Sorry, folks, but Mickey’s put his big, yellow loafer down: James Gunn will not be directing Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3. Despite rumors of positive “back channel talks,” the overwhelming support of the Guardians cast, and what have no doubt been some intimidating glares from Dave Bautista, Disney has made it…

Today, in “the all-consuming black hole calling the kettle black” news, Disney—a company that will sue you if you take a crap that looks a little too much like Donald Duck—is decrying overzealous copyright protection on the part of another entity. Specifically, the company is arguing that the estate of Michael Jackson…

Few people in Hollywood are having a better moment right now than Tessa Thompson. Westworld, Thor: Ragnarok, Creed, Sorry To Bother You—odds are decent that, if something’s popular or getting serious critical buzz right now, Thompson’s in there somewhere, elevating the material. And now, we’re happy to report that …

Bottle episodes in animated shows don’t quite work in the same way as bottle episodes of live action shows. While live action shows utilize bottle episodes to save money and/or narrow the focus to select characters and a select moment, animated shows can utilize a single setting and still create stakes equal to or…

Stop! Rumor time: If you’ve been paying attention to the ongoing uproar over director James Gunn being fired from Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 thanks to a right-wing hit job over a series of old, offensive tweets, then you know it looked unlikely he’d get his job back. Well, today comes the odd news that...maybe he…

Yesterday, the film world united in one big, “wait, what?,” when the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences announced the creation of a new award for “Best Popular Film,” a.k.a. the Consolation Oscar for Dum-Dum Movies. It was a return to the Oscars’ roots, where in 1929 the Academy gave out awards for…

Disney raised a lot of eyebrows last month when it abruptly fired James Gunn, the architect of its ridiculously successful Guardians Of The Galaxy movies, over a series of tasteless, immature, and above all old tweets that were dug up by a right-wing smear campaign dedicated to, well, getting James Gunn fired by…

Of all the great mysteries in the world, the only one that can match the mysteriousness of Apple’s streaming thing is the mysteriousness of Disney’s streaming thing. We know it’s stealing some movies from Netflix, we know it’ll have Justin Theroux kissing a dog, we know Disney wants some Muppets, we know it’ll have a…

One of the quieter but stronger episodes of the original DuckTales was “The Curse Of Castle McDuck.” After a number of typical, wild, fun episodes, the old show slowed down some to spend a little time with Scrooge regaling his nephews stories of his past while on a trip to his ancestral home (before the inevitable…

We’re rapidly approaching a reality in which the company that made The Little Mermaid might also own The Simpsons, a mind-boggling proposition for anyone looking back on the state of animation way back in 1989. But while Disney’s soon-to-be-completed acquisition of 20th Century Fox’s film and TV assets—including the…

Despite the fact that it would be a very easy PR win with a teachable lesson, that it would result in another sure-fire hit movie, and that it’s the right thing to do, Disney reportedly has no intention of rehiring James Gunn to direct Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3. Gunn was fired from the film late last month after…

DuckTales has so far referenced Darkwing Duck and Gummi Bears in its current incarnation, and, outside of a quick reference to Cape Suzette in the pilot, finally looks to TaleSpin as another source to pull from (it would be interesting to see if they can reference Chip ‘N Dale: Rescue Rangers, but that may be a…

Welcome to Development Hell, the fiery pit into which we fling recent developments in casting, distribution, and everything else that’s new and mildly interesting in the Boschian phantasmagoria of the entertainment industry.

Tremble, puny human, and see before you what your Ozymandias-like betters have crafted in their pursuit of ever more glorious riches. Today the Walt Disney and 20th Century Fox shareholders wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer.

Last week, Disney fired Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 director James Gunn over a series of tasteless jokes he posted on his Twitter years ago. People were understandably upset. It was well-known that the spread of these tweets and the ensuing campaign to get Gunn fired were orchestrated by conservative trolls,…

“The Other Bin Of Scrooge McDuck!” has maybe one of the worst intros the show has done so far. DuckTales has been struggling with intros for a while but a loud-whispering, exposition-filled exchange between Lena and Magica while Lena tries to cut the number one dime from Scrooge’s neck is one of the worse. I get the…

For the better part of a year, it was looking like a done deal: Disney was buying the majority of 20th Century Fox. But last month, Comcast threw its hat in the ring, their $65 billion offer the Professor X standing between Wolverine and Captain America, preventing the two from locking horns. Now? Not so much.

There is a lot of potential in “Who Is Gizmoduck?” There’s the story of a young intern who has access to power beyond his imagination (power, responsibility, etc.). There’s the story of an even younger duck who believes in the hero who saved him, only to be disappointed in what he sees, but to also inspire said hero…

Anyone who assumes that “a podcast about dictionaries by people who write dictionaries” might have limited appeal hasn’t heard lifelong lexicographer Kory Stamper rattle off the word “pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis” with aplomb and glee. She and fellow dictionary editor Steve Kleinedler approach Fiat Lex…