Little Mermaid

Walt Disney Imagineering has begun installing the audio-animatronic figures in the new $100-million Little Mermaid dark ride at Disney California Adventure in advance of the attraction's June 3 debut. Photos : Concept art for the Little Mermaid dark ride In the last few weeks, crews installed a version of the evil sea witch, Ursula, which at 7 1/2 feet tall and 12 feet wide is one of the largest animatronics ever created by WDI. Located in the marquee scene of the dark ride, the Ursula figure can squash, stretch and bounce along to the music as she sings her big diva musical number, "Poor Unfortunate Souls.

Little Mermaid Smoke House is recalling its Smoked Herring and Pickled Herring because the viscera of the fish were not removed and the products now pose a risk of contamination by Clostridium botulinum , according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Botulism bacteria can cause life-threatening illness and consumers are warned not to eat the products even if they don't look or smell spoiled. The recalled products are manufactured by Little Mermaid Smoke House and were distributed in California.

Disney musicals are popping up all over. The studio's theatrical division, hoping to repeat the success it enjoyed with "The Lion King" and "Beauty and the Beast," is developing a stage version of the animated movie hit "The Little Mermaid." The production will open next summer at the Caulkins Opera House in Denver and feature the songs from the film by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, plus nine new songs by Menken and Glen Slater. Meanwhile, Playbill.

John Neumeier doesn't know "who started the rumor" that all children should avoid seeing his ballet "The Little Mermaid. " But he suspects that the culprits might be big fans of the exuberant 1989 animated Disney film that made the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale synonymous with spunky, red-haired Ariel and the crab Sebastian singing "Under the Sea. " "My ballet doesn't have the sweet aftertaste of the Disney film, and there are moments of...

It's hard to believe that Disney's animated blockbuster "The Little Mermaid" is turning 20 this year. Thankfully, the story of Ariel has great legs, or in this case -- great fins. Tonight, a reunion featuring film clips and several of the animators, including Andreas Deja and directors Ron Clements and John Musker, will be held at the Fletcher Jones Foundation Auditorium at Burbank's Woodbury University. www.asifa-hollywood.

A 13-month-old girl known as Peru's "Little Mermaid" was alert and healthy Friday two days after her fused legs were surgically separated. Milagros Cerron was born with a rare defect called mermaid syndrome, or sirenomelia. Before the four-hour operation, Milagros' legs moved separately but were trapped in a sack of tissue and fat down to her heels. "She is in very good spirits and she's strong," said Dr. Luis Rubio, who led the surgical team.

Disneyland Paris will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a new nighttime spectacular in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle and a revamped evening parade starting in April. The Disney Dreams show will feature castle projections, water screens, dancing fountains, pyrotechnic displays and laser effects that combine elements from the Magic, Memories, and You show at Florida's Magic Kingdom and World of Color at Disney California Adventure. PHOTOS: Disney Dreams water show at Disneyland Paris The new Disney Dreams nighttime spectacular at the French theme park will employ 30-foot-tall water screens in the moats in front of the castle that will serve as giant canvases for Disney animated scenes set to an original musical score.

At first I thought it was too early to look ahead at the new attractions coming to U.S. theme parks in 2012, but then I realized a number of big rides have already been announced and many more are being teased in elaborate marketing campaigns. Photos : Most anticipated new U.S. theme park rides for 2012 It already seems like 2012 is shaping up as a good year for ride enthusiasts and theme park fans as the major industry players are planning to roll out big projects that have been on the drawing boards for a while.

The Goofy's Sky School makeover of an off-the-shelf roller coaster at Disney California Adventure amounts to little more than a Band-Aid meant to hide an unseemly scar that earned the Anaheim theme park its on-the-cheap reputation. I took a spin on the "refreshed" Wild Mouse-style coaster over the weekend and found little has changed from the previous Mulholland Madness version of the ride. The minor cosmetic surgery performed on the coaster amounts to nothing more than a fresh coat of sky-blue paint, a few Goofy billboards and a propeller slapped on the front of the cars.

The first phase of the multi-stage unveiling of the Fantasyland makeover has moved into "soft opening" mode in advance of an official unveiling later this month at the Magic Kingdom in Florida. Photos: Fantasyland expansion at the Magic Kingdom Three years in the making, the new Fantasyland at Orlando's Walt Disney World resort adds a Little Mermaid dark ride and a Seven Dwarfs roller coaster while updating the classic Dumbo ride and recreating the village from "Beauty and the Beast.

Following weak box office performances for re-releases of "Monsters, Inc.," "Finding Nemo" and "Beauty and the Beast" in 3-D, Walt Disney Studios has canceled plans for   a 3-D "The Little Mermaid" in September. The underwater animated hit from 1989 was the fourth and final 3-D re-release for which Disney announced plans in late 2011 after "The Lion King" proved a surprise hit in the format, grossing nearly $100 million in the U.S. and Canada. But "The Lion King" turned out to be an anomaly, as the three follow-ups grossed far less.

Little Mermaid, meet Han, a polished steel hunk who also perches on a rock overlooking a famous Danish harbor. And he blinks (or is he winking at you?) once an hour. The two sculptures are cities apart -- the Little Mermaid overlooks Copenhagen while Han gazes out from Helsingoer about 28 miles to the north -- but share a common size and look. And that's likely the point: Han, which means "him" in Danish, hopes to draw as many tourists to his town, a.k.a. Elsinore, thanks to Shakespeare, as the century-old Little Mermaid does to hers.

The first phase of the multi-stage unveiling of the Fantasyland makeover has moved into "soft opening" mode in advance of an official unveiling later this month at the Magic Kingdom in Florida. Photos: Fantasyland expansion at the Magic Kingdom Three years in the making, the new Fantasyland at Orlando's Walt Disney World resort adds a Little Mermaid dark ride and a Seven Dwarfs roller coaster while updating the classic Dumbo ride and recreating the village from "Beauty and the Beast.

Disneyland Paris will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a new nighttime spectacular in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle and a revamped evening parade starting in April. The Disney Dreams show will feature castle projections, water screens, dancing fountains, pyrotechnic displays and laser effects that combine elements from the Magic, Memories, and You show at Florida's Magic Kingdom and World of Color at Disney California Adventure. PHOTOS: Disney Dreams water show at Disneyland Paris The new Disney Dreams nighttime spectacular at the French theme park will employ 30-foot-tall water screens in the moats in front of the castle that will serve as giant canvases for Disney animated scenes set to an original musical score.

A roundup of entertainment headlines for Wednesday: Disney plans 3-D releases of "The Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast," "Finding Nemo" and "Monsters, Inc. " ( Los Angeles Times ) "The Playboy Club" is canceled already. ( Los Angeles Times ) It's news that makes Hugh Hefner sad. There, there, Hugh. ( Access Hollywood ) Meanwhile, "The Playboy Club" actor Ed Cibrian was injured on set and taken to a hospital with a deep gash in his foot, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Goofy's Sky School makeover of an off-the-shelf roller coaster at Disney California Adventure amounts to little more than a Band-Aid meant to hide an unseemly scar that earned the Anaheim theme park its on-the-cheap reputation. I took a spin on the "refreshed" Wild Mouse-style coaster over the weekend and found little has changed from the previous Mulholland Madness version of the ride. The minor cosmetic surgery performed on the coaster amounts to nothing more than a fresh coat of sky-blue paint, a few Goofy billboards and a propeller slapped on the front of the cars.

The idea for a "Little Mermaid" dark ride has been in the so-called blue-sky stages of creative brainstorming at Walt Disney Imagineering since the movie premiered in 1989 — from rough artist sketches to scale-model mock-ups to fully realized concepts. After 22 years, Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure will officially open Friday at Disney California Adventure. "The attraction has been worked on quite a bit since the film came out," said Lisa Girolami, Imagineering's senior show producer for the new ride.

The idea for a Little Mermaid dark ride has been in the so-called blue-sky stages of creative brainstorming at Walt Disney Imagineering since the movie premiered in 1989 -- from rough artist sketches to scale-model mock-ups to fully realized concepts. After 22 years in the making, Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure will officially open Friday at Disney California Adventure . "The attraction has been worked on quite a bit since the film came out," said Lisa Girolami, Imagineering's senior show producer for the new ride.