Absolute Best Disney Links for December 2018
As one of the wealthiest corporations in the world and one of the leaders in the entertainment industry, The Walt Disney Company receives a lot of press. I’d go so far as to say that among American companies, only Apple, Google, and Tesla receive more.
Many of those stories help you understand Disney’s decisions and their future plans, but you can’t possibly read them all. That’s where MickeyBlog comes in. We’ve collated and filtered some of the most fascinating news articles from the past month. Here are the best Disney links for December of 2018.
Hakuna Matata No Longer Means “No Worries”
One of the hot button topics in the entertainment industry these days is Hollywood’s appropriation of foreign cultures. When Gwen Stefani sings about Harajuku Girls, she’s drawing attention to a trendy district in Japan. Some people view her of stealing someone else’s style as her own. It’s ridiculous, but critics abound on the internet.
Disney is currently facing a more serious version of the same situation. They have trademarked the phrase, “Hakuna Matata,” which they popularized in the film, The Lion King. In recent days, an online petition asks Disney to drop this trademark.
A Zimbabwe native named Shelton Mpala believes that Disney shouldn’t have the right to trademark a basic Swihali phrase. You can read the details in the Newsweek article linked above and form your own opinion.
Netflix and Disney Are Breaking Up Soon
Everyone flinches at the thought of that uncomfortable moment in a relationship. It happens when you know the romance is over, and you’re ready to be single. Before that can happen, you have to take back all of your stuff.
Disney is currently in that position with Netflix. They’re breaking up in 2019 to start their own streaming service, Disney+. In anticipation of this event, they’ve let the licenses run out on several Disney movies like Moana. Netflix users are venting loudly about Moana’s exiting the service this past week.
This situation comes on the heels of several Marvel television series on Netflix getting canceled recently. The prevailing wisdom is that Disney will bring back these series on Disney+ in 2020, possibly sooner if Netflix decides on an amicable breakup. While some analysts believe that Disney isn’t Netflix’s biggest problem, the impending loss of a lot of Disney products is a huge deal to Netflix subscribers.
How Would You Look As a Disney Character?
An Instagram artist has won acclaim for her unique skill. Joaslin is a computer illustrator who has developed a respectable following. Her 37,000 followers want to see her latest renderings, many of which are exciting to Disney fans.
Joaslin takes regular pictures of people and then turns them into Disney cartoon characters. You can take a look at her work here and also post a request to get Disney-fied.
Photo Credit: https://www.instagram.com/p/BrnZWsIhovy/
Where’s Buzzy?
Do you remember Cranium Command? It was a silly attraction at the Wonders of Life Pavilion. This video might jog your memory about it. One of the oddest aspects of Cranium Command was Buzzy, a brain pilot tasked with controlling a 12-year-old boy.
As you know, 12-year-old boys are, by nature, uncontrollable, and so Buzzy struggled with his assignment. When people entered the 200-person theater, a Buzzy audio-animatronic (AA) was the central player in the story.
Well, I have shocking news for you. Buzzy is missing! You can read all of the details here along with some funny memes and a couple of (apparently) baseless accusations about a Disney insider. If you do know someone who has recently started showing off a Buzzy AA, you should alert Disney immediately…even if it did make for the perfect Christmas present for the Disney fan who has everything.
Speaking of Disney Gifts…
Every parent relishes introducing their children to the joy of Disney storytelling. Recently, one father went all out to give his kids the ultimate Christmas present. He converted a wasted space under the stairs into a special hideaway.
Photo Credit: Michael Taylor and https://www.thesun.co.uk
He calls the DIY project a “Disney DVD den” where his children have their own private room. It’s a Disney play room with a wall-mounted TV that lets the kids watch their favorite Disney films. You’ll want to look at the pictures to appreciate how clever this cubbyhole is.
46 Rides in One Day
As a Disney zealot, I always love the stories about other diehards who try to do the seemingly impossible at the theme parks. The latest contenders are Kristina Hawkins and Shane Lindsay, the latter of whom runs a website called Parkeology. On this site, you’ll find the details of the Parkeology Challenge, a gauntlet of sorts for hardcore Disney fans.
The idea of this challenge is to ride everything at Walt Disney World…in the same day. You got tired just thinking about it, didn’t you? You’re not the only one. A reported tagged along with the duo as they made their latest attempt…and it didn’t go well. You can read the details in the link, and the story will help you appreciate how much luck factors into any attempt to ride 46 attractions in a single park day.
Do You Like The Muppets? Do You Like Frank Oz?
I have some bad news for you. Disney fans will feel quite conflicted about this story. The other day on social media, a fan of Oz and The Muppets reached out to him. Excited by a direct reply from his hero, the fan made a seemingly innocuous statement about the characters.
Oz’s reply was…something. You can read the tweets here. The gist is that Oz believes that Disney has ruined the characters. He’d be willing to help them save the brand, something he believes is needed, but he has modest conditions to do so. And he’s confident that Disney wouldn’t agree to them. Frank Oz is disgruntled. This is actually the second time in 2018 he’s lashed out like this.
Miscellany
Let’s close this month’s list with a trio of random links for your enjoyment. Here’s one that provides some hard numbers on how Disney prepares for the holiday season. Here’s the Smithsonian’s take on what Disney did right in embracing the Mary Poppins intellectual property back in the day. And this Forbes piece is a gushing piece on the marvels of Disney Imagineering.
