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Brad Bird's 1993 animated series "Family Dog" began its life several years earlier as an episode of "Amazing Stories," a Steven Spielberg-produced anthology series that utilized the talents of Clint Eastwood (among many other notable filmmakers). Also titled "Family Dog," the episode aired on February 16, 1987, and featured a cute white terrier of some kind (with its barks provided by Bird) who lived in an ordinary suburb with a white sitcom family. The dog was only ever referred to as "the dog," but his actual name was Jonah. The episode also starred the legendary Stan Freberg as the family patriarch and Annie Potts as his wife. Danny Elfman and Steve Bartek provided the music, with Tim Burton contributing to the short's character designs.

The piece was sliced into three vignettes, all of which centered on the ways a family dog can forcibly -- and unfortunately -- insert themselves into traditional family moments.

Before the premieres of The Muppet Show in 1976 and Sesame Street in 1969 — and even before he was a frequent guest on The Ed Sullivan Show in the late 1960s — Jim Henson created a puppet show called Sam and Friends, which debuted 70 years ago today, on May 9, 1955. While the show’s episodes were just five minutes long, over the course of an 1,000-episode run, Sam and Friends became where Henson first figured out key parts of the Muppets’ now-familiar style and where at least one very familiar face would make his debut.

When he was still in high school, Henson got a job at the local Maryland television station Wtop on a new children’s show called The Junior Morning Show, where kids read the news alongside some puppets. Henson wanted to work in television, but he had no interest in reading the news, so he opted to build puppets for the show.

For my money, the Monkees are way, way more interesting than the Beatles. 

According to Andrew Sandoval's thorough and invaluable book "The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the '60s TV Pop Sensation," an ad was put in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter on September 8, 1965, looking for "four insane boys" to be the members of a new pre-fabricated pop band. The band would also star in a TV series -- deliberately meant to evoke Richard Lester's 1964 Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night" -- that would use their real names, but present their lives as a fictional merry-go-round of kooky shenanigans. 

The producers zeroed in on former child actor Micky Dolenz, a friend of musician Stephen Stills named Peter Tork, a British, boyish heartthrob named Davy Jones, and heir to the Liquid Paper fortune, Mike Nesmith. Their TV series debuted on September 12, 1966, the week after "Star Trek" debuted, and...

Singer, actor, producer and activist Harry Belafonte, who spawned a calypso craze in the U.S. with his music and blazed new trails for African-American performers, has died of congestive heart failure at his Manhattan home. He was 96.

An award-winning Broadway performer and a versatile recording and concert star of the ’50s, the lithe, handsome Belafonte became one of the first black leading men in Hollywood. He later branched into production work on theatrical films and telepics.

As his career stretched into the new millennium, his commitment to social causes never took a back seat to his professional work.

An intimate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he was an important voice in the ’60s civil rights movement, and he later embarked on charitable activities on behalf of underdeveloped African nations. He was an outspoken opponent of South Africa’s apartheid policies.

Belafonte was set to receive the Motion Picture...

In the second head-turning Grammy ineligibility decision to be publicized this week, Bo Burnham’s “Inside (The Songs)” has been nixed as a contender in the comedy album category for the 2022 Grammys.

The album will still be put on the preliminary ballot going out to Recording Academy members, but in the category of best compilation soundtrack for visual media instead of comedy album, Billboard reported Thursday. The album is made up of musical material that appeared in Burnham’s hit Netflix special, “Inside.”

Billboard said that Burnham’s record label, Republic, confirmed the news. The Recording Academy does not make the preliminary ballots that go out to voters public, so controversies over classification usually only become widely known if the artist or label opts to go public with dissatisfaction over the genre they end up in.

That was the case Tuesday when a major music news story emerged out of...

Babs and Buster Bunny, Plucky Duck, Hamton J. Pig, and their crazy friends are returning. The animated stars of the 1990s Tiny Toon Adventures series are returning in a new show called Tiny Toons Looniversity. HBO Max and Cartoon Network Series have ordered the new series from Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation.

There's no word yet if the original Tiny Toon Adventures series' voice actors will return for the new incarnation. They include Charlie Adler, Tress MacNeille, Kath Soucie, Maurice Lamarche, Frank Welker, Rob Paulsen, Danny Cooksey, Cree Summer, Jeff Bergman, Candi Milo, Noel Blanc, Jim Cummings, John Kassir, Bob Bergen, and Greg Burson. Legends Joe Alaskey, Don Messick, June Foray, and Stan Freberg also worked on the original 1990-95 series but have since passed away.

Two seasons have been ordered but there's no word on when the show will launch. A...

Rylee Jean Ebsen, who helped create many of Snapchat's ads, promos and original content - and even some of the technical production processes of vertical video - has left the building after seven years at the social-media platform.

She's not going far, about five miles south of Snap's new headquarters by the Santa Monica, Calif., airport, to the sleek offices for Big Block, a Los Angeles-area creative-services company with decades-long ties in the automotive business. These days, it creates advertising and motion graphics for big clients such as Toyota and ESPN.

Turns out that what Ebsen really wants to do is direct. The new job will free her to do just that after occupying a variety of video- and marketing-related roles with Snapchat.

Now she'll direct and be a creative consultant on a wide range of Big Block TV commercials and other projects, trying like her grandfather to...

Would you like to know how to make a baby boomer fanboy’s head explode?

O.K. That was a trick question. There are plenty of ways to make a baby boomer fanboy’s head explode. It’s our fault, really. Many of us had children. But I digress.

One way to make a baby boomer fanboy’s head explode is to ask him (well, I said fanboy) which Neal Adams’ project is his favorite. My knee-jerk response would be Green Lantern / Green Arrow #80 for personal reasons, and The Spectre #3 (the one from 1968) to prove I’m still a fanboy at heart.

That is, until last week. Now I’ve got a clear favorite. And it’s not a comic book… although it is about a comic book. And a damn good one at that.

Last week, our pal and mystical production overlord Glenn Hauman, who occasionally writes something or...

Al Yankovic can be described in a lot of ways besides "Weird." Most people know that he's a chart-topping singer-songwriter, a director-producer, a top-notch parodist, an author and a die-hard polka enthusiast. Even those who have followed his career closely, however, may have forgotten he was, for a brief moment, the host of a short-lived children's television show.

The Weird Al Show debuted on CBS on September 13, 1997 as part of their Saturday morning lineup. Each episode began with the all important "today's lesson" before viewers were invited into Yankovic's underground...

On Friday I learned that one of my childhood heroes died. June Foray passed on at the age of 99.

Ms. Foray was a voice actress working in animated features all her long career, as well as in comedy shorts and appearances on Johnny Carson and with Stan Freberg, Daws Butler, and Frank Nelson. She was the voice of Grandmother in Mulan, of Betty Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas and, most important to me, she was the voice of Natasha Fatale and Rocky the Flying Squirrel on the various Rocky and Bullwinkle shows created by the legendary Jay Ward.

Rocky and Bullwinkle had a huge impact on me as a kid. All of Jay Ward’s stuff had a combination of sophisticated and low-brow humor. There were elements of satire combined with a lot of really bad puns.

Originally, the dimwitted Bullwinkle was the sidekick to the plucky hero Rocket J.

2017-07-27T06:39:47-07:00June Foray, Voice of Rocky the Squirrel, Dies at 99

June Foray, the famed “first lady of voice actors” whose repertoire of characters include Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Pottsylvanian spy Natasha Fatale, Tweety Bird’s owner Granny and a sinister talking doll, has died. She was 99.

Foray, who worked alongside such animated legends as Mel Blanc, Chuck Jones, Stan Freberg and Jay Ward during her unseen yet spectacular eight-decade career, died Wednesday according to close friend Dave Nimitz who posted a notice of her passing on Facebook.

Versatile in her intonations and cadence, Foray provided voices for an incredible range of characters, including the killer Talky Tina doll in the 1963 “Living Doll” installment of The Twilight Zone, an episode said to be inspired by Mattel’s enormously popular pull-string Chatty Cathy doll (she provided the voice for that, too).

Read the rest of this article at The Hollywood Reporter.

June Foray, the voice of Rocky The Flying Squirrel, Granny from Looney Tunes, and literally hundreds of other beloved animated characters, has died. Heralded as “the first lady” and the “queen” of voice acting, Foray’s career in film and TV stretched for 71 years and more than 300 credits, embodying everyone from Magica De Spell to Dorothy from The Wizard Of Oz. As reported by Variety, Foray was 99.

Originally working in radio—and on comedy albums with Stan Freberg—Foray broke into film in 1950, when she voiced Lucifer the cat in Disney’s Cinderella. From there, it would probably be easier to list the beloved animated series she didn’t appear on: Her versatile voice showed up in The Flintstones, Peter Pan, Mister Magoo, dozens of Looney Tunes shorts—with director Chuck Jones supposedly once noting that “June Foray is not the female Mel Blanc, Mel Blanc ...

Since its release 60 years ago this week (on June 22, 1955), "Lady and the Tramp" has been not just one of the most beloved Disney animated features ever made, but also one of the great romances in screen history.

Still, as often as you've seen it, there's still plenty you may not know about how the canine classic came to be, So grab a plate of spaghetti and meatballs and chow down on 19 of "Lady"'s behind-the-scenes dish.

1. It took nearly 20 years to get the film made. The main character originated in sketches made by Disney animator Joe Grant in 1937, based on his own spaniel, whose name was Lady. Grant envisioned a short cartoon about a dog who's puzzled by the arrival of his masters' newborn baby.

2. By 1940, Walt Disney had imagined expanding the short into a feature and adding a dog-hating housesitter, two mischievous Siamese cats (then named Nip and Tuck), and a suitor for Lady,...

Didja ever notice how politically correct all the kids are now? It's like you can't make jokes about anyone anymore. What is the Deal with that?

No, Jerry Seinfeld didn't say that, but just wait.

The 61-year-old sitcom icon has been making the rounds lately, from Espn's "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" to NBC's "Late Night With Seth Meyers." complaining that he can't perform at colleges because they get so sensitive about certain jokes, like the one where he compares a typical smartphone user to a "gay French king."

And it's not just college campuses where political correctness chills humor, apparently. It's also the place where Seinfeld was once master of his domain: television. This week, Spike announced it would cut a joke from the June 18 broadcast of the Guys Choice awards ceremony, where Clint Eastwood made a quip about athletes who've tried acting, including "Jim Brown and Caitlyn Somebody.

June Foray, the famed “first lady of voice actors” whose repertoire of characters include Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Pottsylvanian spy Natasha Fatale, Tweety Bird’s owner Granny and a sinister talking doll, has died. She was 99.

Foray, who worked alongside such animated legends as Mel Blanc, Chuck Jones, Stan Freberg and Jay Ward during her unseen yet spectacular eight-decade career, died Wednesday according to close friend Dave Nimitz who posted a notice of her passing on Facebook.

Versatile in her intonations and cadence, Foray provided voices for an incredible range of characters, including the killer Talky Tina doll...

Stan Freberg was one of my heroes; he died on Tuesday at the age of 88. If you don’t know his name, you should, and if you do a search online you may find yourself an instant fan. (example: this TV spot for Sunsweet Prunes) When I was a kid, committing his comedy records to memory and eagerly awaiting his latest commercials, I never dreamed that I would meet him, let alone call him a friend someday. I can’t overstate the influence he had on me during my adolescence; he helped shape my sense of humor and permanently planted his ideas, catchphrases, and voices into my consciousness. Say the name “Ben Franklin” and I think of that founding father uttering the words “life, liberty and...

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Stan Freberg, who skewered pop culture and McCarthyism with satirical records and did cartoon voices for nearly six decades, died today of pneumonia and respiratory problems in Santa Monica. He was 88. His son Donavan confirmed the news to Deadline. In November, Freberg was honored by his many friends at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Harry Shearer was the host, and Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks sent a video tribute from location in Germany. "It was the best evening…...

Stan Freberg, who skewered pop culture and McCarthyism with satirical records and did cartoon voices for nearly six decades, died today of pneumonia and respiratory problems in Santa Monica. He was 88. His son Donavan confirmed the news to Deadline. In November, Freberg was honored by his many friends at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Harry Shearer was the host, and Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks sent a video tribute from location in Germany. "It was the best evening…...

Stan Freberg, whose freewheeling comic career in advertising garnered him worldwide acclaim and whose satirical entertainments abounded on TV, the radio and on records, has died. He was 88. Freberg died of natural causes at a Santa Monica hospital, his son and daughter, Donavan and Donna Freberg, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. “He was and will always be my hero, and I will carry his brilliant legacy forward as best I am able,” his son wrote on Facebook. The godfather of humorous and irreverent commercials, Freberg lampooned cultural institutions and described himself as a “guerilla satirist.” The New York

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Cast

Captain T. G. Culpeper Spencer Tracy J. Russell Finch Milton Berle Melville Crump Sid Caesar Benjy Benjamin Buddy Hackett Mrs. Marcus Ethel Merman Ding Bell Mickey Rooney Sylvester Marcus Dick Shawn Otto Meyer Phil Silvers J. Algernon Hawthorne Terry-Thomas Lennie Pike Jonathan Winters Monica Crump Edie Adams Emeline Finch Dorothy Provine Cabdriver Eddie “Rochester” Anderson Tyler Fitzgerald Jim Backus Man driving in the desert Jack Benny Union official Joe E. Brown Biplane pilot Ben Blue Police sergeant Alan Carney Detective Chick Chandler Mrs. Halliburton Barrie Chase Mayor Lloyd Corrigan Police chief William Demarest Sheriff of Crocket County Andy Devine Ginger Culpeper (voice) Selma Diamond Cabdriver Peter Falk Detective Normal Fell Colonel Wilberforce Paul Ford Deputy sheriff Stan Freberg Billie Sue Culpeper (voice) Louise Glenn Cabdriver Leo Gorcey Fire chief Sterling Holloway Mr. Dinckler Edward Everett Horton Irwin Marvin Kaplan Jimmy the Cook Buster Keaton Nervous motorist Don Knotts Airport...

“Under the Smogberry Trees”, the interview documentary about Barry Hansen, Aka Dr. Demento, has undergone a radical change in source and producer. Mr. Hansen’s representatives have reportedly seized control of the production from its creators, Meep Morp Studio, after a protracted series of legal saber-rattling and suspect behavior.

First started as a Kickstarter campaign in 2013, the project met its goals and the film had originally been planned for release this last August. But supporters of the film’s campaign received an email over the weekend from the studio reporting that Mr. Hansen and his company was now in control of the production, and would be responsible for the balance of all rewards, including the film itself.

A more detailed explanation at the production’s website went into more detail of the film’s travails.

When time finally came for Barry’s feature interview this past July, he and his...

This story first appeared in the June 27 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. I first heard of Casey Kasem when I heard him. I was a fan of Kewb, "Channel 91" out of Oakland, Calif. (and a little sister to Kfwb, "Channel 98" in Los Angeles). It was 1961, and he was a fast-talking young shouter who kept his engineer busy playing sound effects and wild tracks — comic phrases lifted from Stan Freberg recordings — while "The Caser" yakked with imaginary characters. Photos Casey Kasem Through the Years He was your typical Top 40 DJ. And then he wasn't.

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Hollywood Goes "Mad"

By Raymond Benson

It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, the 1963 classic epic comedy directed by Stanley Kramer, is one of those Hollywood train wrecks that you can’t help but like. It’s a one-of-a-kind all-star extravaganza featuring some of the biggest names of mostly 1950s and early 1960s comedy (and a good number of them were known primarily as television actor/comics rather than big screen performers). The United Artists release was one of a current trend of movie star ensemble film in which the producers attempt to throw in as many big names as possible (e.g. Exodus, Judgment at Nuremberg, The Longest Day). As Kramer himself states in a reunion extra that appears on Criterion’s new Blu-ray/DVD combo set, “It would be impossible to make today,” due to the salaries stars demand now.

The forthcoming Criterion Blu-ray/DVD special edition of Stanley Kramer's 1963 comedy classic It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World won't be released until January 21 but you can pre-order it now on Amazon and save $10. The set will contain a combined five discs, making this Criterion's most ambitious release to date. 

Here is breakdown of what you can expect from the press release:

Stanley Kramer followed his Oscar-winning Judgment at Nuremberg with this sobering investigation of American greed. Ah, who are we kidding? It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, about a group of strangers fighting tooth and nail over buried treasure, is the most grandly harebrained movie ever made, a pileup of slapstick and borscht-belt-y one-liners performed by a nonpareil cast, including Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Spencer Tracy, Jonathan Winters, and a boatload of other playing-to-the-rafters comedy legends. For sheer scale of silliness, Kramer's wildly...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Jan. 21, 2014

Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $49.99

Studio: Criterion

The comedy legends of yesteryear come together for It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

Stanley Kramer followed his Oscar-winning Judgment at Nuremberg with the much-loved 1963 comedy spectacular It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Concerning about a group of strangers fighting tooth and nail over buried treasure, the film is the most grandly harebrained movie ever made, featuring a pileup of slapstick and borscht-belt-y one-liners performed by a nonpareil cast, including Milton Berle, Sid Caesar, Ethel Merman, Dick Shawn, Mickey Rooney, Spencer Tracy, Jonathan Winters, and a boatload of other playing-to-the-rafters comedy legends.

For sheer scale of silliness, Kramer’s wildly uncharacteristic film is unlike any other, an exhilarating epic of tomfoolery.

Criterion’s release features a new high-definition digital transfer of a 197-minute extended version of the film, reconstructed and restored by Robert A. Harris...

At Dragon Con a few weeks ago, I was delighted to catch up with voice actor John Dimaggio (a.k.a. Bender from Futurama) once again. John was at the con for several voice actor and Futurama panels, and also to continue spreading the word about his new voice actor documentary, I Know That Voice, which I interviewed him and the other producers about during San Diego Comic-Con. John was actually selling limited collector’s edition/advance copies of the documentary at the con, so not only did I check in with him on further documentary news, but I also snagged a copy of the film! Read on for our short I Know That Voice follow-up interview, and my review of the documentary!

What has the reception to the I Know That Voice documentary been at Dragon Con, and have you sold some of the advance copies?

It’s been really wonderful.

Innovative animator whose credits include Lady and the Tramp, Petroushka and Grease

The pioneering animator John David Wilson, who has died aged 93, launched his studio, Fine Arts Films, in 1955 and found success with his first short subject, an adaptation of a Japanese folk tale, Tara the Stonecutter, which was screened in America with Teinosuke Kinugasa's Oscar-winning samurai drama Jigokumon (Gate of Hell, 1953). Next came Petroushka (1956), for which Igor Stravinsky (despite negative feelings towards animation following Disney's Fantasia) was persuaded by Wilson to prepare a shortened score for the film and conduct the Los Angeles Philharmonic for the soundtrack. Petroushka won several festival awards and was the first animated film to be accepted by the Venice film festival.

Wilson's diverse productions ranged from innovative TV commercials for Instant Butter-Nut Coffee, made with the actor and humorist Stan Freberg, to a groundbreaking 15-minute film, Journey to the Stars, for the United...

Looks like it is just Interview Central around here these days, folks. Because following up on last week’s column, in which I briefly recapped my Awesome Con DC experience and posted my interview with the fantastic Phil Lamarr (go read/listen if you missed it last week! Good stuff!), I now get to share with you my Awesome Con DC interview with the excellent Billy West! Hooray!

Even if you somehow haven’t heard the name Billy West, before, I almost guarantee you’ve heard his voice. Voicing everything from classic cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Woody Woodpecker, and Popeye to four of the main characters on Futurama (Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, and Zapp Brannigan), Billy has voiced characters on a myriad of other shows as well, including title characters for Nickelodeon’s Doug and The Ren & Stimpy Show; and is also...

Here’s a sucky way to spend one’s birthday: voiceless with a serious summer head cold. Bitch, bitch; moan, moan. Okay, I had a great day-before-my-birthday in Manhattan lunching with Danny Fingeroth and dinnering with fellow ComicMixer Martha Thomases. Nine hours of fantastic conversation in the best thing in life with your clothes on.

Sadly, as the overly-breaded but otherwise tasty General Tzu’s was being presented to me at our Greenwich Village dungeon of culinary delight, I was starting to sound like a frog in a blender. By the time I was on the subway back to Grand Central Terminal, I was grateful somebody bothered to invent texting. The gifted Miss Adriane picked me up and dragged me home. That was birthday-eve.

On birthday day, we first had to ransom my car back from the shop – I can’t complain; 100,000 miles on one battery is pretty damn good...

On these warm summer days, what better way to escape the heat than with a visit to a movie theater. Sure, you can catch one of the many new films, but instead why not revisit or introduce yourself to a classic. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is running a 70mm series of films beginning Monday in Beverly Hills. It kicks off the inaugural event with the uproarious It’S A Mad Mad Mad Mad World. I agree, it’s usually one that we all watch during the holidays but if you’re fortunate enough to see it on the big screen then you need to make a trip to The Academy.

This week I had the chance to speak with the wife of the film’s late director Stanley Kramer over the phone where she nostalgically talked about one of the funniest comedies in film history. Mrs.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present the 1963 ensemble comedy “It.s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World“ as the inaugural film in its series “The Last 70mm Film Festival” on Monday, July 9, at 7 p.m. at the Academy.s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

Directed by nine-time Oscar® nominee Stanley Kramer, “It.s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” earned six Academy Award® nominations, including Cinematography (Ernest Laszlo), Film Editing (Frederic Knudtson, Robert C. Jones, Gene Fowler, Jr.), Music . Music Score, substantially original (Ernest Gold), Music . Song (Gold, Mack David), Sound (Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director), and took home the Oscar for Sound Effects (Walter G. Elliott).

Prior to the screening, there will be a panel discussion with actors Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Marvin Kaplan, Stan Freberg and Barrie Chase, as well as script supervisor Marshall Schlom, casting director Lynn Stalmaster,...

AMC Jon Hamm as Don Draper in “Mad Men.”

Editor’s note: Every Sunday after the newest episode of “Mad Men,” lawyer and Supreme Court advocate Walter Dellinger will host an online dialogue about the show. The participants include Columbia University history professor Alan Brinkley, Stanford Law Professor Pam Karlan, and Columbia theater and television professor Evangeline Morphos. Dellinger will post his thoughts shortly after each episode ends at 11 p.m., and the others will add their commentary in the hours and days that follow.

Disney's Lady and the Tramp has arrived on Blu-ray in a beautiful Diamond Edition. This classic animated film features the voice work of Barbara Luddy (Sleeping Beauty, 101 Dalmatians), Larry Roberts, Peggy Lee, Bill Thompson (Peter Pan, Alice In Wonderland), Bill Baucom (The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Judge Roy Bean), Stan Freberg (Stuart Little, Looney Tunes: Back In Action), Lee Millar (I Love Lucy, The George and Gracie Allen Show).

Lady and the Tramp is a timeless tale of romance that people from any generation can relate to. The story follows "a lovely young pedigreed cocker spaniel named Lady, who lives a pampered life, finds herself falling romantically for Tramp, an amorous street-smart pooch without prospects. Although they have fun together on several dates, including a sentimental spaghetti dinner by moonlight at Tony’s restaurant, their relationship is strained not only by Lady’s loyalty to her human family and their newborn baby,...

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment is releasing the 1955 classic Lady and the Tramp on three-disc Blu-ray and two-disc Blu-ray for the first time February 7, in these new Diamond Edition sets. To celebrate this high-def debut, we have a contest lined up for our readers. We're giving away copies of this new Blu-ray, plus one lucky grand prize winner will receive the Blu-ray and nine plush toys featuring the characters Lady, Tramp, Si, Am, Trusty, Jock, Bull, Bell, and Pedro. These prizes will certainly fly out the door, so enter this contest today.

Grand Prize Winner Receive:

Lady and the Tramp Blu-rayLady and the Tramp plush toy set including Lady, Tramp, Si, Am, Trusty, Jock, Bull, Bell, and Pedro

First Prize Winners Receive:

Lady and the Tramp Blu-ray

Here's How To Win!

Just "Like" (fan) the MovieWeb Facebook page (below) and then leave a comment below telling us why these prizes must be yours!

Walt Disney's daughter Diane Disney Miller discusses Lady in the Tramp

Last week, I was invited up to the Disney Family Museum in San Francisco to celebrate the Blu-ray debut of Lady and the Tramp, which arrives in three-disc Blu-ray and two-disc Blu-ray February 7. The setting was quite fitting, since one of the special features, Diane Disney Miller: Remembering Dad, was shot in the museum, and offers a unique glimpse into Walt Disney's life, as told by his daughter, Diane Disney Miller. The special feature gives us perspective into a rather hectic period of Walt Disney's life, when he was in production on Lady and the Tramp and also working on plans for his now-iconic theme park Disneyland.

I had the chance to sit down with Diane Disney Miller to chat about Lady and the Tramp, the Disney Family Museum, and more. Here's what she had to say below.

Check out clips from the Diamond Edition of Disney's Lady and the Tramp. Relive the classic animated romance and fall in love with Walt Disney's Beloved Lady And The Tramp - now unleashed in glorious high definition for the first time ever on Blu-ray! Experience like never before the thrilling adventures of Lady, a lovingly pampered cocker spaniel, and Tramp, a freewheeling mutt with a heart of gold. This heartwarming tale now charms a new generation of families and fans with its exquisite animation, unforgettable songs brilliantly restored with high definition sound, and all new bonus that reveals the extraordinary making of process behind one of the greatest love stories of all time. Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske direct the film which features the voice talents of Peggy Lee, Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts, Bill Thompson, Bil Baucom and Stan Freberg.

Check out clips from the Diamond Edition of Disney's Lady and the Tramp. Relive the classic animated romance and fall in love with Walt Disney's Beloved Lady And The Tramp - now unleashed in glorious high definition for the first time ever on Blu-ray! Experience like never before the thrilling adventures of Lady, a lovingly pampered cocker spaniel, and Tramp, a freewheeling mutt with a heart of gold. This heartwarming tale now charms a new generation of families and fans with its exquisite animation, unforgettable songs brilliantly restored with high definition sound, and all new bonus that reveals the extraordinary making of process behind one of the greatest love stories of all time. Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske direct the film which features the voice talents of Peggy Lee, Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts, Bill Thompson, Bil Baucom and Stan Freberg.

Check out clips from the Diamond Edition of Disney's Lady and the Tramp. Relive the classic animated romance and fall in love with Walt Disney's Beloved Lady And The Tramp - now unleashed in glorious high definition for the first time ever on Blu-ray! Experience like never before the thrilling adventures of Lady, a lovingly pampered cocker spaniel, and Tramp, a freewheeling mutt with a heart of gold. This heartwarming tale now charms a new generation of families and fans with its exquisite animation, unforgettable songs brilliantly restored with high definition sound, and all new bonus that reveals the extraordinary making of process behind one of the greatest love stories of all time. Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson and Hamilton Luske direct the film which features the voice talents of Peggy Lee, Barbara Luddy, Larry Roberts, Bill Thompson, Bil Baucom and Stan Freberg.

Disney To Release Two Amazing Classics From The Vault In 2012. Lady And The Tramp & Cinderella Both Films Will Soon Be Added To The Company.S Prestigous

Collection Of Blu-ray. Hi-def Diamond Edition Classics

The Walt Disney Studios proudly announces the addition of Lady And The Tramp and Cinderella to its coveted, cutting-edge Blu-ray. Diamond Collection line-up of animated classics. Released from the Disney vault for a limited time only, the lovingly pampered cocker spaniel and the mutt from across the tracks will unveil on February 7, 2012 and Cinderella.s clock will strike midnight in Fall 2012.

Disney.s Blu-ray Diamond Collection represents The Walt Disney Studios. most prestigious and treasured animated classics. Diamond Edition titles boast the highest level of picture and sound; feature groundbreaking, state-of-the-art immersive bonus content; and include unprecedented levels of interactivity, personalization and customization, made possible because of Blu-ray technology.

To date, the company has released four Diamond...

Two of Walt Disney's animated classics are emerging from the Disney Vault in 2012. Lady and the Tramp and Cinderella will both be available for purchase. Tramp will be available first on February 7, and Cinderella in Fall 2012.

Here is the official press release:

The Walt Disney Studios proudly announces the addition of Lady And The Tramp and Cinderella to its coveted, cutting-edge Blu-ray™ Diamond Collection line-up of animated classics. Released from the Disney vault for a limited time only, the lovingly pampered cocker spaniel and the mutt from across the tracks will unveil on February 7, 2012 and Cinderella’s clock will strike midnight in Fall 2012.

Disney’s Blu-ray Diamond Collection represents The Walt Disney Studios’ most prestigious and treasured animated classics. Diamond Edition titles boast the highest level of picture and sound; feature groundbreaking, state-of-the-art immersive bonus content; and include unprecedented levels of interactivity, personalization and customization, made possible because of Blu-ray technology.

The Walt Disney Studios proudly announces the addition of Lady and the Tramp and Cinderella to its coveted, cutting-edge Blu-ray Diamond Collection line-up of animated classics. Released from the Disney vault for a limited time only, the lovingly pampered cocker spaniel and the mutt from across the tracks will unveil on February 7, 2012 and Cinderella's clock will strike midnight in Fall 2012.

Disney's Blu-ray Diamond Collection represents The Walt Disney Studios' most prestigious and treasured animated classics. Diamond Edition titles boast the highest level of picture and sound; feature groundbreaking, state-of-the-art immersive bonus content; and include unprecedented levels of interactivity, personalization and customization, made possible because of Blu-ray technology.

To date, the company has released four Diamond Edition titles - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Beauty and the Beast, Bambi and The Lion King.

About Lady and the Tramp (February 7, 2012):

Generations of fans have fallen in love with Disney's...

Tom X. Chao: Callous Cad Kim Katzberg: Penetrating the Space Here Arts Center 145 Sixth Avenue September 26 – October 16, 2011

Cheerful Insanity consists of two plays, both directed by John Harlacher and presented in repertory at the downtown performance space called Here. I attended these plays knowing next to nothing about what I was to behold in the downstairs performance space. I am not quite sure of the “cheerful,” but there was “insanity” galore.

In Callous Cad, Tom X. Chao plays himself: a man who finally, after years and years of failure, has had “sex” and is now saddled in a relationship with a woman he does not love -- or even, it seems, like very much. He reminds me of early Woody Allen in acting roles, when you were not expected take his acting seriously. The difference here is that Tom is a charmless neurotic showing none of the delight Allen exuded in being neurotic.

The Twilight Zone - Season 5 (Blu-Ray) Just released from Sue Procko Public Relations: It’s time to enter the fifth season of the fifth dimension when The Twilight Zone: Season 5 comes to Blu-ray™ on August 30, 2011. All 36 episodes from the groundbreaking sci-fi/fantasy series’ final season are here, remastered and presented in pristine 1080p high-definition and uncompressed Pcm audio. In addition, the 5-disc set includes hours of entertaining bonus features specially created for this Blu-ray™ release, as well as the bonus features from the Definitive Collection DVD release. Srp is $99.98, and pre-book is August 2.

Submitted for your approval, is the wildest and (dare we say) weirdest season of Rod Serling’s iconic series, containing such memorable episodes as "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," "A Kind of a Stopwatch," "Living Doll" and the Oscar® nominated short film "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." This season also rolls out some great guest stars including Bill Mumy,...

While we're still in the midst of Image's stellar release of "The Twilight Zone" Season 4 (look for a review really soon), the first details have surfaced regarding the very last season we all need to complete our set!

That's right, kids! Your next stop? August 30th! That's when "The Twilight Zone" Season 5 will be hitting store shelves. Home to some incredible episodes and stars like Bill Mumy, George Takei, Gladys Cooper, Jack Klugman, and Jackie Cooper, this is the season I've personally been waiting for! Mr. Garrity and the Graves in full 1080p? Joy to the friggin' world!

Dig on the extensive list of supplemental materials and the cover art below!

Special Features

Twenty New Audio Commentaries, featuring "The Twilight Zone Companion" author Marc Scott Zicree, author/film historian Gary Gerani (Fantastic Television), Twilight Zone directors Ted Post, Richard Donner and Robert Butler, writer Earl Hamner, actors George Takei and Peter Mark Richman,...

DVD Playhouse—March 2011

By

Allen Gardner

127 Hours (20th Century Fox) Harrowing true story of Aron Ralston (James Franco, in another fine turn), an extreme outdoorsman who finds himself trapped in a remote Utah canyon, his arm pinned between two boulders, with no help nearby, no communication to the outside world, and dim prospects for survival, to say the least. Director Danny Boyle manages to prove again that he’s one of the finest filmmakers working today by making a subject that is seemingly uncinematic a true example of pure cinema. Inventive, breathtaking, funny, and horrifying, often all at once. Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara make a memorable, brief appearance as hikers who connect with Ralston during his journey. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Boyle, producer Christian Colson, co-writer Simon Beaufoy; Deleted scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 5.1 surround.

Amarcord (Criterion) Federico Fellini’s Oscar-winning, autobiographical classic might...

By Eddy Friedfeld

New York's 92nd Street Y hosted the launch of the four part PBS documentary “Pioneers of Television,” and featured Hollywood icons Angie Dickinson, Linda Evans, Nichelle Nichols and Stephanie Powers. Moderated by Alison Stewart, the event saluted “smart, strong women on television, who helped reimagine the roles of women in society and helped break down seemingly permanent barriers.”

“I did an episode of “Police Story” that was turned into the Police Woman series,” Dickinson recalled. “The character’s original name was Lisa, which I changed to Pepper. We came out at the beginning of the Women’s Movement in America. We fed the movement and the movement fed us.”

“I was scared to death to work with Barbara Stanwyck,” Evans recalled of her days on “The Big Valley.” “She was larger than life. She took me under her wing. She said: ‘Show up on time, Audra and know your lines.

Oh, Image Entertainment. How quickly we're growing to love thee. The official specs and artwork for both "The Twilight Zone" Season 2 on Blu-ray and "The Twilight Zone" Fan Favorites DVD Collection have come our way along with the artwork so without further ado ...

From the Press Releases

"Genies, malevolent machines, Santa Claus and The Devil himself. Get ready for more excursions into the fantastic when Image Entertainment releases The Twilight Zone: Season 2 on Blu-ray November 16th. All 29 episodes from the legendary series’ second season have been remastered and will be presented in pristine 1080p high-definition and uncompressed Pcm audio. In addition, the 4-disc set also includes many of the bonus features from the Definitive Collection DVD release, along with hours of new bonus features, specially created for this Blu-ray™ release. Spr is $99.98, and pre-book is October 19th.

Season Two Episodes

King Nine Will Not Return, The Man in the Bottle,...

This is a recap for the Season 4 premiere of Mad Men starring Jon Hamm, Christina Hendricks, John Slattery, January Jones, and a bunch of other people whom you can learn about here. If you have not seen the episode then, yeah, this will probably spoil something for you, idiot. Enjoy! Best Cameo Bart Simpson. Trapped in Bert Cooper’s Blazer. Best Fight Over Canned Meat The Ladies Fighting Over Ham. You have to admit, Peggy’s idea to make people buy more canned ham might have been the first time anyone’s ever thought of viral marketing in the history of fake television shows about advertising. Indeed, the idea worked beautifully: Two ladies fought over ham, and the story wormed its way into the papers. But what made this scenario extra-special for us were the actresses hired. Because while most female Mad Men fans picture themselves as a “Joan”, I...

By Roger Friedman

There’s no series premiere more anticipated than “Mad Men” on July 25th. Matthew Weiner’s series returns with a Season 4 opener that really made me grin from ear to ear. Fans of the show are going to love it.

When we left Don Draper and friends, it was December 1963. Don and his wife Betty were over, and Betty was on her way to Reno for a divorce. The ad agency, Sterling Cooper, had capsized, and the survivors were regrouped in a hotel suite.

Season 4 picks up nearly a year later, on Thanksgiving weekend 1964. As I wrote last week, “Mad Men” skips forward through all of 1964, leaving the arrival of the Beatles and other historic cultural moments alone. I can only guess that Weiner is actually trying to avoid too much of the outside world, rather than become “American Dreams” or just another show about nostalgia.

Spoilers

So here goes,...

WonderCon, one of the country’s most popular and well-attended comic book conventions, boasts an impressive guest list for the annual event being held in San Francisco on Friday through Sunday April 2-4, 2010. WonderCon is produced by the same organization that produces the world-renowned Comic-Con International in San Diego.

Guests at WonderCon will take part in programs and panel discussions that spotlight their career and contributions to the comic book and popular arts industries. Many will also be available for autographing sessions. Those scheduled to appear include:

Murphy Anderson: One of comics’ most respected inkers, Anderson is also known for his stunning pencils on Hawkman, Adam Strange, and Atomic Knights. Anderson’s long career in comics — dating back to the Golden Age — includes the Buck Rogers syndicated comic strip and a long stint producing Ps, the Preventive Maintenance magazine for the U.S. Army.

Sergio Aragones: As one of Mad...