Today’s Fab News is full of legends and cupids and helping hearts, kind wonders, cool couture, promising tech, and a panda with a penchant for potions.

Working With Walt Disney: An Evening
with Disney Legend Bob Gurr

If you’re going to be in Celebration, Florida on the evening of April 28, you’re in for a real treat! Bob Gurr is going to be talking about my very favorite part of Disney history, other than the part where one of the great-great-greats got drawn and quartered for heresy: from the 1964-65 World’s Fair (which wasn’t actually a real, legal World’s Fair/Exposition! Ask me about it sometime when you want to get bored to tears!) to the building of EPCOT Center, the greatest defunct Theme Park in the history of history. You’ve got a tough row to hoe, Fitzgerald, but you gave us Horizons. You are the person who actually said, “If you can dream it, you can do it.” but I digress. 15% of the proceeds from this evening are going to Give Kids the World Village in Orlando, which I love.

, Fab News: Be Mine!

, Fab News: Be Mine!

And do you see whom else is going to be there? JEFF BARNES! Author of a couple of the best nonfiction books, Disney or not, The Wisdom of Walt and Beyond the Wisdom of Walt. (Amazon links help me).  There will also be auctioning and raffling signed artwork from classic Disney artists Don “Ducky” Williams and Joe Kaminsky!

You’ll also get a preview of a feature-length docu by Anthony Cortese
call, Fab News: Be Mine!ed Walt Disney – Master of Dreamers, which takes an in-depth look at the vision Walt had for the future with the World’s Fair and his first take on E.P.C.O.T., and why and how it changed, due to both changes in society and his own company after his death.

, Fab News: Be Mine!, Fab News: Be Mine!The film also features Garner Holt and Richard Sherman and is due to be released later this year.

Walt Disney – Master of Dreamers from Anthony Cortese on Vimeo.

Tickets are $50 and the event lasts from 7-10PM. To get tickets, click HERE.

Star Wars Hotel Previewed at
D23 Expo Japan 2018

Bob Chapek announced that the as-yet unnamed Star Wars Hotel will be “seamlessly connected” to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World in Florida. He also gave the attendees information on Slinky Dog Dash, the Guardians coaster for Epcot and Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway. Japan’s Expo occurs on even years, the US on odd years.

, Fab News: Be Mine!

Cupid’s Match: CW Seed & Tongal
Premiere App-Exclusive Show

Last year, a story called Cupid’s Match blew up Wattpad to the tune of 35+ million readers on the app. Now, with the help of the CW and a bold new experiment led by the CW, the Tongal filmmaking platform and Wattpad to bring Lauren Palphreyman’s story to life. out of three finalists up for consideration, mother-and-daughter team KR Squared Productions were chosen to make the film, which debuts on the CW Seed app February 14.

There’s a link to the trailer on Tongal’s Twitter page.

It’s a pretty light teen supernatural romance; girl gets accidentally matched up with Cupid, finds out there’s a whole underground network of them and that one is most definitely not supposed to be playing in that boy’s backyard. Stars General Hospital cutie Robert Palmer Watkins.

This is important.

This looks like backyard wrestling, but trust me, it’s not. This is history, and we’re watching it happen. This is a story written by an unknown on an app. No agent, no degree (probably). Her story went viral because people liked it.  Another independent company, not a big studio, made this. Yes, with the big studio’s help. Because the big studio has someone smart over there who doesn’t want to be a big dead dinosaur. It’s being promoted via word-of-mouth and social media, and it’s “airing” on an app.

This is what companies like Disney need to look at with their new app and video aquisitions. And CBS. You can’t use an app to monetize cable-TV style. Those days are over, and that’s not how it works. That’s not how any of this works.

So this looks cheesy and adorable, your tweens will get goosebumps, and you might too, for an entirely different reason.

Helping Hearts, Love and Kindness

As promised, Minnie’s Helping Hearts video is out on DVD, with some Minnie and Daisy (and Figaro)-centered episodes of Mickey and the Roadster Racers to get kids of all ages’ hearts racing. The gals get to be cruise directors, travel agents and pet sitters among other ways to get into trouble have exciting adventures. I love that even when little ones are involved, the toon Fabulous Ones never lose their sass.

Click to order from Amazon (helps).

, Fab News: Be Mine!Lady and the Tramp has a release date of February 27th and will feature not only the theatrical version but also a sing-a-long version and a working studio version, with the artists and story team explaining the film as you go along. It’s not the usual commentary – it’s more “you are there”. If you’re an animation or history buff, you are going to fall madly in love with this. The extras are amazing as well. I’ll have a more detailed review as the release date gets closer or you’re going to forget. I know I would.

On Sunday, Noe, Alice and I got a very special treat, thanks to the nice – or should I say kind? – folks behind the release of the DVD/Blu-ray of the charming film Wonder, which hits the street today. That means it’s in stores. I don’t know why they say street. It’s on a shelf. Or online. It’s not out in the street. At least, I hope not. I got to talk to Director Stephen Chbosky, Academy Award Nominated SFX make-up artist Arjen Tuiten and star Izabella Vidovic, we took part in a really fascinating Conversation with Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas, Ph.D., science director of the Greater Good Science Center in Berkley, CA on how humans are wired to be predisposessed for kindness. I recorded it – it’s fascinating – but it’s a half-hour long. If anyone wants to hear it, email me at [email protected]. It’s really good.

If you recognize the name Stephen Chbosky, it’s because he just did a little film you might have heard of called Beauty and the Beast for Disney; he’s presently working on Prince Charming. He’s got two kids of his own and when he got the book to adapt for the film – yes, he did more than just direct – he saw a great opportunity to make the world a better place for his kids. He loved the story. He did give the parents more say; he didn’t want to have such great actors and not use them. He also spoke about how different people in the film are wearing a mask in different ways. I don’t want to spoil it if you haven’t seen it.

Next…

 

All-New Box Lunch Mulan Collection!

Check out this gorgeous gallery of Mulan Merch from Box Lunch, the Emo-free store from the folks who brought you Hot Topic! Have you been in there yet? Guh! That Darth Vader Tea Pot! That Handbook for the Recently Deceased Notebook! The Miyazaki EVERYTHING!!!

Try to not drool all over your keyboard:

I didn’t receive any compensation for this; it’s just really cute Disney stuff. All accessories are exclusive to Box Lunch AND your purchase means that money goes to Feeding America,  a network of over 200 food banks across the country over 35 years old. It has a 4-star (out of 4) rating and a 94.1 score (out of 100) and is Vetted on Charity Navigator and is a gold ribbon leader in Global Giving.

All-New DreamWorks Theatre with
Kung-Fu Panda:The Emperor’s Quest

Universal Studios Hollywood has some amazing new magic in store for us this summer, but it’s less “Alohamora!” and more “Skidoosh!”

, Fab News: Be Mine!

Don’t expect to walk into a lobby, stand in a long, boring queue, and sit on benches staring at a screen. This is the entertainment capital of Hollywood, not your local insomniplex. Try 180 degrees of 4k adventures and excitement as Po searches for the Liquid of Limitless Power.

The attraction will feature the first ever theme park use of interior projection mapping, and in the preshow, the Dreamworks characters will greet guests and interact with each other and their environment, kicking off the show’s story. Pinocchio, from the beloved Shrek franchise, will be snoozing away in his ticket booth, completely three-dimensional. The attraction will feature an original score by female composer Germaine Franco and The newly constructed building that houses the DreamWorks Theatre is inspired by Mission revival architecture and harkens back to the Golden Age of Hollywood’s Art Deco period of the 1920s.

There is so much to do at Universal Studios Hollywood. Plus all those restaurants! If possible, do the VIP Tour. It’s worth every dime.

 

Thank You for Your Support!

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And thank YOU for reading this far! I’ve been up all night writing this – I hope it didn’t take you that long to read it! Hope you have a wonderful week and lovely Valentine’s Day. I’d complain about ticket prices, but I gave it up for Lent! I sense a renaissance of the shopping mall in the near future, don’t you?

I was going to order one of these, but it wasn’t at all what I thought it would be:

Kylo Ren Star Wars Life-Size Bust

See you next week!

Shelly Valladolid
Shelly Valladolid, aka Fab, has been writing about Disney and theme parks for about two decades. She has written for various fan and pop culture sites, Disney Magazine and OCRegister.com and participated in several books, including Passporter's Disneyland and Southern California and Disney World Dreams. She was co-founder and president of the Orlando, Florida chapter of the NFFC (now Disneyana Fan Club). She taught a class on theme park history at a Southern California University. She is creator and co-owner of Jim Hill Media, one of the creators of MousePlanet and was a consultant on MSNBC, The Motley Fool and others about Disney and various media matters. She was a Heel wrestling manager on TV and a voice artist on the radio in Honolulu, HI, where she grew up. She has a blog and a podcast with her daughter, Mission:Breakout Obsessive Alice Hill. She and her husband, MiceChat columnist Noe Valladolid, live in Southern California with Alice.