In Disney News...

It's been a couple months now since the last roundup of Disney news!

...The next issue of Disney Twenty-three magazine goes on sale February 14th. It features a beautiful SNOW WHITE cover celebrating 75 years of Disney animation.

...Disney historian J.B. Kaufman, author of the excellent book SOUTH OF THE BORDER WITH DISNEY, has a new book coming out later this year: THE FAIREST ONE OF ALL: THE MAKING OF WALT DISNEY'S SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS. It will be published by the Walt Disney Family Foundation Press. The Walt Disney Family Museum will also be hosting an exhibit on SNOW WHITE this November.

...California Adventure featured an exhibit titled THE ART OF SNOW WHITE in 2008, and I posted some of my photos at that time.

...Coming to the Hollywood Bowl this summer: Pixar in Concert on Friday, August 3rd. The concert will include clips from Pixar films.

...There are some great new projection shows coming to It's a Small World at Disneyland: a Valentine's themed show starting on February 1st features lanterns from TANGLED and stained glass images of Disney princes and princesses, and a summer show which turns the ride facade into a giant sandcastle.

...I'm not a fan of Disney changing its dress code to allow beards. The dress code and prohibition on beards has been part of the parks' clean-cut look for at least 55 years; why change now?

...Tickets go on sale today for the latest Broadway version of a Disney musical, NEWSIES. It opens at the Nederlander Theatre on March 15th.

...Jim Korkis recently posted a good article on the history of Disneyland's Matterhorn at Storyboard, the official blog of the Walt Disney Family Museum.

...A Matterhorn movie is in the works?!

...By 2014 the Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris will be home to a new RATATOUILLE dark ride, with a related restaurant. What could be more perfect for Disneyland Paris? The Studios park is in need of more attractions so this is good news.

...The trailer for Pixar's BRAVE (2012) has been playing before BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991). Love the Scottish accents! Hope it's another good one from Pixar.

...Disney's THE SNOW QUEEN project is back on track after being put on hold a couple of years ago; it's gone through the same name change process as TANGLED (2010) and will now be called simply FROZEN. Can't have a title that skews to girls, you see! Unfortunately plans for a hand-drawn 2D cartoon, in the vein of THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG (2009), have been scrapped in favor of 3D computer graphics.

...Registration for the next MouseAdventure event opens tomorrow, January 31st, at 9:00 a.m. The March 11th event will be called "MouseAdventure Card Games," and this year the Basic Division game will take place in Downtown Disney as well as Disneyland. Gulp! Our family's team, Skippers in De Nile, plans to participate again.

...In December Disney confirmed last summer's rumor that Ghirardelli is coming to Disney's California Adventure, moving into the site of the former Mission Tortilla factory. The new location will feature a soda fountain and chocolate shop.

...Disneyland is celebrating "One More Disney Day" by remaining open 'round the clock on Leap Day, February 29, 2012.

...As I mentioned at the end of my review of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991), I'm looking forward to seeing LADY AND THE TRAMP (1955) next weekend at the Disney-operated El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. This will be our first visit to the El Capitan, as well as our first opportunity to see LADY AND THE TRAMP on a big screen.