“The Wonderful World of Disney” buzzes on with Disney and PixarÕs Academy Award¨-winning “Toy Story 3,” WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17 (8:00-10:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC. (TV-G) “Toy Story 3” welcomes Woody (voice of Tom Hanks), Buzz (voice of Tim Allen) and the whole gang back as Andy prepares to depart for college, and his loyal toys find themselves in É daycare! Untamed tots with their sticky little fingers do not play nice, so itÕs all for one and one for all as plans for a great escape get underway. A few new faces Ð some plastic, some plush Ð join the adventure, including BarbieÕs counterpart Ken (voice of Michael Keaton), a thespian hedgehog named Mr. Pricklepants (voice of Timothy Dalton) and a pink, strawberry-scented teddy bear called Lots-oÕ-HugginÕ Bear (voice of Ned Beatty). “Toy Story 3” is a comical adventure directed by Lee Unkrich (co-director of “Toy Story 2” and “Finding Nemo”), produced by Pixar veteran Darla K. Anderson (“Cars,” “Monsters, Inc.”), and written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt (“Little Miss Sunshine”). (DISNEY/PIXAR)
SLINKY DOG, ALIENS, BULLSEYE, JESSIE, MR. POTATO HEAD, WOODY, MRS. POTATO HEAD, REX, BUZZ LIGHTYEAR, HAMM
Disney CEO Bob Iger delivered some sobering news during a recent earnings call, per Variety: as part of an effort to cut costs by $5 billion, Disney is laying off 7,000 people.
Does that need to happen? Indicators are mixed. On the one hand, Disney lost almost 2.5 million subscribers to Disney+, mostly from Disney+ Hotstar, the company’s Indian streamer. The company has hit tough times, right?
Maybe, but it’s worth noting that the company posted $23.51 billion in revenue, up 8% from the quarter before. That sounds pretty good, but the company needs to look as profitable as possible to investors and letting people go will cut expenditures, so goodbye go 3% of the company workforce. Hooray.
Disney announces Toy Story 5, Frozen 3 and Zootopia 2
Something else guaranteed to make money: sequels. To that end, Iger revealed that Disney is working on new entries in the Toy Story, Frozen and Zootopia franchises, none of which is a surprise.
Disney has big plans for Avatar, as well; Iger called it a core franchise for the company, as well he might after The Way of Water became the fourth highest grossing movie of all time (and still climbing). A new theme park attraction called the Avatar Experience will be coming to Disneyland, although Iger didn’t reveal any details.
There are release dates for the new movies as of yet.
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