And we're BACK....Disney Dweebing
EDITOR'S NOTE: BACK FROM THE PARENTAL VISIT, AND TRYING TO CATCH UP.
DIDJA MISS ME?
Dis prepping CG 'Clubhouse' for May 5 bow
Disney Channel said Wednesday that it is premiering the new CG-animated series "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse," the first Mickey Mouse series created specifically for preschoolers, on May 5 in a same-day global launch that will see the series debut on 22 Disney Channels and five Playhouse Disney channels across North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Japan, reaching more than 100 countries. EDITOR'S NOTE: NOW THE TRICK WILL BE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO BRAIN-WASH THE KIDDIES IN-UTERO!
EDITOR'S NOTE: AN ARTICLE FORWARDED BY DWEEBPAL JOEL S. (JOEL SAYS THIS RIDE ISN'T AS BAD AS THEY MAKE IT SOUND...OF COURSE, YOUR QOTD HAD TO HANG OUT IN THE GIFT SHOP WHILE JOEL WENT ON THE RIDE, SINCE YOUR QOTD GETS QUEASY LOOKING AT PICTURES OF RIDES LIKE THIS).
Space Ride at Disney World Reopens After Death
By JOHN HOLUSHA
An amusement ride that simulates a trip into space reopened today at Disney World near Orlando, Fla., a day after the death of a 49-year-old woman who had become sick after taking the four-minute ride.
The woman, a tourist from Germany, died Wednesday . She had been hospitalized Tuesday after she rode on the mock spaceflight and became dizzy and nauseated, Disney officials said.
She was identified by the Orange County medical examiner's office as Hiltrud Bleumel of Schmitten, Germany.
The woman was the second person to die in a year after riding on the Mission: Space ride, which is in the Epcot section of the park.
A statement today by a representative of the park said Disney engineers, monitored by state regulators, "completed a thorough inspection of the attraction overnight and found it to be operating properly."EDITOR'S NOTE: AND BY 'OPERATING PROPERLY' DO THEY MEAN POTENTIALLY LETHAL?
It was not known whether the woman had some underlying medical condition that was aggravated by the operation of the ride, which spins passengers at twice the force of gravity. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday, the medical examiner's office said.
Disney said in a statement that the family had not authorized the company to release any further information.
Last June, a 4-year-old boy collapsed while on the ride with his mother and sister. A subsequent autopsy showed that he suffered from a rare, undiagnosed heart condition.
The ride is so rigorous that airline-type motion sickness bags are made available to riders, some of whom complain of dizziness and nausea after it is over. A warning sign is posted outside the ride.
Rob Jacobs, director of the Florida Bureau of Fairs and Rides, which monitors rides at Disney World, said he has felt sick after riding Mission: Space, which opened in August 2003.
"It is simulating liftoff, so it just depends on your intestinal fortitude and how you can stand up to these things," Mr. Jacobs said. "It's a G force issue."EDITOR'S NOTE: I ONCE THREW UP ON A FERRIS WHEEL. FORGET 'G FORCE'...IT'S AN INNER-EAR ISSUE.
The Orlando Sentinel said today that a review of ambulance records showed that of 8.6 million people who took the ride before the death of the boy in June, 143 sought medical attention.
To Open China's Market, Disney Faces Long March
The company has to overcome Beijing's tight controls on foreign media to sell its stories. Analysts say it needs a TV channel there.
By Don LeeTimes Staff Writer
April 8, 2006
SHANGHAI —
In little more than a year on the job, Stanley Cheung, Disney's chief in China, can lay claim to this: "The Lion King" is coming to Shanghai this summer.
Cheung, 47, considered bringing the Broadway musical here such a feat that he made the announcement recently to 400 guests in Shanghai's Grand Theater in People's Square, heralding what would be one of his company's biggest productions in China since "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" played here nearly 70 years ago.
It took almost his entire tenure to work out details with government officials, illustrating the resolve Cheung and Walt Disney Co. must have as they try to crack China's booming but untapped market.
"We have got to get our stories out," says Cheung, a Hong Kong native who previously managed the Chinese operations of Johnson & Johnson and Pillsbury Co. He and his staff of 100 in Shanghai have to sell Disney's characters without the benefit of a Disney Channel, something that the company has in India, its other key emerging market. EDITOR'S NOTE: SO MANY CUTE KIDS, SO LITTLE ABILITY TO LURE THEM IN. DRAT IT ALL!
Beijing has placed tight controls on foreign media, preventing Disney from airing its programs frequently to the 340 million households with television sets. Cheung wouldn't discuss Disney's financial goals for China or provide a timetable for reaching certain targets.
Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger has repeatedly spoken about China as a top priority but seemed acutely aware of the challenges."The near-term issues are great," Iger said of China in an analysts' meeting this year, "and they are not for the faint of heart."
Some analysts doubt that Disney can conquer the Chinese market without a dedicated channel for its programs.
"Disney has a business model predicated on the widest possible exposure of its media properties to drive attendance at its theme parks and purchases of home video and licensed products," said David Wolf, managing director of Wolf Group Asia, a Beijing-based media consultant. "Without broad, consistent local distribution of its films and TV shows in China, their model won't work."
Cheung hopes "The Lion King" will help raise the entertainment giant's profile with Chinese adults, many of whom identify Disney with Mickey Mouse and not much more. Reaching grown-ups is seen as crucial to breaking through cultural barriers and boosting spending on Disney goods by Chinese families.
Disney is counting on its global businesses to contribute a bigger share of profit in the coming years, and few places have as much potential as China, home to almost 300 million children under age 15.
Disney recently completed its first co-produced film in China, "The Secret of the Magic Gourd," a Chinese fable about a magical fruit that bestows special powers on a young boy. The Chinese-language movie is expected to be released nationwide this year.
Cheung's team has also revamped Disney's Chinese website and teamed with local companies to make and sell Disney-branded cellphones in the Middle Kingdom, the world's largest mobile phone market with more than 400 million users. In addition, Disney expects to add 2,200 retail stores in China this year, almost as many as it has now.
Disney's push comes as other foreign companies are chasing China's growing consumer market for toys and entertainment. Warner Bros. said recently that it planned to open about 200 stores in China over the coming years to cash in on its characters such as Bugs Bunny.
If its current operations in China are any guide, Disney won't be shooting off fireworks to celebrate its investments here anytime soon. Disney's single biggest project in China has been in Hong Kong, where it paid $314 million for a 43% stake in Hong Kong Disneyland. (The remainder is owned by the government of Hong Kong, which spent $2.9 billion for the park and surrounding infrastructure.)
The park opened in September but has had a lackluster start and a few problems that have hurt its image in China. During the weeklong Chinese New Year holiday in late January, angry customers climbed up the park gates after thousands of ticket-holders, including many from the mainland, were denied entry because of a discount promotion that backfired. EDITOR'S NOTE: HOW DO YOU SAY 'OOPS' IN CHINESE?
Hong Kong Disneyland announced recently that it would add three attractions, including Autopia, to the current modest lineup of 21 rides and attractions. Regular admission for a family of three costs more than $120, a hefty sum for mainland Chinese.
"Hong Kong government spent a lot of money to build the world's most famous theme park [brand], but I would say its benefit is far below the actual expectation," said Michael Li, executive director of the Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners. He said there was little evidence that Hong Kong Disneyland had boosted the city's hotel occupancy. On the theme park's 100th day in operation, Disney declared that it had welcomed 1 million visitors, or 10,000 a day. Disney previously projected annual attendance of 5.6 million, about 15,300 a day.
Cheung doesn't oversee Hong Kong Disneyland, which has separate management. But he knows the success of that park as well as Disney's other ventures in China are elements in a marketing strategy that relies on developing brand loyalty based on its characters and stories. That's why Cheung is gleeful about "The Lion King," which is expected to have 100 showings.
Cheung, who has a master's degree in business administration from Indiana University, has made no secret that Disney has been negotiating to build a theme park in Shanghai. Speculation intensified recently after Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng told reporters in Beijing last month that the city was making "preliminary preparations" for a Disney park. Disney executives, though, said there was nothing to announce, reiterating that a second park in China would not be opened before 2010.
Shanghai is eager to have an international attraction for its World Expo in 2010, but Disney has hinted that it wants a Disney Channel first.
So far, Cheung and Iger have had no luck in persuading Beijing to approve a 2003 application for a broadcast license.
Last year, Chinese leaders clamped down on foreigners' participation in China's burgeoning media industry, saying they want to preserve China's "cultural security."
"The channel Disney wants will just be impossible, and I expect that in the next several years there is not much possibility," said Yin Hong, director of film and television studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Even working with the Communist Youth League has proved to be a challenge. Disney enlisted the youth arm of the Communist Party to boost the company's Dragon Club, named after a 30-minute Disney cartoon shown on Chinese TV, but they have held few programs together.
Disney's success in China also will hinge on its battle against rampant piracy of Disney videos, clothes and toys.
Cheung has turned to large retailers such as Carrefour, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and some domestic chains to distribute authentic DVDs of its movies and shows. Many of Disney's products now come with a hologram tag, and this summer the company plans a nationwide promotion rewarding repeat buyers of licensed goods.
"The holograms are incredibly difficult to copy," said Ken Chaplin, who heads Disney's consumer products in emerging markets. Then again, he said, "I'm hesitant to say anything's impossible in China."
DIDJA MISS ME?
Dis prepping CG 'Clubhouse' for May 5 bow
Disney Channel said Wednesday that it is premiering the new CG-animated series "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse," the first Mickey Mouse series created specifically for preschoolers, on May 5 in a same-day global launch that will see the series debut on 22 Disney Channels and five Playhouse Disney channels across North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Japan, reaching more than 100 countries. EDITOR'S NOTE: NOW THE TRICK WILL BE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO BRAIN-WASH THE KIDDIES IN-UTERO!
EDITOR'S NOTE: AN ARTICLE FORWARDED BY DWEEBPAL JOEL S. (JOEL SAYS THIS RIDE ISN'T AS BAD AS THEY MAKE IT SOUND...OF COURSE, YOUR QOTD HAD TO HANG OUT IN THE GIFT SHOP WHILE JOEL WENT ON THE RIDE, SINCE YOUR QOTD GETS QUEASY LOOKING AT PICTURES OF RIDES LIKE THIS).
Space Ride at Disney World Reopens After Death
By JOHN HOLUSHA
An amusement ride that simulates a trip into space reopened today at Disney World near Orlando, Fla., a day after the death of a 49-year-old woman who had become sick after taking the four-minute ride.
The woman, a tourist from Germany, died Wednesday . She had been hospitalized Tuesday after she rode on the mock spaceflight and became dizzy and nauseated, Disney officials said.
She was identified by the Orange County medical examiner's office as Hiltrud Bleumel of Schmitten, Germany.
The woman was the second person to die in a year after riding on the Mission: Space ride, which is in the Epcot section of the park.
A statement today by a representative of the park said Disney engineers, monitored by state regulators, "completed a thorough inspection of the attraction overnight and found it to be operating properly."EDITOR'S NOTE: AND BY 'OPERATING PROPERLY' DO THEY MEAN POTENTIALLY LETHAL?
It was not known whether the woman had some underlying medical condition that was aggravated by the operation of the ride, which spins passengers at twice the force of gravity. An autopsy is scheduled for Friday, the medical examiner's office said.
Disney said in a statement that the family had not authorized the company to release any further information.
Last June, a 4-year-old boy collapsed while on the ride with his mother and sister. A subsequent autopsy showed that he suffered from a rare, undiagnosed heart condition.
The ride is so rigorous that airline-type motion sickness bags are made available to riders, some of whom complain of dizziness and nausea after it is over. A warning sign is posted outside the ride.
Rob Jacobs, director of the Florida Bureau of Fairs and Rides, which monitors rides at Disney World, said he has felt sick after riding Mission: Space, which opened in August 2003.
"It is simulating liftoff, so it just depends on your intestinal fortitude and how you can stand up to these things," Mr. Jacobs said. "It's a G force issue."EDITOR'S NOTE: I ONCE THREW UP ON A FERRIS WHEEL. FORGET 'G FORCE'...IT'S AN INNER-EAR ISSUE.
The Orlando Sentinel said today that a review of ambulance records showed that of 8.6 million people who took the ride before the death of the boy in June, 143 sought medical attention.
To Open China's Market, Disney Faces Long March
The company has to overcome Beijing's tight controls on foreign media to sell its stories. Analysts say it needs a TV channel there.
By Don LeeTimes Staff Writer
April 8, 2006
SHANGHAI —
In little more than a year on the job, Stanley Cheung, Disney's chief in China, can lay claim to this: "The Lion King" is coming to Shanghai this summer.
Cheung, 47, considered bringing the Broadway musical here such a feat that he made the announcement recently to 400 guests in Shanghai's Grand Theater in People's Square, heralding what would be one of his company's biggest productions in China since "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" played here nearly 70 years ago.
It took almost his entire tenure to work out details with government officials, illustrating the resolve Cheung and Walt Disney Co. must have as they try to crack China's booming but untapped market.
"We have got to get our stories out," says Cheung, a Hong Kong native who previously managed the Chinese operations of Johnson & Johnson and Pillsbury Co. He and his staff of 100 in Shanghai have to sell Disney's characters without the benefit of a Disney Channel, something that the company has in India, its other key emerging market. EDITOR'S NOTE: SO MANY CUTE KIDS, SO LITTLE ABILITY TO LURE THEM IN. DRAT IT ALL!
Beijing has placed tight controls on foreign media, preventing Disney from airing its programs frequently to the 340 million households with television sets. Cheung wouldn't discuss Disney's financial goals for China or provide a timetable for reaching certain targets.
Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger has repeatedly spoken about China as a top priority but seemed acutely aware of the challenges."The near-term issues are great," Iger said of China in an analysts' meeting this year, "and they are not for the faint of heart."
Some analysts doubt that Disney can conquer the Chinese market without a dedicated channel for its programs.
"Disney has a business model predicated on the widest possible exposure of its media properties to drive attendance at its theme parks and purchases of home video and licensed products," said David Wolf, managing director of Wolf Group Asia, a Beijing-based media consultant. "Without broad, consistent local distribution of its films and TV shows in China, their model won't work."
Cheung hopes "The Lion King" will help raise the entertainment giant's profile with Chinese adults, many of whom identify Disney with Mickey Mouse and not much more. Reaching grown-ups is seen as crucial to breaking through cultural barriers and boosting spending on Disney goods by Chinese families.
Disney is counting on its global businesses to contribute a bigger share of profit in the coming years, and few places have as much potential as China, home to almost 300 million children under age 15.
Disney recently completed its first co-produced film in China, "The Secret of the Magic Gourd," a Chinese fable about a magical fruit that bestows special powers on a young boy. The Chinese-language movie is expected to be released nationwide this year.
Cheung's team has also revamped Disney's Chinese website and teamed with local companies to make and sell Disney-branded cellphones in the Middle Kingdom, the world's largest mobile phone market with more than 400 million users. In addition, Disney expects to add 2,200 retail stores in China this year, almost as many as it has now.
Disney's push comes as other foreign companies are chasing China's growing consumer market for toys and entertainment. Warner Bros. said recently that it planned to open about 200 stores in China over the coming years to cash in on its characters such as Bugs Bunny.
If its current operations in China are any guide, Disney won't be shooting off fireworks to celebrate its investments here anytime soon. Disney's single biggest project in China has been in Hong Kong, where it paid $314 million for a 43% stake in Hong Kong Disneyland. (The remainder is owned by the government of Hong Kong, which spent $2.9 billion for the park and surrounding infrastructure.)
The park opened in September but has had a lackluster start and a few problems that have hurt its image in China. During the weeklong Chinese New Year holiday in late January, angry customers climbed up the park gates after thousands of ticket-holders, including many from the mainland, were denied entry because of a discount promotion that backfired. EDITOR'S NOTE: HOW DO YOU SAY 'OOPS' IN CHINESE?
Hong Kong Disneyland announced recently that it would add three attractions, including Autopia, to the current modest lineup of 21 rides and attractions. Regular admission for a family of three costs more than $120, a hefty sum for mainland Chinese.
"Hong Kong government spent a lot of money to build the world's most famous theme park [brand], but I would say its benefit is far below the actual expectation," said Michael Li, executive director of the Federation of Hong Kong Hotel Owners. He said there was little evidence that Hong Kong Disneyland had boosted the city's hotel occupancy. On the theme park's 100th day in operation, Disney declared that it had welcomed 1 million visitors, or 10,000 a day. Disney previously projected annual attendance of 5.6 million, about 15,300 a day.
Cheung doesn't oversee Hong Kong Disneyland, which has separate management. But he knows the success of that park as well as Disney's other ventures in China are elements in a marketing strategy that relies on developing brand loyalty based on its characters and stories. That's why Cheung is gleeful about "The Lion King," which is expected to have 100 showings.
Cheung, who has a master's degree in business administration from Indiana University, has made no secret that Disney has been negotiating to build a theme park in Shanghai. Speculation intensified recently after Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng told reporters in Beijing last month that the city was making "preliminary preparations" for a Disney park. Disney executives, though, said there was nothing to announce, reiterating that a second park in China would not be opened before 2010.
Shanghai is eager to have an international attraction for its World Expo in 2010, but Disney has hinted that it wants a Disney Channel first.
So far, Cheung and Iger have had no luck in persuading Beijing to approve a 2003 application for a broadcast license.
Last year, Chinese leaders clamped down on foreigners' participation in China's burgeoning media industry, saying they want to preserve China's "cultural security."
"The channel Disney wants will just be impossible, and I expect that in the next several years there is not much possibility," said Yin Hong, director of film and television studies at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
Even working with the Communist Youth League has proved to be a challenge. Disney enlisted the youth arm of the Communist Party to boost the company's Dragon Club, named after a 30-minute Disney cartoon shown on Chinese TV, but they have held few programs together.
Disney's success in China also will hinge on its battle against rampant piracy of Disney videos, clothes and toys.
Cheung has turned to large retailers such as Carrefour, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and some domestic chains to distribute authentic DVDs of its movies and shows. Many of Disney's products now come with a hologram tag, and this summer the company plans a nationwide promotion rewarding repeat buyers of licensed goods.
"The holograms are incredibly difficult to copy," said Ken Chaplin, who heads Disney's consumer products in emerging markets. Then again, he said, "I'm hesitant to say anything's impossible in China."
posted by QOTD (the Queen of the Dweebs) at 12:00 PM
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