THE LITTLE MERMAID FLIPS OVER TO HOME VIDEO

Walt Disney Studios’ The Little Mermaid arrives at digital retailers (Apple TV, Prime Video and Vudu/Fandango) on July 25 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on September 19. The film is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for action, peril and some scary images. In addition to the feature presentation which has a runtime of 135 minutes, the home video release of The Little Mermaid also has bonus content that includes a sing-along version of the film, song breakdowns, bloopers, and exclusive featurettes.

• Sing Along Version – Sing along with your favorite songs while watching the movie with on-screen lyrics. 
• Hotter Under The Water – Discover how director Rob Marshall and his team brought the story of The Little Mermaid to life with this documentary in five chapters: 
• A Tale Of The Bottomless Blue – Join Rob Marshall on the set of one of the most ambitious and challenging films he's ever directed. 
• I Know Something’s Starting Right Now – Join cast members Halle Bailey, Melissa McCarthy, Jonah Hauer-King and more and learn how they were cast in the film and what it was like to bring director Rob Marshall's vision to life. 
• Down Where It’s Wetter – Dip your toes into the virtual ocean and learn about how the breathtaking underwater world was created with visual effects, imagination and a lot of talented artists. 
• Explore That Shore Up Above – From Prince Eric’s castle to the beach, explore the above-the-sea locations and the elaborate production design behind them. 
• Do What The Music Say – Discover how legendary composer Alan Menken teamed up with Lin- Manuel Miranda to write new songs to accompany the original classics 
• Song Breakdowns: 
• Wild Unchartered Waters – Prince Eric, played by Jonah Hauer-King, gets his own song, written by Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Go behind the song, from the writing to the recording, to the filming on a practical ship. 
• Under the Sea – Get a first-hand look at how professional dancers helped bring director Rob Marshall's vision to life as they stood in for the various animated sea creatures that sing and dance in this showstopping number. 
• Kiss The Girl – Float along and get a frog's-eye view of the beautiful set built to film the live-action version of this classic song. 
• Poor Unfortunate Souls – Join Melissa McCarthy (Ursula) as she takes us on the journey of making her character's signature song. 
• Featurettes: 
• The Scuttlebutt On Sidekicks – Dive in and meet Sebastian, Flounder and Scuttle, who not only have their own song, "The Scuttlebutt," but also fresh looks as they work hard to make sure Ariel and Eric kiss before Ursula's deadline. 
• Passing The Dinglehopper – Ariel met Ariel when Halle Bailey worked with Jodi Benson — the voice of Ariel in the original animated movie — who appears in a clever cameo in the live-action film. 
• Bloopers – Laugh along with the cast as they have the time of their lives making The Little Mermaid.

The Little Mermaid is visionary filmmaker Rob Marshall’s live-action reimagining of Disney’s beloved animated musical classic, the story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. The youngest of King Triton’s daughters and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea and, while visiting the surface, falls for the dashing Prince Eric. While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart. She makes a deal with the evil sea witch, Ursula, which gives her a chance to experience life on land but ultimately places her life – and her father’s crown – in jeopardy. The Little Mermaid is directed by Rob Marshall with a screenplay by David Magee, and is produced by Marc Platt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, John DeLuca and Rob Marshall.

Are you geeked about adding The Little Mermaid to your home video entertainment library?

Disney is remaking Pete's Dragon

Do you know the first Walt Disney Studios feature film to be released for public distribution on video tape? It was Pete's Dragon which was made available for VHS and Betamax video cassette players in 1980.  This was one of the very few movies my parents ever purchased for our VCR, back in the days when everyone rented movies from video stores because purchasing them was absurdly expensive, and I watched it more times than I can count...so much in fact the cassette tape eventually just wore out.  It was probably a good investment for my parents as we'd gone to the theater so many times to see the movie at my urging.  Compared to today's computer generated imagery Pete's Dragon was very rudimentary yet for it being the late 70's/early 80's the combination of its special effects, Disney animation, and the Apple Dumpling Gang / Escape from Witch Mountain vibe of its live action scenes made it a mesmerizing film for a 6 year old boy to see.  I still remember excitedly stomping around during my elementary school's Halloween parade wearing my bright green and purple Ben Cooper costume of Elliot my mom let me pick out at the Ben Franklin Five & Dime wishing I could fly, breath fire and turn invisible like the dragon in the movie.

Based upon my childhood fondness of Pete's Dragon, it was exciting to find out that Walt Disney Studios is producing a new version of the movie this summer that I'll be able to enjoy with my children who are at the age I was when the original movie was popular.  This new movie is arriving August 12, 2016 to theaters across the United States will be a re-imagined telling of the tale with a modernistic tone to it.  The original film's musical numbers, slap stick comedy, and cartoonish animation will be replaced with stunning imagery, a more sophisticated script and incredible life like special effects within this new incarnation of Pete's Dragon.  Disney has been pretty hush-hush up to now on details of this brand new Pete's Dragon movie but has just recently released a poster, movie stills and a teaser reel.



Pete's Dragon will be rated PG.  It's story revolves around old wood carver Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford) who for years has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), who works as a forest ranger, these stories are little more than tall tales…until she meets Pete (Oakes Fegley). Pete is a mysterious 10-year-old with no family and no home who claims to live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliott. And from Pete’s descriptions, Elliott seems remarkably similar to the dragon from Mr. Meacham’s stories. With the help of Natalie (Oona Laurence), an 11-year-old girl whose father Jack (Wes Bentley) owns the local lumber mill, Grace sets out to determine where Pete came from, where he belongs, and the truth about this dragon.

I hope that my kids find the new Pete's Dragon as magical as the original movie that I enjoyed so much at their age.  For more information, visit movies.disney.com/petes-dragon-2016

Make a Zoo-flake

When our family went to see the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, this week we saw a trailer for the next Disney animated feature film that will be arriving soon in theaters, ZOOTOPIA.  My kids excitedly asked if we could see this movie next week while they are out from school on Winter Break, but unfortunately we are going to have to wait a bit longer than that as ZOOTOPIA isn't being released in the United States until March 4, 2016.



To provide a bit of winter fun for my kids and our A Geek Daddy blog readers while we wait for the arrival of the film in theaters, our friends at Walt Disney Studies have provided some ZOOTOPIA themed activity sheets that let you create snow flakes incorporating the characters featured in the movie's trailer.  Make your own Judy Hopps, Nick Wilde, or Flash Zoo-flake with these fun cut-out activity sheets.




About the movie:

The modern mammal metropolis of Zootopia is a city like no other.  Comprised of habitat neighborhoods like ritzy Sahara Square and frigid Tundratown, it's a melting pot where animals from every environment live together -- a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything.  But when rookie police officer Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) arrives, she discovers that being the first bunny on a force of big tough animals isn't so easy.  Determined to prove herself, she jumps at the opportunity to crack a case, even if it means partnering with fast talking, scam artist fox Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) to solve the mystery.

Star Wars Activity Sheets, Coloring Pages & More!!!

It's approaching! The newest edition to the Star Wars saga is almost here with #TheForceAwakens arriving in theaters on Friday, December 18th.  To help get families in the mood to see this new film, we have a free 22 page Star Wars: The Force Awakens Activity Pack to share with our readers courtesy of our friends at Walt Disney Studios.  It includes coloring pages, activity sheets and games that will delight any kid and kid-at-heart who is hyped about seeing the newest Star Wars movie.


While you are having fun with this activity pack treat yourself to some Blue Milk a popular beverage in the Star Wars universe.  A Geek Daddy has a recipe for making Luke Skywalker's favorite blue colored drink from Tatooine, bantha milk, plus an out-of-this-world frozen treat your family can enjoy.  CLICK HERE to check it out!

Enjoy the movie everyone -- Star Wars is back!!!

Does Disney's 2014 Movie Lineup Have You Saying HI HO or HO HUM?

Walt Disney Studios has had its share of flops (JOHN CARTER, THE LONE RANGER, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 4, OZ: THE GREAT & POWERFUL) to go along with some blockbuster hits (AVENGERS and the other movies in the MARVEL franchise, FROZEN, MONSTERS UNIVERSITY) the last few years.  With the national theatrical release of The Wind Rises on February 28th and Need For Speed opening this weekend the Disney's 2014 movie season has begun.  Do you think 2014 is going to be a HI HO or HO HUM year for Disney films?

Here's a run down of this year's Walt Disney Studios movie lineup (Click on the pictures for larger images of the movie previews):

THE WIND RISES - FEBRUARY 28

  

NEED FOR SPEED - MARCH 14

MUPPETS MOST WANTED - MARCH 21

BEARS - APRIL 18 

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER - APRIL 4

MILLION DOLLAR ARM - MAY 16

MALEFICENT - MAY 30

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PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE - JULY 18

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GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY - AUGUST 1

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  THE HUNDRED FOOT JOURNEY - AUGUST 8

ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY - 10/10

BIG HERO 6 - NOVEMBER 7

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MCFARLAND - NOVEMBER 21

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INTO THE WOODS - DECEMBER 25