DISNEY WELCOMES ROOKIE RACERS TO ITS NEWEST VIRTUAL WORLD

 

DISNEY•PIXAR WORLD OF CARS ONLINE 

Kids Can Now Join Lightning McQueen, Mater and the Cast of “Cars” in an Online World Full of Fun, Adventure and Racing!

 

Racers – log onto your computers – and start your engines!  Disney•Pixar World of Cars Online (www.worldofcars.com) a new online virtual world for kids based on the hit animated movie “Cars,” debuted to fans, car enthusiasts and the press on Wednesday, August 11, as announced by Disney Online Studios, a unit of the Disney Interactive Media Group.  

The World of Cars Online premiere event featured celebrity guests Cheech Marin and Jenifer Lewis, voices of “Ramone” and “Flo” from the Disney•Pixar animated feature “Cars” and new online video game, as well as Disney Channel stars, the Road Kings classic car club and other Hollywood families and fans.   The event was held at California historical landmark, Bob’s Big Boy restaurant in Burbank, a real life example of the 1950s style “car hop” coffee shop, reminiscent of Radiator Springs’ Flo’s V-8 Café depicted in the “Cars” movie and virtual world.  

“Our goal with World of Cars Online is to provide a creative and social environment where kids can have fun and use their imaginations in new ways,” says Lane Merrifield, executive vice president of Disney Online Studios. “Our teams worked tirelessly to ensure World of Cars Online authentically represents the characters and storylines that kids and families have come to know and love from the movies, and we’re looking forward to hearing what ‘Cars’ fans think of it.”  

 “At Pixar, we love seeing the worlds we create in our films extend into other media,” said Jay Ward, Cars Franchise Manager. “We are excited to bring the world of ‘Cars’ to online audiences in a fun and imaginative way.” 

World of Cars Online is an expansive virtual world on the Internet that constantly changes with new games, adventures and community activities for kids and their friends to enjoy together.  Features include: 

• Create a Car – create a custom car with loads of modifications and upgrades to choose from ·         Meet “Cars” Movie Characters – engage with quirky “Cars” characters in offbeat adventures and more ·         Explore the Open Road – play fun games and activities in Radiator Springs and beyond ·         Make New Friends – meet, chat and play with thousands of other Cars or race against them on a variety of tracks ·         Start a Racing Career – race to become the new Piston Cup Champ.  Cars can work their way up from local dirt tracks to the national circuit ·         Build a Yard – outfit a yard for friends to check out and visit, and eventually build custom race tracks A special parents section is featured in World of Cars Online, where parents can learn more about the game and parental controls that are offered.  Parents may use the Account Manager to control a variety of community settings for their child’s car, including two chat options, SpeedChat and SpeedChat Plus.  In addition to the parental controls, World of Cars Online employs a highly trained, on-site staff to continuously monitor the world and provide personalized player support.  More information on the parents section can be found at: www.worldofcars.go.com/parents/.  

Help Honor Mickey on Disney.com’s Create

 

Create, Disney.com’s entertainment portal, is honoring Mickey by offering fans a chance to submit their own art to form a bigger mosaic picture. Logging on to Create enables fans to work with Disney art through great applications that help create and design art work, comic books, music videos and much more. Submit your piece and check it out right here:

Mickey’s Wall:

http://disney.go.com/dxd/index.html?channel=1350380  

Create Official Site:

http://disney.com/create  

Create Assets (incl. fact sheet and art):

http://www.specialopsmedia.com/assets/Disney/CreateAssets.zip  

Disney.com Create Overview

Create is an entertainment portal on Disney.com, the No. 1 ranked community-family and parenting destination on the Web.  The Create portal launched on Disney.com in August 2009, and features a set of creativity tools that offer an entirely new way to interact with Disney characters and stories.  For the first time, guests have access to rich Disney character art and graphics to design their own works of art then share them with other guests online.  Create builds on the vision created long ago by Walt Disney, “A focus on creativity and engaging the imagination of the guest.”  Since its launch, more than 1.2 million original pieces of content have been created within Disney.com Create

Apps

Create Apps allow children to design artwork, comic books, music videos, animated pets and more, all using Disney characters and graphics. 

Comic Creator

Craft a comic book using favorite Disney characters.  Guests lay out pages using fun and wacky graphics, text and images to create their own rich narrative.

Digital Painter

Paint like a master artist, right in your browser, using tools, textures, and fun pens.  Create a masterpiece that can be shared for everyone to see!

Animods

Illustrate an animated online pet that can be individually styled and customized.  Guests choose from a number of different animals, each with its own collection of pre-set animations, interactions, and accessories. 

Photo Mashup

Combine photos of favorite Disney stars with hip stickers and cool gear to create personalized images for use on a computer desktop, phone, inside a school locker, or any other fun application guests can dream up.

Music Slideshow

Compose a harmonious mix of images, text, and sound.  Guests create their own music videos using photos of Disney stars, their own text, and a choice of songs from artists such as Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers.

Group Wall

An innovative new community gallery called the “Group Wall” will launch on Disney.com Create.  The first Group Wall theme is a “Tribute to Mickey” and will build a dynamic mosaic portrait of Mickey Mouse with user-generated content. 

My Portfolio

Create an online art portfolio on Disney.com to share with friends, filling it with creations from all of the Create activities – digital paintings, comic-books, pets and more.

Disney Create

Disney.com is excited to present Create, an entertainment portal that offers a brand new way to interact with Disney character art and graphics. Logging on to Create enables fans to work with Disney art through great applications that help create and design art work, comic books, music videos and much more. It’s also a great way to express creativity and communicate with other Disney fans.

In July, Disney.com Create is launching an all-new feature called the Group Wall, where thousands of original pieces of art are created around a central theme and then added to a larger mosaic.  The first group wall is themed around, what else but Mickey Mouse – the one that started it all.  The Group Wall mosaic is updated in real time so users can watch as new artwork is added, and it features unique tools allowing guests to locate their artwork within the mosaic.

Create Official Site:

http://disney.com/create

Disney.com Create Overview

Create is an entertainment portal on Disney.com, the No. 1 ranked community-family and parenting destination on the Web.  The Create portal launched on Disney.com in August 2009, and features a set of creativity tools that offer an entirely new way to interact with Disney characters and stories.  For the first time, guests have access to rich Disney character art and graphics to design their own works of art then share them with other guests online.  Create builds on the vision created long ago by Walt Disney, “A focus on creativity and engaging the imagination of the guest.”  Since it’s launch, more than 1.2 million original pieces of content have been created within Disney.com Create  

Apps

Create Apps allow children to design artwork, comic books, music videos, animated pets and more, all using Disney characters and graphics. 

Comic Creator

Craft a comic book using favorite Disney characters.  Guests lay out pages using fun and wacky graphics, text and images to create their own rich narrative.

Digital Painter

Paint like a master artist, right in your browser, using tools, textures, and fun pens.  Create a masterpiece that can be shared for everyone to see!

Animods

Illustrate an animated online pet that can be individually styled and customized.  Guests choose from a number of different animals, each with its own collection of pre-set animations, interactions, and accessories.   

Photo Mashup

Combine photos of favorite Disney stars with hip stickers and cool gear to create personalized images for use on a computer desktop, phone, inside a school locker, or any other fun application guests can dream up.

Music Slideshow

Compose a harmonious mix of images, text, and sound.  Guests create their own music videos using photos of Disney stars, their own text, and a choice of songs from artists such as Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers.

Group Wall

An innovative new community gallery called the “Group Wall” will launch on Disney.com Create.  The first Group Wall theme is a “Tribute to Mickey” and will build a dynamic mosaic portrait of Mickey Mouse with user-generated content. 

My Portfolio

Create an online art portfolio on Disney.com to share with friends, filling it with creations from all of the Create activities – digital paintings, comic-books, pets and more.

Ramona and Beezus Coming to Theaters July 23

Yesterday my family and I were invited to go see an early viewing of Ramona and Beezus.  After reading all of the books and watching some of the trailers for the movie, I have to say that I was really worried that the movie would be completely different from the books.  First off, this post will not contain any spoilers so feel free to read this review! 

First, I think that the acting was great, you could really tell that the actors were very in touch with their characters, especially Ramona!  Second, for anyone who doesn’t know, this movie is pretty much all of the books scrunched into one movie, and they did a great job taking small and large parts from each book.  There were also many jokes that only true fans would understand because they were taken from the books and not fully explained in the movie. 

Some might think that this movie is a simple comedy but it is so much more than that.  It is a coming of age story for both Ramona and Beezus as they both have to tackle the hardships that adult life throws at them (Ok, for this part my brother helped J).  All in all, I really liked the movie and I’m glad to say that this movie isn’t only for kids or fans of the series.  It is really a fantastic movie with a deep message.

For anyone who wants some more information and fun games and videos please visit this site:

http://www.ramonaandbeezus.com/

Ask your parents before going online.

By covakid7

U Rock!

Disney.com is proud to announce the third annual U Rock summer event, starting today! The popular user-generated content promotion lets fans channel their inner Rock Star, by creating and submitting their own music videos set to songs by Disney favorites like the Jonas Brothers and Allstar Weekend.

By entering U Rock, fans can win chances to meet Disney stars like Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato on the Camp Rock 2 tour and trips to LA to party with the cast of Phineas and Ferb or Allstar Weekend.

U Rock Official Page:

http://disney.go.com/URock

Disney’s.com U Rock is back for third U Rock Summer!

Back for its third rockin’ summer on Disney.com, U Rock is a popular user-generated content (UGC ) summer promotion that celebratest the inner rock star in all of us.  U Rock gives fans the opportunity to create their own music videos set to songs from popular Disney artists and post their original videos on the U Rock site (www.Disney.com/URock).  The most popular U Rock video finalists, voted on by fans, will win amazing prizes like the chance to meet the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato. 

How it Works

Kids can download a :30 song clip from a Disney Music artist to create and upload their own music videos. The videos are posted in a gallery on the U Rock site for viewing. Finalist videos are chosen by Disney.com, and guests vote on the (4) Grand Prize winners for each one of the songs. This year’s U Rock songs and grand prizes include:

• Camp Rock 2 “It’s On”
  Winner will head to Orlando to see Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers in the Camp Rock 2 tour. 
• Phineas and Ferb “Backyard Beach”
  Winner will come to Los Angeles to be a voice in an upcoming episode of Phineas and Ferb. 
• JONAS “LA Baby (Where Dreams Are Made Of)”
  Winner will travel to LA for a tour of some of the local sites featured in JONAS LA and cap it off by meeting Kevin, Joe and Nick. 
• Allstar Weekend “Dance Forever”
  Winner will head to LA where they will be the star in a weekend of fun including a musical jam session with Allstar Weekend and a $1000 shopping spree from Disney Stores. 

In addition to the grand prizes, other prizes will be awarded by Disney.com in the following categories:

• Awww…some! (Cutest video)
• Mega Pipes (Best singing)
• Sweet Groove Alll-Star (Best dancing)
• Tricked Out (Best graphics)

Timing

• Upload & Watch Videos:  July 7 – August 23
• Vote:  August 31 – September 12
• Winners Announced:  September 16

Shop Til You Rock!

The Shop Til You Rock music-inspired mall tour kicks off Saturday, July 17^th and the complete line-up with Demi Lovato appearance dates are now available!  Participating bands include Hey Monday, Bigger Lights, Every Avenue and Stereo Skyline, among others.  For the complete list of bands, event dates, activities, and exclusive mall deals visit www.ShopTilYouRock.com. Make sure to ask your parents before going online.

Watch Demi Lovato “Shop Til She Rocks”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ7bJwGviQA

Demi Intro Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC5oYQIeG2o

Shop Til You Rock Official Site, Facebook, Twitter & YouTube:

http://www.shoptilyourock.com

http://www.facebook.com/shoptilyourock

http://twitter.com/shoptilurock

http://www.youtube.com/user/shoptilyourock

DISNEY STAR DEMI LOVATO AND GENERAL GROWTH PROPERTIES
INVITE TEENS TO LOOK AND FEEL LIKE ROCK STARS IN MUSIC-INSPIRED MALL TOUR

Shop Til You Rock Events Offer Teens Rock Star Treatment with Live Music,
Hot Fall Fashions and Special Offers

There’s a rock star inside each and every teenager, and this summer Disney Channel star and number one selling Hollywood Records artist, Demi Lovato, and General Growth Properties (NYSE:GGP) mall owner and operator of more than 200 properties across the country, are partnering to host a music-inspired mall tour, Shop Til You Rock, that empowers teens to look and feel like rock stars through live local musical performances, exclusive teen activities and special mall offers and giveaways.

Shop Til You Rock celebrates teen lifestyles and combines this year’s hottest fall fashions with special performances from more than 100 of today’s popular music artists, brought to you by Hot Topic.  The free events take place at more than 120 GGP malls across 39 states July through August.

For the complete list of Shop Til You Rock event dates, activities and exclusive mall deals visit www.ShopTilYouRock.com.  The website also hosts a sweepstakes* for a chance to win four VIP tickets to a Demi Lovato concert, including backstage passes to meet Lovato herself.  Teens also can go to the website and stream Shop Til You Rock band playlists, play games, follow the tour on the road via a dedicated blog and live Twitter feeds, and download exclusive Demi Lovato icons and wallpapers.

Lovato, star of Disney Channel’s ‘Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam’ and ‘Sonny With A Chance,’ will kick off the Shop Til You Rock premiere event with a special two-song acoustic set  and public meet-and-greet appearance on July 17 at 1 PM at Glendale Galleria, (2148 Glendale Galleria in Glendale, Calif.).  Lovato will make a total of three meet-and-greet appearances in the coming weeks:

• July 17 – Glendale Galleria, Glendale, Calif.
• July 24 – North Point Mall, Atlanta, Ga.
• August 1 – Stonebriar Centre, Dallas, Texas

“Shop Til You Rock is all about making a summer trip to the mall an experience that’s completely devoted to teens,” Lovato said. “We’re bringing out some of my favorite bands, hosting tons of activities to let teens embrace their own rock star style and showcasing cool fall fashions from today’s hottest retailers.”

The live, local band performances will be complemented with an opportunity to meet the band and enjoy cool activities designed exclusively for teens, including:

• Rock On Salon – Teens can release their inner rocker with an outrageous rocker hairstyle, all captured celebrity-style by Kodak.  All photos will be uploaded online, where teens have the opportunity to change their hair color or style, share with friends and more.

• Just Dance - Mall goers can show off their rock star moves and challenge friends to a dance off with America’s hottest dance game Just Dance, featuring music from chart-topping artists. Teens who fan Just Dance’s Facebook page at the event will receive an “I ♥ Just Dance” T-shirt, while supplies last.

• Rock The Runway – Do you stand out in a crowd? Teens have the chance to rock the runway with Fusion Model Management’s search to reward guys and girls ages 13-19 with modeling contracts totaling nearly $400,000.

• Pepsi Refresh Project Lounge – This year, the Pepsi Refresh Project is giving millions of dollars to fund ideas that will refresh the world. Rock your world and make a difference by voting for your favorite project at the Lounge (www.refresheverything.com).

• Rock Star HQ – Teens can enable their cell phone’s wireless technology capabilities to win prizes, get the latest retail offers, register for sweepstakes and join GGP’s free, exclusive membership, The Club^SM.

• Center Stage - Popular retailers will host on-stage fashion spotlights to give teens inspiration to create their best fall looks. There also will be games, contests and trivia to win great Shop Til You Rock and participating sponsor prizes.

“Rewarding our teen shoppers with exclusive entertainment events is important to GGP malls,” says Mark Pfeifer, SVP of Marketing and Communications, GGP.  “We want our teen customers to know that we listen to them and are excited to deliver the celebrity appearances, fashion, music and relevant mall activities that make going to their local GGP mall a unique and fun shopping experience.”

About GGP

GGP currently has ownership interest in, or management responsibility for, more than 200 regional shopping malls in 43 states, as well as ownership in planned community developments and commercial office buildings. The Company’s portfolio totals approximately 200 million square feet of retail space and includes more than 24,000 retail stores nationwide. The Company’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GGP. For more information visit www.ggp.com.

About Demi Lovato

In the last year alone, Demi Lovato has earned a #1 album, headlined her first solo tour, starred in two hit Disney Channel movies, and an original Disney Channel show, “Sonny With A Chance.’  Recently Demi filmed ’Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam,’ which will premiere late summer. Having just returned from headlining a successful South American tour, Demi is currently writing and recording her next album and getting ready to tour the country with the Jonas Brothers.  Demi’s pure enthusiasm for everything she is and does is clear and her fans feel it and respond in kind. “I feel like my fans are more than fans to me, they’re my friends.”

*Visit www.shoptilyourock.com for entry requirements and official rules

THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE: MYSTERY IN THE MIST EDITION

I loved this movie as a kid and I am so excited to share with you that once again….

The game is afoot! The world’s greatest sleuth dons his miniature deerstalker hat and puts his extraordinary deductive ability into animated action when The Great Mouse Detective: Mystery in the Mist Edition comes to DVD on April 13, 2010 from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. In the greatest little mystery in Disney history, the renowned Basil of Baker Street takes on his archenemy, the evil genius Dr. Ratigan, and this time the battle is for the entire city of London! With fresh and exciting bonus features, The Great Mouse Detective: Mystery in the Mist Edition will thrill audiences with an exciting game of “mouse and mouse” that’s not elementary by a long shot!

This comes with some very cool bonus features: Viewers can test their own powers of deduction and go behind the scenes of the movie with bonus features that include:
• So You Think You Can Sleuth? — An animated look at the history of detective
work, complete with a crime-solving puzzle for the entire family.
• The Making Of “The Great Mouse Detective”
• “The World’s Greatest Criminal Mind” Sing-Along Song

Go see about getting it today! This is what you are looking for!

Barbie & Ken’s First Meeting

Toy Story 3 has released one of the first trailers. I can’t wait for this to come out

Princess Tiana Joins Disney Royal Court

Today is the big day for the Disney DVD release of Princess and the Frog! Disney sent us a copy last week of the Blu-Ray combo pack and I loved watching this weekend. Tiana is most definitely a modern day princess with the message that Prince Charming doesn’t always have to save the girl, some girls are more than capable of saving Prince Charming. Loved the movie and Tiana as role model.

This Sunday a magical ceremony took place in the Grand Ballroom at the historic New York Palace in Manhattan. As the newest Disney Princess, Tiana will forever be celebrated and recognized as a Disney Princess across all divisions of the Walt Disney Company and will be included in all Disney Princess merchandise featuring multiple Disney Princess characters.

Just like the Old Dogs Blu-Ray combo pack I told you about, I am loving the three discs that come in this combo. We can watch the Blu-Ray in our home theater, watch the DVD in the car and transfer the digital copy to our iPhones. Thank goodness Disney gets this from parents!

Have fun watching it everyone and congrats to Princess Tiana!

A timeless heroine in the tradition of Snow White, Ariel, Jasmine and the rest of the beloved royal sisterhood, Tiana comes to life with classic hand-drawn Disney animation from the revered team of John Musker and Ron Clements (Aladdin, The Little Mermaid) and a jazz-infused musical score from Academy Award® winning composer Randy Newman (Best Original Song, Monsters, Inc., 2001). A royal procession of exclusive bonus features, including games and specially created featurettes, take viewers on a once-in-a-lifetime tour of the storied French Quarter of New Orleans and into the magic-steeped bayou for hours of can’t-miss family entertainment.

The Blu-ray Combo Pack edition comes with additional bonus features, including: Backstage Disney

• Magic In The Bayou: The Making of A Princess — Co-writers and directors John Musker and Ron Clements take a freewheeling, behind-the-scenes look at the making of Disney’s newest animated film as it grows from an initial concept to a lavish animated film set in the enchanting world of New Orleans and the surrounding bayous.
• The Return To Hand Drawn Animation
• The Disney Legacy
• Disney’s Newest Princess
• The Princess and the Animator
• Conjuring The Villain
• A Return To The Animated Musical
• Bringing Life to Animation with an introduction by John Musker and RonClements.
• Deleted Scenes introduced by the filmmakers
• Art Galleries — A collection of storyboard art traces the visual development of The Princess and the Frog’s rich gallery of characters and settings.

The Princess and the Frog on Blu-ray is priced at $39.99SRP (US), and $44.99 (Canada) and on Blu-ray Combo Pack is priced at $44.99 SRP (US) and $51.99SRP (Canada), and the Single Disc DVD is priced at $29.99 SRP (US) and $35.99 SRP (Canada).

Old Dogs is a Great Family Movie

We are big Robin Williams fans in this house and we were excited to see him and John Travolta team up in the movie Old Dogs. It is a really cute family movie with just enough injury to private parts to keep the older boys laughing and engaged.

What I was really most impressed with though is the Blu-Ray/DVD pack. As a mom of kids who have routinely scratched dvds in one way or another I think these new packs are awesome. You get the Blu-Ray disc, a DVD disc AND a digital disk to transfer the movie to your computer or iPhone. It is about time that companies got on board with the realities that our kiddos watch tv in a big variety of ways and instead of up charging us for that, just include it! YAY for Disney.

Here was one of our favorite scenes from the movie:

The Blu-Ray pack comes out next Tuesday so plan to pick one up!

*Betweentalk.com staff was compensated for our honest review of this product.

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