Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution is finally giving us a sneak peak as to when we can expect some of the hottest new films. Like some of the successful films in the past, many will be available in theaters and through Disney+ with Premier Access simultaneously.
Get ready to welcome summer with titles that include Cruella, Black Widow, Luca and more! Keep scrolling to get all the details.
photo: Disney
When it comes to finally catching the live action Cruella starring Emma Stone, you can head to the theaters or tune in to Disney+ using Premier Access on Fri. Mar. 28. Is Marvel more your thing? You can do the same thing with the long-awaited Black Widow on Fri., Jul. 9.
Disney and Pixar’s Luca will stream directly in homes exclusively on Disney+ starting Fri., Jun. 18, and it’s bound to get you excited for summer. Theatrical release dates for more films include:
Free Guy on Aug. 13, 2021
Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings on Sept. 3, 2021
Your fave NBA star is about to make some new friends—on Sesame Street! The iconic children’s show will welcome basketball champ Stephen Curry and his super-talented celeb wife Ayesha to the neighborhood in a very special episode.
While you might expect the NBA star to focus solely on basketball, both Step and Ayesha use their co-starring Sesame Street roles to help the youngest of viewers to understand the benefits of a healthy breakfast. The pair team up for a “C is for Cooking!” challenge, whipping up pancakes along with Elmo, Cookie Monster and Grover.
Before the challenge starts Grover asks, Why are we talking about breakfast?” Ayesha answers, “Eating a healthy breakfast every morning helps you learn and play.” After Ayesha and Elmo win their pancake challenge (shh! don’t tell your kiddos), they head to the hoop to play a little basketball—of course!
This isn’t first time the Curry fam has focused on the benefits of healthy eating. Their nonprofit Eat.Learn.Play. is, according to the foundation’s website, “Committed to unlocking the amazing potential of every child by fighting to end childhood hunger, ensuring students have access to a quality education, and providing safe places for all children to play and be active.”
Catch the new Sesame Street episode on HBO Max starting Thursday, Mar. 25.
—Erica Loop
Featured photo courtesy of Sesame Workshop, Zach Hyman
There’s a new Cadbury bunny—and she doesn’t have fur or floppy ears. The iconic Easter-time treat-maker recently announced the winner of the 2021 Cadbury Bunny tryouts.
While the new “Bunny” does hop, she’s not a rabbit. This year’s distinguished winner is none other than Betty the Australian White’s Treefrog.
photo courtesy of PR Newswire/Cadbury
Betty the treefrog hales from Stuart, Florida. The 2021 under-one-year-old amphibian took the top spot out of more than 12,000 entries. Along with Betty, the other 10 Cadbury bunny finalists include a donkey, mini horse and a goat.
Trevor Jakubek, Senior Associate Brand Manager, Cadbury Brand team, said in a press release, “Thank you to all of our amazing finalists in the Cadbury Bunny Tryouts this year and congratulations to Betty the frog, our newest Cadbury Bunny! We are so excited to pass the coveted ears to her and know that she is going make a great addition to our Cadbury Bunny ‘hall of fame’.”
As the grand prize winner, Betty will get the honor of starring in the 2021 Cadbury Clucking Bunny commercial. She’ll also get a $5,000 cash prize—or at least, her humans will. Along with the prizes Cadbury will lavish on the treefrog, the company will also donate $15,000 to The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
February is National Black History Month, when we pay special recognition to the countless achievements of African-Americans that have helped shape our country and played a vital role in its history. If you have children, you undoubtedly might find yourself faced with many questions that revolve around diversity. Instead of answering these questions with a hasty response, use this month as the catalyst to encourage your children to embrace and celebrate diversity in all of its beautiful forms.
Our world is an incredible place full of remarkable differences that add to its wonders. Not allowing your children to explore these differences does them a great disservice. It’s almost impossible for your kids to go out into the world and not come across people who are different from them. Start building your children’s awareness of diversity now so that they can develop into empathetic, open-minded, and loving individuals.
Here are some ways you can encourage your children to celebrate diversity every day.
1. Explore Books & Media That Celebrate Diversity
Seek out age-appropriate books that reflect diversity. Find stories with central characters from other cultures and religions and/or of a different race or heritage, and also from unique family situations. When you read these books, take the time to talk with your child and ask her questions, and let her do the same. Not only do these books help jumpstart meaningful conversations, but they provide a working knowledge and awareness of diversity to your kids.
When you’re out, and your child sees someone different from her, she’ll have that knowledge to pull from. Plus, you can easily remind her of a character in one of the books you’ve read together. This same concept holds true for age-appropriate movies and television shows that focus on diverse characters, cultures, and concepts.
2. Encourage Conversation
When you’re in the checkout line at the grocery, and you realize your child’s staring at the woman in the wheelchair behind you, don’t tell her to stop. This sends the message that something about this is not okay. Your child is naturally curious, and how is she going to learn about all of the world’s differences if you give the impression that they don’t exist or you’re supposed to ignore them? Instead, encourage your child to say hello. Let her ask questions and be ready to answer them.
3. Attend Virtual Cultural Events
Research and explore various kid-friendly cultural events. During the pandemic many events have gone virtual, which increases your access to many more opportunities since you’re not limited to your local area. Eventbrite and similar sites have information about these types of events, as do various museums and other institutions that you can easily access online.
These events provide a fun, interactive way for your child to explore multiple aspects of a different culture, like food, art, and certain customs. To help prepare your children for the event, read books ahead of time and talk about how the people in the culture do things differently from you.
Diversity is everywhere, and it always will be (thank goodness). Our country is a veritable melting pot of cultures and people from all walks of life. Let your children explore and discover, answer their questions, and help show them that diversity is something to be celebrated, not feared.
For more ways to connect with your children, check out what the MamaZen app has to offer, from being a happy momma to raising confident, thoughtful kids.
Jake Y. Rubin, M.A, is a Board Certified Hypnotherapist, a former university professor of psychology, and a recognized expert in hypnosis and hypnotherapy with degrees in Psychology from UCLA and the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University. He is the founder of the MamaZen app.
The Mighty Ducks are back, but they look nothing like the 90’s team we grew up watching. Disney+ provided the first trailer for its’ new series, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers and we couldn’t be more excited to tune in.
Set in present day Minnesota, 12-year-old Evan Morrow gets cut from his dream team, The Mighty Ducks, now an elite youth hockey team. In the released trailer, Morrow and his mom, played by Lauren Graham, gather a group of misfits to form their own team.
Can the new team challenge the “win-at-all-costs” culture that youth sports embodies today? With Gordon Bombay at their side, the group just might be able to find that playing because they love the game is enough.
You can catch The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers when it drops on Disney+ staring Mar. 26.
The Roberts clan is back in action! Mattel, Inc. has announced two new animated Barbie Specials releasing this year.
First up, Barbie & Chelsea The Lost Birthday will debut this spring and will be the first dedicated television movie featuring Barbie’s younger sister Chelsea in a starring role. The special follows the Roberts family as they set out on an adventure cruise for Chelsea’s birthday, only to cross the International Date Line and lose her birthday.
photo: Courtesy of Mattel
Chelsea’s 60-minute special will air on Netflix in the U.S. and other platforms around the world.
The second special has yet to be named, but will follow the popular “Barbie Princess Adventure” released last year. The musical will follow Barbie and her friends on a trip to New York City.
“Barbie’s brand message, about inspiring the limitless potential in every child, and her stories resonate deeply with both kids and parents all over the world,” said Adam Bonnett, Executive Producer, Mattel Television. “This year, we are expanding the Barbie content universe in a number of ways starting with a fantastical story centered around Barbie’s little sister, Chelsea, an incredibly popular character in the Barbie family. We have barely scratched the surface of the stories the brand can tell, and this is the first of many scripted and unscripted Barbie projects we have in production and development.”
In addition to the new specials, Mattel will also be launching complementary dolls, playsets and accessories based on Chelsea this spring. The products will be a part of the Barbie brand expansion to her family and friends.
You know her from Parks & Recreation and that alluring deadpan, but Aubrey Plaza has been busy during the pandemic. Not only is she starring and producing Michael Levine’s Black Bear, she also been penning a new picture book for kids. True to Plaza’s reputation for beating to her own drum, this one is a holiday book, with a twist. Read on to learn more.
Coming in Oct. 2021 and available now for pre-order, The Christmas Witchis authored by Aubrey Plaza and Daniel Murphy with gorgeous fantasy-filled illustrations by Julia Iredale.
“Gather ‘round the fire to hear a Christmas legend that has never been told before…until now. Each year a mysterious figure sweeps into town, leaving behind strange gifts in the night. No, not Santa Claus, but his sister…”
The story introduces readers to Santa’s long lost, misunderstood sister, Kristtōrn, who just happens to have been raised alone by a witch of the woods. Kristtōrn embarks on a journey to find her twin, but is met with fear of her powers. And Kristtōrn has a temper. It leads to a confrontation that leaves the fate of Christmas itself in balance.
“I couldn’t be more excited to be publishing The Legend of the Christmas Witch with Viking this fall,” says Plaza.“This is a story that Dan and I have been working on for some time now and we can’t wait to introduce a character as fierce, independent, and headstrong as Kristtörn to readers this holiday season.”
We can’t wait to see all of those lavish illustrations and read the tale in its entirety by a cozy fireplace of our own. And according to Viking, it’s a two-book deal but no word on what the next book will be. We’ll wait as patiently as we can.
Pre-order it here, $18.99 hardcover. Geared toward ages 5-8, but we know you’ll enjoy it any age.
1997’s Rogers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella is coming back to TV! The remade classic starring Whitney Houston, Brandy, Whoopie Goldberg and more will be exclusively available on Fri. Feb. 12 on Disney+.
You can tune in starting at the stroke of midnight on Feb. 12 to catch the film which earned seven Emmy Award nominations and has been celebrated for its diverse representation.
photo: Disney+
The movie originally premiered on Nov. 2, 1997 during “The Wonderful World of Disney” on ABC with 60 million viewers. It features plenty of original songs by Rogers and Hammerstein and was directed by Robert Isgrove.
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella will join the “Celebrate Black Stories” collection found on Disney+, along with Soul, Black Is King, Black Panther, Hidden Figures and more.
Quack, quack, quack! The Mighty Ducks are hitting the ice nearly 30 years after first taking flight. . Today Disney+ gave fans a first look at its original series The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers premiering Fri., Mar. 26.
The Mighty Ducks returns in a brand new chapter starring Lauren Graham and Emilio Estevez in the iconic role he originated as legendary Coach Gordon Bombay.
In the 10-episode season set in present day Minnesota, the Mighty Ducks have evolved from scrappy underdogs to an ultra-competitive, powerhouse youth hockey team. After 12-year-old Evan Morrow (Brady Noon) is unceremoniously cut from the Ducks, he and his mom, Alex (Graham), set out to build their own team of misfits to challenge the cutthroat, win-at-all-costs culture of youth sports today. With the help of Gordon Bombay, they rediscover the joys of playing just for love of the game.
The series features a talented new team of up-and-coming young actors including Maxwell Simkins, Swayam Bhatia, Luke Islam, Kiefer O’Reilly, Taegen Burns, Bella Higginbotham, and DJ Watts.
The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers is produced by ABC Signature, a part of Disney Television Studios. Estevez is an executive producer and Graham is co-executive producer.
Some people tune in for the big game while others are more interested in the commercials. Last week Doritos first teased their Super Bowl ad starring Jimmy Kimmel and Mindy Kaling. Today, they released a second teaser revealing that Flat Matthew is in fact Matthew McConaughey.
We haven’t seen what Flat Matthew actually looks like but we do hear McConaughey’s voice.
In last week’s teaser, Kimmel introduces his mysterious talk show guest to a shocked Mindy Kaling. “Did you see him backstage? He’s got a whole new look. Like a look that no one’s ever had before,” says Kimmel to Kaling referring to the mystery star.
Doritos has been a Super Bowl fixture for more than two decades, this year the brand is bringing a whole new dimension to gameday with the highly anticipated return of Doritos 3D Crunch.
Now we can only guess how McConaughey will get back to his original shape. No doubt it will involve a bag of Doritos 3D Crunch.
We don’t know about you, but we can’t wait to see how this unfolds.
