A Disney Life Worth Seeing on TCM Tonight

by Chris Lucas

Guest Column

DisneyBizJournal.com

April 19, 2020

Tonight (April 19^th) at 8PM eastern time, Turner Classic Movies (TCM on your cable guide) will be running the excellent documentary by Michael Fiore and Erik Sharkey, called “Floyd Norman: An Animated Life.” 

It’s about Floyd Norman, a pioneer and groundbreaker, who was the first African-American artist/animator hired - at age 22 no less - by Walt Disney, in a key role.

Photo of Floyd Norman and Christ Lucas.

Courtesy of Chris Lucas.

A certified Disney Legend, Mr. Norman worked on Disney classics like Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians, Sword In the Stone, Robin Hood and The Jungle Book, before moving on to start his own animation company, handling projects for Sesame Street and Fat Albert, among others. He also worked with Hanna Barbera.

At age 84, Mr. Norman is still working at the Disney Studios (returning even after he was forced into early retirement) assisting in projects, consulting as a story artist, doing what he loves, being a mentor and inspiring a whole new generation of dreamers.

I highly recommend this film.

Chris Lucas is the author of  Top Disney: 100 Top Ten Lists of the Best of Disney, from the Man to the Mouse and Beyond.

“Onward” Out Tonight on Digital Download, on Disney+ April 3

by Ray Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 20, 2020

The Walt Disney Company announced today that the Disney/Pixar animated movie Onward would be released via digital download today at 8:00 PM EST, and on Disney+ on April 3.

In a statement, Dan Scanlon and Kori Rae, respectively, the director and producer of Onward, said: “While we’re looking forward to audiences enjoying our films on the big screen again soon, given the current circumstances, we are pleased to release this fun, adventurous film to digital platforms early for audiences to enjoy from the comfort of their homes.”

Onward was released two weeks ago in theaters on March 6, and has earned $103 million at the global box office, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of The Disney Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution and the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.

Disney Halting Live-Action Movie Productions

by Ray Keating

News

DisneyBizJournal.com

March 13, 2020

CNBC just reported that The Walt Disney Company is halting all production on live-action movies due to the coronavirus.

This announcement, of course, comes on the heels of recent announcements about the closings of Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris, and the Disney Cruise Line, as well as the release of the live-action movie Mulan being delayed.

In addition, Disney’s ESPN is going to be hit hard with the cancellation of major sporting events, including the NBA, whose games are carried on ESPN.

There are expectations that the release of Black Widow will be delayed as well.

The short-term unknowns for Disney continue to mount. However, there is the positive of Disney+ coming online in big markets in Europe (March 24) and India later this month (March 29).

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of The Disney Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution and the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.

DisneyBizJournal.com on the Oscars

by Ray Keating

Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

February 9, 2020

The Oscars air tonight on ABC, and Disney has an impressive 23 nominations. Here are a few items from DisneyBizJournal to read and get you in the right frame of mind...

• “Will Fox Finally Bring Disney a Best Picture Oscar?” by Ray Keating– DisneyBizJournal.com– It’s surprising given its many successes over 90-plus years, but Disney has never won a Best Picture Oscar. In fact, it’s even more striking that coming into the 2020 Academy Awards ceremony, Disney previously had only five films nominated for Best Picture. Read at  

https://disneybizjournal.blogspot.com/2020/02/will-fox-finally-bring-disney-best.html

• “Animated Disney at the Oscars: The List of Winners and More” by Ray Keating – DisneyBizJournal.com – The first animated movie to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards was Disney’s 1991 Beauty and the Beast. A decade later came the Best Animated Feature Oscar, and domination by Disney. Read at  

https://disneybizjournal.blogspot.com/2020/02/animated-disney-at-oscars-list-of.html

• “Disney’s All-Time Oscar Count Heading Into the 92^ndAcademy Awards” by Ray Keating – DisneyBizJournal.com – Heading into Sunday night’s Oscars, Disney already has a staggering number of Oscar wins under its belt. Read at  

https://disneybizjournal.blogspot.com/2020/02/disneys-all-time-oscar-count-heading.html

• “Joker” vs. “Avengers: Endgame” by Ray Keating– DisneyBizJournal.com– “Joker” is the Oscars’ kind of superhero movie. How so? Well, it’s not really a superhero film. Meanwhile, “Avengers: Endgame” gets ignored. Read at 

https://disneybizjournal.blogspot.com/2020/01/joker-vs-avengers-endgame.html

• “Disney Cashes in on Fox Acquisition at Oscars” by Ray Keating - DisneyBizJournal.com –The Walt Disney Company’s Fox acquisition paid off quite nicely in terms of Oscar nominations. Get the rundown. Read at  

https://disneybizjournal.blogspot.com/2020/01/disney-cashes-in-on-fox-acquisition-at.html

• “Will the Oscars Finally Recognize Superhero Films? The Lord of the Rings Example” by Ray Keating – DisneyBizJournal.com – Can Avengers: Endgame lay waste to Hollywood’s Oscar bias against superheroes? The recent announcement regarding telecast dates of the Oscars got me thinking about whether or not Avengers: Endgame might finally have the power to break through the Academy’s opposition to superheroes. If there’s hope on this front, it can be found in The Lord of the Rings movies. Read at  

https://disneybizjournal.blogspot.com/2019/06/will-oscars-finally-recognize-superhero.html

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of The Disney Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solution and the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.

Disney’s All-Time Oscar Count Heading Into the 92nd Academy Awards

by Ray Keating

Analysis

DisneyBizJournal.com

February 6, 2020

The Walt Disney Company stands just behind Netflix in terms of the number of Academy Award nominations this year heading into Sunday night’s 92^nd Academy Awards.

As we noted before, Disney has 23 nominations, one behind the 24 for Netflix. So, it could be a big night for House of Mouse, which would add to an already staggering tally of Oscar wins.

In Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia, Dave Smith noted that as of 2016 (for 2015 movies), Disney had won 113 Academy Award. And by the way, 32 of those were won by Walt Disney alone, which stands as a record that likely will never be approached, never mind broken.

By our tally, Disney won four Oscars at the February 2017 Academy Awards, two in 2018, and four more Oscars last year. That’s a total of 123 Oscars for the studio.

Will Disney’s number of Oscar winners grow on Sunday night, and if so, by how many?

Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com, and author of The Disney Planner 2020: The TO DO List Solutionand the Pastor Stephen Grant novels. He can be contacted at  raykeating@keatingreports.com.