So the Oscar nominations are out, and while the state of the show is in doubt, Disney should be proud of its representation. What I find most interesting is that two Miramax films, "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will be Blood" got nominated for Best Picture while no Weinstein Co. films were nominated. In fact Miramax got eleven nominations while Weinstein Co got 2. Miramax's head, Daniel Battsek must be proud to be out shinning the former heads of the division. Congrats to him and his team as well as everyone at Disney who got 10 nominations that are added to Miramax's 11 for a total of 21 nominations. BLACKJACK! Now we just have to hope that the writer's strike doesn't get in the way of the show which is scheduled to air on Disney's ABC. That being said, I am looking forward to seeing the production numbers of the three nominated songs from Enchanted. I miss the days when Disney dominated the best original song category. Let's hope that next year many songs from High School Musical 3 will be nominated. Who would have thought that we could be considering using the term, the Oscar nominated High School Musical 3. Keep your fingers crossed.
Quick Takes:
Media Networks: The writers strike continues and results in such dynamic ABC programming such as "Just for Laughs" and the return of "According to Jim". My friend Doobie, who runs a Disney website had a great point when he mentioned its a sad day when ABC Family has a better prime time lineup than ABC. Of course, the show on ABC Family was the perennial favorite, "America's Funniest Home Videos".
Parks and Resorts: Disney's Hollywood Studios issued a press release discussing Block Party Bash coming this Spring. While this is not new news, it brings to light something I have heard NOTHING about. The Pixar Pals Parade that is replacing Block Party Bash at Disney's California Adventure is getting little buzz. The only promotion I have seen was during the Christmas Day Parade and just featured the Block Party Bash characters dancing with kids in Paradise Pier. I loved Block Party and look forward to seeing it in its new venue, but I am also excited to see what the next iteration will look like at DCA.
Consumer Products: Before Disney and Pixar united, Pixar reached an agreement with THQ to publish video games from its movies. Disney stood by the deal made before the acquasition, but with that deal expiring, Disney's own Disney Interactive Studios got the rights to make video games for Toy Story 3. Disney has tried to move away from licensing games and towards self publishing games. While Disney says they will still license games, this move is big for Disney as they now add another franchise to their portfolio. I wonder what the long term plan is for sports games. ESPN has an agreement with EA, the leader in sports gaming. Will Disney stay with the leader or try and compete with their own brand after the deal expires? Only time will tell.
Video of the Day: For those of you that don't know, the Spectromen at SpectroMagic have changed their look. Check out this video to see their new look. Note it is called Spectro 2: Electric Boogaloo, all sequels should be subtitled Electric Boogaloo. It should be a law.