Explore the World of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge on D23.com

November 16, 2020November 13, 2020

By the D23 Team

Whether you’re a regular visitor to Batuu or you’re admiring the planetary trading outlet from afar, (or should we say far, far away?) you can dive deeper into the details, facts, and secrets of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World and Disneyland with these exclusive videos and articles full of must-know information for any intergalactic traveler.

Video

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – Storytelling through Merchandise

Premieres: 3 p.m. PT / 6 p.m. ET
Watch Here: D23.com | Facebook.com/DisneyD23 | YouTube.com/DisneyD23

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D23 Inside Disney Episode 51 | Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Trading Post Collection With Scott Trowbridge

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Inside the Thrilling and Mysterious World of ABC’s Big Sky

November 16, 2020November 13, 2020

By Zach Johnson

Nothing is as it seems in Big Sky, a new thriller created by 11-time Emmy® Award winner David E. Kelley and based on C.J. Box’s book series. Premiering Tuesday, November 17, at 10:01 p.m. ET on ABC, the series follows private detectives Cassie Dewell (Kylie Bunbury) and Cody Hoyt (Ryan Phillippe) as they join forces with Cody’s estranged wife, former police officer Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick). The goal? To find the Sullivan sisters (Natalie Alyn Lind and Jade Pettyjohn), who have been kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote highway in Montana. By the time they discover the two sisters aren’t the only girls who have disappeared in the area, it becomes a race to catch their captors… before it happens again.

Ahead of the series premiere, Kelley and the cast of Big Sky—including Bunbury, Brian Geraghty, Jesse James Keitel, Lind, John Carroll Lynch, Valerie Mahaffey, Pettyjohn, Phillippe, Dedee Pfeiffer, and Winnick—got on a Zoom to tease what mysteries lie ahead.

The idea to adapt the story as a series arose after Kelley devoured Box’s 2013 novel, The Highway. “It’s cliché to say that I couldn’t put it down, but really, I couldn’t put it down. It was a page‑turner,” said Kelley, who, in addition to serving as executive producer and showrunner, also wrote several episodes. “What drew me in first was the plot, the tension. And then, what resonated after that was the layering of the characters. Beyond that, it was the authenticity and the sense of place that he brought to Montana. When we set about adapting it, the biggest challenge for me was to be able to deliver what the book did: the tension, the thrill, the drama, the relational equations of the characters—which are rich and profound at times—and the sense of escapism. It was a great ride and a great journey.”

With so many twists and turns, even the cast isn’t sure what to expect as the season progresses. “We’re all on a group chain, and as the scripts keep pouring in, we’re all like, ‘Holy smokes! Did you read that? Do you know what’s happening?’” Winnick said with a laugh. “Because we are all on the edge of our seats just turning our pages. And I think the audience is going to be so ecstatic and they’re going to feel the same way.” Similarly, Geraghty added, “I’ve never gotten so many scripts where there’s so many different ways to play it. And then, when you get [to set] on the day, it changes again—it’s evolved. Every time it’s something different, always on the day. I’ve never experienced anything like that.”

When the series begins, relations between Cassie, Cody and Jenny are awkward at best. “There’s a triangle, absolutely, and that’s where we find these characters at the beginning,” said Phillippe. “They are sort of dealing with or figuring out what the dynamics of that triangle are or what they will be.” Added Winnick, “It’s pretty unexpected, what happens.”

They’ll have to push all that aside, of course, if they want to find the Sullivan sisters. But will the Montana Highway Patrol help them? Unclear. “One thing I really love about Cassie is that she’s very intuitive,” Bunbury said. “Immediately, there are red flags when she meets Legarski.” Cryptically, Lynch added, “He may not necessarily be a very good police officer.”

Big Sky may appear to be a beautiful town, but it’s also filled with very dark, very ugly secrets. “There’s such great tension in the story, and there’s such [high] stakes that, in each episode, it feels like every single character is asked, ‘What are they capable of?’” Lynch shared. “And it raises the level to which they are capable of doing whatever action they need to do in order to fulfill their objectives and survive. There are also these amazing shifting loyalties. The people you feel that are least capable of protecting themselves, of being dangerous, suddenly become very dangerous. That’s a tribute to not just the source material and to the writers, but also to the actors. Every script I read, I think to myself, ‘I can’t wait to see Jade do this,’ or ‘I can’t wait to see what happens with Valerie’s scenes or Jesse’s scenes.’ It’s a wide‑ranging piece. We don’t get a chance to work with each other as much as all of us would like, but it’s so much fun even to watch a sizzle reel to go, ‘Ooh, that’s a nice choice for that.’ Or, ‘Ooh, I can’t wait to see that whole scene.’ It’s really fun.”

Bearing that in mind, audiences should expect the unexpected when Big Sky premieres. “What you will notice is we come out of the box as a thriller and as we proceed from episode to episode, we will cultivate a real investment in the characters,” said Kelley. “It’s no coincidence that the stable of actors are pretty gifted in their fields. We will be calling on them to be able to hold the attention of the audience, not just with car chases and dramatic action surprises, but also the complexity of character development. I’m very excited about the storytelling prospects for this show, but at the end the day, I think I rub my hands together at the opportunity for real character development with these actors.”

5 Fantastic Things to Watch This Week

November 16, 2020November 13, 2020

By Zach Johnson

Roll out the virtual red carpet for five new premieres! It all starts Tuesday with Big Sky on ABC and LEGO Star Wars Special on Disney+, followed by No Man’s Land on Hulu Wednesday. Then, on Friday, start streaming Disney+’s Marvel’s 616 and Hulu’s Animaniacs.

Big Sky—Tuesday, November 17, at 10:01 p.m. ET on ABC
Twists and turns are around every corner in gripping series premiere, written by executive producer and showrunner David E. Kelley. While on a road trip to visit her boyfriend in Montana, Danielle (Natalie Alyn Lind) and her sister Grace (Jade Pettyjohn) are kidnapped by a truck driver on a remote part of the highway. Their disappearance sets off a chain of events that leads private detectives Cody (Ryan Phillippe) and Cassie (Kylie Bunbury) to team up with Cody’s estranged wife, former police officer Jenny Hoyt (Katheryn Winnick), to find Danielle and Grace. When they discover the sisters aren’t the only ones missing in the area, it becomes frighteningly clear they’ve just stumbled onto something much bigger.

LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special—Tuesday, November 17, on Disney+
Joy! Unlimited joy! LEGO is reuniting your favorite Star Wars characters for a special unlike any other. Directly following the events of 2019’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Rey goes solo as she prepares for Life Day (a holiday first introduced in the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special), setting off on a new adventure with BB-8 to gain a deeper understanding of the Force. At a mysterious Jedi Temple, she is hurled into a cross-timeline adventure through beloved moments in Star Wars cinematic history, coming into contact with Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and more heroes and villains from all nine Skywalker Saga films. Will Rey make it back in time for the Life Day feast and discover the true meaning of holiday spirit?

No Man’s Land—Wednesday, November 18, on Hulu
Hulu’s original drama series explores the Syrian civil war through the eyes of a young French man, Antoine (Félix Moati), in search of his estranged and possibly dead sister (Mélanie Thierry). Throughout the course of his journey, Antoine ends up joining forces with a unit of Kurdish female fighters and travels with them in ISIS-occupied territory. Antoine crosses paths with adventurers, anarchists, spies, and victims, all while offering a unique look on the tragic events in the country—and the ways they affect the entire world.

Marvel’s 616—Friday, November 20, on Disney+
Explore Marvel’s rich legacy of pioneering characters, creators, and storytelling in this original documentary series. Each entertaining, informative, and inspiring episode showcases the intersections of fandom, mythos, and pop culture within the Marvel Universe. All eight episodes—including “The Japanese Spider-Man,” directed by David Gelb; “Higher, Further, Faster,” directed by Gillian Jacobs; “Amazing Artisans,” directed by Clay Jeter; “Lost and Found,” directed by Paul Scheer; “Suit Up!,” directed by Andrew Rossi; “Unboxed,” directed by Sarah Ramos; “The Marvel Method,” directed by Brian Oakes; and “Marvel Spotlight,” directed by Alison Brie—will premiere on November 20.

Animaniacs—Friday, November 20, on Hulu
They’re baaack… and they’re still zany to the max! The Warner brothers, Yakko and Wakko, and their Warner sister, Dot, get a kick out of causing chaos and making mischief. After returning to their home, the Warner Bros. water tower, the siblings waste no time causing comic confusion as they run wild through the studio, turning the world into their personal playground. Meanwhile, throughout 13 new episodes, Pinky and the Brain continue their quest for world domination. As the series’ theme song goes, “You’ll laugh ’til you collapse!”

Powerful and Inspiring Sports Drama Safety Debuts December 11 on Disney+

November 13, 2020November 13, 2020

By Jim Frye

The roar of 85,000 fans stacked sky-high around Frank Howard Field—popularly known as “Death Valley”—is nearly deafening as the Fighting Tigers, clad in orange, leave their perch near Howard’s Rock and stream down the hill into the stadium, ready for battle. This is Clemson University football, in South Carolina. And it’s here that former Clemson safety Ray McElrathbey triumphed over repeated adversities to play football on a scholarship, all while struggling to raise and care for his 11-year-old brother Fahmarr. It’s a story filled with hope, struggle, action, and a whole lot of heart—exactly the types of things that producer Mark Ciardi looks for when he’s making a film.

“I was watching this story on ESPN in 2006, and I said, ‘I gotta get these rights,’” says Ciardi. “I had already done some sports films, and I felt the bar was really set high—it’s not just about the on-field aspects, but about the emotionality of it.”

It’s a high bar, indeed. Ciardi’s previous sports films—Secretariat, Invincible, The Rookie, Miracle, McFarland, USA—are all stories of long-shot underdogs breaking through nearly insurmountable barriers to achieve greatness, and Safety, premiering December 11 on Disney+, is aiming to leap right over that bar into the endzone. “It’s a sense I’ve developed over the years of what might work and what might not,” he says, “because there’s lots of great sports stories, millions of great sports stories, but what makes it a movie? That’s the element you have to figure out.”

In Safety, McElrathbey saves his younger brother from foster care after their mother enters a drug rehabilitation program. He must then figure out how to care for his younger brother while also maintaining his football scholarship. “What Clemson preaches is still evident there today, which is that it’s all about family,” says Ciardi. “Filming there was great, we just got a great reception. Especially when we shot during a live game.”

To get the in-the-thick-of-it action and authenticity, Ciardi and his team filmed during halftime of an actual Clemson home game, complete with those 85,000 screaming fans. “They were going crazy and responding to all the action. It’s one of the few schools where people leave at halftime to tailgate, but then they come back,” he laughs. “It was kind of a blowout, so we were worried they wouldn’t come back. If the stands were only half filled, it wasn’t going to look great.”

To his surprise, though, the fans came back in droves and filled every seat. And when the actors who were portraying the Clemson team were atop the hill getting ready to run into the stadium, the Clemson fans erupted into such overwhelmingly loud cheers that the Clemson coach, Dabo Swinney, had to exit the stadium just so he could be heard during a halftime interview. “It was spectacular,” says Ciardi. “We joked that Clemson was the best team in the ACC that year, and that our fake Clemson team was the second best.”

Ciardi says he’s enjoyed becoming friends with McElrathbey over the years. “I’ve kept in touch with Ray since the story happened and have watched him go from a 19-year-old freshman to a 32-year-old adult,” he says. “He’s been really, really helpful, both him and his brother.

“You don’t have to be a big sports fan to enjoy these movies, because they’re not really about sports,” Ciardi explains. “And Disney has this brand that resonates so well with audiences who know that it’s safe and fun for the whole family to watch. I’m really glad that I have a brand at the Studio that started 20 years ago, and we can continue to make these movies now. Disney+ has allowed for a revitalization of these films that, in the theatrical world, are a little trickier to make. Disney+ is a platform that brings them directly to audiences.”

Disney+’s Godmothered Sets Premiere Date—Plus More in News Briefs

November 13, 2020

By Courtney Potter

See Godmothered on Disney+ Beginning December 4

Holiday wishes really do come true: Earlier this week, Disney+ announced that Godmothered—an enchanting new Christmas comedy starring Jillian Bell and Isla Fisher—will debut exclusively on the streaming service Friday, December 4.

Set at Christmas time, the film follows Eleanor (Bell), a young, inexperienced fairy godmother-in-training who, upon hearing that her chosen profession is facing extinction, decides to show the world that people still need fairy godmothers. Finding a misplaced letter from a 10-year-old girl in distress, Eleanor tracks her down and discovers that the girl, Mackenzie, is now a 40-year-old single mom (Fisher) working at a news station in Boston. Having lost her husband several years earlier, Mackenzie has all but given up on the idea of “Happily Ever After,” but Eleanor is bound and determined to give Mackenzie a happiness makeover… whether she likes it or not. Plus: Keep your eyes peeled for the Godmothered original soundtrack, with a score by Oscar®-winning composer Rachel Portman, which will arrive on all digital formats the day of the film’s debut.

Directed by Sharon Maguire, Godmothered also stars Santiago Cabrera, Jane Curtin, June Squibb, Stephnie Weir, Utkarsh Ambudkar (Mira, Royal Detective), and Jillian Shea Spaeder—whose songs “Rise Up (Joy to the World)” and “Hero” are featured on the film’s soundtrack. Mark those calendars!

5 Fantastic Things to Watch This Weekend

It’s a particularly notable weekend, in terms of “available viewing from around the worlds of Disney”—and if you were also looking for great stuff to watch as you start your holiday decorating in earnest (it’s 2020 and we are not judging in the slightest), we’ve got ya covered. So carve out some time for the Hulu premiere of the thought-provoking documentary I Am Greta; the debut of Inside Pixar on Disney+; the finale of Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom; and more.

First Trailer for Black Beauty, Coming Later This Month to Disney+

Another big reveal this week from our pals at Disney+: The new trailer for its upcoming film Black Beauty! Featuring the voice of Academy Award® winner Kate Winslet as the title character, the movie stars Mackenzie Foy, Iain Glen, Claire Forlani, and Calam Lynch.

This modern-day reimagining of Anna Sewell’s timeless classic follows Black Beauty, a wild horse born free in the American West. Rounded up and taken away from her family, she is brought to Birtwick Stables, where she meets a spirited teenage girl named Jo Green (Foy). They forge an unbreakable bond that carries Beauty through the different chapters, challenges, and adventures of her life.

Directed by Ashley Avis, who also wrote the screenplay, Black Beauty arrives on Disney+ on Friday, November 27.

New Look at The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse

Sometimes when it comes to news, it’s an embarrassment of riches from one particular source—and this week, Disney+ gets a gold star! Take a gander at the new trailer for their animated short series The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, above.

Premiering on Mickey Mouse’s birthday, November 18, the series follows along as he and his best pals—Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, and Pluto—embark on their greatest adventures yet, navigating the curveballs of a wild and zany world where the magic of Disney makes the impossible possible. Each seven-minute short is filled with laugh-out-loud comedy, modern settings, timeless stories, new music, and an unmistakable classic art style… and includes stories inspired by various lands at Disney parks and cameos by classic Disney heritage characters.

The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse is produced by Disney Television Animation with Emmy® Award-winning artist and director Paul Rudish serving as executive producer and supervising director. Christopher Willis, the Emmy-nominated composer of the Mickey Mouse shorts, also provides the music. Oh boy!

ICYMI: Disney Channel Announces Brand-New Holiday DCOM

We’ve entered the season of giving, and Disney Channel is set to give us a fantastic gift in the form of a brand-new holiday DCOM. Christmas Again will feature Disney Channel fan-favorite Scarlett Estevez of BUNK’D, along with some TV, film, and stage veterans; find out more about the holiday shenanigans in store!

Jingle All the Way with Disney Channel Holiday Specials

… And speaking of Disney Channel, there’s more merry on the way! They’re set to present three special programming events for kids and families to kick off the holiday season throughout December.

Disney Holiday Magic Quest, a one-hour high-stakes adventure through the twists and turns of Magic Kingdom Park at Walt Disney World Resort, will premiere Friday, December 4, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Virtually hosted by Raven-Symoné, it features ZOMBIES 2 stars Milo Manheim, Kylee Russell, Ariel Martin, and Pearce Joza navigating a series of challenges and obstacles through iconic Disney attractions, including the Haunted Mansion and Cinderella Castle, all in an attempt to restore the holiday magic that was stolen by famed Disney villains Maleficent and Evil Queen.

That special will be followed by Challenge Accepted! Disney Channel’s Epic Holiday Showdown, a one-hour event where network stars compete to save the holidays from Ebenezer Scrooge (played by Raven’s Home star Anneliese van der Pol), premiering Sunday, December 6, at 7 p.m. ET/PT. And just one week later, Disney Channel stars will come together to deliver laughs with a holiday sketch comedy show, Disney Channel Holiday House Party, on Friday, December 11, at 8 p.m. ET/PT; hosted by Miranda May (BUNK’D), the show features an ensemble of fan-faves decking the halls with a variety of wacky characters and sure-to-be-hilarious sketches.

Never fear: All three specials will be available via DisneyNOW as well. Gather the fam, pour a nice, cold glass of eggnog, and enjoy!

Fantasia at 80: Exploring the Composers and Their Music

November 13, 2020December 31, 2020

By Katie Strobel, Walt Disney Archives

Fantasia (1940) celebrates its 80th anniversary on November 13, 2020, and is remembered to this day for its beautiful marriage of images to music. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences even honored conductor Leopold Stokowski and his associates with a Special Award for creating this new form of visualized music. Normally, the film music genre serves as an accompaniment to a film, but this film was created to accompany the music. Walt described it best as “seeing music and hearing pictures.”

Eight composers spanning five countries and 286 years of music history are featured in Fantasia (1940); we will be highlighting them and their music throughout the month of December. First up: Johann Sebastian Bach!

Until then, please enjoy this selection of behind-the-scene images from the production of the film and be sure to catch Fantasia streaming now on Disney+!

Check out the full composer Series here: Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Mussorgsky, Ponchielli and Dukas, Tchaikovsky, and Stravinsky

Global Superstar Lineup to Bring the Cheer in The Disney Holiday Singalong Airing Monday, November 30, on ABC

November 13, 2020November 12, 2020

By the D23 Team

Need some holiday cheer? Never fear, ABC is here with the third (and most festive) iteration of its Disney Family Singalong series! Today, ABC announced its star-studded lineup for The Disney Holiday Singalong, with Ryan Seacrest returning to host the night of merry music and magic on Monday, November 30 (8–9 p.m. EST). Celebrity performances and appearances for the festive special include Andrea Bocelli, BTS, Michael Bublé, Ciara, Chloe x Halle, Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert, Julianne Hough, Adam Lambert, Leslie Odom Jr., Katy Perry, P!NK, and Kerry Washington. Additional appearances will be announced at a later date.

Plus, grab a box of tissues as Disney on Broadway makes its heartwarming return to the New Amsterdam Theatre for the first time since March, with a sensational performance by members of the Broadway casts of The Lion King and Aladdin, and North American touring companies of Frozen. Disney Music Group’s acclaimed seven-member a cappella group DCappella also joins in for some seasonal sounds; they’ll carol throughout the show and encourage viewers at home to sing along.

The jolly one-hour musical event will once again include animated on-screen lyrics to allow viewers at home to sing along to the beloved Disney melodies and classic holiday carols.

The Disney Holiday Singalong performances include the following:

Andrea Bocelli—“Silent Night”

BTS—“Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”

Michael Bublé—“It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”

Ciara—“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”

Chloe x Halle—“Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”

Derek Hough and Hayley Erbert—“Hey Santa” and “Jingle Bells”

Julianne Hough—“Whistle While You Work” and “Let It Snow”

Adam Lambert—“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

Leslie Odom Jr.—“What’s This?”

Katy Perry—“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and “Cozy Little Christmas”

P!NK—“The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)”

Kerry Washington—“Joy to the World”

For the first time since Broadway’s shutdown, Disney Theatrical Production’s Broadway casts of The Lion King and Aladdin, and North American touring companies of Frozen return to the New Amsterdam Theatre to sing a special performance of “Let It Go.” Led by Caroline Bowman and Aisha Jackson, the number also features Tracee Beazer, Austin Colby, Lindiwe Dlamini, Olivia Donaldson, Bongi Duma, Nicholas Edwards, April Holloway, Ben Jeffrey, Nina LaFarga, Telly Leung, Isabelle McCalla, Paul HeeSang Miller, Kyle Mitchel, Nteliseng Nkhela, Amber Owens, Adam Perry, John Riddle, Ann Sanders, Dennis Stowe, L. Steven Taylor, and Nicholas Ward.

The special also raises awareness about Disney’s Feed the Love campaign, driving to Feeding America, Toys for Tots, and One Simple Wish to inspire hope when it’s needed the most in our communities. Viewers can visit Disney.com/FeedTheLove to learn how they can give back to kids and families in need this holiday season and elevate resources for those who need them.

The Disney Holiday Singalong is sponsored by T-Mobile, Walmart, and Clorox.

Stay tuned to D23.com for future announcements about this festive night!

5 Fantastic Things to Watch This Weekend

November 12, 2020

By Zach Johnson

Start your weekend off by streaming the premiere of the new short form documentary series Inside Pixar, followed by the finale of Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom, both available on Disney+ Friday. That same day, Hulu debuts the original documentary film I Am Greta, from Swedish director Nathan Grossman. Freeform’s “Kickoff to Christmas” continues all weekend long and includes the classic Home Alone 2: Lost in New York on Saturday, and on Sunday, enjoy a new episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on ABC.

Inside Pixar—Friday, November 13, on Disney+
Ever dreamed of getting an exclusive inside look into the artistry, culture, and people of Pixar Animation Studios? Now’s your chance via this documentary series from directors Tony Kaplan and Erica Milsom. Each of the four collections includes five short stories, all grouped by a central theme. The first collection, “Inspired,” features inspirational stories from Jessica Heidt, Steven Hunter, Deanna Marsigliese, Kemp Powers, and Dan Scanlon.

Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom—Friday, November 13, on Disney+
The ferocious finale is here! Watch what happens when Flash, a mature, whitespotted bamboo shark, bites off more than she can chew… and winds up in the emergency room after swallowing an item that’s not on the menu! Meanwhile, baby Grace, a western lowland gorilla, reaches new heights as an animal keeper works with child-development experts to test her motor coordination. At Kilimanjaro Safaris, Gus the hippo makes a frenemy out of an older hippo at the river playground. And on the savanna, Dugan, a southern white rhino, learns love hurts when the female rhinos greet him a bit too eagerly.

I Am Greta—Friday, November 13, on Hulu
Not all heroes wear capes. This intimate documentary film tells the remarkable story of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg through compelling, never-before-seen footage. Starting with her one-person school strike for climate action outside the Swedish Parliament, the film follows Thunberg, a shy student with Asperger’s, as her growing fame galvanizes people, sparking school strikes around the world. The film culminates with her wind-powered voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to talk at the UN Climate Action Summit.

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York—Saturday, November 14, at 9:15 p.m. ET on Freeform
Believe it or not, even more hijinks ensue for Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) in this hilarious holiday sequel. After a mix-up at the airport, Kevin inadvertently winds up in New York City… with enough cash and credit cards to turn the city into his own playground! He checks himself into the Plaza Hotel and lives like a king, watching gangster movies and racking up quite a room service bill. But Kevin isn’t alone for long. Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern), still reeling from their last encounter with Kevin, are also in the Big Apple… and they’re planning another holiday heist! To stop them from robbing a toy store just before Christmas, Kevin sets up a battery of booby traps to stop the bumbling bandits.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire—Sunday, November 15, at 9 p.m. ET on ABC
You’ll want to phone a friend and tell them to tune in for this brand-new episode, as chef David Chang is competing for the Southern Smoke Foundation. Then, watch as American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter Rorri Burton tries his hand at winning the $1 million prize.

Filling The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse with Music

November 12, 2020November 16, 2020

By Beth Deitchman

He was whistling a happy tune when we met him and now, more than 90 years later, Mickey is still the most musical mouse we know. The new animated shorts series The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse continues a rich musical legacy with its Disney+ debut on Wednesday, November 18—which, not coincidentally, happens to be Mickey’s birthday. These new shorts find Mickey and his best pals embarking on their greatest adventures yet and all feature a spectacular musical soundtrack from Emmy® Award-nominated composer Christopher Willis, the maestro whose score and songs accompany the “Sensational Six” on a musical journey that ranges from ragtime to roller disco… and everything in between.

Over the past few years, Willis has enjoyed his own immersive foray into Mickey Mouse’s world, having also composed the music for Disney Channel’s Emmy-winning Mickey Mouse shorts as well as the Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway attraction at Walt Disney World Resort. “Lots of homework” goes into the job, shares Willis, who enthusiastically delves into both music history and Disney history to inform his approach for every short. “Mickey has this existence all across the landscape of the 20th century, ever since the 1920s,” he says, and some of the musical milestones that have influenced his compositions include the vaudeville and jazz of the late 1920s and ’30s, when Mickey first came on the scene; and Disneyland’s early days in the 1950s and ’60s. He adds, “One of the major aspects of [the research process] is looking at the history of Disney and winking and nodding at all sorts of things: Disney rides, Disney attractions—lots of ones, perhaps, that don’t even exist anymore, but which people have a vague memory of or they heard about somewhere—and classic Disney movies and characters that you don’t see so much anymore.”

The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse will feature numerous nods—both musical and visual—to iconic attractions and lands. One of the two shorts debuting on November 18, “Cheese Wranglers,” is set within the Big Thunder Valley (with a certain Disneyland mountain vista making an appearance), and the following week, on November 27, Disney fans will join Mickey, Donald, and Goofy in the Tomorrowland-inspired “House of Tomorrow” short. “We know that there’s a lot of love for the Disney Parks out there and we feel that, too,” Willis says.

For Willis, that love is a delightful but relatively recent discovery. The composer grew up in England and while he’s always had a deep knowledge and appreciation for the music of Disney films, he’d never been to a Disney park until about 10 years ago when he and his wife, Elyse, had just begun dating. “When we were getting to know each other, we went to the Disney parks quite a bit,” he shares. “She had that typical Californian thing of having come to the parks a lot and having friends who worked there, so we would go [to Disneyland] and meet her friends who were working there behind the scenes and might take us on rides. I really started to fall in love with it and talk to them about the history and the mythology. Then I started working on Mickey Mouse and discovered that was actually something that was going to be useful. So over the course of this past decade, I’ve now really, really sort of fallen in love with the parks and all of the lore and history they have.”

In addition to musical cues that will transport fans to favorite Disney Parks locales, Willis has also hidden Easter eggs intended to remind Disney fans of beloved films. He hints, “You might hear ‘When You Wish Upon a Star’ turning up here and there. You might hear an old Pluto theme that you really don’t hear very often. You might hear ‘Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?’ Lots and lots of those kind of things.”

The characters themselves also guide Willis’ compositions, he points out. “You very often have a slightly more sort of countrified, twangy music for Goofy. I’ll often have a banjo, a kind of old time-y clarinet, some things like that,” he explains. “Mickey gets a lot of jazz—a lot of New Orleans jazz. And with Minnie, things tend to be much sweeter—stylistically similar, but it’s more orchestral, more woodwinds, more sort of flourishes. The characters very much have their own slant, depending on what we’re doing.”

“Chris is really good about thinking about story and how music tells a story,” Paul Rudish, executive producer and supervising director of The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, says. The score usually follows animation in the production process, but Willis notes, “Sometimes if the story and the music are completely intertwined, I might get involved even before there’s an animatic, when it’s just an idea.” Rudish and the animators also bring in Willis early when the characters will be performing a song, as was the case for “Cheese Wranglers,” in which Mickey, Donald, and Goofy bring a cowboy spin to the ballad “The Wranglers’ Code.” “In that case they already had an idea that Mickey might yodel,” recalls Willis, who co-writes many of the songs with Elyse, who serves as lyricist. “We knew that they were going to keep talking about ‘the code’ in the episode—it was going to be this mysterious thing that was talked about a lot. But the exact shaping of that and the rhyme scheme and the way that the song ended up was then up to us.”

Over the course of the season, the music featured in The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse will take inspiration from bluegrass, from classic Disney films, from storybooks, and even the classic disco sound of the 1970s. Storyboard artist Kristen Morrison believes that fans will find themselves drawn to the tunes again and again, describing them as “ear worms” in the best possible way. “I can be boarding to one of those songs, listening to it nonstop for over a month, and still never get tired of it,” she says. “I think that speaks to Chris Willis’ immense talent.”

Hear more about The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse from Willis, Rudish, and Morrison in the Winter 2020 issue of Disney twenty-three.

Every Epic Moment from the First Year of Disney+

November 12, 2020

By Jocelyn Buhlman

Today, we’re celebrating the year anniversary of a moment streams are made of: The launch of Disney+! Disney’s first-ever direct-to-consumer streaming service is celebrating its inaugural year—and what a year it has been! From the can’t-miss original series to epic movie debuts, every moment has had something special for Disney fans of all varieties. To ring in today’s celebration, we’re rounding up some of the most epic moments and magical memories from the streaming service’s first year.

November 12, 2019

Meet the Mandalorian—and the Child!

Do you remember which movie or series you watched first on Disney+? For many, it was the highly anticipated first episode of The Mandalorian. Already noteworthy for being the first-ever live action series set in the Star Wars universe, the show immediately cemented its place in the hearts of fans with the end-of-episode reveal of character who instantly became a fan favorite: The Child!

Return to East High

For those who have their heads in the game and their hearts in the song, the first thing to watch on Disney+ was obvious: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. The weekly show continued the legacy of High School Musical with a loveable cast of new characters attempting to follow in the footsteps of the DCOM that had the whole world dancing. From the music we can’t get out of our heads to the dramatic moments we’ll never forget, the first season of this Disney+ original series bopped to the top of many a fans’ watchlist. While we wait for season 2, we will soon make merry with our favorite East High students in the all new High School Musical: The Musical: The Series: The Holiday Special, which debuts on the platform November 20.

A Darling New Movie Debut

One of the new films that debuted on launch day of Disney+ had us wagging our tails in delight: the live-action reimagining of Lady and The Tramp. The film featured the voices of Tessa Thompson and Justin Theroux as Lady and the Tramp respectively, plus original music by Janelle Monáe, who also lent her legendary voice to the role of Peg. The human cast included Kiersey Clemons (Darling), Thomas Mann (Jim Dear), and one of our favorite Mousequerade judges, Yvette Nicole Brown (Aunt Sarah)! We were so excited for this original film that we were barking about it on the cover of our fall 2019 issue of Disney twenty-three magazine.

If you can stream it, you can do it

If you’ve ever wondered how your favorite Disney Parks attractions came to life, then you probably streamed the Disney+ original docuseries The Imagineering Story first! Narrated by Angela Bassett and directed and executive produced by Leslie Iwerks, the series pulled back the curtain on Walt Disney Imagineering to show fans how each Disney theme park from around the world was created.

Time to binge watch all of The Simpsons

While some fans tuned in first to a galaxy far, far away and others returned to East High, the first thing many viewers streamed on Disney+ was one of the newest additions to the Disney family: The Simpsons! Every season of the series was available for streaming at launch of Disney+, meaning lifelong fans could spend the day marathoning series and newcomers would discover Springfield’s most famous family for the first time. Fans had even more reason to rejoice in 2020, as now the series is available to stream in both its original 4:3 aspect ratio and in the remastered 16:9 aspect ratio.

February 21, 2020

Finished, the Clone Wars has

The fan-favorite Star Wars animated series detailing the events of the oft-mythologized Clone Wars made its triumphant return for a final season, debuting exclusively on Disney+. The series had a more than ten-year-long legacy, originally debuting in 2008 prior to Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm. Fans had long-awaited a proper ending to the beloved series, and the final season on Disney+ was highly anticipated since it’s announcement at San Diego Comic-Con in 2018. D23 celebrated the series finale with a special virtual cast reunion, which you can watch here.

March 6, March 15, and May 4 2020

Surprise! Your favorite movies are streaming early

In light of cinemas impacted by closures due to the global health crisis, three theatrically-released Disney films arrived on Disney+ months early, so fans could enjoy new adventures from the safety of their homes. In March, both Onward and Frozen II made their streaming debuts on Disney+, while Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker made the lightspeed jump to Disney+ on May the Fourth.

April 8, 2020

A milestone moment

Only five months after its initial launch, Disney+ achieved an epic milestone: 50 million subscribers! That meant since Disney+ had in the previous weeks rolled out in eight Western European countries including the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Switzerland, plus becoming available in India in conjunction with the Hotstar streaming service, that all around the world fans were taking part in the joy and optimism of Disney+!

July 3, 2020

No more waiting for it

Just in time for at-home fourth of July celebrations, the Tony Award®- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical Hamilton made its debut on Disney+ in a filmed version of the original Broadway production that combined the best elements of live theater and film to bring the cultural phenomenon to a streaming service for the very first time. The production was filmed in June 2016 featured the entire original cast. Originally intended to have a theatrical run, Hamilton was fast-tracked to Disney+, as most theaters were closed due to the pandemic. You can read more about how this musical sensation made its Disney+ debut here.

July 31, 2020

It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights…

One of the most anticipated (and surely the most Muppet-ational) debuts in Disney+’s first year was the launch of an all-new Muppets series! Muppets Now brought fans the weekly zaniness we’ve come to expect from Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, and all the other weirdos we love—but with an emphasis on the new, digital world that none of us really know how to navigate (expect for Scooter, maybe). Featuring lots of celebrity guests and exactly one legal weasel, the series brought much-needed silliness to the lives of Muppet fans everywhere.

August 7, 2020

He gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his heart—and now his story was being shared

The original Disney+ documentary Howard chronicled the life of Howard Ashman, the musical visionary behind beloved Disney songs from movies like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. D23 celebrated the launch of this heartfelt documentary with a special video episode of the D23 Inside Disney podcast, which you can watch here.

August 28, 2020

Ferb, I know what we’re gonna stream today

Both the young and young-at-heart fans of this beloved animated series had been waiting to find out what was next for everyone’s favorite inventive stepbrothers (and their high-strung sister). The Disney+ original film answered that question—and it involves going to space! Phineas and Ferb: Candace Against the Universe features not just a dash across space with our favorite characters, but the original voice cast and all-new songs. Read more about how the movie was made here.

September 4, 2020

Loyal. Brave. True.

Disney+ had become the debut home for both Artemis Fowl and The One and Only Ivan, two films originally intended for theatrical release but brought to Disney+ early due to the global health crisis, Mulan marked the debut of Disney+ Premier Access—and Disney fans were able to enjoy the live action reimagining of the 1998 animated film Mulan from the comfort and safety of their own homes.

September 20, 2020

And the Emmy goes to…

This is the way… to winning awards! The Mandalorian and Forky Asks a Question both brought home Disney+’s first-ever Emmys during the 2nd Emmy® Awards, with The Mandalorian smuggling home 7 Emmy awards, while Pixar won its first-ever award for the animated short Forky Asks a Question: What is Love?

You can learn more about Disney+ here