Tag Archives: Disney

Amazon And Disney Announce “Hey Disney!” Launch For Echo Devices

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Amazon and Disney are excited to share that Hey Disney! – a new voice assistant built on Alexa technology and referred as the ‘Disney Magical Companion’ – is officially available for customers to purchase in the U.S. as an annual, auto-renewing subscription in the Alexa Skills Store for use on their supported Echo devices at home. Additionally, Hey Disney! is included as a part of subscription to Amazon Kids+.

Hey Disney! marks the first time an Alexa Custom Assistant (ACA) is available on supported Echo devices for customers at-home and uniquely brings together an array of content featuring 20+ characters across Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and other beloved franchises. ACA is a comprehensive solution that made it possible for Disney to create an assistant with a custom voice (the Disney Magical Companion) and wake word (“Hey Disney!”).

The Disney Magical Companion introduces a new way to bring Disney’s expansive storytelling to life for fans of all ages at home, providing magical responses to everyday things like weather, timers, and alarms, as well as entertainment like Disney trivia, storytelling, interactive adventures with characters, and more.

To purchase and set-up Hey Disney!, customers can simply say “Alexa, introduce me to Hey Disney.” Once the purchase is made and the experience is enabled, they can say “Hey Disney, start the magic” for an introduction on how the Disney Magical Companion works alongside Alexa.

“Hey Disney! represents the art of what’s possible when two major companies marry their creative and technical expertise,” said Mark Yoshitake, GM and Director of Alexa Skills. “This is a whole new way to bring Disney storytelling to life for fans of all ages and we are thrilled to offer a magical, new experience for customers to enjoy on their Echo devices.”

TechCrunch reported that Hey Disney! Marks the first time that an Alexa Custom Assistant (ACA) has launched on Echo devices inside customers’ homes. ACA allows companies to customize Alexa’s technology so its specific to their brand and supports their in-house tech.

According to TechCrunch, the custom assistant has its own voice and personality, which is named the “Disney Magical Companion.” It features over 20 characters across Disney, Pixar, and Star Wars franchises, including: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Pluto, Olaf, Moana, Dory, Mater, Chewbacca, R2-D2, Fozzie Bear and more.

Users can ask Hey Disney! Simple commands like setting an alarm or timer, there are also thousands of custom interactions, TechCrunch reported, from jokes and greetings to trivia games and soundscapes, among other activities.

Plus, users can engage in “Play-Along Adventures” or interactive audio and visual experiences. The companies wrote in the announcement that the adventure feature allows users to go on “fun-filled journeys like going fishing with Goofy.” There will also be “Easter Eggs” built into the experience which will “surprise and delight customers,” Aaron Rubenson, VP of Amazon Alexa, told TechCrunch.

In my opinion, “Hey Disney!” sounds like fun, especially for children and adults who are Disney fans. The Disney Magical Companion is a new voice assistant built on Alexa technology, and is available in the U.S. for most voice-activated Echo devices. Those who want to purchase “Hey Disney!” can do so on Amazon. The subscription costs $5.99/year.

Walt Disney Company Makes Streaming its Primary Focus

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Walt Disney Company has decided to do a strategic reorganization of its media and entertainment business. The company is going to focus on developing and producing original content for its streaming services, as well as legacy platforms.

Distribution and commercialization activities will be centralized into a single, global Media and Entertainment Distribution organization. That organization will be responsible for all monetization of content – both distribution and sales – and will oversee the company’s streaming services. The leaders of each part of this reorganization will report to Bob Chapek, Chief Executive Officer. Here is a partial quote from him that was in the news release:

“Our creative teams will concentrate on what they do best – making world-class, franchise-based content – while our newly centralized global distribution team will focus on delivering and monetizing that content in the most optimal way across all platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and the coming Star international streaming service.”

CNBC reported that shares of the company jumped more than 5% during after-hours trading following the announcement.

At the end of September, Disney decided to lay off 28,000 employees across its parks, experiences, and consumer products segment. According to CNBC, the company blamed this decision on prolonged closures and capacity limits at open parks.

Google Nest Hub gets Disney+

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Disney+ launched not long ago (November 12, 2019 to be precise) and it has a lot of content, that isn’t just for children, although there is plenty of that. After all, these parks also cater to adults and so to do the movies and TV shows on its network. The company built by Mickey has come a long way.

With a subscription, you get all of the content, from the animated movies from Disney and Pixar to things like Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic and others.

The company claims it’s as easy as “Say, ‘Hey Google, play “The Mandalorian’ on Disney+” to start streaming instantly. You can also already cast Disney+ from your compatible mobile devices to your Nest Smart Displays and Assistant-enabled devices by opening the streaming service’s mobile app and tapping the Cast icon, or stream anytime on your Android TV.”

Google also announces that Otterbox has created a way to make your device look like Mickey Mouse, just to fit with the new Disney+ feature.

In addition, the search giant has released “Frozen” entertainment for everyone. “Join some of your ‘Frozen’ favorites –Anna, Elsa, Olaf, and Kristoff — around the campfire as they tell legends exploring the world of ‘Frozen 2.’ You can hear these stories on Google Assistant-enabled Android and iOS phones, smart speakers and Smart Displays. To get started, just say, “Hey Google, tell me a ‘Frozen’ story” and you can pick which character you’d like to narrate.”

If you have one of these devices and a Disney+ subscription then you can get started right now.

Disney+ Will Launch in November 2019

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Disney announced that Disney+ will launch in the U.S. market on November 12, 2019, at $6.99 a month. The launch date coincides with the holiday season, when many children (and some adults) have days off. Plenty of time to watch Disney content!

Disney+ will launch in November with a robust library of theatrical and television content, and in its first year will release more than 25 original series and 10 original films, documentaries and specials by some of the industry’s most prolific and creative storytellers.

New original titles for Disney+ include:

From Marvel Studios:

  • The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, a live-action series with Anthony Mackie returning as Falcon and Sebastian Stan reprising his role as Winter Soldier
  • WandaVision, a live action series with Elizabeth Olsen returning as Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany reprising his role as The Vision.
  • Marvel’s What If…?, the first animated series from Marvel Studios and takes inspiration from the comic books of the same name. Each episode will explore a pivotal moment from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and turn it on its head, leading the audience into uncharted territory.

From Walt Disney Studios:

  • Toy Story-based projects Forky Asks a Question, an animated short series, and the short film Lamp Life.

From National Geographic:

  • The World According to Jeff Goldblum, a documentary series where Goldblum pulls back the curtain on a seemingly familiar object to reveal a world of astonishing connections, fascinating science and a whole lot of big ideas.
  • Magic of the Animal Kingdom, a documentary series which takes viewers behind the scenes with the highly respected animal-care experts, veterinarians and biologists at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Epcot’s SeaBase aquarium.

From Disney Television Animation:

  • The Phineas and Ferb Movies (working title), an animated film featuring many of the original voice cast.

This list is in addition to previously announce Disney+ scripted originals that are part of Disney’s Star Wars, Marvel, Walt Disney Studios content. All 30 seasons of The Simpsons will be available on Disney+ on day one. Family friendly Fox titles like The Sound of Music, The Princess Bride, and Malcom in the Middle will also be on Disney+.

To me, it sounds like there will be a ton of interesting things to watch on Disney+. It is astounding how much stuff The Walt Disney Company owns. Disney+ will be competing with Hulu and Netflix.

Disney+ Will Have New Star Wars and Marvel Series

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Disney has announced that their new direct-to-consumer streaming service will be called Disney+. It is scheduled to launch in the United States in late 2019. I haven’t seen anything that specifically states what a subscription to Disney+ would cost.

Disney+ will have a Star Wars live action series that will go into production next year. It will follow the adventures of Cassian Andor during the formative years of the Rebellion and prior to the events of Rogue One. Diego Luna will reprise the role of Andor.

In addition, Disney+ will also have a Marvel live action series centered around Loki, the god of mischief. Tom Hiddleston will star.

CNBC reported that in August of 2017, Disney said it would pull all of its movies from Netflix in 2019. If you are a Netflix subscriber, I recommend you watch those movies now, before they are removed.

I believe that Disney+ will attract a lot of consumers, especially those who have children. It sounds like Disney+ is going to offer plenty of interesting things for teens and adults, as well. Disney+, in my opinion, could be a fierce rival for Netflix. I think current Netflix subscribers could be tempted to switch to Disney+ if the subscription price is lower than what Netflix charges.

Or, maybe people will subscribe to both. To me, it feels like we are at a place where people can “just pay for the channels they want” instead of paying for cable. If so, that’s something a lot of people have been wanting for a long time.

Image from Pexels

Disney is Starting its Own Streaming Services

Streaming

Disney announced that it will launch its own streaming services. This comes as a result of an acquisition and may affect some of the Disney-owned content that is available on Netflix.

The Walt Disney Company announced today that it has agreed to acquire majority ownership of BAMTech, LLC and will launch its ESPN-branded multi-sport streaming service in early 2018, followed by a new Disney-branded direct-to-consumer streaming service in 2019.

The ESPN-branded multi-sport service will offer a robust array of sports programming, featuring approximately 10,000 live regional, national, and international games and events a year, including Major League Baseball, National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, Grand Slam Tennis, and college sports. Individual sport packages will also be available for purchase, including MLB.TV, NHL.TV and MLS Live.

The new Disney-branded service will become the exclusive home in the United States for subscription-video-on-demand viewing of the newest live action and animated movies from Disney and Pixar, beginning with the 2019 theatrical slate, which includes Toy Story 4, the sequel to Frozen and The Lion King from Disney live-action, along with other highly anticipated movies.

Disney will also make a significant investment in an annual slate of original movies, TV shows, short-form content and other Disney-branded exclusives for the service. Additionally, the service will feature a vast collection of library content, including Disney and Pixar movies and Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and Disney XD television programming.

These upcoming changes will affect the content that is currently available on Netflix. Disney will end its distribution agreement with Netflix for subscription streaming of new releases, beginning with the 2019 calendar year theatrical slate.

Disney Discontinues Production of Disney Infinity

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Disney Infinity logoThere is something ironic about hearing that a video game system with the word “infinity” in it’s name is about to end. Disney has decided to discontinue production of Disney Infinity. This will likely be sad news for kids (and adults, for that matter) who were having fun playing the games and collecting the figures.

Disney Infinity, for those who are unaware, was a video game series that included interactive action figures. The latest version, Disney Infinity 3.0, was a video game disc that was needed for a person to play with all of their 3.0 figures, play sets, power discs, and Toy Box Expansion games. (It also allowed people to use their 1.0 and 2.0 figures and power discs).

In short, Disney Infinity was a video game system that incorporated figures into the game. Players needed to purchase a physical figure so that they could play as that Disney character in the game. It was also possible to buy play sets. Some have referred to this type of video gameplay as “toys-to-life”.

The Disney Interactive website has an update about Disney Infinity. It was written by SPV & GM of Disney Infinity, John Blackburn. The first sentence is probably the most informative: “By now you may have heard the news that we have made the difficult decision to discontinue production of Disney Infinity.”

The update also notes that there are two final retail releases coming, including three new characters from Alice Through the Looking Glass later this month, and the Finding Dory Play Set that will be launched in June.

Game Informer reported that Disney is also shuttering Infinity studio Avalanche, Disney’s internal studio that developed the Disney Infinity game. The implication seems to be that Disney is pulling out of the video game publishing arena.  Ars Technica pointed out that Disney Infinity launched in 2013 to compete with Activision’s Skylanders, which was another toys-to-life video game.