Disney Latest News, Photos, and Videos

Alan Menken is opening up about the upcoming live action The Little Mermaid movie!

If you didn’t know, the 71-year-old songwriter and composer co-wrote the music for the original animated Disney film, and he wrote four new original songs with Lin-Manuel Miranda for the new version.

“There is some rapping in it and I really can’t take much credit for the rap aspect of it,” he said on the UK-based arts and theatre podcast eleven. “Yeah, there’s some rapping in it, there’s some very Menken songs, there’s some very Miranda songs. But it’s all the blend of Menken-Miranda.”

“I love him, I love working with him,” he continued. “I’m glad we had the opportunity to do that and he’s also a producer on the movie but Lin juggles a lot of things, as I do, so we will have occasional contact. Right now it’s in the hands of the amazing [director] Rob Marshall and as we speak they are in London right now filming.”

Alan also gushed over star Halle Bailey, who’s taking on the role of Ariel.

“Oh my gosh, she is adorable and so talented. I met Halle at the recording sessions,” he said. “I did have to be educated in terms of what she and her sister do together, which is incredible. She is an amazing talent, a beautiful girl, and I got to meet her family.”

Last summer, Lin also gushed over Halle and what it was like working with Alan.

If you missed it, find out who recently joined the cast!

A brand new teaser clip from the upcoming Walt Disney Animation film Raya and the Last Dragon was released!

The new clip features the new original song “Lead The Way” by Jhené Aiko, and shows a little backstory on the movie’s title character.

“Lead The Way” will be played during the film’s end credits, and will be featured on the soundtrack, which will be released next Friday (February 26).

Raya and the Last Dragon star Kelly Marie Tran recently opened up about where she recorded the voiceover for the role during the pandemic.

“I recorded in a makeshift fort at my boyfriend’s apartment, which was made of sound blankets taped to the wall with duct tape. Glamorous! I remember there were days when there was construction happening, my internet was cutting out, there was always something going on,” she said on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

The new movie features an all Asian voice cast, which also includes Awkwafina, Ross Butler and more, and will be released in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access on March 5th.

The brand new trailer for the upcoming Disney movie Cruella was just released on Wednesday morning (February 17)!

The first video at the new film stars Emma Stone as the iconic Cruella de Vil.

Here’s a synopsis: An all-new live-action feature film about the rebellious early days of one of cinemas most notorious – and notoriously fashionable – villains, the legendary Cruella de Vil. Set in 1970s London amidst the punk rock revolution, it follows a young grifter named Estella, a clever and creative girl determined to make a name for herself with her designs.

She befriends a pair of young thieves who appreciate her appetite for mischief, and together they are able to build a life for themselves on the London streets. One day, Estella’s flair for fashion catches the eye of the Baroness von Hellman (Emma Thompson), a fashion legend who is devastatingly chic and terrifyingly haute. But their relationship sets in motion a course of events and revelations that will cause Estella to embrace her wicked side and become the raucous, fashionable and revenge-bent Cruella.

The first look at Emma in character was debuted back in 2019 at the D23 Expo, and the movie will be released on May 28th!

Walt Disney Animation Studios is getting ready to debut a brand new theatrical short, titled Us Again!

The new animated short will debut in theaters ahead of Raya and the Last Dragon, before premiering on Disney+ in June.

Here’s a synopsis: Set in a vibrant city pulsating with rhythm and movement, an elderly man and his young-at-heart wife rekindle their youthful passion for life and each other on one magical night. The years fade away as the joy of dancing propels them across the exciting cityscape of their youth and revives fond memories and ambitions.

Us Again comes from director Zach Parrish, who was head of animation on Big Hero 6, with choreographers/dancers Keone and Mari, as well as composer Pinar Toprak.

“Working with Keone and Mari was the key to making this film work,” Zach said in a statement. “From the very beginning, I knew that I wanted this film to be music driven. And I felt that dance is a universal language that can translate into any culture. I loved that their dance style felt like it was made for animation, and that there was this genuine, honest and organic connection between them because they were actually a married couple in real life.”

“The story itself was inspired by my own grandparents, who faced getting older in different ways, along with my own physical limitations in playing sports resulting from getting older and injuries. I started thinking about how someone might look at the world differently as things change and they grow older,” he added.

Us Again is the first short from Walt Disney Animation since Inner Workings in 2016, which accompanied Moana in theaters.

Watch out for Us Again, along with Raya and the Last Dragon, in theaters March 5th!

If you missed it, check out the latest teaser trailer for Raya and the Last Dragon.

It was just revealed that Disney is shutting down Blue Sky Studios!

The Walt Disney Company acquired the animation studio when it purchased 20th Century Fox, and now, will be closing it down, Deadline reports.

“Given the current economic realities, after much consideration and evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to close filmmaking operations at Blue Sky Studios,” a Disney spokesperson said.

Disney already has two other animation studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar.

Blue Sky is responsible for such movies as the Ice Age franchise, Ferdinand, Horton Hears a Who, Robots, Rio, The Peanuts Movie and Epic, as well as the most recent release, Spies In Disquise.

The studio had one film in production, Nimona, and it will reportedly be stopped and no longer be released. Disney+ is also working on an Ice Age TV series.

Blue Sky, which will close in April, had about 450 employees who will be impacted, and Disney will reportedly work with employees to try and find them positions at other internal studios.

Many fans learned of the news and took to Twitter to share that they are sad and upset that Blue Sky Studios is being shut down. Check out fan reactions below…

More Here! »

Luke Evans is coming back to Disney!

The 41-year-old actor has joined the cast of the upcoming live action version of Pinocchio, Deadline reports.

“I cannot wait to start!!!!” he excitedly tweeted with the announcement.

He will star as The Coachman, alongside Tom Hanks, who is playing Geppetto. Robert Zemeckis is attached as director, and the film is set to debut on Disney+!

The Coachman is one of many antagonists in the story and is notorious for luring “stupid little boys” to Pleasure Island, where they are transformed into donkeys and sold on the black market.

Luke and Tom are of course no strangers to the Disney family, with Luke first starring as Gaston in the live action Beauty and the Beast. Tom has been in numerous Disney films and shows, including Saving Mr Banks, Big City Greens, Cars and of course his most famous role of Toy Story‘s Woody.

If you didn’t know, Luke is also set to reprise Gaston in a Beauty and the Beast prequel series, along with Josh Gad as Le Fou.

Huge news for Disney and Pixar’s latest film Soul!

The animated movie, which was released on Disney+ on Christmas Day, had the highest number of streams on the Nielsen streaming rankings.

For the holiday release, Soul even had more streams than Netflix hits Bridgerton and The Midnight Sky, as well as The Office!

The movie brought in 1.7 BILLION minutes of viewing time for the week December 21-27. To note, Bridgerton received 1.2 billion minutes, The Midnight Sky had 1.11 billion and in it’s final days on Netflix, The Office had 1.435 billion minutes.

Soul‘s numbers are equivalent to almost 17 million full watch throughs of the movie, which has a total run time of one hour and 49 minutes, according to Disney+.

That week was also the first time that Disney+ had two titles in the top 10 rankings on the Nielsen streaming chart. The Mandalorian sat at No 5 with 1.02 billion minutes.