Walt Disney Co

The Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday that it would build a 56-acre production facility in northern Los Angeles County, casting a ray of light on an otherwise gloomy film economy that has hemorrhaged thousands of jobs in the last decade. The Burbank company said the proposed Disney/ABC Studios at the Ranch would occupy a corner of the Golden Oak Ranch, a sprawling 890-acre parcel off California 14 that has been the setting of such classic films as "Old Yeller." Plans call for 12 soundstages, production offices, a commissary and other facilities that could be used for film, television, commercial and new media projects.

Forget those tacky, touristy T-shirts with Mickey Mouse slapped across the front. Walt Disney Co. today opens its first high-end apparel store. Disney Vault 28, a reference to 1928, the year Mickey debuted in the cartoon "Steamboat Willie," opens its doors at Downtown Disney, a collection of shops and restaurants nestled between the Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks in Anaheim. At Vault 28, T-shirts aren't $20 or even $50. Most run about $75.

Before he began negotiating with Disney, Deputy City Manager Tom Wood had heard many stories about the shrewdness of the Disney deal-makers. So as Anaheim's chief negotiator on the Disneyland Resort proposal, he has gone to extraordinary lengths to bone up on the competition, reading stacks of books, magazine articles, financial reports and "anything that's ever been printed on the company." The 41-year-old city administrator also went to Orlando, Fla.

Walt Disney Co. and Miramax Film Corp. co-founders Harvey and Bob Weinstein agreed to part ways Tuesday, ending a tumultuous, 12-year marriage that had devolved into one of Hollywood's most closely watched reality shows. The divorce, coming after nearly six months of sometimes testy settlement talks and weeks of last-minute legal wrangling, marks the final chapter in a partnership that transformed the world of independent movie companies.

So many brides say they want to look like a princess on their wedding day -- and now we're about to find out if they really mean it. Walt Disney Co. has teamed with bridal designer Kirstie Kelly to create a collection of gowns inspired by the favorite Disney princess characters: Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Ariel from "The Little Mermaid," Belle from "Beauty and the Beast" and Jasmine from "Aladdin."

The Happiest Place on Earth will soon know where in the world you are. Walt Disney Co. has struck a deal with Verizon Wireless that will allow it to remain in wireless contact with its theme park visitors -- even when they step outside the turnstiles in Anaheim and Orlando, Fla.

Martha Stewart has a paint line. So does Ralph Lauren. Now it's Mickey Mouse's turn. Disney, not shy about venturing into new territory whenever the Mouse smells cheese (translation: moola), has come out with a line of house paints as a step into the home-improvement arena.

First, let's make it crystal-clear: Mr. Potato Head isn't getting points. And Slinky Dog has a back-end deal, but it isn't financial. These two toys, however, could wind up big stars at the mall thanks to their roles in the new Disney computer-animated film "Toy Story" and a multimillion-dollar marketing blitz now under way. If ever there was a movie with built-in commercial tie-ins, it's "Toy Story," which took in $39 million in its first five days of release.

Two months ago, newly installed Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross sank producer Sean Bailey's planned $150-million production of "Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." But that didn't submarine the relationship. On Thursday, Ross picked Bailey as the Burbank studio's new head of production, succeeding Oren Aviv, who was ousted this week after a disappointing spate of movies. Bailey, who has no experience as a studio executive, faces a steep learning curve in assembling slates of movies and managing dozens of executives and filmmakers.

IT was the perfect cast for an uplifting reality TV show: five orphaned siblings and the loving family friends who took them in. The story line certainly appealed to the producers of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." After learning that Phil and Loki Leomiti had opened their doors to the Higgins clan -- their former neighbors and fellow church members -- the show's executives proposed transforming the couple's modest Santa Fe Springs house into a nine-bedroom showpiece.

Two months ago, newly installed Walt Disney Studios Chairman Rich Ross sank producer Sean Bailey's planned $150-million production of "Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." But that didn't submarine the relationship. On Thursday, Ross picked Bailey as the Burbank studio's new head of production, succeeding Oren Aviv, who was ousted this week after a disappointing spate of movies. Bailey, who has no experience as a studio executive, faces a steep learning curve in assembling slates of movies and managing dozens of executives and filmmakers.

I'm assuming that the giant pillars of the Seven Dwarfs are still atop the Team Disney building, but hearing the news Tuesday that Oren Aviv has been ousted as studio production chief, I'm getting the feeling that everything else at Bob Iger's Mouse House is up for grabs these days. Since Iger ousted studio chief Dick Cook and installed Rich Ross as his replacement in early October, Iger and the former Disney Channel president haven't lost any time in reshaping the studio's executive hierarchy.

Walt Disney Co.'s chief executive, Bob Iger, received a total compensation package worth $29 million in 2009, less than the $30.6 million he made last year. Iger's base salary of $2 million remained effectively unchanged, although he collected an extra week's salary in 2009. He received stock valued at $6.3 million and options worth an additional $8.3 million. But Iger's bonus of $9.3 million was down 33% from a year earlier, reflecting the company's weaker financial performance, according to Disney's proxy statement filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Disney Pixar Animation guru John Lasseter found himself tangled in a miniature fashion kerfuffle. Toy maker Mattel Inc. had made a prototype doll of "The Princess and the Frog's" newly minted princess, Tiana, wearing her bayou wedding dress. But one animator worried that the gown failed to reflect the one in the film, whose multiple layers resemble the petals of an unfolding waterlily. Lasseter suggested a way to create the illusion of volume without driving up the doll's $10 price tag -- namely, printing a swirling pattern of glitter atop the diaphanous outer layer of fabric.

Walt Disney Co., in a move that many in the industry didn't foresee, tapped an executive with extensive international experience to run the Disney Channel, underscoring the role of global markets in the network's future. Carolina Lightcap, credited with building Disney Channel into one of Latin America's top cable networks, Tuesday was named president of Disney Channels Worldwide. She succeeds Rich Ross, who left in October to take over as chairman of Walt Disney Studios. Many speculated that the top Disney Channel job would go to its entertainment chief, Gary Marsh, a well-regarded executive responsible for developing several successful Disney properties, including "Hannah Montana" and "High School Musical."

Oprah Winfrey told her audience Friday that she had made up her mind to end her hit daytime talk show in September 2011 "after much prayer and months of careful thought." Now much of the television industry is going to do a lot of praying and thinking as well to figure out how to prepare for life after Oprah. Winfrey must figure out her second act, too, as she turns her focus to OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, the cable channel she plans to launch in 14 months in partnership with Discovery Communications.

In a continued housecleaning at Walt Disney Co., studio distribution veteran Mark Zoradi is leaving after 29 years. The departure of Zoradi, president of Disney's motion pictures group, follows the ousting of his former boss, Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook, in September and Miramax Films President Daniel Battsek late last month. Under the direction of Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger, the Burbank studio is being remade by Cook's successor, Rich Ross, former president of Disney Channels Worldwide.

China, finally, is ready to build a house for Mickey Mouse. Beijing has approved plans to build a Disney theme park in Shanghai, a major milestone in the more than decade-long effort by Walt Disney Co. to dramatically expand its reach into China. Disney and the Shanghai municipal government jointly submitted plans in January to build a $3.59-billion park to open as early as 2014. It would be the entertainment giant's fourth theme park outside the U.S., after Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong -- and the first in mainland China, the fastest-growing mass market in the world.

Daniel Battsek, head of Walt Disney Co.'s specialty label Miramax Films, has been forced out after a series of flops failed to turn around the struggling company, whose brighter moments included such prestige movies as "No Country for Old Men," "The Queen" and "Doubt." Battsek's departure comes on the heels of Disney's move this month to slash 70% of Miramax's staff, to 20 people, and drastically cut the number of movies it releases to only three annually. Miramax's marketing and distribution were also consolidated into the larger Walt Disney Studios.

The Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday that it would build a 56-acre production facility in northern Los Angeles County, casting a ray of light on an otherwise gloomy film economy that has hemorrhaged thousands of jobs in the last decade. The Burbank company said the proposed Disney/ABC Studios at the Ranch would occupy a corner of the Golden Oak Ranch, a sprawling 890-acre parcel off California 14 that has been the setting of such classic films as "Old Yeller." Plans call for 12 soundstages, production offices, a commissary and other facilities that could be used for film, television, commercial and new media projects.