Japan Just Does It Better: Take A Look At This Hand-Drawn Big Hero 6 Trailer From The Land of the Rising Sun!!!

The Japanese get it... they just do. Disney decided to take a different approach with the marketing in Japan for Big Hero 6. So they went with a hand drawn animated trailer for the movie, and it is spectacular. I'm not gonna waste time with the particulars, just trust me that the Mouse House hit gold this time and watch it after the jump...

Ohhhh... What the 'John Carter' Franchise Could Have Been.... Well, Titled At Least !!!

The 'John Carter' movie from Disney a few years back is considered one of the worst bombs in the history of movies. But it is truly unwarranted. The movie has its flaws, certainly, but it is overall a good film. Disney just shit the bed in terms of marketing. They dropped the "... Of Mars" part of the title!!!! It is based on a series of books called John Carter of Mars series... good lord, why make it sound like a period piece featuring Julia Roberts & George Clooney? Not to mention it starred Captain Curse himself, Taylor Kitsch. This movie had no chance. But director Andrew Stanton laments what might have been, and if the film would have done well than there is no doubt The House of Mouse would have franchised the shit out of it. Anyway, Stanton tweeted out the proposed next two title cards of the film. #2 would have been called John Carter: Gods of Mars, and #3 would have been John Carter: Warlord of Mars. Damn, I still can't understand how it took so long to adapt the book that inspired almost every idea you have ever seen in Sci Fi as you know it... and then they promptly fucked up. Damn. Check out the title cards after the jump...

Dan Luvisi Takes Some Of Your Most Beloved Childhood Characters To A Very Dark Place...

Now I have seen a ton of 're-imaginings' and 're-designs' come and go on all sorts of characters. The usual suspects, like the Disney Princesses... the more obscure characters, like minor Marvel heroes. But it is very rare when you get an artist like Dan Luvisi, who not only re-designs some of the most recognizable characters of pop culture history, but also gives you a dope back story about the new characters. Luvisi does so over on his blog, and the stories are almost as wonderful as his insanely fantastic pictures. Imagine the cast of the Muppet show thrust into the movie worlds of No Country For Old Men and Drive. How about Homer Simpson being pushed into the world of Grand Theft Auto. But my personal fave has to be Wreck It Ralph jumping into a Street Fighter cabinet and taking up the mantle that Ryu has championed all this time. These are great... just great. I can't wait to see what else Luvisi has up his sleeve. Check out more of his artwork here, and check out my faves after the jump....

What If 'Wicked' Were A Disney Animated Film? Artist Minkyu Lee Shows You What It Would Look Like...

I recently took the wife to see 'Wicked: The Musical' on Broadway, and I have to admit that I think I left the show more enthralled than she was. I read the original book by Greg Maguire around two years ago and I really enjoyed it. I have long wanted to see the stage show, and my wifey's bday gave me an excellent excuse to get it done. It seems that I wasn't wrong with my lofty expectations, as the show was amazing! It really blew me away, and the story came to life on the stage. But with the fan friendly subject matter (a prequel to the Wizard of Oz??? Who doesn't want to watch that?) and excellent song book, it seems that it is a no brainer for a company like Disney or Pixar to come along and scoop this puppy up for animated adaption. Nothing is in the works yet, but one animator from Disney is taking a bit of initiative for the sake of his portfolio by coming up with some great prototypes for the key characters in the play... and it is exactly what a fan would hope/expect to see from Elphaba and the rest of the Wicked crew. Animator Minkyu Lee has worked on The Princess & The Frog and and Frozen, so the dude is qualified. Very good stuff, and even more proof that this adaption could work. Check out the first series of pics he has released of his Wicked prototypes after the jump, and check out his Tumblr for even more animated goodness by clicking here...

Marvel x Star Wars by Robert Shane

I have seen a few really cool mash ups with characters owned by Disney and the Star Wars characters ever since the merger of the two conglomerates last year, but none are more interesting than the few that artist Robert Shane have thrown together. Robert decided to attack the mash ups through the aspect of the Marvel branch of Disney... and boy did he give it a hell of an effort! He choose three candidates (Iron Man, Doctor Doom and Nick Fury) and found great counterparts from the Star Wars universes for them (Storm Troopers, Darth Vader, and Mace Windu) in his pieces. These are absolutely amazing, and my fave has to be the Doctor Doom/Darth Vader one. Great execution of a great idea... no matter how obvious the connections may be! Shane still had to execute them, and he did so to perfection. Check out all of his cool ass art here over at his Deviant Art page, and see the three Marvel x Star Wars pieces after the jump...

Marvel & Netflix Team Up To Change The Game

Good lord... this is a true game changer! Marvel and Netflix have agreed to team up in one of the most ambitious ventures ever announced. The two industry titans have decided to come together and produce 4 individual 13 episode television shows based on the characters of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Power Man & Iron Fist... and then a Defenders mini series highlighting all four characters!!! Holyyyyyy SHIT!!! Are you kidding me? All four series will be set in Hell's Kitchen, NY and will be based in the same universe as the Marvel Cinematic Universe as well as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as well. Good god... the best part is they say "a minimum of four" live action series... could even be more!!! The plan is to unroll the shows in 2015, and given the recent success with Netflix original programming (Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, etc) and everything live action Marvel (movies & the SHIELD TV show) this should go over swimmingly. Plus, I really dig the idea of getting 13 episodes to explore each character in full detail. Than we can bring them all together... wow. This can be so great, and think about how many villains, lesser characters and cameos we can plan on seeing. Check out the full press release after the jump...

Minimalist Disney Attraction Posters

Disney gets it. They totally understand marketing and have for years. Maybe that is just a small reason on why the company has been so epically successful in getting customers in the doors. But the coolest part about the company is that they are totally open to exploring different aspects of marketing... especially when it comes concocting posters to promote their attractions. Check out these minimalist posters (which are all the rage) that appear over at the Disney & More blogspot page. They really capture the essence of the classic Disney rides and put a fresh spin on these old faithful rides. It is good to see that Disney is consistently trying to look for new ways to market their products, even though the rep that they have now is probably big enough just to coast on. Either way, any visitor who has been to Disney will love these posters. Check out all 5 after the jump...

Disney's Next Nature Documentary Will Be 'Bears'... I For One Could Not Be Happier!!!

Disney is mostly know for their animated features, but truth is they are a very diverse company. Disney owns Marvel, and they just bought the Star Wars conglomerate... yeah, they are a huge company. But one of the forgotten aspects of the company is their work in nature documentaries... they have long been involved in wildlife documentaries and conservation projects. Disney's Oceans is one of my fiance Tara's favorite thing to watch, and I loved the African Cats documentary they did a few years back. So when their newest project, Bears, was announced for next April, I immediately became excited for a documentary that is over 1 year away from being released. I love bears, so I hope that it loves up to my lofty expectations. I know Disney will do it justice. It does come out in April of 2014, but there is a little teaser trailer out now to get you ready. While I love me some comics and nerd shit, there is nothing like a really good nature documentary to balance things out. Check it out after the jump....

Sean Hartter & Entertainment Weekly Team Up To Imagine The Future Of Iron Man & Disney After The Great Merger

Damn it feels good to see people up on it! Yup, I just quoted Puff Dady right there... and my words couldn't ring much truer. I have been extolling the virtues of the very talented artist Sean Hartter right here on CCD since way back in September 2010, and have developed an excellent relationship with the man that will finally come full circle when we team up for the CCD/Hartter booth at the 2013 NY Comic Con. So imagine how happy I was to get a message on Facebook from my buddy Sean providing me with a link to Entertainment Weekly's website, where he created 9 images for an online article by Geoff Boucher about the future of Iron Man after the great merger between Marvel and Disney. Boucher does a great job proposing some excellent team ups for Tony Stark to join Disney properties, and Sean uses his unique photo manipulation style of art to make these possible collabos come to life. There are 9 pieces created for the article, and they are exclusive to Entertainment Weekly online, so click here to see them in all their splendor. My personal fave is the Wizard of Oz and Tron mashups... and the Herbie the Love Bug one is classic! Good to see my man Sean getting some mainstream recognition from a big publication like Entertainment Weekly, and I wish him all the best in all his future endeavors. The guy has got talent, and talent goes a long way. Can't wait for October to expose all of NYC to his wonderful artwork....

So JJ Is Doing 'The Wars' Huh? A Short CCD Rant by Mike CCD

So, LucasFilms and Disney have announced that JJ Abrams, of 'Lost' & the new 'Star Trek' franchise fame, will be the director of the seventh full length 'Star Wars' movie. It is set to take place somewhere in the future after the events of the 'Return of the Jedi', may feature some of the familiar characters we love (albeit much older and in a supporting roles) and will sure to be the movie event of 2015 alongside 'Avengers 2'. While I love me some JJ and am actually really excited for another set of Star Wars movies, I can't help but have some trepidation. So here is a little bit of a rant on why I think it could be good, but also 3 reasons why this could be disastrous. Lets delve in, shall we...

Soooo..... Mickey Was In On The Merger All Along!!!

This is just too cool not to post. I was cruising over at the Star Wars blog where I came across an article by Pablo Hidalgo that deals with a certain little Easter Egg from The Empire Strikes Back. Ya see, Mr. Lucas has always been a huge fan of Disney (kind of ironic, no?) and was even in attendance the day Disneyland opened when he was just 11 years old. So when he was set designing the scenes at the end of The Empire Strikes Back that take place in Cloud City he strategically placed Mickey Mouse head shaped objects on what was supposed to be computer screen walls. Why did he do it? Because he loved him some Mickey. But it is all the more bizarre because last year Lucas would sell LucasFilms to Disney and the Mouse House is now in charge of the direction of the franchise. You can always find cool Star Wars related tidbits over at the official Star Wars blog, but you can see the appearance of Mickey in Empire after the jump...

Disney Joins Forces With Netflix... Bring It On!!!!

This is one of the greatest pieces of news to come out of the Netflix camp in the history of the company. Disney has had a limited partnership with Netflix Streaming over the past few years, and I have watched a few movies (Princess & The Frog comes to mind) from the studio on the service. But now Netflix has locked up this partnership for the better part of the rest of the decade, and Disney is bringing along the newly acquired Marvel Films & Star Wars franchises along for the ride. How fucking cool is this? First up, I can't wait to eventually watch Clone Wars on Streaming. Secondly, this provides Disney with an outlet for movies that they have put in the Vault, which sucks if you miss out on buying one of these films when they are released shortly. Not to mention Avengers on repeat... yeah buddy! These changes will begin right away, with films like Dumbo, Alice In Wonderland, and Pocahontas starting to stream shortly and more titles to follow over the next few years. Thanks to Deadline for breaking the story. This sure leads me to believe that Netflix will still be getting my 7.99 a month for the foreseeable future. Check out the full press release after the jump...

Wreck It Ralph Is Breaking Out The Big Video Game Character Guns For 4 New Posters

Wreck It Ralph looks like a ton of fun. A Disney movie about video game characters who want to change their lot in life, but as always Disney can't just stop with a cool concept. They have licensed out a ton of actual video game characters from real life to lend some support to the newly fictional characters of the movie. Yup, that is M Bison & Dr. Eggman. Yup, That certainly is Q-Bert. And yup, Zangrief definitely has a lazy eye. Check out the four new posters after the jump and go see the movie Nov. 2nd....

Disney Location Playsets: Bring The Magic Of Disney's Theme Parks Into Your Own Home.....

Disney World in Orlando, Florida is one of my favorite places on Earth. I visited the park many times when I was an young adult living two hours away in Miami and I always loved it. Universal Studios may have had better rides (Islands of Adventure is the best theme park EVER!!!!), but there truly is something magical about walking the grounds of Disney World. Now you can bring the magic of some of those very locales right into your own home. Disney is offering a variety of playsets featuring some very cool real life locations that can be used in conjunction with each other to recreate the magic of the park in your own living room. The Mono Rail set connects with the hotel locations through the docking areas. There are even some great attraction sets, like Cinderella's Castle, Space Mountain, and Epcot Center. All the sets are around 50 bucks or so, and you can find them and much more over at the Disney Store's website. Click after the jump to see some of the pictures...

Dis-asterland: A Dark Disney Art Show by Rodolfo Loaiza

La Luz de Jesus Gallery in California is putting on a very controversial art show starting August 3rd that features the darker side of the Disney universe as portrayed by artist Rodolfo Loaiza. This show has some pretty sick and twisted pieces that feature some of the most recognizable characters in the Disney stable being terrorized, tortured, and defiled by all sorts of inappropriate things. Some of these are quite clever, such as Freddy Kruger attacking Sleeping Beauty... think about that, he would have his way with her as much as he likes!!!! You can click here to see all of the entries that they have posted online and get more information about the Gallery & show. Click after the jump to see a few of my faves...

Epic Misney by T Campbell & John Waltrip

A few weeks back the Internet was abuzz with news coming out of the Las Vegas Licensing Expo in regards to the plans for the Disney & The Marvel Universes to collide. The partner companies will start tying characters from both worlds in with one another, most notably starting with Phineas & Ferb crossing over with some of Marvel's finest heroes. But to celebrate the genuine idea that the two world could co-exist we get an unbelievable painting from T Campbell & John Waltrip that pairs some of the all time Disney greats with their equally important Marvel cohorts. You gotta love some of the pairings in this one. Squirrel Girl with Chip & Dale? Captain Hook with Wolverine? Fing Fang Foom with Malificent? Namor & Ariel? Donald & Howard the Ducks? Doc Strange vs Geenie? Wow... wow!!! You can order this cool ass print for just 14.99 by clicking here! Check out the full piece after the jump....

Play "Fix It Felix", The Game Within The Movie From Disney's Upcoming Film "Wreck It Ralph"

Wreck It Ralph is shaping up to be one great looking movie, a homage and love letter to the era of coin operated video games & arcades from the 70s & 80s. Those place lost their value once home video game consoles became prevalent with the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. But Disney's newest film seems ambitious, and they are getting all the right nods to the popular games of that time in the footage so far. So Disney decided to make the tie in that seems the most logical and created a playable version of the game from the movie, 'Fix It Felix', so that people can become familiar with the main characters (Good Guy Felix, bad guy Ralph) who will serve as the main characters in the film. You can click here to get taken over to Disney's page for the game and enjoy... but heed this warning, it is quite addictive!!!! Movie is in theaters on November 2nd.

Gravity Falls: Disney Channel's Next Generation Scooby Doo?

Disney channel has been hitting some homers with it's recent programming. All of the Marvel stuff has been killer, and it looks like they are gearing up for another fun summer full of new programming. One of the shows coming up on the docket is Gravity Falls, which seems to be an amalgamation of a few different past shows. This one reminds me of Scooby Doo mixed with Eerie, Indiana  (a great show that is available on Netflix... watch this one!!!) which is a great combo if you ask me. Wonderful, just wonderful. One of the best parts of being a parent of a 9 year old is getting to watch these shows without feeling guilty... check out a few of the posters and the trailer for the show after the jump.

Disney's X-Men by American Ninja X

Ever since the merger between Disney & Marvel there have been tons of mash-ups to hit the 'Net, but usually they are pretty bored an uninspired. But Deviant Artist American Ninja X has come up with some really good ones featuring Disney versions of the X-men. Very well done indeed. Check out the full gallery after the jump...

Disney's Mother Of Dragons by Mona Collentine

I am in full force Game of Thrones mode lately.... I have a couple of pages left in Book #3, Season 2 of the show is wrapping up next week, and I just ordered a book called "Beyond The Wall" which is a collection of essays about George R.R. Martin's seminal book series. So when I was over at my boy Jeremy Barker's Popped Culture website and I saw this awesome Daenerys mash-up featuring some of the Disney dragons (Figment, Elliot, and Maleficent) I knew I just had to post it. You can see more of artist Mona Collentine stuff by clicking here and can view the full sized version of the pic after the jump....