Category: Disney News

Disney has debuted the first art from its upcoming animated revival of “DuckTales.”

The image, released by D23, features Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey, Louiem and, of course, Webbigail “Webby” Vanderquack.

Announced in February 2015, the new “DuckTales” is set to premiere next year on Disney XD.

The original series aired from 1987 to 1990 on weekday afternoons, and inspired the 1990 theatrical release “DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp.”

In addition to the characters featured in the above image, the new “DuckTales” will also feature such familiar characters as Launchpad McQuack, Gyro Gearloose, Duckworth, Flintheart Glomgold, Magica DeSpell & Poe, Ma Beagle and the Beagle Boys (BurgerBeagle, Bouncer Beagle) and Mrs. Beakley.

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A woman in the US has taken it upon herself to help out young girls who have lost their hair to cancer.

When her friend’s three-year-old daughter lost her hair during treatment for lymphoma, Holly Christensen decided to make her a Rapunzel wig.

The magic yarn group make a variety of Disney inspired wigs or can make one made out of requested colours. (Magic Yarn Project)

The simple idea has grown into the Magic Yarn Project, a group of volunteers which makes wigs inspired by various Disney princesses and sends them to girls who have lost their hair to cancer.

The group has made wigs inspired by Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Elsa from Frozen, Jasmine from Aladdin and also make rainbow wigs on request.

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Middle Eastern artist Saint Hoax has thrown an impromptu costume party at a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon, in a bid to celebrate their dreams for the future.

Photos of their project “Once Upon a War”, which sees young Syrian refugee girls donning dresses of famous Disney princesses, were posted to the artist’s official Instagram account yesterday.

“Cinderella is a dreamer and so is Maram (age 16). She believes in a brighter tomorrow.” (Instagram/sainthoax)

The photos, which have already received thousands of likes, show girls of various ages posing around the camp, dressed in the likes of Snow White, Cinderella and Belle.

Each is accompanied by a caption explaining the girl’s personal history, the impact the Syrian civil war has had on their lives, and their aspirations.

“Most of them never got the chance to play pretend because their reality is over dominating,” one caption reads.

“Sleeping Beauty was the first fairytale that Manar ever read. It became her favorite ever since. Her dream is to become a doctor.” (Instagram/sainthoax)

“We had the most delightful experience with Aya (age 6). After we took her pictures, she sneaked into her house and changed into another dress.” (Instagram/sainthoax)

“It is why @PlastikStudios and I decided to throw a costume party in the camp.

“These girls are real life heroines and I am honoured that I got the chance to dream with them.”

The girls have been given training in Snapshot and are scheduled to “take over” Saint Hoax’s account tomorrow in order to “share their stories with the world”.

She dreamt of being a princess, among other things

“Bayan (age 12) chose the Sleeping Beauty dress because it reminded her of a similar dress that she once had. When Bayan and her family left their home 3 years ago, they had to leave everything behind. That was the last time she ever saw her pink dress.” (Instagram/sainthoax)

Saint Hoax hopes the photos will bring to light these women’s vulnerability to “sexual and gender-based violence, increased risks of exploitation, and early marriage/pregnancy”.

The artist has urged viewers to donate to a charity dedicated to helping their cause.

Saint Hoax describes themselves as a “PoPlitically incorrect artist/socio-political activist”.

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Cord-cutting poses threat to core cable product but chief confident in diversification steps

©Getty Images; Bloomberg; Pixar/Disney

When Walt Disney chief executive Bob Iger revealed last summer that there had been some modest subscriber losses at sports cable network ESPN he did not expect the turbulence that followed.

The world’s most profitable cable network and Disney’s largest division had appeared immune from the impact of cord-cutting — the cancellation of a cable or satellite television subscription in favour of online alternatives. Mr Iger’s comments, which were limited to Disney and ESPN, triggered a sector-wide sell-off of media stocks. If the mighty ESPN was vulnerable what hope was there for anyone else?

But Mr Iger, who recently marked 10 years as chief executive, is not panicking. In a wide-ranging interview at Disney’s Burbank headquarters, he says the company, which last month reported its best ever quarter, has diversified revenues thanks to its investments in content and brands in anticipation of the day when ESPN’s growth rates slowed.

“We concluded that the old ‘content is king’ adage was absolutely true,” he says, adding that the shift has strengthened Disney’s hand in an era of technological disruption and sweeping changes in audience viewing habits.

“I look at the assets that we bought in Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm, and I look at ESPN, and I see brands that will hit bumps along the way because of disruption, but which will be fine long term.”

It was clear that ESPN’s growth would slow eventually, he says. When he was appointed chief executive “we saw how large ESPN and our media networks were to the bottom line. We had come off of a decade of tremendous growth and we believed that while we could continue to grow them . . . we would not grow them at anywhere near the rate that they had grown in the past.”

Profits at the sports network increased in 2015, despite ending the year with 92m subscribers — 3m fewer than the previous year. “We’re going to continue to grow ESPN,” he says. “Just not at the rate that we’ve grown it.”

The question is whether the investments in content and new ways of distributing ESPN will be enough to offset any slowdown. Mr Iger is confident they will, pointing to the network’s inclusion in so-called “skinny” bundles — cheaper cable subscriptions that have fewer channels than traditional packages — as an example of how the company is responding to changing consumer behaviour.

“ESPN is still a huge profit centre and it should get a lot of attention,” he says. “It’s not about whether the number of subs goes down from 95m to 90m or 85m. It’s about what’s the long-term health of ESPN, and to what extent will ESPN continue to be in demand by consumers. Because if you conclude that it will be, then we’ll figure out a way to get it to consumers — and consumers will figure out a way to access it.”

Not everyone thinks a slowdown in ESPN growth will be pain-free. Disney was downgraded by several analysts at the beginning of 2016 on concerns about cord-cutting affecting the network.

“Growth rates in cable network operating income could continue to be a drag on the overall company over the coming quarters even though there is likely to be some quarterly variation,” Kannan Venkateshwar, a Barclays analyst, said recently.

However, the growth of Disney’s other businesses has outpaced ESPN’s in recent years, lessening the company’s reliance on the channel. The group has theme parks, a movie studio and a consumer products division, as well as the media networks group, which includes ESPN and the ABC channel.

The company does not break out ESPN’s individual performance, but it is by far the largest piece of its cable television division, which in 2010 accounted for 59 per cent of Disney’s $7.59bn operating income.

Cable remains Disney’s largest business but its share of operating income has fallen: in 2015, it accounted for 46 per cent of Disney’s $14.68bn operating income as theme parks, film studio and consumer products grew at a more rapid clip.

This is due to the intellectual property Disney now has at its disposal. Marvel movies such as Iron Man, The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy have added billions of dollars to Disney’s top line, while Disney Animation, which was ailing a decade ago, has been revived under the leadership of Pixar founders John Lasseter and Ed Catmull.

Zootopia, Disney’s latest release, broke opening weekend records for an animated movie last week while a sequel to 2013’s smash Frozen is in the works. Frozen is also being developed into a Broadway show, with Disney hoping to repeat the success of its Lion King musical, which has grossed more than $6bn worldwide over the past 18 years.

With Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm, Mr Iger says he has been able to minimise the risk in film production. “We used to have huge volatility in our movie studio. It could make $200m one year and $800m the next,” he says. “Now, there will be some fluctuation, like a big Star Wars movie in a given year, but [the returns] are going to be much more steady. And they will deliver to our bottom line.”

This has not gone unnoticed on Wall Street, with some analysts suggesting that market reactions to reductions in ESPN subscriber numbers may have been overblown.

“It is wrong to overlook the growth coming from businesses which contribute half of Disney’s profits,” Jason Bazinet, analyst at Citi, wrote in a recent research note.

Alexia Quadrani, analyst with JPMorgan, said Disney’s ability “to monetise its brands across its businesses” was “likely to overshadow other concerns and drive upside to shares”.

As analysts and investors continue to scrutinise ESPN, Mr Iger says comparisons with other media companies ignore the breadth of Disney’s businesses.

“We’re not a media company. We’re in the food business, the transportation business, the vacation business, the hotel business, the technology business, the consumer products business, movies, TV, books, games. I believe that we are very differentiated from the rest of the companies in our space.”

Chief executive Bob Iger speaks in front of Shanghai Disney Resort model in July

Disney to reboot ‘Star Wars’ for China

The release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens last December focused attention on how Disney uses content across its various businesses, with new attractions based on the film series planned at its theme parks and $3bn of toys and other merchandising sold in the first quarter. While the movie broke opening records and exceeded expectations in the US and Europe it did not perform as Mr Iger had expected in China, the world’s fastest-growing movie market, where it grossed $125m — less than in the UK. “We thought it would be bigger,” says Mr Iger. Chinese audiences were not as familiar with the Star Wars story because the original films were never released there in the 1970s and 1980s. “We have work to do in China in familiarising people with the film and the franchise. When a guy gets on a flying vehicle with a furry character and says, ‘Chewie, we’re home’, everybody in the US just starts clapping. In China, they think ‘Who is Chewie?’” The opening in June of Disney’s Shanghai theme park, its first in mainland China, should increase awareness of the company’s characters and stories. Mr Iger says the $5.5bn development is one of the most ambitious developments Disney has ever undertaken. “Maybe since Walt amassed 30,000 acres of central Florida with a vision of building a big theme park there.” It may have more success in China with Rogue One, the first spin-off Star Wars film, which comes out at the end of 2016. The cast includes two Chinese stars — Donnie Yen and Jiang Wen — who will resonate with the country’s audiences. Disney plans to make more movies in China, says Mr Iger. “We’re going to ramp up our moviemaking production in China significantly.”

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Two trilogy episodes and three spin-offs are already planned.

Daisy Ridley, who appeared in last year’s hit movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens, stars in the next film Star Wars: Episode VIII, along with Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren) and Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Max Kanata) and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker). The movie is scheduled for release on December 15, 2017.

The two other agreed movies have not been revealed, although it is speculated there will be a Star Wars IX in 2019, with the third movie out the following year.

Disney are now though working on more projects featuring new and legacy characters. Solo movies for Jedi Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu are among the ideas.

Daisy Ridley as Rey, and John Boyega, as Finn, in a scene from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Picture: Disney / Lucasfilm via APSource:AP

Speaking in LA, executive producer JJ Abrams told The Sun: “There are some really cool things being discussed. It is very exciting to see how it is being put together.”

A source added: “The success of The Force Awakens has given executives much to think about.

“So many characters’ backstories and futures can now be brought to life. When these ideas came from George Lucas 40 years ago, technology was lagging behind. Now they can be turned around in a year.”

Disney paid Lucasfilm $5. 3 billion for the rights in 2012. It has banked $2.9 billion from the 2015 movie The Force Awakens even before DVD sales. The Force Awakens is the highest grossing movie in US history and the third highest worldwide.

Daisy Ridley at the 88th Annual Academy Awards at Hollywood & Highland Centre on February 28, 2016 in Hollywood, California. Picture: Mike Windle / Getty ImagesSource:Getty Images

Stand-alone film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which stars Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, is out this year, with Han Solo and Boba Fett stand-alone films due in 2018 and 2020.

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With its back to a wall, the Walt Disney Company shelled out $7.6 billion in 2006 to buy Pixar, the animation powerhouse behind “Toy Story” and “Finding Nemo.”

This weekend, the smashing success of “Zootopia” confirmed the wisdom of that decade-old acquisition. It continues a string of box office hits such as “Tangled,” “Big Hero 6,” “Wreck-It Ralph” and “Frozen” that might not have been possible had Disney not absorbed Pixar and its brain trust.

Although they were released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios banner, Pixar’s DNA — a double helix of artistic daring and technological innovation — is evident in all of these films. That makes sense given that as part of the Pixar purchase, the company’s leaders Ed Catmull and John Lasseter assumed responsibility for all of Disney’s animated output.

“What they have focused on in each of these films is having an original voice and an original story, all set in an original world,” said Dave Hollis, Disney’s distribution chief, who dubbed Walt Disney Animation Studios a “momentum machine.”

It wasn’t always clear that the bet would pay off. Some on Wall Street questioned whether Pixar was worth the astronomical purchase price, but the fact remained that the house that Mickey Mouse built was in need of some renovation, and Disney didn’t have much choice other than to pony up. It had surrendered its dominant position in the animation market to a gang of computer wizards who had an uncanny ability to create a new generation of animation icons. From Buzz Lightyear to Mr. Incredible, the Pixar heroes were every bit the equal of Peter Pan, Cinderella, Simba and other staples of Disney’s family friendly empire.

In the process, Pixar had supplanted Disney’s feature animation arm. As Pixar thrived, Walt Disney Animation Studios spent the late ’90s and early aughts mired in a creative and commercial torpor. “Home on the Range,” “Atlantis: The Lost Empire,” “Treasure Planet” and “Brother Bear” failed to stir the imagination, floundering at the box office and making the glory days of “The Lion King” and “Beauty and the Beast” seem very long ago indeed.

“It was the bottom of the barrel,” remembers Jeff Bock, a box office analyst with Exhibitor Relations.

To fix the animation unit, Catmull and Lasseter essentially remade it in Pixar’s own image. It took Pixar innovations — namely an emphasis on story and a workshop approach to working through the problems and thorny elements of a film — and exported them to Walt Disney Animation Studios. Aspart of the Pixar-ization, Catmull and Lasseter instituted an open office plan, recruited new talent and emphasized jettisoning the generic.

“They’ve surrounded storytellers with other storytellers and that’s created an environment where collectively they can focus on delivering something great,” said Hollis. “They’ve empowered storytellers.”

In the process, Walt Disney Animation has become perhaps the most original voice in the animated world. At times it has worked from well known source material. “Frozen” was inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The Snow Queen” and “Big Hero 6” was based on a comic-book, but the studio’s artists have embraced myriad genres and approaches while crafting each of their movies in ways that make them feel unique.

“Frozen” embraces the showmanship and emotionalism of the Broadway musical, “Big Hero 6” integrates visual elements of Japanese anime and “Wreck-It Ralph” serves up a heartfelt ode to arcade games. “Zootopia,” which opened to a record-breaking $73.7 million this weekend, is no different.  The story of a rabbit trying to break into the police force plays like a buddy cop comedy with cuter squad car inhabitants. It has also been embraced by critics for bucking convention, with the New York Post’s Lou Lumenick calling it the year’s best film so far
and Variety‘s Peter DeBruge calling it “an adult-friendly whodunit with a chipper ‘you can do it!’ message for the cubs.”

The Disney animation rebound has taken place as the family film business has grown crowded. For a time, the animation sector was carved up between Disney/Pixar and DreamWorks Animation, but over the past decade, many new players have entered the marketplace. Fox’s Blue Sky and Universal’s Illumination have all fielded breakout hits such as “Ice Age” and “Despicable Me,” while Warner Bros., Paramount and Sony are investing heavily in their animation divisions. The margin for error has never been slimmer.

“It is a far, far more competitive landscape now than it was three, four, five, six years ago,” DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg said this week at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference.

He noted that in the old days, a company’s name above the title was enough to guarantee a certain level of financial performance. That’s no longer the case, he added.

“It was the brand that did the work for us,” said Katzenberg. “We can’t rely on that anymore.”

Ironically, Disney Animation’s revival has occurred at a time when Pixar has seemed less sure-footed. Though “Inside Out,” an imaginative look at the emotional landscape of a pre-teen girl, was one of the studio’s most beloved and acclaimed productions, it has been the exception and not the rule, of late. Pixar stumbled badly with “The Good Dinosaur,” its first financial flop, and has been increasingly focused on churning out sequels to past successes such as “Monsters University” and “Cars 2.” They have been financially successful, but lack the shock of fresh that characterized earlier Pixar efforts. This summer brings “Finding Dory,” a follow-up to “Finding Nemo,” and new installments in “The Incredibles,” “Cars” and “Toy Story” franchises are also on the horizon.

“Pixar used to be all about originality,” said Bock. “But they fell into sequel mode as most studios do and now it’s Disney Animation that is the one trying new things.”

At some point, Bock says, the studio will get sucked into making sequels to “Tangled” and “Frozen,” but until that time, it’s Walt Disney Animation Studios and not Pixar, that is extending the boundaries of what is possible in animation.

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Anyone who has been to Walt Disney‘s (NYSE:DIS)  Animal Kingdom theme park in recent months has seen the heavy construction activity taking place behind the scenes. Mechanical cranes and a “floating mountain” are visible above the greenery as one enters the parking lot, building out the park’s ambitiousAvatar-themed land that will open next year.

On a less costly but potentially more impactful note, it’s impossible to miss the walled-off lake approaching the Asia section of the park where crews are busy putting the finishing touches on an amphitheater that will host the park’s upcoming nighttime show. When Rivers of Light opens — and Disney announced on Wednesday that the nightly celebration will officially debut on April 22 — guests will be able to see an outdoor show where choreographed music sequences, illuminated lanterns, and projections on water screens come together in paying tribute to the world’s wildlife.

It’s not a coincidence that the new show will kick off on Earth Day, exactly 18 years after the park officially opened on Earth Day in 1998. The only real shock is that it took the theme park giant this long to realize that it can consistently entertain guests after sundown.

In its present state, Disney realizes that Animal Kingdom isn’t a full-day destination. It closed earlier tonight at 6 p.m., rivaling your far-less-expensive local zoo or science museum on the operating calendar. Until just a couple of years ago, it was Disney World’s least visited park, eventually surpassing Disney’s Hollywood Studios in annual attendance because that park was being even more neglected by the media giant.

Things are changing. As a show that needs darkness to strut its visual stuff, you are unlikely to ever see another 6 p.m. closing of the park come April 22. Instead of folks bolting for the exits in the mid-afternoon when the Florida heat or the park’s lack of rides drives guests elsewhere, Animal Kingdom’s visitors will keep trickling in as the hours pass — helping Disney cash in on tourists spending big bucks on dinner restaurants, drinks, and illuminated trinkets like the rest of its theme parks.

Next month’s seemingly simple nighttime show will be a game changer. It will be the catalyst for other unique post-sunset experiences that Disney has in store. The park’s Tree of Life centerpiece will light up. Its signature safari ride will offer nighttime excursions highlighting nocturnal creatures. All of this will be enhanced through lively open-air entertainment experiences.

The hours-extending upgrades next month will make the park more magnetic, and that’s even before Avatar‘s Pandora opens next year. When that new land debuts in 2017, guests at a park with few actual rides will be able to take a boat ride on the film’s Na’vi river or opt for a thrill ride by going flying on a banshee.

I was one of the park’s loudest critics during the park’s first few years, culminating in a scathing and perhaps unfair critique penned nearly a decade ago. The park offers some of the most stylistic themed elements of any Disney park, but in terms of tourists getting the most bang for their buck, it was hard to deny the exodus that would routinely take place early in the afternoon. Disney has done a good job of changing that, and starting next month it will take the first of two big steps to doing a great job of changing that.

We’ve seen Animal Kingdom go from entertaining just 7.3 million annual guests a dozen years ago to 10.4 million visitors in 2014, according to industry tracker Themed Entertainment Association. That record tally will be obliterated with every passing year, and it starts next month with a nighttime show put out by a theme park titan where nocturnal celebrations are part of its pedigree.

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Airlines do it. Hotels do it. Sport venues and concert halls do it.

And, to the irritation of car-less urban travelers, so does Uber.

Now the Walt Disney Co. is jumping on the bandwagon with demand-based pricing, too.

In a weekend blog post the company announced that because “the demand for Disney Parks continues to grow, especially during peak periods,” seasonal pricing will now be applied to 1-day tickets at both Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida.

Disney says new ticket pricing, which has already gone into effect, is designed to “help spread out visitation,” but it means higher prices will be charged during the most popular periods (such as holidays and summer weekends) and lower prices during slow seasons, such as September, when kids go back to school.

Using crowd calendars, the new pricing plan divides the calendar by “day types” and sets three tiers for one-day tickets: “value,” “regular” and “peak.”

Pricing for the new 1-day tickets varies by park: at Disneyland in California, a one-day “value” (or off-peak) ticket now costs $95, a “regular” ticket costs $105 and a peak-day ticket costs $119. At Walt Disney World, a one-day “value” ticket is now $97, a “regular” ticket costs $102 and a “peak” ticket will set you back $114.

1-day Value, Regular or Peak season tickets purchased now must be used by December, 31, 2017 and can only be used on corresponding days on the crowd calendar. For example, a Value ticket will only gain you entry into a park only on a Value season date, while a Peak Ticket will be good any day, “Value,” “Regular” or “Peak.”

Response to the new pricing is, not surprisingly, mixed.

Yvette Sterbank of Corning, New York is headed to Florida in a few weeks with her family and hasn’t yet purchased park tickets because she’s trying to rationalize the cost.

“$400 to $600 for a family of four to spend one day in one or two crowded parks is already pretty outrageous,” said Sterbank. “Surge pricing would just make this decision less palatable.”

But Southern California resident Jen Miner loves the idea of surge pricing.

“If I lived in the Midwest, I would probably be irritated,” said Miner, “but surge pricing makes it easier for me to pay a little less and not make my kids go to Disneyland during the busiest times of the year, when the parks get so unmanageable and crowded. Anything that helps alleviate the chaos is a good idea.”

Travelers looking for “workarounds” to the Disney parks’ new pricing plan have some options.

“Simply put, there’s now an even greater incentive to time your visit for off-peak times,” said, Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, family vacations expert at About.com “If your family can be flexible and visit midweek or in a slow month such as September, your tickets will cost less.”

Another strategy is to make the most of your one-day Disney park ticket, whether you’ve paid a “value”, “regular” or “peak” price.

Doug Stallings, senior editor at Fodor’s Travel, suggests staying on-site so you get the all the perks associated with being a Disney guest, such as getting into the parks early, being able to plan rides and experiences in advance and being able to buy meal plans.

“With prices at these parks being so high, you really do want to get your money’s worth, and you aren’t going to do that if you have to stand in several hour-long lines in a day,” said Stallings.

Another strategy to consider: other theme parks.

The new Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens April 7 at Universal Studios in California, “which will certainly give Disneyland a run for its money in the near-term,” said Stallings, “And in nearby Buena Park, there’s Knott’s Berry Farm. While it’s not as big and elaborate as Disneyland, it’s a fun place to visit and more low-key.”

In Orlando, Stallings lists alternative Disney park attractions that range from the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando as well as Sea World, the WonderWorks Science museum and numerous water parks, indoor playgrounds and mini-golf courses.

Also,”Legoland is about an hour away and is drawing large numbers of families with younger kids” said Stallings, and for something more nostalgic and old-fashioned attraction, there’s Gatorland.

As for whether or not other theme parks will follow Disney and adopt surge pricing, it may just be a matter of time.

“You have more people — particularly foreign travelers — traveling and fighting for space at the most popular destinations,” said Stallings, “So sadly, I think that’s just the direction the parks are heading.”

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Walt Disney’s Zootopia got off to a solid start on Thursday, with a $1.7 million gross from showings that started at 7:00 pm. Now obviously animated movies don’t tend to have huge Thursday numbers, since it’s not like there are tons of “fanboys/fangirls” waiting in long lines on Thursday night for the latest animated adventure. So all we can do now is do the comparisons and see where this new Disney classic will end up.

For comparison’s sake, Minions set the record for a Thursday preview gross last July with a $6.2 million haul (towards a $115m weekend making Thursday 5.3% of the opening weekend), while Despicable Me 2 earned $4.7m in Tuesday previews in July of 2013. Walt Disney’s Inside Out had a $3.7m Thursday preview which led to a $91m debut weekend (4%). Toy Story 3 began its $110m debut weekend with $4.1m in midnight previews (3.6%) back in June 2010.

Monsters University earned $2.6 million on Thursday on the way to an $82m debut weekend (3.1%) in June of 2013. Frozen, which owns the record for the biggest Fri-Sun debut for a Walt Disney animated feature with $67.4m over the Fri-Sun frame of its $93m Thanksgiving debut, earned $1.2m in Thursday screenings. Other reasonable comparisons are the likes of Maleficent ($4.2m Thursday/$69.4m weekend = 6%), Big Hero 6 ($1.4m/$56.2m = 2.4%), and Cinderella ($2.3m/$67.8m = 3.3%). Oh, and Wreck It Ralph made a whole 0.8% of its $49m debut on Thursday night, but there you go.

But getting serious for a moment, it is looking like we may see a new Fri-Sun opening weekend record for a non-Pixar Disney toon. Looking at the more front-loaded options, if it plays like Inside Out (4%) or Monsters University (3.1%), it gets to between and $42.5 million and $54m for the weekend. That’s a little unlikely, but there you go just in case. A performance like Big Hero 6 (2.4%) gets Zootopia to $70m for the weekend, which seems to be where the even money sits, give or take if word of mouth is as strong as the reviews.

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