Disney's 2015 Movie Lineup is Blockbuster Gold

This is the year to buy Disney stock because 2015 is when their brand acquisitions over the last decade are coming together for a stellar movie lineup that is as good as gold filled with blockbusters that may generate record profits for the company.  Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars will be combining with classic Disney brands (Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and TomorrowLand) that will have people young and old excited to go to the movie theater throughout the year.  I'm both excited by all these movies and a little concerned about just how much lighter my wallet is going to be if my family actually goes to all the movies at the theater we want to see...and as great as digital downloads or DVDs can be they still don't match the thrill of viewing a blockbuster on the big screen.  So with no further delay, here's the 2015 list of feature films from Disney:

STRANGE MAGIC - January 23 (Touchstone Pictures/LucasFilm)

"Strange Magic" is a madcap fairy tale musical inspired by "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Popular songs from the past six decades help tell this animated tale of a colorful cast of goblins, elves, fairies and imps, and their hilarious misadventures sparked by the battle over a powerful potion.

McFarland USA - February 20 (Walt Disney Studios)

A cross country coach in a small California town transforms a team of athletes into championship contenders.

CINDERELLA - March 13 (Walt Disney Studios)

A live-action retelling of the classic fairy tale about a servant step-daughter who wins the heart of a prince. This is the number one movie my six year old daughter wants to see this year.

Monkey Kingdon - April 17 (Disney Nature)

It has become a tradition for Disney to release a nature themed movie around Earth Day and this year's topic is monkeys.  Monkey Kingdom is a documentary that follows a newborn monkey and its mother as they struggle to survive within the competitive social hierarchy of the Temple Troop, a dynamic group of monkeys who live in ancient ruins found deep in the storied jungles of South Asia.

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON - May 1 (Marvel)

This might have been the most anticipated movie of the year until word came out that a new Star Wars movie would be coming out.  Sorry Marvel but this will still be a huge blockbuster.  In this sequel based on the characters from Marvel comic books, when Tony Stark (Iron Man) tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and it is up to the Avengers to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plans.

TomorrowLand - May 22 (Walt Disney Studios)

This movie is still pretty shrouded in mystery but is based on the TomorrowLand section of Disney's theme parks and stars George Clooney.  Here's the synopsis:  Bound by a shared destiny, a teen bursting with scientific curiosity and a former boy-genius inventor embark on a mission to unearth the secrets of a place somewhere in time and space that exists in their collective memory.

INSIDE OUT - June 19 (Disney / Pixar)

This animated film tells a story from the perspective of the emotions inside the mind of a little girl.

Ant-Man  -  July 17 (Marvel)

Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength, con-man Scott Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

THE JUNGLE BOOK - October 9 (Walt Disney Studios) 

A live action telling of the classic story of an orphan boy is raised in the jungle with the help of a pack of wolves, a bear, and a black panther.  The Disney animated version of this movie is a favorite of my kids so you know we'll probably be going to see this as a family outing.

Untitled Cold War Spy Thriller - October 16 (DreamWorks Pictures)

Directed by Steven Spielberg this movie produced by DreamWorks Studios is being distributed through Disney. It tells the tale of an American lawyer recruited by the CIA during the Cold War to help rescue a pilot detained in the Soviet Union.

THE GOOD DINOSAUR - November 25 (Disney / Pixar)

After a traumatic event unsettles a lively Apatosaurus named Arlo, he sets out on a remarkable journey, gaining an unlikely companion along the way - a human boy.  This is the move my son really wants to see this year.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - December 18 (LucasFilm)

This of course is the movie that I and millions of other fans are looking forward to 2015 with each of us wondering if this will be a hit like the original trilogy or a flop like the prequels that followed. For those of you who may have been hiding under a rock for the last year or so this new movie is a continuation of the saga created by George Lucas set thirty years after Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983).

So that's the Disney movie lineup for 2015. What do you think?!  Have fun at the movies this year my friends ... I know my family and I will be having a blast!

Little Girls will be Thrilled - Disney bringing Live Action Cinderella Movie to the Silver Screen in March of 2015

Ever since my daughter watched Disney's classic animated movie Cinderella for the first time, she has been totally enamored with this fairy tale princess.  She tells everyone the highlight of her life (all five years of it so far) has been being able to meet Cinderella at DisneyLand.  In fact, when she had the chance to meet Cinderella she proudly showed off the t-shirt she was wearing with the character's portrait vibrantly displayed on it and exclaimed "I'm your biggest fan!"  So you know she's going to be excited when a brand new Cinderella movie sashays into theaters on March 13, 2015.

Cinderella will be directed by Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh (THOR, HAMLET) and star Lily James (DOWNTOWN ABBEY) as Cinderella, Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett (BLUE JASMINE, ELIZABETH) as the evil stepmother, Richard Madden (GAME OF THRONES) as Prince Charming and Academy Award nominee Helena Bonham Carter (THE KINGS SPEECH, ALICE IN WONDERLAND) as the fairy godmother.  The movie's producers are promising this live action feature film will bring to life the timeless images from Disney's 1950 animated masterpiece as fully-realized characters in a visually dazzling spectacle for a whole new generation.

Check out this trailer from the upcoming movie:

You know I'd be the worst dad in the world if I didn't take my little princess to see this new adaption of Cinderella.  After watching the animated Disney version of this fairy tale with my daughter more times then I can count, something new that she'll enjoy is definitely going to be appreciated in our household.  Fortunately from the looks of the trailer this movie appears to be actually a decent film to watch for both the princesses and the parents in the audience.

So the question is will my son want to go along to see the new #Cinderella movie theater?  I'm not sure though he does appear to be plotting something with Anastasia, Drisella and Lady Tremaine?

For more information about the movie, visit movies.disney.com/cinderella/

Disney Airs New TV Series for Little Princesses

It's all about Cinderella right now when it comes to my 4 year old daughter, she has books for bed time reading, dolls with dresses that she constantly asks to be switched or rearranged every 5 minutes, and the movie on DVD that she wants to watch EVERY day.  So she is very excited to see a new tv show premiering on the Disney/Disney Jr. cable channels this Friday January 11 aimed at preschoolers who love Princesses.  "Sofia the First" is the story of an average girl who becomes a Princess when her mother marries the king.  It's a spin-off of a made-for-tv movie "Once Upon a Princess" featuring Sofia that Disney featured on its cable channels back in November 2012 that we were lucky enough to catch on a rainy day when we were out of town on vacation last year and it kept our kids very amused for a few hours.  Based upon their enjoyment of the movie I'm sure both my son and daughter will also enjoy this new tv series. Check out the trailer for yourself:

Right now itunes has the first episode of the tv series plus a few music videos available to download for FREE, but I'm not sure how long that will last, so check it out while you can:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/sofia-the-first-vol.-1/id583169910 

My wife pointed out to me while we were watching the tv movie and a music video following it that the voice for Sofia is the younger daughter on the two high school girls in Modern Family.  Her name is Ariel Winter and I have to give her credit for having an incredible singing voice that you wouldn't have known from watching the comedy sitcom.  Kudos to Ariel for showcasing that talent with this Sofia role. Here she is singing one of the songs from the show:

Disney has created a downloadable viewing party kit for parents to make watching the tv series premiere on Friday extra special that includes a printable crown you can get here:  http://a.dolimg.com/en-US/disneyjunior/media/pdf/coloring_and_create/djr_col_sof_RoyalActivityKit.pdf  They also have online video games you can enjoy with your kids here:  http://disney.go.com/disneyjunior/sofia-the-first/sofia-the-first-games

One of my kids' favorite shows on tv right now is JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES which airs on Disney/Disney Jr cable networks.  If they do the same job of associating Cinderella to "Sofia" as they did Peter Pan to "Jake" this could work out well as a tie-in for preschoolers to the Wonderful World of Disney.  We've found JAKE & THE NEVERLAND PIRATES to be an enjoyable and educational outlet for our kids that we are comfortable letting our children watch and SOFIA THE FIRST looks to be a similar format that we will absolutely be checking out.

SOFIA THE FIRST will air on the Disney Channel @ 9:30 am E.T. / 8:30 am C.T. beginning Friday, January 11, 2013