Disney, Intel to launch Net content service in Japan

The Japanese subsidiaries of Walt Disney and Intel have teamed to launch a new broadband content service that lets consumers add their own special effects as they watch animated musicals starring Disney characters.

Dubbed "Mickey Symphony," the service will initially offer three segments from Disney's "Fantasia 2000": "Rhapsody in Blue," "Pomp and Circumstance" and "Carnival of the Animals."

PC users can set new backgrounds or rotate the "scenery." The service will be available by late October, over a broadband network owned by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone.

This is the second information technology initiative from Walt Disney in less than two months. In August, the company introduced a Disney Dream Desk PC that has Mickey Mouse ears.