Disney

'Beauty and the Beast' serves up sumptuous feast

A quarter-century later, the live-action version sumptuously holds up to that legacy, delicately expanding upon and updating the original in enormously crowd-pleasing fashion.

Beauty and the Beast release postponed in Malaysia

The Emma Watson film was due to open on Thursday but has been put on hold due to an "internal review". No specific reason has been given for the decision.

The film courted controversy last week after it emerged it would feature a "gay moment".

Homosexual activity is illegal in Muslim majority Malaysia, although the tourism minister has said banning the film is "ridiculous".

"You don't ban a film because of a gay character," Seri Nazri Aziz told the Malay Mail.

Disney's first gay character and love scene

US actor Josh Gad plays LeFou, a sidekick of the film's main antagonist Gaston.

LeFou tries to come to terms with feelings for Gaston that swing between lust and admiration, as a side-plot to the main story.

When the first Beauty and the Beast trailer was released last year it had almost 130 million views in 24 hours.

Disney are calling it their first ever "exclusively gay moment" on film.

Disney 'not in the business of scaring kids!'

It’s rare that the company delves too far into how the “magic” - as they call it - works. Their logic is a magic trick doesn’t get better if you know how it’s done.

On Saturday, Disney - quite uncharacteristically - gave us a bit of an insight into how they plan to use technology to bring their much-loved brand of storytelling to new forms, by using robotics and artificial intelligence.

Jon Snoddy, the company's senior Vice President for research and development, explained how soon you’ll be able to interact with story-telling robots at Disney parks.

Disney’s ‘Wireless Power Room’ can charge a device over the air

They are working hard to make wireless charging truly wireless.

We already have devices like smartphones, and smartwatches that can be charged without wires, but they need to be kept on some surface or plate. You might’ve read about the wireless charging technology called WiTricity on Fossbytes. Disney also has similar tech in the works.

'Moana' is Disney's latest animated feast for the eyes and ears

Adding to the studio's stable of multicultural princesses (although the title character points out she's merely the daughter of a chief), the movie begins and ends strongly, which should compensate for a flat stretch in the middle that, not coincidentally, is right around the time when the demigod known as Maui, voiced by Dwayne Johnson, shows up.

Authenticity key to Moana movie soundtrack

Moana follows the adventures of a young Polynesian princess and navigator who is accompanied by the superhero-demigod Maui, but in the run-up to the film's premiere reaction has been divided between those who have praised its cultural inclusiveness and others who feared the potential for cultural appropriation.

RNZ reports Australian based band Te Vaka was approached by Disney to help write the soundtrack and its bandleader Opetaia Foa'i said despite the controversy, the filmmakers spent years researching to get the film right.

Disney can't get enough of Te Vaka

Te Vaka was founded by Samoan-born Opetaia Foa'i, who is Tokelauan-Tuvaluan and was raised in New Zealand.

NiuFM reports Julie Foa'i, band manager and Opetaia's wife, says the Moana soundtrack is loaded with Te Vaka.

"There's a lot of tracks written by Opetaia in there, and when you hear the movie you will hear a lot of his input into the soundtrack and into the songs. Put it this way - the movie opens with Te Vaka," says Foa'i. 

Petition demands 'make Mulan right'

The information, posted anonymously on the websiteAngry Asian Man, revealed that the new Disney movie would not focus on Mulan's own journey to protect her family. Instead, the proposed remake of the studio's hit animation movie would feature a white male European sailor who saved the young heroine and conquered her heart.

Disney pulls 'brownface' Moana costume

The costume, a full-body suit with brown skin, traditional tattoos, grass skirt and bone necklace, represents the character Maui, considered a demi-god and ancestor by many Polynesians.

Activists said it was "brownface", or mocking of the culture by creating stereotypes.

Disney said it regretted any offence.