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'Frozen 2' Is On Disney Plus Three Months Early to Bring Joy "During This Challenging Time"


Disney has released Frozen 2 early to make life a bit easier during the coronavirus outbreak.

In January, word spread of a new virus known as “SARS-CoV-2” was causing a disease named “coronavirus disease 2019.” The virus quickly jumped from nation to nation, shutting down many aspects of life as we know it along the way. Now, most of the world is being asked to socially isolate from their friends and extended family to stop the spread. And that means spending an awful lot of time at home.

Thankfully, Disney Plus is picking up the entertainment slack. On Saturday, March 15, the company announced plans to stream Frozen 2 a full three months early to bring “families with some fun and joy during this challenging time.”

“Frozen 2 has captivated audiences around the world through its powerful themes of perseverance and the importance of family, messages that are incredibly relevant during this time, and we are pleased to be able to share this heartwarming story early with our Disney+ subscribers to enjoy at home on any device,” Disney CEO Bob Chapek shared in a statement.

According to the announcement, the movie will be available starting today, Sunday, March 15.

And Chapek wasn’t the only one who was excited to share the news.

Actress Kristen Bell, who voices Anna in the film, shared a screenshot of the film on Instagram along with the caption, “Your sisters will be here for you during crazy time! Surprise! #Frozen2 is coming early to #DisneyPlus. Start streaming this Sunday.”

Of course, nothing is really this altruistic. As The Verge noted, executives at Disney Plus likely saw an opportunity to bring on more subscribers as schools shut down and more and more people are working from home. But hey, who cares, as long as we get to enjoy something that brings us joy for a moment, right?

This does, however, also beg the question of what else may be released early due to coronavirus. On Friday, journalist Evan Ross Katz asked Bravo’s Andy Cohen if he’d consider releasing The Real Housewives of New York just a bit early, to which Cohen replied, “It’s on the table, but complicated.”

Elsa and Anna will do for now!





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A 'Beauty and the Beast' Prequel Is In the Works at Disney+. Here's Everything We Know


A tale as old as time, indeed. If you’ve been thinking you need more Beauty and the Beast in your life, Disney+ has you covered.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, a prequel series is in the works starring Josh Gad and Luke Evans, who will be reprising their roles as LeFou and Gaston from the wildly popular 2017 live-action Beauty and the Beast remake directed by Bill Condon.

Not many details are known at the moment (it doesn’t even have a title), but the limited series is supposedly going to be a six-episode musical event from Once Upon a Time creators Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. Gad will also serve as a co-creator, writer, and producer.

Here’s everything we know so far about the Beauty and the Beast prequel series.

Disney

The cast. As mentioned, Gad and Evans will return as LeFou and Gaston. No word yet on whether Emma Watson or Dan Stephens will make appearances as Belle and the Beast, respectively.

The music. THR reports that talks are underway with composer Alan Menken, who also did the score for the 2017 film.

The length. While six episodes have been confirmed, there’s no more information on episode length.

The plot. Since the project is still in the early stages of development, we don’t know much about the storylines—other than that they will follow LeFou and Gaston’s adventures prior to the action in the 2017 film. One thing that could be interesting to explore is LeFou’s sexuality, which was implied in the film’s “exclusively gay moment” which was…pretty much nothing.

Condon previously explained in a now-deleted interview with Attitude that LeFou would be Disney‘s first gay character. “LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston,” he reportedly said. “He’s confused about what he wants. It’s somebody who’s just realizing that he has these feelings. And Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it.”

Not so much, but maybe Gad will actually get a chance to delve deeper in the prequel series. However, if the news about the Love, Simon and Lizzie McGuire series are anything to go by, then maybe not.

Check back for more updates on the Beauty and the Beast prequel series.



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Meghan Markle Might Voice a Disney Character for a Good Cause


Meghan Markle and Prince Harry shocked the world this week when they announced their decision to step back from their roles as senior royals. In a statement via Instagram, the couple said they’re working to become financially independent—and now, we might know how they’re taking steps to do that.

According to The Times, the Duchess, who worked as an actor before marrying her husband, reportedly signed a deal with Disney to do some voiceover work.

But here’s the thing: The Sussexes won’t be profiting from this deal. Instead, Disney has agreed to make a donation to Elephants Without Borders, an organization that helps protect the animals from poaching, in exchange for the Duchess’s work.

The report claims she recorded the voiceover prior to hers and Prince Harry’s six-week holiday in Canada.

Neither Disney nor Markle have confirmed such a deal exists and the details about the project have not yet been revealed, but it would mark the return of Markle’s acting career. This alleged collaboration also points to the pair’s desire to use their celebrity status to help their favorite charities and sheds some light on how the royals plan to support themselves—just as their bombshell announcement this week suggested.

This wouldn’t be the first time the pair have partnered with Disney. In July, Markle and Prince Harry attended the premiere of the The Lion King and after the birth of their son Archie, the company presented them with a personalized book featuring Winnie-the-Pooh and cartoon versions of the couple.

Following the pair’s announcement, Markle has returned to Canada to be with baby Archie.

As per their statement, they “plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America” so they can raise their son “with an appreciation for the royal tradition into which he was born, while also providing our family with the space to focus on the next chapter.”

Is Disney the next chapter? Perhaps.



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Sara Blakely Worked at Disney World, Sold Fax Machines, and Did Stand Up Comedy All Before She Founded Spanx


But it was very, very hard to keep my spirits, and mindset, in the right place. I would listen to motivational tapes all the time in my car—from people like Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, and Wayne Dyer—that would help me get the courage to step back into the next office building. I was getting escorted out of buildings by security, I was having people rip up my business card in my face a couple times a week. It was really intense. But it was laying the groundwork for Spanx. I didn’t know it at the time, but it was really laying the blueprint for me to be able to invent something the way that I did. Because while trying to get something made with no expertise, no background in it, and not knowing a single contact in the industry—I heard the word “no” a lot. But I was so trained to not let that stop me, that I think that’s really part of why Spanx exists.

Own your desire for success.

Two years before I cut the feet out of my pantyhose to solve an undergarment issue [the initial inspiration for Spanx] I had literally written down in my journal, after one really bad day of selling fax machines, “I’m going to invent a product that I can sell to millions of people that will make them feel good.” I asked the universe to deliver the idea to me. And for two years after that I still sold fax machines. Then one day I cut the feet out of my pantyhose, and thought, “Maybe this is my big idea.” So that’s how that happened. I just thought, “Okay, this might be my idea that I asked for. I’m going to explore this idea.”

Then I told myself, “This is crazy, Sara.” I mean, there are billion-dollar companies where people sit around all day thinking up new products. There must be a reason they didn’t think of this one. If it’s such a good idea, why doesn’t it already exist? I played a lot of mental tag with myself; going back and forth between, “You should give this a go.” Then, “No, you’re crazy, don’t bother.” But I continued to fight through the negative self-talk and the self-doubt. And I think so much of that was listening to people talk about how to control your own mindset. But that doesn’t mean I never have moments of doubt. I’m 20 years into my Spanx journey. I still have those thoughts.

Believe in yourself, even if nobody else does.

When I started my company, I’d reach out to hosiery mills—which were all run by men—asking them to manufacture Spanx. I called them all on the phone at first, and they all pretty much gave me the run around. So I took a week off of work and drove around to all these manufacturing plants that were all mostly concentrated in North Carolina. I had my lucky red backpack from college with me, and I would walk in, and they would always ask me the same three questions. They would always say, “And you are?” And I would say, “Sara Blakely.” And they’d say, “And you’re with?” And I’d say, “Sara Blakely.” And then they’d say, “You’re financially backed by?” And I’d say, “Sara Blakely.”

Some of them would just escort me out and say, “We’re not interested.” But the way that I handled it was that I used very definitive, confident language. If you’re only given 30 seconds or a minute to try to make your pitch, you need to also figure out how you can make it about who you’re presenting your idea to, and what’s in it for them. So I did that all along the way of my journey. I would say, “I’ve invented a product that’s going to definitively change the way women wear clothes. It’s going to end up becoming an enormous program for you. You have to give me the chance for this to happen. I have total confidence that you’ll end up getting a great amount of business from making this decision.”

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Samantha Leach is the associate culture editor at Glamour. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @_sleach.



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It's Not ‘Weird’ to Be an Adult Woman Who Loves Disney


Patty Holliday, who’s attended three D23 Expos now, says her first visit to Walt Disney World was on her honeymoon—but after the loss of her son, Jacob, in 2005, the resort took on a deeper meaning. For her, visits to Orlando help keep his spirit alive. “It’s the last place that my entire family can be together, in a sense,” she explains. “I cherish the park visits with the kids because of those early visits with Jacob.” Now a full-time Disney blogger, Holliday is particularly passionate about the seasonal RunDisney events through Walt Disney World. She’s completed nearly two dozen and credits running through Cinderella Castle as her motivation. “Disney means pretty much everything to me,” she says. “It’s where the stories are told, the memories are made, and my bravery was found.”

When I talked with Lisa Basilio, she was wrapped in swaths of sea foam green tulle in homage to Moana’s Te Fiti. It was so elaborate I found it hard to believe she’s never done this before; Basilio has always been a fan—she even got married at Disneyland—but D23 Expo 2019 was her first foray into wearing intricate costumes in public. “It’s such an amazing place where people feel safe,” she says of Disneyland. “They let go of their stress from the real world and adults become kids again. It’s an amazing transformation, and I love to be a part of that.”

For these women, and most people at D23 Expo for that matter, being a Disney fan is more about friendship, community, and sisterhood than any love of the mouse. Below, we talk with more women at the fan convention who break down why Disney is so important to them. Turns out it’s not such a small world after all.

Sarah Sterling and Tiff Mink

Best friends and fixtures of the Disney community, Sarah Sterling and Tiff Mink are an example of how Mickey and co. have helped women discover their creative outlets as well as a chosen family. Shortly after they met five years ago, the two collaborated on a YouTube channel called ThingamaVlogs—a play on The Little Mermaid’s underwater trinket collection—which featured a mix of planning tips, comedy videos, and travel vlogs that clocked over 70,000 subscribers. ThingamaVlogs is no longer active, but the women now have their own individual YouTube channels devoted to all things Disney.

The two are like anthropologists of post-’90s Mickey Mouse culture, and they do so flawlessly. “Instagram truly changed everything for the Disney community,” Sterling says, crediting the platform’s explosive growth and easily accessible format for making Disney cooler than ever before. “Park culture,” as she calls it, has snowballed in turn, yielding its own trends, styles, and subcultures. The more the merrier, Sterling says. “All I ever wanted in middle school were people to talk to about Disney Parks, and now there’s hundreds of thousands of people,” she adds. A life-long goal was finally realized earlier this year when she began working for Walt Disney Imagineering on the Star Wars global portfolio.

Mink, a content creator, says she didn’t visit the theme parks frequently growing up but held a prevailing passion for all things Disney, including an obsession with Disney Channel films that extended through college. As self-described “ride-or-die Disney fans,” as Mink puts it, these friends say they love every aspect of Disney: the history, lore, design, animation, all of it. At D23 Expo, Mink even served as something of a litmus test for in-the-know fans. She dressed as legendary Imagineer Tony Baxter, complete with rolled-up ride blueprints in a leather satchel. While we talked, several stopped her to rave about her appliquéd mustache and Imagineering hard hat. Others strolled past without a word.

Tiff Mink is wearing a costume inspired by legendary Disney Imagineer Tony Baxter.

Courtesy of Carlye Wisel

But though it’s not exactly niche to be an adult who’s into Disney anymore, Mink and Sterling still feel some judgment come their way. “People just think it’s weird because they have this idea that Disney is for children,” Mink says. But for her, it’s no different than a football fan traveling to see the Super Bowl in person. “Just because you don’t get it doesn’t mean it’s weird.”





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Every Disney Live-Action Movie Currently in the Works


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The arrival of Disney’s new streaming platform, Disney+, has absolutely everyone buzzing. And rightfully so: The service includes so many of your childhood favorites, including princess flicks like Cinderella and Aladdin, Disney Channel TV shows, and Disney Channel Original Movies. And Disney’s slate of live-action remakes, like Beauty and the Beast, is also now available on the streaming platform. (See a full guide here.)

Even more exciting is the fact that Disney has so many more live-action films in the works, which means it’s only a matter of time before those hit theaters and, eventually, Disney+. Here’s a list of every Disney live-action movie—some we’ve seen, some are coming soon, and a few are still in the rumor phase.

What we’ve seen already

101 Dalmatians

When: 1996

Starring: Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil, Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson, Hugh Laurie

The Takeaway: Puppies on puppies on puppies = live-action gold.

Alice in Wonderland

When: 2010

Starring: Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway

The Takeaway: The fantastical film was a match made in Disney heaven with director Tim Burton’s quirky style—evidenced by its spot as Burton’s most successful film ever.

Maleficent

When: 2014

Starring: Angelina Jolie as Maleficent, Elle Fanning as Princess Aurora

The Takeaway: Disney-princess stories—even ones told from the dark side—make for mega-box office success (Maleficent helped Disney reach its most successful year ever in 2014).

Cinderella

When: 2015

Starring: Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Richard Madden

The Takeaway: See above. Cinderella has raked in more than $400 million worldwide (and counting).

The Jungle Book

When: 2016

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Bill Murray, Christopher Walken, Lupita Nyong’o

The Takeaway: CGI is an incredible innovation.

Beauty and the Beast

When: 2017

Starring: Emma Watson as Belle, Emma Thompson, Josh Gad, Luke Evans, Dan Stevens

The Takeaway: Emma Watson as Belle—’nuff said. (Audiences agreed.)

Christopher Robin,

When: 2018

Starring: Hayley Atwell, Ewan McGregor

Tke Takeaway: So many feels.

Mary Poppins

When: 2018



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