstone Street, New York Street, New England Street, the King Kong ride, some structures that make up Courthouse Square, the War of the Worlds movie set, and the Video Vault had burnt down   Days after the fire, however, it was reported that the King Kong attraction would not be rebuilt and would eventually be replaced by a new attraction that had yet to be announced. In August 2008, Universal changed its position and decided to rebuild the King Kong attraction, basing the new attraction on the 2005 film adaptation.  Well, Universal has finally released the details of the attraction in a new press release. 

More after the jump.

Last night, we had our Comics Experience Book Club.  Once again, it was a great experience, which I highly recommend for both fans and aspiring comic's creators.  This month's book was Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman.  Not only did we discuss Gaiman's history and the elements of the story.  But, we also delved into the story structure, art framing, and creative choices made by Gaiman.  For example, we discussed the fact that Morpheus really doesn't behave as a typical protaganist since he is not the one who brings about the climax of the book.  I won't say more for fear of spoiling the story.  It is exactly this type of insight that makes these monthly book clubs a joy to take part in. 

More after the jump.

Disney has decided to shut down Miramax Films, the art-house production company founded by brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein in 1979 and  bought by Disney in 1993 (The Weinsteins left in 2005 over a creative dispute).  Miramax has been credited for launching the careers of directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith and Steven Soderbergh. produced Oscar winners such as “Shakespeare in Love”, “The Piano” and “Chicago”, has been closed down by the Walt Disney Company, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. 

Apparently, Disney plans to keep Miramax alive as a brand in name only.  This means that around 80 people in New York and Los Angeles offices will lose their jobs. 

I really enjoyed this. I liked that they  replaced Silver Surfer with BetaRay Bill since it tied Korg's back story into the main story. The only problem I had with the movie was accessibility. If someone didn't read comics and learned everything they knew about Hulk from mainstream media, I think the idea of a thinking Hulk (who doesn't change to Banner when he is knocked unconscious) would be jarring. I wonder, in hindsight, if they should have added a scene explaining how this evolved (or even changed it to a dumbed version that being on the Planet made him able to think.) Then again, I have been reading comics for nearly 35 years and I can't really consistently explain why there were Hulk Smash comics out at the same time as Intelligent Hulk comics.

I will also say that one of my favorite moments in the series was omitted where Hulk shows Caiera that he is also Banner.

Nonetheless, a great movie and I enjoyed it immensely. The action scenes are strong. Be warned if you have kiddies, the movie is unrated. But, I think it earns a PG-13.

The Thor: Tales of Asgard preview wasn't bad, but was reminiscent of Avengers Next movie. I would rather have had another mainstream movie. I hope Marvel (like DC) continues the trend of animating great comic story lines.  However, I hope they avoid the Hulk for a while since he was featured in six of the last eight Marvel animated movies.  Marvel has over a thousand characters; it's time to have another one share the Hulk's spotlight.