8 Times Angelina Jolie Joined the Worlds of Disney

August 17, 2020August 17, 2020

By Zach Johnson

This weekend, Angelina Jolie will lend her incomparable voice talents to the Disney+ original film The One and Only Ivan. It’s neither her first nor her last movie for The Walt Disney Studios, starting with Buena Vista Pictures’ Playing God in 1997 and continuing with Marvel Studios’ The Eternals in 2021. And so, in celebration of The One and Only Ivan debuting exclusively on the streaming service August 14, we’re taking a closer look at some of the actress’ movies from the worlds of Disney—including two turns as an iconic Disney villain!

Playing God (1997)
After losing his medical license, Dr. Eugene Sands (David Duchovny) was hired by Raymond Blossom (Timothy Hutton) to be a “gunshot doctor,” treating criminals who couldn’t risk being taken to the hospital. It didn’t take long for him to become involved with Raymond’s charismatic girlfriend, Claire (Jolie), causing him to weigh his loyalty to her, to Raymond, and to the FBI agent who blackmailed him into becoming an informant.

Pushing Tin (1999)
In the 20th Century Studios dramedy (available to purchase or rent, including on Movies Anywhere), air traffic controller Nick Falzone (John Cusack) was the best in the business… that is, until Russell Bell (Billy Bob Thornton) came along! Their competitive streak didn’t end when they were off the clock, though, and things took a turn when Nick fell for Russell’s unhappy wife, Mary (Jolie)… just as Nick’s wife, Connie (Cate Blanchett), started to show in interest Russell!

Gone in 60 Seconds (2000)
Jolie revved up her career as Sara “Sway” Wayland, a mechanic and bartender, in the action-packed heist. She was part of a motley crew that included Otto Halliwell (Robert Duvall), Donny Astricky (Chi McBride), and Sphinx (Vinnie Jones), who agreed to help Randall “Memphis” Raines (Nicolas Cage) steal 50 cars within 72 hours in order to save his brother, Kip (Giovanni Ribisi), from being killed by gangster Raymond Calitri (Christopher Eccleston).

Life or Something Like It (2002)
Jolie starred as news reporter Lanie Kerrigan in the 20th Century Studios comedy (available to purchase or rent, including on Movies Anywhere). While on assignment with hotshot cameraman Pete Scanlon (Edward Burns), she interviewed a street psychic (Tony Shalhoub) for a fluff piece. To her surprise, he predicted she would not only lose a promotion—but she would die in a few days! When the other prophecies started to come true, Lanie began to live each day as if it were her last… much to the chagrin of her co-workers and her baseball player fiancé.

Maleficent (2014)
Well, well… this was an inspired casting choice! The Oscar® winner brought the Disney villain to life in a spellbinding live-action origin story. After enduring a brutal betrayal, Jolie’s powerful fairy grew distrustful of the bordering human kingdom. But she played the long game, eventually exacting revenge on the king’s successor by cursing his newborn daughter. But, as the beautiful Aurora (Elle Fanning) grew up, Maleficent realized the princess may hold the key to restoring peace—and, perhaps, Maleficent’s own happiness.

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)
Jolie reprised her role in the sequel, where Maleficent and Aurora untangled their complex family ties. Things got thornier as the two were pulled in different directions by Aurora’s impending nuptials, unexpected allies, and a new enemy: Michelle Pfeiffer’s Queen Ingrith.

The One and Only Ivan (2020)
Based on the true story of an exceptionally talented gorilla (voice of Sam Rockwell) and the other animals who share a communal habitat at a suburban shopping mall, The One and Only Ivan is an unforgettable story about the beauty of friendship and the significance of the place we call home. Jolie voices Stella, an older elephant who performs in a daily show, despite a chronic injury. She has a soft spot for a new baby elephant named Ruby (voice of Brooklynn Prince). After she falls ill, Stella looks to Ivan to take care of her pachyderm pal.

The Eternals (2021)
One of the most highly anticipated films set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will introduce a new team of Super Heroes: The Eternals, ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years! Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, an unexpected tragedy will force them out of the shadows to reunite against mankind’s oldest enemy: The Deviants. Directed by Chloe Zao, The Eternals stars Jolie as Thena alongside Richard Madden as Ikaris, Salma Hayek as Ajak, Kit Harington as Dane Whitman, Gemma Chan as Sersi, Kumail Nanjiani as Kingo, Lauren Ridloff as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry as Phastos, Lia McHugh as Sprite, Don Lee as Gilgamesh, and Barry Keoghan as Druig.

7 Singular Stories from The One and Only Ivan’s Cast and Filmmakers

August 17, 2020

By Courtney Potter

The One and Only Ivan, a 2013 Newbery Medal-winning book by acclaimed author Katherine Applegate, is an unforgettable tale about the beauty of friendship, the power of visualization, and the significance of the place one calls home. And now, that tale is coming to life on Disney+!

Directed by Thea Sharrock, the film follows Ivan (voice of Sam Rockwell), a 400-pound silverback gorilla who shares a communal habitat in a suburban shopping mall with Stella the elephant (voice of Angelina Jolie), Bob the dog (voice of Danny DeVito), and various other animals—all under the purview of Mack (Bryan Cranston), the owner of the mall’s circus attraction. Ivan has few memories of the jungle where he was born—but when a baby elephant named Ruby (voice of Brooklynn Prince) arrives, it touches something deep within him… and he begins to question his life, where he comes from, and where he ultimately wants to be.

Sharrock recently joined Rockwell, Jolie (also one of the film’s producers), DeVito, Cranston, and Prince—as well as costars Helen Mirren (voice of Snickers the poodle), Chaka Khan (voice of Henrietta the chicken), Mike White (voice of Frankie the seal and also the film’s screenwriter), Ron Funches (voice of Murphy the Rabbit), Phillipa Soo (voice of Thelma the parrot), Ramon Rodriguez (trusty mall employee George), and Ariana Greenblatt (George’s kindhearted daughter Julia)—for a rollicking virtual press conference celebrating the film’s upcoming release on the streaming service. Read on for a few of the most fascinating facts we learned about the film—and its lively cast of characters!

The cast reveals how much of themselves they brought to their roles:
Ariana Greenblatt plays Julia, the daughter of mall employee George; a budding artist, she’s the first to suggest Ivan take up some crayons and paint himself. And the art Julia creates in the movie? Some was drawn by Greenblatt herself: “When I had breaks during [on-set] school, I actually drew some of the drawings. I drew the one of Bob [the dog], that you’ll see… It was such a cool opportunity to put my own artistic side into the movie.” Phillipa Soo, the Tony Award^®-nominated Hamilton star who provides the voice of Thelma the parrot, recalls practicing a parrot-style squawk: “I thought to myself, what do parrots do?” Soo laughingly admits. “Aside from Gilbert Gottfried’s performance in Disney’s animated The Lion King, I thought I’d look up some parrot videos… and then I tried to make my squawkiest, most parrot-y sound in my house for everyone else to hear. I actually asked my husband—I was like, ‘Does this sound parrot-y enough?’ And he said, ‘Totally! That’s great!’” As for comedian/actor Ron Funches, who voices Murphy the rabbit, it was really very simple: “I’ve only been acting for six years. I don’t even know how I got on this Zoom call, really. I’m just happy to be able to see these people. I just did my voice! And then sometimes they would tell me to change it a little bit.”

However, it’s legendary, Grammy Award^®-winning recording artist Chaka Khan who might just have the strongest similarities to her The One and Only Ivan character: “When I first ran away from home at 16, I actually joined the circus,” she admits—much to the surprise and delight of her fellow cast members. “We went out to the Barnum & Bailey ‘Blue’ circus [for] about six or seven months; we took a train. I didn’t know what I was doing or where I was going. But I’d met this lovely guy at a club, and he was with the circus—and he asked me to come along, [so] I went. I actually was a rope girl, and I rode the elephant… Doing this film really brought back memories of the circus.” And she felt particularly well-suited to her character—Henrietta the chicken—admitting, “Henrietta and I are very much alike. I’m usually the one who people come to when they want the truth but they want it told in sort of a funny way.”

Angelina Jolie (voice of Stella and producer) explains how she helped bring The One and Only Ivan to audiences:
“One of my children read the book and said that they loved it,” Jolie—who voices gentle, motherly elephant Stella, explains. “And [so] I read it, and we kind of talked about why it was special and why it meant so much to them. I started to pursue [it]… even in the early [script] drafts, it was very interesting… It’s not a ‘light’ film; it deals with heavy issues. But it is charming and fun and full of life… I thought [it was] very, very important, and wanted to get involved. I like the messages in it. And I’m excited that this young generation [will see it]… I think all of us older people will appreciate it for many reasons, but I know this young generation is really very aware of what is happening in the world to our natural habitats, to these animals; what’s happening in the Congo and losing ground; what’s happening with the gorillas [and] the elephants. And they’re angry, and they want to really be clear about what kind of treatment is appropriate… [The character of Julia] represents them—[and] that’s strong, for them today to see that their actions can make change.”

Ariana Greenblatt and Brooklynn Prince (voice of Ruby) on their shared love of Katherine Applegate’s book:
While their experiences working on the film were as different as can be, the two youngest stars of The One and Only Ivan both relished the experience of reading the original book—years prior to the film itself. Explains Greenblatt, “I actually read the book before I even started acting. I read it in third grade. And when I got the job, I was looking through the camera roll [on my phone] and I saw a picture of me reading it to the class. And I was like, ‘No way! That’s crazy!’… it was actually one of my favorite [books] I’ve ever read in my entire life. Because I’ve always been an animal lover, and I’ve always wanted to help animals in any way I possibly can. So reading it was very touching to me.”

Prince—who voices the circus habitat’s newest resident—little elephant Ruby—has a similar story: “I read the book with my grandma, but also I read it out loud to my brother and my mom… And I honestly loved Ruby. I think [the story] teaches us a good lesson about keeping our promises. Because, you know, Ruby would have never gotten [the help she needed] if Ivan didn’t keep his promise to Stella. And I think that’s something very beautiful. I loved the book so much that I lent it to my best friend and I told her to read it. Because it was something so special.”

Screenwriter/costar Mike White talks about adapting a beloved book for the screen:
It can be challenging—often in unique, memorable ways—to adapt a story originally told on paper to one told visually on screen… but writer/actor Mike White (known for penning 2003’s School of Rock and co-creating the HBO series Enlightened) was up to the test. “I feel like I was really lucky,” admits White, who also voices Frankie the nervous seal, “because the characters are so rich, and it’s so emotional—[it’s] very soulful for a children’s book or a young adult book… I think that it needed a structure, like a lot of these adaptations—where you just need to make it have [a bit] more of a plot, in a sense… So that was the biggest challenge. And just giving Ivan and Mack ‘story arcs’; Mack’s arc is pretty solid in the book, but Ivan [needing] an arc is more classic as far as [what] a Disney film would require.”

Director Thea Sharrock recalls some of the interesting, and memorable, challenges from the making of the movie:
When asked what the process of filming The One and Only Ivan was like, Sharrock admits it was a truly unique experience. “I’ll say two things. One is, in terms of shooting this movie, [it] was very much like simultaneously working on two movies at the same time because of the technical aspect of it. So on the one hand, we started the whole process with the voice actors, because the animators needed their voices to [get] laid down for the animation journey to begin. Then we shot all of our live-action stuff, and then we went back in and shot the virtual aspects of the film—which was whenever we had just animals in a scene together. And those scenes we often revisited; we went back in and did them several times just to get tiny, tiny nuances—changes in the actor’s voices [or] changes in their performances made a huge change to the animators and what they were doing. So in that sense, the technicality of it was certainly unlike anything I’ve ever done before… [On top of all that], of course we wanted to capture the heartfelt spirit of the book, which was the most important thing.”

Ramon Rodriguez (George) speaks to the film’s especially timely message:
Spending time at home lately allowed Rodriguez, who portrays Mack’s well-meaning employee (and Julia’s father), George, to reflect even further on the significance of The One and Only Ivan’s themes of friendship and home. “We’ve all been sort of indoors [a lot lately],” Rodriguez explains. “And I think it’s allowed for a lot of introspection, right? Which is, I think, really similar to what Ivan goes through in this beautiful coming-of-age experience… I love the message that you get to find yourself even later in life. You know, we’re continually on this journey… [and] these moments actually allow us to hopefully come out of it maybe a bit more evolved. I think for Ivan that’s exactly his experience—and I think that’s a pretty powerful message, in particular [for] where we are right now.”

What the cast has been doing with their recent “bonus” time at home:
Many people around the globe have been trying new hobbies or—like Ivan in the film—flexing their artistic muscles in creative ways these last few months, and the cast of The One and Only Ivan is no exception. “I’ve actually started baking sourdough bread,” says Cranston. “And I’m quite proud of it actually. It’s fun! In our [actors’] world of self-motivation and developing your own characters, it takes a lot of energies. But you don’t really follow any rules. And so I thought, you know what, following a recipe is kind of fun in that regard.” “I’m sort of a professional dog walker right now. That’s about it,” admits Rockwell, chuckling. As for DeVito, “I had a tree planted in my yard, it’s a really cool tree—a red maple. And I decided to hang a couple bird feeders on it. So all these little finches come. It’s now gotten very, very popular… And by now there are so many birds out, I feel like it’s a deli where [they’ve] got to grab a number!”

Get to know The One and Only Ivan, and all his amazing friends, when the film debuts on Disney+ on Friday, August 21!

5 Fantastic Things to Watch This Week

August 17, 2020August 17, 2020

By Zach Johnson

This week has a little of everything for Disney fans, from anthropomorphic animals to a time-traveling ballerina! Nat Geo WILD brings us more SHARKFEST content, while Disney Channel delivers another laugh-out-loud episode of Sydney to the Max. In addition to adding the live-action Beauty and the Beauty film to its library, Disney+ is debuting the original film The One and Only Ivan, featuring an all-star voice cast and a timeless story. And last but not least, Hulu raises the barre with an all-new season of the Find Me in Paris.

Shark vs. Whale—Thursday, August 18, at 10 p.m. ET on Nat Geo WILD
SHARKFEST continues with an encore presentation of this fin-tastic special. A routine drone survey turns deadly when Ryan Johnson, a marine biologist based in South Africa, films a humpback whale being attacked and strategically drowned by a great white shark. It’s unusual behavior—so unusual, in fact, it causes Johnson to shift his perspective on a creature he’s spent his life studying. To make sense of what he witnessed, he follows humpback whales on their migration, mapping places that may make them vulnerable, and takes a new look at great white sharks to discover how and why they become whale killers.

Sydney to the Max—Friday, August 21, at 8 p.m. ET on Disney Channel
To mark her 13th birthday, independent and clever middle schooler Sydney (Ruth Righi) sets out to plan a sophisticated party. Her plans remind her dad, Max (Ian Reed Kessler), of when he tried to organize his own surprise party for his 13th birthday back in the ’90s!

Beauty and the Beast (2017)—Friday, August 21, on Disney+
The live-action adaptation of the animated classic is a stunning, cinematic event celebrating one of the most beloved stories ever told. Follow Belle (Emma Watson), a bright and beautiful young woman who is taken prisoner by a Beast (Dan Stevens) in his castle. Despite her fears, she befriends the castle’s enchanted staff and learns to look beyond the Beast’s wild exterior and realize the kind heart of the true prince within. Directed by Bill Condon, the all-star cast includes Luke Evans as Gaston, Kevin Kline as Maurice, Josh Gad as LeFou, Ewan McGregor as Lumière, Stanley Tucci as Maestro Cadenza, Audra McDonald as Madame de Garderobe, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Plumette, Nathan Mack as Chip, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, and Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts.

The One and Only Ivan—Friday, August 21, on Disney+
An adaptation of the award-winning book about a very special gorilla, Disney’s The One and Only Ivan is an unforgettable tale about the beauty of friendship, the power of visualization, and the significance of the place one calls home. Ivan (voice of Sam Rockwell) is a 400-pound silverback gorilla who shares a communal habitat in a suburban shopping mall with Stella the elephant (voice of Angelina Jolie), Bob the dog (voice of Danny DeVito), and more animals. He has very few memories of the jungle where he was captured, but the arrival of a baby elephant named Ruby (voice of Brooklyn Prince) touches something deep within him. Ruby is recently separated from her family in the wild, causing Ivan to question his life, where he comes from, and where he ultimately wants to be. An impressive hybrid of live-action and CGI, the heartwarming adventure is directed by Thea Sharrock. Appearing onscreen are Bryan Cranston as Mack, the mall’s owner; Ramon Rodriguez as George, the mall’s employee; and Ariana Greenblatt as Julia, George’s daughter. In addition to Rockwell, Jolie, DeVito, and Prince, the A-list voice cast includes Helen Mirren as Snickers the poodle, Chaka Khan as Henrietta the chicken, Mike White as Frankie the seal, Ron Funches as Murphy the rabbit, and Phillipa Soo as Thelma the parrot.

Find Me in Paris (Season 3) —Friday, August 21, on Hulu
At first glance, Lena Grisky (Jessica Lord) looks like a typical teen attending the most elite dance institution in the world. But Lena has a secret: She’s a time traveler, accidentally thrust from 1905 into the 21st century! The new season follows Lena as she completes her final year at the Paris Opera Ballet School and competes against the elite ballerinas to nail a spot in Company… all while she learns more about her true identity as a Time Travel Heir.

Up and Up and Up: 65 Years of Twirling with Dumbo the Flying Elephant

August 16, 2020August 13, 2020

By Kevin Kern, Walt Disney Archives

Sometimes, the most memorable delights are those which are the simplest. Walt Disney’s Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction has withstood the tests of time to become not only a beloved tradition for families to seek out when visiting Disney Parks, but also as a sort of “rite of passage” for many a high-flying guest. After 65 years of twirling into the hearts of fans around the globe, it’s safe to say that this not-so-pint-sized pachyderm has also soared into the very lexicon of popular culture, and has come to represent a truly quintessential Disney experience.

In his seminal work Designing Disney: Imagineering and the Art of the Show (Disney Editions, 2003), Imagineer and Disney Legend John Hench outlined that “Disneyland was designed from the outset with the assumption that the popularity of the animated characters would make it necessary… to showcase them in appropriate representations of their film environments,” making the inclusion of the attraction’s fancy-filled flight experience a perfect fit for its debut in Walt’s Fantasyland on August 16, 1955. Chris Nichols, award-winning author of Walt Disney’s Disneyland (Taschen, 2018), recently observed for the Archives staff: “Dumbo just shows how everybody that worked to build Disneyland was committed to realizing this dream and made sacrifices to invent something that the world had never seen before.” The concept struck a chord with parkgoers, almost immediately elevating the attraction beyond just a “ride.” A quintessential image of Americana it has become, synonymous with the success of Walt’s family fun park.

There is an undeniable pull at the heartstrings of children the world over (or, at least the child in our hearts, no matter our age) who seem to gravitate toward this elephant’s lofty perch. The love and admiration shown to this attraction may have something to do with the communal frequency of the experience as many people’s “first” Disney Parks thrill. Imagineer Alex Wright astutely points out in his illuminating work, The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland (Disney Editions, 2008), that “Dumbo the Flying Elephant is often the first attraction visited by a new young Guest and is consistently one of the most popular rides in the Park for tots, even though the film upon which it was based was first released way back in 1941.” Joy, as it would seem, is bound by no age or time limit.

Since those earliest flights in 1955, Dumbo the Flying Elephant has gone on to twirl countless revolutions over the decades, with each spin making a fan of even the staunchest of profiles (former U.S. President Richard Nixon, for example, is one of those very riders). Due to this popularity, the attraction would spread its wings beyond Disneyland, landing as far away as Walt Disney World (1971), Tokyo Disneyland (1983), Disneyland Paris (1992), Hong Kong Disneyland (2005), and Shanghai Disneyland (2016), to the delight of Disney Parks fans the world over.

In honor of the 65^th anniversary of an attraction that would spark a legacy of multigenerational memories, let’s take a moment to reminisce with some vintage Disneyland views from our art and photography collections here in the Walt Disney Archives—views that, in the words of Timothy Q. Mouse, can help to take us all “up and up and up!”

LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special Coming Soon—Plus More in News Briefs

August 14, 2020

By Courtney Potter

Jingle All the Way with New LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special From Disney+

’Tis (almost) the season for some brand-new Star Wars holiday fun! Just this week, Disney+ announced a brand-new special coming to the streaming service, bringing LEGO and Star Wars fans to Chewbacca’s home world of Kashyyyk for a Wookiee-sized celebration. The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special will premiere on November 17—otherwise known as of the galaxy’s most cheerful and magical holiday, Life Day!

The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special reunites Rey, Finn, Poe, Chewie, Rose, and the droids for a joyous feast on Life Day—a holiday first introduced in the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special. The new LEGO special is the first to debut on Disney+ and will continue the amazing legacy of collaboration between Lucasfilm and LEGO—adventures told in a charmingly fun and irreverent way…

Directly following the events of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special finds Rey leaving her friends to prepare for Life Day as she sets off on a new adventure with BB-8 to gain a deeper knowledge 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, Yoda, Obi-Wan, and other iconic heroes and villains from all nine Skywalker saga films. But will she make it back in time for the Life Day feast and learn the true meaning of holiday spirit?

The adventure can continue at home with the release of the LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar. Available September 1, it was designed alongside the development and production of the special. You can learn more about the calendar by clicking here—and make sure to mark your own calendars for The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special this November… only on Disney+!

5 Fantastic Things to Watch This Weekend

There are several big premieres to look forward to this weekend, from around the worlds of Disney—including the debut of Magic Camp, starring Adam Devine, on Disney+, and two new episodes of Savage Kingdom on National Geographic. For more fabulous things to add to your viewing calendar, do click that cursor right about… here.

Disney+’s Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom—Premiering September 25

Speaking of both Disney+ and National Geographic, they just announced a sure-to-be-incredible new docu-series coming to the streaming service in late September. Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom will give viewers an all-access pass to explore the magic of nature within Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge, and The Seas with Nemo & Friends at EPCOT. Narrated by Frozen stalwart Josh Gad, the eight-episode series is the ultimate tribute to the parks’ magnificent array of more than 300 species and 5,000-plus animals, and the incredible tasks their animal care experts undertake to keep things running day and night.

Filmed over a five-month period, Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom incorporates cutting-edge technology—including custom-built GoPro enclosures, 18-foot cranes, and underwater camera systems to highlight the magic found in every corner of the kingdom. The series will also introduce viewers to truly enchanting animals that have their own unique personalities and family dynamics, inviting fans of Disney, nature, and animals big and small to spend some time with all the park’s residents in cool new ways.

Look for Magic of Disney’s Animal Kingdom on Disney+ beginning Friday, September 25.

Big Hero 6 The Series Returning for Third Season

Fans of a certain hit Emmy® Award-winning Disney Channel series, listen up: A third season is coming your way! Yes, Big Hero 6 The Series is returning on Monday, September 21 (at 7:30 p.m. EDT/PDT) on Disney XD and DisneyNOW, and it finds the Big Hero 6 team tasked with protecting their city San Fransokyo from the nefarious Noodle Burger Boy and his team of evil mascot robots. Read all about it right here at D23.com.

Treat Yourself to New Disney Parks Halloween-Themed Merchandise

Hard to believe, but we’re inching ever closer to one of our favorite holidays of the year—Halloween! And just this week, our pals at the Disney Parks Blog gave us a spooktacular sneak peek at the new Halloween-themed merchandise coming to both Disney Parks and shopDisney. Select items are already available at shopDisney.com—with more coming later this month to Disney Springs at Walt Disney World Resort and Downtown Disney District at Disneyland Resort, as well. Plus, Disneyland Paris and Shanghai Disney Resort get some boo-tiful items themselves next month.

In addition to the Disney Parks 2020 Halloween Collection, Disney Villains, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Haunted Mansion inspired their own fa-boo-lous lines. Look for spirit jerseys galore; Minnie Mouse ear headbands; Jack Skellington-inspired masks; a Haunted Mansion-themed cross-body bag; some incredible wheelchair cover sets; and so much more.

Check out some of the gourd-geous items either available now or coming soon by visiting the recent Disney Parks Blog rundown or visiting shopDisney.com. Happy hauntings!

Enjoy Freeform’s “3-Day Disney Weekends” Next Month!

There will be more Disney fun than you can shake a proverbial stick at all September long over on Freeform, thanks to their recently announced “3-Day Disney Weekends” programming event! The network will air beloved classics including a bug’s life, Cars, Chicken Little, Freaky Friday, Frozen, Hercules, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Moana, Tarzan, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, The Princess Diaries, Ratatouille, Toy Story 3, Wreck-It Ralph, Zootopia, and more—all so fans can spend quality time with fave characters during some truly epic movie marathons.

The full programming schedule (subject to change) is as follows:

Friday, September 4
5 p.m. ET/PT—Tarzan
7 p.m. ET/PT—a bug’s life
9 p.m. ET/PT—Monsters, Inc.

Saturday, September 5
7 a.m. ET/PT—Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
9:30 a.m. ET/PT—Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
12:40 p.m. ET/PT—Tarzan
2:45 p.m. ET/PT—a bug’s life
4:50 p.m. ET/PT—Monsters, Inc.
6:55 p.m. ET/PT—Monsters University
9:25 p.m. ET/PT—Moana
11:55 p.m. ET/PT—The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Sunday, September 6
7 a.m. ET/PT—Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
10:15 a.m. ET/PT—The Hunchback of Notre Dame
12:20 p.m. ET/PT—Meet the Robinsons
2:25 p.m. ET/PT—Lilo & Stitch
4:25 p.m. ET/PT—Monsters University
6:55 p.m. ET/PT—Moana
9:25 p.m. ET/PT—Zootopia
11:55 p.m. ET/PT—Wreck-It Ralph

Friday, September 11
7 p.m. ET/PT—101 Dalmatians (1996)
9 p.m. ET/PT—Freaky Friday (2003)

Saturday, September 12
8:30 a.m. ET/PT—Freaky Friday (2003)
10:30 a.m. ET/PT—101 Dalmatians (1996)
12:35 p.m. ET/PT—Hercules
2:40 p.m. ET/PT—WALL-E
4:50 p.m. ET/PT—Finding Nemo
7:20 p.m. ET/PT—Finding Dory
9:25 p.m. ET/PT—Toy Story 3
11:55 p.m. ET/PT—Bolt

Sunday, September 13
8:30 a.m. ET/PT—Chicken Little
10:30 a.m. ET/PT—Hercules
12:35 p.m. ET/PT—WALL-E
2:45 p.m. ET/PT—Finding Nemo
5:15 p.m. ET/PT—Finding Dory
7:20 p.m. ET/PT—Toy Story 3
9:50 p.m. ET/PT—Bolt
12 a.m. ET/PT—Chicken Little

Friday, September 18
4:30 p.m. ET/PT—Holes
7 p.m. ET/PT—Big Hero 6
9 p.m. ET/PT—Wreck-It Ralph
12 a.m. ET/PT—The Shaggy Dog (2006)

Saturday, September 19
7 a.m. ET/PT—Holes
9:35 a.m. ET/PT—Cars
12:15 p.m. ET/PT—Cars 2
2:50 p.m. ET/PT—Big Hero 6
5:05 p.m. ET/PT—Wreck-It Ralph
7:10 p.m. ET/PT—Up
9:15 p.m. ET/PT—Ratatouille
11:55 p.m. ET/PT—Tarzan

Sunday, September 20
8 a.m. ET/PT—Cars
10:35 a.m. ET/PT—Cars 2
1:05 p.m. ET/PT—The Emperor’s New Groove
3 p.m. ET/PT—Tarzan
5:05 p.m. ET/PT—Up
7:10 p.m. ET/PT—Ratatouille
9:50 p.m. ET/PT—Inside Out
11:55 p.m. ET/PT—Meet the Robinsons

Friday, September 25
11 a.m. ET/PT—The Game Plan
4:30 p.m. ET/PT—Alice Through the Looking Glass
7 p.m. ET/PT—Brave
9 p.m. ET/PT—Tangled

Saturday, September 26
7 a.m. ET/PT—Alice Through the Looking Glass
9:30 a.m. ET/PT—The Princess Diaries
12:05 p.m. ET/PT—The Princess Diaries: Royal Engagement
2:45 p.m. ET/PT—Brave
4:50 p.m. ET/PT—Tangled
7 p.m. ET/PT—Moana
9:30 p.m. ET/PT—Frozen
12 a.m. ET/PT—Pocahontas

Sunday, September 27
7:30 a.m. ET/PT—The Princess Diaries
10:12 a.m. ET/PT—The Princess Diaries: Royal Engagement
12:53 p.m. ET/PT—Gnomeo & Juliet
2:53 p.m. ET/PT—Pocahontas
4:53 p.m. ET/PT—Moana
7:25 p.m. ET/PT—Frozen
9:55 p.m. ET/PT—The Princess and the Frog
12 a.m. ET/PT—Gnomeo & Juliet

Inside the Making of the Final Season of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

August 14, 2020August 14, 2020

By Zach Johnson

After seven seasons and 136 episodes, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. went out in style. The series finale, which aired on ABC Wednesday and is now available to stream on ABC.com, the ABC app, and Hulu, saw the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents embark on a final mission to defeat an advanced alien race determined to erase them from the history books and take over Earth. It was a fitting farewell for a team that’s outsmarted Hydra, the Inhumans, and other threats. In celebration of the series’ spectacular sendoff, some of the people who brought the stories to life are now sharing their own stories with D23: The Official Disney Fan Club.

Season seven found Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg), Melinda May (Disney Legend Ming-Na Wen), Daisy Johnson (Chloe Bennet), Jemma Simmons (Elizabeth Henstridge), Alphonso “Mack” MacKenzie (Henry Simmons), Elena “Yo-Yo” Rodriguez (Natalia Cordova-Buckley), and Deke Shaw (Jeff Ward) tracking the Chronicoms—the aforementioned advanced alien race—across different decades. The first episode, set in 1931 in New York City, showcased how inventive the crew could be when faced with a herculean task: making it all look real.

At the end of season six, costume designer Whitney Galitz had meetings with writers and executive producers Maurissa “Mo” Tancharoen and Jed Whedon about how to take the agents 88 years into the past. “I started bouncing ideas off of Mo and Jed, and I remember being like, ‘You know this is going to cost of a lot of money, right?’ Period is no joke! It’s a lot different than sci-fi. From there, we put our heads together and started thinking about creative ways to do a proper period show on a weekly TV series schedule and budget, which was really great. It’s something I am very happy about and proud that I was able to accomplish, because we were building every episode.” For the first two episodes, both set in 1931, Galitz estimates between 40–50 costumes were built, plus multiples for stunts. “I had to have someone out in the world every day swatching fabric, looking for pieces we could alter to make historically correct, and looking for different things we could shop in lieu of building,” Galitz says. “Also, I had a full tailor shop building costumes at the same time; I even had to outsource to other tailor shops in order to get everything to camera!” One of Galitz’s favorite designs is an emerald gown worn by Daisy. “That costume was definitely a standout,” she says. “We really loved that one and Chloe was so happy with it.”

Meanwhile, visual effects supervisor Mark Kolpack began immersing himself in research. Fortunately, he discovered a website that showed the geographical layout of New York City year after year. “It was really strange—and really helpful!” he says. “I would search ‘1931’ and it would show me a bird’s-eye view of what buildings existed in 1931. It was fascinating!”

Although the season opener relied heavily on hair, makeup, production design, and wardrobe to set the scene, visual effects company Digital Domain was hired for the big crane-up shot of the street, Kolpack says. “The rest of it became a three-dimensional background painting with digital extras walking and digital cars,” he reveals. “Even the laundry hanging on lines outside the building—all that stuff was all created. Some of that was there in the foreground piece, but it was then continued on in the digital aspect of it.”

For property master Scott Bauer—who, like Kolpack, has been with the series since the pilot episode—the biggest challenge in season seven was doing enough digging to ensure the props were period-appropriate for each era. “That was part of the fun of it, too,” Bauer says. “This last season really opened us up to doing more research instead of having everything set in the present or the future and basing our designs on that. We really had to get creative and go back to our roots of what we do as craftspeople to help tell the story.”

The third episode of the season, set in 1955, reintroduced Daniel Sousa (guest star Enver Gjokaj, reprising his role from Marvel’s Agent Carter). Now eight years older, Sousa was in need of “a little bit of flair,” Bauer says. So, he presented the producers with a variety of crutches to match the character’s older, wiser demeanor. “Even though he’s sort of an established character,” Bauer explains, “I wanted to give him his own little personal touch.” Galitz, meanwhile, was involved in several meetings about how to “elevate” the character’s look. “I tried to make him really hunky, because he’s such a leading man. I had this amazing photo of Cary Grant sitting on a high rise in New York City in the ’50s, and he’s wearing a gray suit with a dark knit vest. I had some research from Sousa’s look on the Carter series when he was wearing his knit vests. I decided to marry the two, and it worked really well.”

Creating additional props for the episode, which takes place near Area 51, reminded Bauer of when Hayley Atwell guest starred as Peggy Carter in season two. “I really enjoyed creating all of those SSR props they’d used in Captain America: The First Avenger,” he says. The episode, “Alien Commies from the Future!,” also saw Jemma pretending to be Peggy in order to sneak into the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, giving Galitz the opportunity to design one of her favorite looks of season seven. “That suit was a real labor of love,” she says. “I went into one of my favorite periods: The Dior ‘New Look.’ When Dior came out with the ‘New Look’ and that professional suiting for women—the short, fitted jackets, the fuller skirts, and the longer pencil skirts—that was one of my favorite eras. And so, I really tried to mirror that.”

Later in the season, Bauer got to redesign one of his favorite props, Mack’s shotgun axe (aka “the shaxe”), so S.H.I.E.LD.’s director could fend off killer robots in 1982. The original weapon was introduced in season three, and Bauer says he was “given a lot of leeway” as to how it would look and function. “The writers just wrote ‘shotgun axe’ and said, ‘OK, Scott, go do what you do.’ I came back with a couple of options and found a guy who made axe blades for handguns. It was a really cool process. Working with Henry and seeing it play all the way through the seasons was quite fun. And having to redesign it a little bit for the ’80s, where we changed the base paint and the color of the blade, was quite fun as well.”

For the two-part finale, Kolpack estimated his team would need an extra four weeks to complete all the visual effects necessary to give the series the sendoff it deserved. The producers understood, he says, and gave him the green light. “It was so much work. It’s not just about the quantity of shots, because it isn’t that; it’s about the complexity and the art of it,” Kolpack says. “These are complex shots.” He credits visual effects producer Sabrina Arnold, visual effects coordinator Briana Aeby, and visual effects editor Ryan Moos for anticipating and preparing for the ambitious finale. Says Kolpack, “My team was really exceptional at being really, really focused and also really, really disciplined and organized.”

Like many people who worked behind the scenes on the series, Bauer says he will always look back on his time with Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. fondly. “Every episode was different, which made it great. The producers gave me a lot of creative freedom. After the first season, we all found our groove with each other. They knew they could just say something and I would find the right aesthetic or sketch something and have it designed on paper to approve… and 10 days later, they’d have a functioning, light-up alien prop on set!”

Galitz, who joined Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. in season three, departed season seven after five episodes to have a baby. She handed the reigns to costume designer Jessica Torok, who she says “did a fabulous job” taking the characters through their final mission. “It was a very unique experience, working on S.H.I.E.L.D. It started as just a job working for my friend and mentor, Ann Foley, and it turned into this huge opportunity for me and my career. I was able to design sci-fi, period, and fantasy. It was kind of like costume designer boot camp—and I did it on a five-day shooting schedule! On top of that, we created quite a family. Everybody worked really hard, all because they loved the job. It was really special.”

Similarly, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will stand the test of time as one of Kolpack’s professional highlights. “It has been one of the greatest—if not the greatest—experiences of my career,” he says. “I’ve never been on one project this long, and to be able to work on a project with really great showrunners like Maurissa, Jed, and Jeff Bell has been just tremendous. Being able to work on a show that evolved like it did, and not doing the same canned effect week after week, season after season, kept me on the show. I would have looked for other challenges, because as an artist, you need to be challenged—and this year challenged me. They put me in the deep end of the swimming pool all the time, standing on my tippy toes with the water up to my nose. And that’s where I excel. If you’re always in the shallow end, you do very bland work…. This has been one of the best experiences, if not the best. I’ll miss it, because I’ve been doing this a long time. And you don’t come across this kind of show that often, where everything just fires on all cylinders—and this one did.”

Celebrate National Tell a Joke Day with Fozzie Bear!

August 14, 2020August 16, 2021

By the D23 Team

“Here I am, Fozzie Bear, to tell you jokes both old and rare!” August 16 is National Tell a Joke Day—and who better to prepare us for all the funny to come than the Muppets’ resident comedian?

This hibernating humorist is truly a jack of all trades… you’ve seen him dance and sing in The Muppet Movie; ride a bicycle in The Great Muppet Caper; talk to his trusty sidekick finger Mr. Bimbo in Muppet Treasure Island; take the stage in a rundown Reno casino in The Muppets; and even bombard poor Scooter with supremely silly TV show pitches in Muppets Now. (By the way, all of these are available right now on Disney+!) But Fozzie began his illustrious career as a the greatest—and only—stand-up bear in show business.

In honor of National Tell a Joke Day, we here at D23 took a spin through Fozzie’s wisecracks, quips, and puns and found some real humdingers. Go ahead and add them to your repertoire; they’re sure to either impress friends and strangers alike… or you might just find yourself getting the hook. But hey—that’s showbiz! “Wocka wocka!”

From “Fozzie’s Bear-ly Funny Fridays” video series on The Muppets’ YouTube

“I went to a new restaurant on the moon. But I’m never going back—the food wasn’t bad, but the prices were out of this world and the place had no atmosphere!”

“Did I ever tell you the one about the man with the flashlight in his ear? He was light-headed!”

“So a guy walks up to me and asks, ‘Did you take a bath today?’ And I said, ‘Why? Is there one missing?’”

“Why did the motorcycle keep falling over? Cuz the motocycle was two tire-d!”

“Why did the chicken cross the Internet? To get to the other site!”

From Disney Junior’s Muppet Babies

“How do flowers blow kisses? With their two lips!”

“What’s the best day to go to the beach? Sand-day!”

“What do you call it when it rains on a birthday cake? Sprinkles!”

“What’s a frog’s favorite candy? A lolli-hop!”

From 2011’s The Muppets

“Boy, did I go to a bad seafood place last night. The catch of the day was salmon-ella!”

“So how ’bout those shopping centers? You seen one, you seen a mall!”

Mark Your Calendar for the Third Season of Big Hero 6 The Series

August 13, 2020August 13, 2020

By Beth Deitchman

Get ready for an epic faceoff when Big Hero 6 The Series kicks off its third season on Disney XD and DisneyNOW. Our friends at Disney Channel have just announced that a new season of the Emmy® Award-nominated animated series premieres Monday, September 21 (7:30 p.m. EDT/PDT), and finds the Big Hero 6 team tasked with protecting their city San Fransokyo from the nefarious Noodle Burger Boy and his team of evil mascot robots.

The series is based on Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Academy Award®-winning feature film Big Hero 6 and continues the adventures of 14-year-old tech genius Hiro, who juggles superhero shenanigans with the academic challenges and social trials he encounters as a student at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. But Hiro doesn’t struggle alone; his compassionate, cutting-edge robot Baymax is always by his side, along with their friends Wasabi, Honey Lemon, Go Go, and Fred. Together, they are the legendary Big Hero 6, embarking on high-tech adventures as they keep San Fransokyo safe from an array of scientifically enhanced villains.

Disney Channel also revealed a roster of guest voices for season three that includes K-pop stars Nichkhun Horvejkul (2PM) as twins Kei and Aki, one-half of boy band 4 2 Sing, and Jae Park (DAY6) as twins Taka and Yuka, the other half of boy band 4 2 Sing; Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Killing Eve) as Cobra, a charming and crafty villain; and Nichole Bloom (Superstore) as Olivia, a passionate comic book fan.

Big Hero 6 The Series’ voice cast includes Maya Rudolph as Aunt Cass, Ryan Potter as Hiro, Scott Adsit as Baymax, Jamie Chung as Go Go, Khary Payton as Wasabi, Genesis Rodriguez as Honey Lemon, and Brooks Wheelan as Fred. This season, fans can also keep an ear out for a host of actors making a return trip to San Fransokyo, including Jenifer Lewis as Professor Granville, Jane Lynch as Supersonic Sue, Horatio Sanz as El Fuego, Andy Richter as Globby, Alan Tudyk as Krei, Haley Tju as Karmi, and David Shaughnessy as Heathcliff.

Mark McCorkle, Bob Schooley, and Nick Filippi, the team behind the Emmy Award-winning global hit Disney Channel series Kim Possible, serve as executive producers of the series, which is a production of Disney Television Animation.

Discover the Worlds of Fantasy with These Disney Parks Attraction Posters

August 13, 2020August 13, 2020

By Jocelyn Buhlman

A fairy tale adventure can start many ways: A sprinkle of pixie dust, a blustery day—even preparing for a concert can kick off a “Once upon a time…” to take you on a magical journey. For guests at Disney Parks, the fantasy starts the moment you arrive and continues as you step into each attraction. As part of our continued celebration of 65 years of the Disney Theme Park, we’re sharing some of the pixie-dusted art from Disney attractions around the globe that take us into the worlds of fantasy and stories we know and love.

Want to keep celebrating 65 years of the Disney Theme Park? Make sure to check out all the ways we’re celebrating, including more digital content right here on D23.com, all month long!

Walt’s Maps of the Magic

August 13, 2020August 13, 2020

By Max Lark

Walt Disney once said: “I’ve always wanted to work on something alive, something that keeps growing. We’ve got that in Disneyland.”

Anyone fortunate enough to visit Walt Disney’s office suite in the 3-H wing at the original Animation Building will see pictorial proof of Walt’s commitment to evolving and adding to his theme park. On the northern wall of Walt’s “working office,” which the Walt Disney Archives faithfully restored in December 2015 along with the rest of Walt’s office suite, is a 1965 aerial view of Disneyland with a legend and descriptions pointing to recently opened and projected attractions. It’s a remarkable piece of history, and it’s not hard to imagine Walt poring over the map, his mind racing, his imagination soaring.

“The map served as a fluid diagram of Disneyland which, at the time, showcased the recently debuted attractions Swiss Family Treehouse and Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln along with those under construction, including Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean,” says Mike Buckhoff, manager, Disney Photo Archives. Various iterations of these maps began appearing on the wall of Walt’s working office as early as December 1953 beginning with hand-drawn schematics and later aerial photographs of the park. “These maps not only functioned as working references for Walt but also as an exhibition on the progress of his magic kingdom to be shared with captivated luminaries and other studio visitors lucky enough to receive an invite to Walt’s think tank,” Buckhoff adds.

“Disneyland is like a piece of clay, if there is something I don’t like, I’m not stuck with it,” Walt once said. “I can reshape and revamp.” Looking at these rarely seen photos of this aerial map prominently placed inside Walt’s working office is a vivid reminder of just how absorbed Walt was with the park. Sure, other projects consumed him at the time, but this priceless artifact reveals that Disneyland was never far from his mind.