disney

EMERYVILLE, Calif.--Oh, Pixar, Pixar, Pixar. You've done it again.

Let me just say it now: "Toy Story 3" is fantastic. I saw an advanced screening Thursday night, and going back over the notes I took in the dark theater at Pixar's headquarters here, I find this that I wrote about a third of the way into the film: "I already know it's a BIG hit."

At Pixar's request, those of us in the room for the screening are constrained about what we can say. Director Lee Unkrich, who spoke prior to … Read more

This show is about one of the categories for the Academy Awards: visual effects. This year, there are three films up for awards in the visual effects category: Avatar, Star Trek, and District 9. We're going to be talking with Russell Earl of Industrial Light & Magic. Russell was co-visual effects supervisor for one of those films, Star Trek, and also worked on Transformers, Pearl Harbor, Pirates of the Caribbean, and two of the Star Wars movies.

Also joining us is CNET writer Daniel Terdiman, who covers digital media, culture, and gaming for the Geek Gestalt blog on CNET.

Show notes and talking points… Read more

Disney sites---ESPN, Disney.com, and ABC News---were down across the board for about an hour or so Wednesday.

It's unclear what happened, but there were multiple network failures. We tried multiple trace routes and monitoring services and they were all ugly.

Disney reps weren't immediately available for comment, but the sites appear to have returned to normal a little after 7 a.m. PST.

Read more of "Disney's Web sites hit with outage" at ZDNet's Between the Lines.

Can a new chief financial officer paint some real revenue for Twitter? The company announced on Wednesday that it has filled that role with an executive from the Disney-owned Pixar Animation Studios. Ali Rowghani, currently CFO and senior vice president of strategic planning at the animation powerhouse, will join Twitter next month.

"Ali will be an important member of a growing team focused on creating value for our users and capturing the financial opportunities that result from it," Twitter CEO Evan Williams said in a release. Rowghani had been at Pixar for nearly a decade. "His thoughtfulness … Read more

The never-ending quest to ditch your cable box may become a more realistic endeavor as rumors are beginning to surface regarding ESPN showing up on Xbox Live. The New York Times first broke the story on Monday, after word got out that the Walt Disney Company and Microsoft had taken meetings regarding the subject. There hasn't been anything officially announced as of yet, but the idea seems to be similar to what ESPN 360 currently offers--the ability to stream live sports events through a fast Internet connection.

Regardless of the content, it's definitely a huge first step toward … Read more

Disney is going theme park with its new Times Square retail store.

Perhaps trying to emulate the retail magic of Apple stores, Mickey Mouse & Co. will be transforming an old retail space in New York's Times Square into an interactive store with theme park attractions and children's exhibits.

Hoping to attract young consumers and their parents, the store will conjure up an interactive princess castle and a kids' theater offering animation and storytelling for the younger crowd. Also on display will be specific activities for kids, special events, and even celebrity guest appearances timed with major Disney … Read more

Facebook isn't just for kids anymore, but it looks like Disney's still an admirer: The entertainment conglomerate has nominated Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of the massive social network, to its board of directors.

In a release Wednesday, Disney made the announcement and stated that shareholders will vote on Sandberg's nomination (along with the re-election of its 12 current directors) at the company's annual meeting on March 12 in San Antonio, Texas.

"Sheryl has been at the forefront of a technological revolution that's opened up a world of new possibilities for consumers and which … Read more

Breaking news right at the top of the show as Microsoft loses its appeal and the court rules they have to stop selling infringing copies of Microsoft Word by January 11, 2009. We also welcome the new White House security czar and the Google Yelp drama plays on. We're on break now, but we do have special episodes in the feed. We'll be back on January 4! Have a a great holiday!

Microsoft loses Word patent appeal http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BL3FV20091222… Read more

For gamers, Christmas can, indeed, come early.

Because here is every gamer's dream wrapped up in a Christmas paper so beautiful that you might never play Guitar Hero in a living room ever again.

Please hail Ric Turner, who realized the holiday season was upon him and it was time not to keep up with the Joneses, but with the Brian Jones Massacre's. So, according to Make, he created this astonishing Guitar Hero Christmas lights extravaganza, which he calls Christmas Light Hero.

If you are not utterly entranced by the skill and wonderment of this technological exercise, then … Read more