By Courtney Potter
Get Ready for a Ribbit-ing Good Time with Season Three of Amphibia
Later this fall, make sure to hop over to your favorite screen for the season three premiere of the popular frog-out-of-water animated comedy Amphibia—debuting Saturday, October 2, at 9:30 a.m. EDT, only Disney Channel and DisneyNOW!
Created and executive produced by Matt Braly (Gravity Falls), the latest adventures of the Emmy® Award-nominated series—which kicks off with a special extended-length episode—finds Anne and the Plantars transported from Amphibia to her hometown of Los Angeles, where the Frog Family must learn to navigate the complexities of this modern-day world, conceal their identities as talking frog people (easier said than done!), and search for a way home. But that’s not all the news that’s fit to print: Season three will also include a 22-minute Christmas special featuring a song written by Rebecca Sugar (Steven Universe)! Check out a cool sneak peek at the new season—first released during the show’s recent Comic-Con@Home panel—above…
Amazing guest stars for season three include iconic Disney Legend Whoopi Goldberg, Emmy® winner RuPaul Charles (RuPaul’s Drag Race), Kate Micucci (DuckTales), Disney Legend Anika Noni Rose (The Princess and the Frog), Archie Yates (Jojo Rabbit), Wayne Knight (Seinfeld), Jason Ritter (Gravity Falls), Melissa Villaseñor (Saturday Night Live), and so many more.
Following the season three premiere, new episodes of Amphibia will debut every Saturday through November 27 on Disney Channel and DisneyNOW.
5 Fantastic Things to Watch This Weekend
Well, if you’re reading this, you’re a pal who visits D23.com with at least some regularity—which also means you’ve no doubt seen our plethora of coverage regarding Jungle Cruise… So if you’re looking for something to watch this weekend, it’s behind the proverbial backside of water on Disney+ (additional fee required) beginning today: Friday, July 30! What else can you expect from around the worlds of Disney? Take a gander right here.
Behind the Scenes of EPCOT’s Harmonious—Debuting October 1
Part of “The World’s Most Magical Celebration” at Walt Disney World Resort, Harmonious is a sure-to-be-incredible new nighttime spectacular—one of the largest ever created for a Disney park—and it’s getting ready to begin delighting audiences this October 1.
Harmonious will bring the globe together at World Showcase Lagoon in a celebration of Disney music that inspires humans on every continent—all told with incredible new technical magic that incorporates pyrotechnics, fountains, lighting, and media in fresh, unique ways. The show set to feature new interpretations of classic Disney songs, reimagined in more than a dozen languages by a diverse group of 240 artists from around the world; collectively, these performers contribute to a unique experience that really could only happen at EPCOT—a place where the impossible becomes possible. The show moves through three distinct chapters, beginning with a sunrise… and as the world awakens, we set out on a journey that takes us across the globe.
Want to find out a bit more about it? Hear from several folks working on Harmonious in a new behind-scenes video from our friends at the Disney Parks Blog, seen above.
We cannot wait to check out this new nighttime spectacular in person!
Stand Up To Cancer® Returns to ABC on August 21
In just a few weeks’ time, the entertainment community will come together for Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C) and its seventh biennial televised fundraising special—supporting urgently needed research and new treatments for cancer.
This year’s show, on Saturday, August 21 at 8 p.m. EDT/PDT (7 p.m. CDT), will be broadcast from Los Angeles and air simultaneously on more than 60 participating media platforms across the United States and Canada, including all four major broadcast networks here in the States (ABC amongst ’em). Broadcasters carrying the show are donating one hour of simultaneous commercial-free primetime—but don’t worry: for those of you who’ve “cut the cord,” the telecast will also be available to stream live and on-demand on several streaming platforms.
Academy Award®-winning actress Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth, a media industry entrepreneur and investor, will come on board this time ’round as co-executive producers, working alongside the renowned live-event producing team Done + Dusted as well as Stand Up To Cancer’s production team. Anthony Anderson, Ken Jeong & Tran Ho, and Sofia Vergara will also join as cohosts, and Common and Brittany Howard are the first of many incredible artists to be announced as performers taking the stage for this special event. Stay tuned for further info (including the announcement of a lot more celebrity participants and performers!) in the weeks leading up to the telecast.
For more information on Stand Up To Cancer and the August 21 special, visit their website.
Special New Look at Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story
Earlier this week, 20th Century Studios released a breathtaking new look at Oscar® winner Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, releasing only in theaters this December.
From a screenplay by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Tony Kushner, West Side Story tells the classic tale of fierce rivalries and young love in 1957 New York City. This reimagining of the beloved musical stars Ansel Elgort as Tony, Rachel Zegler as Maria, Ariana DeBose as Anita, David Alvarez as Bernardo, Mike Faist as Riff, Josh Andrés Rivera as Chino, Ana Isabelle as Rosalia, Corey Stoll as Lieutenant Schrank, Brian d’Arcy James as Officer Krupke, and Rita Moreno as Valentina, who owns the corner store in which Tony works. Moreno—one of only three artists to be honored with Academy, Emmy®, Grammy®, Tony, and Peabody Awards—also serves as one of the executive producers.
The film, which boasts a roster of truly incredible Broadway and Hollywood artists behind the camera, has been adapted for the screen from the original ’57 Broadway show—with book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and concept, direction, and choreography by Jerome Robbins. Look for it at a cineplex near you beginning December 10.
ICYMI: Inside Intel from the Makers of How to Stay at Home Animated Shorts
Just like the vast majority of us, Goofy spent the better part of the last 16 months at home… and a brand-new series of shorts from Walt Disney Animation Studios show how he mastered—or at least, attempted to master—skills such as “Learning to Cook” and “Binge Watching.” For an exclusive look into these adorable How to Stay at Home shorts, why don’t ya click right here?
