Walt Disney Studios Kicks off the Summer with the Live Action Family Movie TOMORROWLAND

We are planning on taking a family outing to the movies over Memorial Day weekend to see the new SciFi themed movie #Tomorrowland which hits theaters in the United States on Friday, May 23, 2015.  This movie is aimed to be family viewing experience with a PG rating that is being marketed as a story that will entertain both kids from 6 to 16 plus the parents that take them to the show.  From viewing the trailers, the movie seems very much in the same vein as Back to the Future, E.T., Flight of the Navigator,  National Treasure, and The Karate Kid which were all fun live action adventures that parents could feel comfortable taking their children together for an entertaining time out for the whole family.  Hopefully Tomorrowland will live up to this billing and be a hit with our family.

Taking a cue from the Pirate of the Caribbean movies, Tomorrowland is loosely themed on a Disney theme park attraction but that is more inspiration than actually incorporated into the movie.  It is the story of a brilliant but disillusioned teen named Casey who has been stirring up trouble over her angst about the down-sizing of NASA and the closing of the installation her father worked at.  Her actions lead her to getting arrested and when she is released from a police department holding cell, Casey finds a mysterious pin included in her possession that when she touches it cause her to have visions of a futuristic world.

Casey wonders if these visions are a "real place" someplace in time or space and begins a search to find out more.  This leads her to a former boy genius named Frank who is all grown up now and played by George Clooney.  It appears as a youth, Frank was invited to Tomorrowland but did something to get himself kicked out and access to the wonderland by others from Earth shut down.  Now fearing Clooney's character will return and cause havoc the leader of Tomorrowland begins hunting down Casey and Frank with his robotic henchmen.  Where is Tomorrowland, will Casey and Frank get there, and what will they find there? We'll all have to go see the movie to find out!

Walt Disney Studios provided A Geek Daddy blog with some amusing Tomorrowland activity sheets to share with our readers that could be put to good use over the summer as a distraction during a lazy summer day or while traveling for a family vacation.  We have some activities, mazes and coloring sheets you can scroll through to select, download and print out.

These paper fortune teller games bring back memories of third and fourth grade when everyone in my class would screw around and waste time in class - so maybe summer is just the right time to play around with these.



Who is ready for a jet pack balloon race?



I enjoy doing mazes like these almost as much as my kids do.  My wife and children often tease me for looking forward to completing them on the kids' restaurant place mats when we go out to eat.

Enjoy these free coloring pages!  We post a lot of these on various posts for A GEEK DADDY blog make sure to come back and keep an eye out for them if that is something you are interested in.



If you are looking for an intellectual stimulating movie that will be a contender for Best Picture at the Oscars than Tomorrowland most likely won't be your cup of tea, but if you are looking for a movie that your whole family can just sit back and enjoy a fun adventure while scarfing down some popcorn I have a pretty good feeling this will be a good movie to enjoy during your kids' summer break.

Tomorrowland is SciFi Flick You Won't Want to Miss

This year has quite a few selections to choose from at the movies for Science Fiction fans ranging from comic book fantasies like Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron and The Fantastic Four to the post-apocalyptic adventures of Mad Max: Fury Road and Terminator: Genisys to the space opera Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  If you are a fan of SciFi keep an eye out for Disney's Tomorrowland which while it hasn't had as much exposure as some of the other upcoming films that are hitting theaters appears to be an interesting movie in the genre.  So far Disney has been a bit mysterious about the plot and aspects of the film but is beginning to open up and promote it more as Tomorrowland's May 22, 2015 release date approaches.

In Disney’s riveting mystery adventure “Tomorrowland,” a jaded scientist and an optimistic teen embark on a danger-filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space.

Disney's Tomorrowland features a screenplay by “Lost” writer and co-creator Damon Lindelof and two-time Oscar® winner Brad Bird, from a story by Lindelof & Bird & Jeff Jensen and stars Academy Award® winner George Clooney. The plot of this SciFi mystery adventure seems interesting enough: Bound by a shared destiny, former boy-genius Frank (Clooney), jaded by disillusionment, and Casey (Britt Robertson), a bright, optimistic teen bursting with scientific curiosity, embark on a danger-filled mission to unearth the secrets of an enigmatic place somewhere in time and space known only as “Tomorrowland.” What they must do there changes the world—and them—forever.

If Tomorrowland has peeked your interest, there will be an exclusive six minute trailer with an introduction by director Brad Bird which will screen exclusively in IMAX® theaters in the United States and in select international markets beginning May 1. This extended first look of Tomorrowland will screen directly prior to Marvel’s AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON and will play for the duration of that film’s run in IMAX.

For more information about #Tomorrowland you can also visit the film's website: 
www.Disney.com/Tomorrowland  This PG rated film looks to be a nice option for a family outing to the movies that I'll absolutely be considering going to with my wife and kids.

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!