Disneynature is a company that was launched in April 2008 to bring back one of the staples of Walt Disney’s career: True-Life Adventures.  I’m a pretty big fan of the company, and their work, so it was with great interest that I’ve sought out more information about their projects on a regular basis.

I’ve seen most of their films, when they’ve had topics that have interested me, and so far I’ve only skipped one.  Starting with Earth, which was kind of a summary version of the BBC’s Planet Earth, I’ve been captivated by this series of films.  Oceans was a disappointment to me, spending too much time on climate change and not enough time on the strange and wonderful creatures that inhabit the deep.  The narration was lacking as well, with too little talking when we needed some more explanation of what we were seeing.

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Since the announcement that Disney bought Lucasfilm, there has been a wide range of reactions to it, from the very optimistic and positive, to the stunningly negative and outrageous.  There are many reasons to be optimistic though, and I feel there are no valid arguments against Disney at this point.  Within the few years, Disney has made some pretty smart moves with their acquisitions.  Let’s take a look at that to see why Star Wars is safe in the House of Mouse.

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Christmas 2009 came with a new gift from Disney • Pixar: Prep & Landing.  This is a new holiday classic featuring a pair of elves that prepare each home for the arrival of Santa Claus.  They make sure that the children are asleep, and any potential problems are neutralized before he comes to deliver presents to the home.  It only took the first few minutes to make it one of my favorite Christmas specials that I have ever seen.  I must have watched it a few dozen times last year.

I learned something very exciting today.  Not only is Prep & Landing going to air again this year (hoping for a Blu-ray release some day), but they’re also working on a sequel!  Now, the sequel isn’t due until Christmas 2011, is a very long wait.

I was a bit disappointed that I would have to wait another year to have another adventure in the world that was so thoroughly established in the original, and then I saw that they are releasing a short this year as well!

I remember the first time that I watched Prep & Landing.  I was blown away.  Not only was it a very short special, but it had a lot of heart and when it ended, I wanted more.  I didn’t expect it to happen, and not this quickly.  Here’s what I know about each new adventure.  The short – Operation: Secret Santa, and the sequel – Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice.

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This month features the release of the long awaited James Cameron film, Avatar. I hope that it’s worth the wait, in the end. I’ve been telling my friends the only things I know about it for a long time: that James Cameron is inventing a new filming technique for it, and it’ll be like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 is more or less a possibility, whereas The Princess and the Frog is a new Disney Must-See! I’ve selected Sherlock Holmes based on the creative team alone.
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I’ve been following whatever news I can about Oswald the Lucky Rabbit since the character was brought back to Disney for the first time since Walt Disney lost the character. You see, before Mickey Mouse existed, he had created the character of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and when he was fired from the animation studio that produced the cartoons, he left for California where he created Mickey Mouse. What happened next? Well, Mickey is one of the most recognizable characters in the world, and Oswald is not.

But now he’s making his return in a very inventive way.

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This month, Pixar is finally re-releasing Toy Story in 3D. It’s the first wave in the re-introduction of the characters in a new format, as well as the promotional push for Toy Story 3, which comes out in 2010. Where the Wild Things Are also releases this month. Not looking forward to this one as much, but we’ll see!
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