Disney Headlines for January 21st, 2022
This week in Disney Headlines: a titan falls to a new upstart, people lose their minds over a bucket filled with rainbows, and High School Musical turns recursive.
We’ve got a strange week, and part of this story is full of bees.
Let It Go, Frozen
Frozen dominated the 2010s for Disney more than anyone could have imagined.
For a time, the tale of Elsa and Anna proved so ubiquitous that Jungle Cruise Skippers worked it into their script.
They would point to a random object and say, “That’s the only thing at Disney that isn’t Frozen.” And the joke was funny because it was true.
Thanks in large part to the soundtrack, Frozen provided the kind of staying power that a Disney story hadn’t had since the 1990s.
However, a new contender has risen recently, and it has usurped Disney in one key category.
We Don’t Talk about Bruno, the song from Encanto, has risen to number four on Billboard’s Top 100 chart.
Somehow, Let It Go never placed higher than fifth on the list. So yes, this speaks more about the quality of Billboard’s charts than it does of Frozen.
Anyway, Disney hadn’t had a soundtrack song reach the top four on Billboard’s charts since 1995.
Yes, several members of BTS either weren’t alive or in diapers the last time Disney did this well on the charts.
In 1995, Colors of the Wind from the Pocahantas soundtrack and Can You Feel the Love Tonight hit number four on the Top 100.
During the 27 years that have followed, only Let It Go came close to matching them…until now.
Remarkably, this song isn’t the one that Academy Awards insiders had expected to earn a Best Original Song nomination.
Dos Oruguitas is the heavy favorite as of now. However, I cannot help but wonder whether the momentum of We Don’t Talk about Bruno will change opinions here.
Either way, Lin-Manuel Miranda has undeniably done it again with this Disney soundtrack.
Photo: Disney
In fact, Encanto is firmly entrenched at number one on Billboard’s Top 200 albums chart, too.
I mean, It’s a Nice Bucket
I’ve discussed this subject in MickeyBlog News, and others on the site have covered it, too.
Still, I’d be remiss if I published this edition of Disney Headlines without mentioning THE headline of the week.
When the 2022 version of the EPCOT International Festival of the Arts opened, the Good Eats! food booth returned.
Image Credit: Disney Parks Blog
What nobody could have predicted at the time was that this place would become THE most popular place at EPCOT.
Yes, during the festival’s first weekend, a mass of people lined up to acquire a unique item this year.
EPCOT is selling a Figment popcorn bucket that must be dipped in gold or cocaine or something.
I don’t know how else to explain the massive lines that formed. People wanted for seven hours to buy one of these popcorn buckets.
Afterward, they bragged about their behavior on social media. To me, that’s like Mark Sanchez bragging about the Butt Fumble.
Still, I’m happy that so many EPCOT fans left the parks satisfied. Apparently, acquiring a Figment popcorn bucket determined the success or failure of their park visit.
Many succeeded during opening weekend. After that, however, the unprecedented demand for this item led to its selling out.
Disney will obviously try to stock more of them quickly. Until then, your best hope is eBay. Conversely, you could find a nice person at the park.
The Figment Popcorn Bucket at #ArtfulEPCOT is sold out. pic.twitter.com/T9uBdqSJvh
— Nick (@MagicalNewsLIVE) January 17, 2022
One early riser snagged two of the buckets. Rather than decide who received the second one, this individual handed it to a stranger who wouldn’t have gotten it otherwise.
I love the kindness of the Disney community. Don’t you? We’re all part of the same ohana and treat each other as such.
Miscellaneous Disney Headlines
Okay, we mostly treat each other as such. Unfortunately, we’ve got another TikTok video this week that shows a park guest behaving badly.
This woman reaaaaaaally doesn’t want this cast member to touch her stroller. Take a look:
https://www.tiktok.com/@maddieisraddie/video/7054267357547662639
I’m begging people not to yell at cast members right now. Yes, vacations can be tense, but cast members are among the finest people on this planet.
Please treat them with the courtesy and decency they deserve.
Thankfully, I have a happier TikTok to share with you today. Have you ever wondered what Disney does with its Gingerbread Houses?
Alas, despite my protests and online petitions, the Christmas holiday cannot last all year. As such, once the holidays end, Disney finds itself with spare parts.
Many of these items like holiday lights and decorations will return at the end of the year. However, some, especially those with food ingredients, don’t last.
Here’s a video of what happens to them:
@disneyparks You won’t bee-lieve what happens to the #DisneyWorld Gingerbread Houses 🐝✨ #Disney #DisneyParks #Conservation #AnimalLover #Bee #Gingerbread
Is anyone else jealous that the bees get to eat these things, but humans don’t? No fair!
In casting news, the wildly popular High School Musical: The Musical: The Series has added five members to the cast.
Image: Disney+
Two of them, Jason Earles and Meg Donnelly, previously worked on the Hannah Montana and Zombies franchises.
The hilarious one, at least to me, is Corbin Bleu, whom you best know from…High School Musical.
(Disney+/Craig Sjodin)
Bleu will actually play himself, the actor who became famous because of High School Musical. So yes, it’s a glorified cameo.
Oh, and Olivia Rodrigo will return this season in case you were worried.
Finally, in news of the unexpected, Disney’s Death on the Nile will receive a theatrical release in China.
Out of all the recent Disney movies, this is the last one I would have guessed.
