Tagged With: Disney

Nina Jacobson has signed a three-year, first-look agreement at DreamWorks Studios, according to THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. This deal comes six months after she was removed as head of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. The new agreement goes into effect in January.

Jacobson previously worked at DreamWorks as a senior film exec prior to taking the post of president of the motion picture division at Disney in 1998. At DreamWorks, she developed hits, such as WHAT LIES BENEATH and ANTZ, for which she is credited as formulating the original idea.

NBC TODAY SHOW weather & feature reporter Al Roker guest stars as the voice of Normus the giant in a new episode of Playhouse Disney's JOJO'S CIRCUS, premiering Nov. 20, 2006, with a rebroadcast on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23 in a six-hour block of TV's first movement-focused series. JoJo will also fly as a giant balloon in the 80th anniversary Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the first-ever balloon to feature "movement" -- juggling.

Disney has bought the rights to ANIMATED AMERICAN, a live-action/animation hybrid that deals with the issue of teens trying to fit in, VARIETY reports. Producers will be Bob Cooper's Landscape Ent. and ImageMovers partners Robert Zemeckis and Jack Rapke.

Peter Ackerman (ICE AGE) is set to write the screenplay, which will follow an animated outsider, who lives in a live-action world and must deal with his girlfriend leaving him while hes away at sea.

Disney Channel has ordered a third season of CHARLIE AND LOLA, the preschool series about a pair of supportive siblings, for its learning-focused Playhouse Disney programming block.

"The series does a wonderful job of showcasing preschool-age life lessons through the special bond siblings have," said Nancy Kanter, svp, original programming, Disney Channel. "We are delighted that Charlie and Lola's tender and humorous relationship will continue to warm the hearts of our young viewers and their parents and caregivers."

Animation legend Ed Benedict passed away in his sleep on Aug. 28, 2006. He was 94.

In 1930, Benedict began his animation career at Disney, working on such shorts as THE CHINA PLATE and BLUE RHYTHM. Benedict left Disney and moved to Universal to work on Walter Lantzs OSWALD shorts, beginning with THE DIZZY DWARF. Universal would remain his home for most of the 1930s, minus short periods at the Charles Mintz Studio and the time he formed his own studio, Benedict-Brewer, with Jerry Brewer.

Disney is expecting thousands of fans to show up for its first-ever ToonFest, the sold-out fan fest dedicated to the family-friendly videogame, Disneys TOONTOWN ONLINE. The event takes place this Saturday, Aug. 26, 2006, at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Themed activities throughout the day include contests, activity stations, carnival games, computer panel discussions with Disney Online game designers, play, a costume parade and an appearance by Kyle Massey from THAT'S SO RAVEN and the upcoming Disney Channel original series, CORY IN THE HOUSE.