Disney Withdraws “Seal Team 6″ Trademark Application

Did you happen to miss the story about Disney and the US Navy fighting over the rights to the phrase, “SEAL Team 6?” Well, it’s now a bit of a moot point, as Disney’s dropped its application. According to the Wall Street Journal:

Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday that it will withdraw its applications to trademark the term “SEAL Team 6″ for use on toys, games, and other consumer products.

A lawyer for the Los Angeles-area entertainment giant filed the applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on May 3, two days after the Navy’s elite SEAL Team 6 unit killed Osama bin Laden.

All of which means this Tom the Dancing Bug cartoon is obsolete. But still amusing. And no, you really don’t want to read it if you’re troubled by criticism of The Mouse.

Mr. Broke Hoedown on Pixar’s Sequelitis

Mr. Broke Hoedown’s got a new gig, on the Fun & Games beat of BNet. Not surprisingly, he’s covering a lot of Disney news, including today’s post on Pixar’s upcoming case of sequelitis.

Another indicator of problems for Pixar is which movies are being sequel-ized. While Monsters Inc. was critically acclaimed, Cars andBug’s Life are easily the studio’s two least distinguished movies.Bug’s Life was only one of two animated movies about heroic ants released in 1998. And the original Cars is the studio’s only critical flop. It was made to fulfill Pixar’s distribution contract with Disney(DIS) at a time when it looked as though the two companies were going to part ways — and it shows.

@The_Pixar_Blog wasn’t so fond of this article of course, as expressed this afternoon on twitter:

Is this supposed to be satirical? Either that, or its the most uniformed article about Pixar. Ever.

Mr. Broke Hoedown’s a pretty rabid Pixar fan, so I too was surprised to hear last night that he’d decided against seeing Cars 2. Then again, I’d just been watching the same commercial, and had come close to the same conclusion.

Some other recent articles on my spouse’s new BNet beat (Disney and otherwise):

• Disney Puts Keith Richards, Patti Smith on Its Payroll; Is The Who Next?
• Your Guide to the Rapture, a Compelling Business Opportunity
• Sony’s Lame Defense of PlayStation Breach: Everyone Else Is Worse
• Magic Kingdom: Disney Is Still Playing Mickey-Mouse Games With Its Business

Jentasmic: The Joys of Solo Travel

Hanging with Mickey on a solo trip to Disneyland, January 2011.

My kid’s growing up, which means more solo Disney travel is on the horizon for me. So, this week’s Jentasmic! includes some of my favorite things about solo travel.

Touring my way. I can be very particular about my touring needs. It just doesn’t feel right to miss rope drop. I want to ride Mr Toad’s Wild Ride five times in rapid succession to earn my Nowhere in Particular badge on Disneyland Lines. I might choose my lunch location strictly on the availability of power outlets for recharging my phone. And while I’ll happily compromise on most of those to be with friends and family, if I’m gonna go alone, I’m gonna enjoy the heck out of my autonomy.

Did Patti Smith Sell Out to Disney? She Lights Up My Life

Alexandra Le Tellier of The LA Times sums up some recent controversy over Patti Smith’s appearance in a Disney Dream portrait:

Sure, she’s friends with Depp and must have respected his subversive interpretation of Sparrow; it’s true that she’s worked with Leibovitz since the ’70s; and it’s no surprise to learn that as a child she liked to dress up as a pirate. Still, it does seem odd that those factors were persuasive enough to get the punk rock icon to hang up her anti-establishment cloak to shill for Disney. The reaction, online at least, has been a blitz of posts and tweets expressing confusion.

Much like Le Tellier, I’m not surprised by Smith’s decision. Anybody watching Kids Are People Too in the 1970′s knows that Smith said she’ll pretty much work for anybody. Are we really so surprised that the woman who sang this wonderful rendition of You Light Up My Life might also enjoy a little quality time with Mickey?

I never liked that song until I heard her sing it.

WDW Today Reunion 2011

Watch out world! The frequent-flier gods have smiled upon me, so I’ve just booked my flights for WDW Today Reunion 2011, December 8-11, 2011, at Walt Disney World. I had a fantastic time when I attended the WDW Today Reunion and other fan meets in December of 2009, and I’m looking forward to meeting up with both familiar faces and new friends this year.

There are only a few meets on the schedule so far, but it’s still more than 200 days away so I’ll bet more will be added. I’m definitely looking forward to filling up a Starspeeder, and giving Babycakes another chance. Plus, one of the great things about these fan meets is that people tend to be super-friendly, so if you’re traveling solo it’s easy to meet up with like-minded Disney geeks and hit the rides together, grab a meal, or just plain geek out over the difference between the Haunted Mansion variations worldwide.

Booking packages through MouseFan Travel brings certain perks (I particularly envy the VIP event and priority standing for event ticket purchases), but isn’t required for Reunion attendance. Reunion registration is free, not required, and online now.

Thurl Ravenscroft as Darth Vader: Donnie and Marie Star Wars Sketch

Not all of us can be lucky enough to attend Star Wars Weekend. But all of us can come together to view the Star Wars sketch from the Donnie and Marie show, thanks to the glory of YouTube.

There was a time when it didn’t seem all that odd to see Paul Lynde, Thurl Ravenscroft, Donnie Osmand, and R2-D2 share a stage. But that time was 1978, and time hasn’t been kind to the video archives.

I wonder if Ravenscroft was there in person, or recorded the sound clips alone, in advance. I’m guessing both he and Anthony Daniels phoned it in.

You don’t want to miss the Stormtroopers entrance at about 6:15, or the lady Stormtroopers who accompany them (apparently they tweaked at least one chromosome to clone this new model). Get ready, ’cause here we come!

A note to our younger viewers: There’s at least one joke that won’t make sense unless you’ve heard of Sanford and Son.

And yes, I’m reasonably sure I saw this in prime time. The fact that it didn’t really make an impression at the time should tell you something about that particular age in television. If you wonder what the really weird stuff was like, try Pink Lady and Jeff.

Hat tip: BoingBoing.

Donald Duck: A Comic Genius in Germany

My darling Mr. Broke Hoedown was kind enough to bring my attention to a recent Wall Street Journal article about Donald Duck’s popularity in Germany. Turns out, a whole lot is gained in translation.

“Donald is so popular because almost everyone can identify with him,” says Christian Pfeiler, president of D.O.N.A.L.D. “He has strengths and weaknesses, he lacks polish but is also very cultured and well-read.” But much of the appeal of the hapless, happy-go-lucky duck lies in the translations. Donald quotes from German literature, speaks in grammatically complex sentences and is prone to philosophical musings, while the stories often take a more political tone than their American counterparts.

I’ve got a vacation trip to Germany on the books, and I’m looking forward to seeing more of this eloquent Donald! Thank goodness my son can translate for me . . . there’s really only so much I can pick up from the “learn German” CDs I picked up.

I must admit, when I think of Donald Duck and politics, a whole different thread comes to mind: The anti-Nazi propaganda shorts developed by Disney during World War II, most notably Der Fuhrer’s Face (which I’ll warn you has some impressively nasty racial stereotypes).

Could Marvel Learn From Disney on Race?

Racialicious has an interesting article this week on a recent DC Comics coloring “mistake” and its implications.

On Monday I posted how DC Comics had published a corrected version of the Flash family from Flashpoint #1. This portrait included the granddaughter of Barry Allen properly portrayed as a black woman. In the pages that were included in DC’s Green Lantern Free Comic Book Day issue, she has been colored and presented as a mysterious white member of the Flash family.

How did this happen? I have no idea. I asked DC if they wanted to comment on it yesterday, but my email has not been responded to. Neither have I seen any explanation. And even if they did respond, I am sure that they would say it was a “mistake.”

But a mistake that changes one of the few women of color in the Flash family, one of the few women of color in the Legion, one of the few women of color in comics is more than a mistake. It’s a painful reminder that in comics, white is the default. White is the majority. White is the easy choice because you have, according to Marvel’s Tom Brevoort, only a 1% chance of being wrong.

The article is well-worth reading, especially if you haven’t (yet?) given much thought to race in American mainstream comics. And of course, you can’t talk about American mainstream comics without Marvel coming up in conversation.

How painful is it to hear a representative of Marvel, a Disney company – a company who does “corporately mandate” diversity – dismiss diversity so casually? As if it was an effort that wasn’t important? As if it were something that in the scheme of things didn’t really count? That the idea of being inclusive is less important than allowing writers to do what they want.

It seems to me that, while Disney’s record on cultural inclusion is far from perfect, as the parent company of Marvel they may have a few lessons to pass down here. In Lemonade Mouth, for example, issues of race were (oversimplified, but) seamlessly incorporated into the narrative.

Readers, please check out the Racialicious article and then tell me: Do you see Disney doing anything right that Marvel is currently getting wrong?

Mickey Mouse Suicide Shirt

At least, I think it’s a shirt. It could be a skirt. It would be awfully strange as curtains or a tablecloth.

C’mon Mickey, things aren’t really that bad! Whatever’s wrong, let’s just blame Hooter. That’s what Captain EO’s crew always seem to do.

Readers, can you translate any of the background text? Maybe we can help poor Mickey.

Hello Kitty Theme Park Coming to China

Sanrio Puroland boat ride, Tama City, Tokyo, Japan

Mr. Broke Hoedown was kind enough to tip me off to the news that Sanrio has given permission for a Hello Kitty theme park to be built in Anji, China, just about a 3-hour drive from Pudong, the site of the upcoming Shanghai Disneyland. From AFP:

The creators of Hello Kitty, Japan’s world-famous cartoon icon of cuteness, have agreed to a $230-million outdoor theme park in China, the first on foreign soil, a company spokesman said Monday.

The Hello Kitty-themed amusement park will be completed in the city of Anji, in east China’s Zhejiang province, in 2014 under an agreement between Sanrio Co. and its Chinese partner, Sanrio spokesman Kazuo Tohmatsu said.

Sounds to me like this new Hello Kitty theme park could leverage Sanrio’s experience with Sanrio Harmonyland, in Japan’s Oita prefecture. The article also mentions “another plan to build a much smaller indoor amusement park featuring Sanrio characters in Malaysia in 2012,” which sounds reminiscent of my dearly-loved Sanrio Puroland (which I visited in 2002).

I think Mr. Broke Hoedown’s just building a case for me to join him in some trans-Pacific travel once these new theme parks come online. He’s planning a trip to Mongolia in a couple years, which might well take him through Beijing en route, and while Beijing and Shanghai aren’t exactly neighboring cities, they’re a heck of a lot closer to each other than either is to Boston.