Along with the re-release of the first two Toy Story movies in 3D this October, Pixar’s John Lasseter is taking fans behind-the-scenes in a new, exclusive seven-part YouTube video series that can be seen only at YouTube.com/DisneyLiving (1st of 7 videos embedded below), where he introduces the new Toy Story Definitive toy line, the most film-accurate replicas yet.

Each video will offer a different part of the story from Lasseter’s own words to a profile on each character- including Sheriff Woody, Rex, Space Aliens, RC Remote Control Car and Buzz Lightyear- along with never-before known facts and more.

The toys themselves, developed by Thinkway Toys, are highly detailed replicas that are movie-accurate in almost every single way from their stitching to the boxes they come in. The Toy Story Definitive collectibles are fully articulated, include features such as sound effects and even come with a Certificate of Authenticity (COA).

The seven part series kicks off today and will air two new videos a week until the series is completed.

With no further ado, here is the first video.

As you will see in the video, John recommends that serious collectors buy two of each toy – one to keep new in the box and one of course to play with. I think that’s great advice.

There is a new app available for both iPhones and iPod devices called “Disney at Work: Magic Kingdom” which is is filled with scores of insights and hundreds of photos that focus on lessons in customer loyalty, leadership, creativity, and even change management.

The app’s interactive showcase allows you to go through all of the lands and attractions of the park, to learn fascinating details about how Disney really works.

The app provides guests visiting the magic Kingdom instant access to a world of information, enhancing their Disney theme park experience. Even the biggest Disney fan will find something new they might not have know before.

This interactive showcase shares:

• Leadership stories of how Walt Disney and others built one of the greatest entertainment empires ever

• Onstage and up-close examples of how Disney pays attention to the details

• Outstanding industry and business ideas as practiced by management and operations in the park

• Little-known insights for how the culture of Walt Disney World succeeds in engaging cast members (employees) and delighting guests (customers)

• Behind-the-scene examples of how the back of the house supports the onstage operation

This is only the first of many Apps to come. Work is underway on an App that explores the excitement of Epcot. Eventually an App for each park will be offered as well as one that covers the rest of the Walt Disney World Resort and even Orlando itself!

Future plans beyond that will include Disneyland and the international parks. If you love the insights of Disney, it’s a collection that you will definitely want to acquire.

The “Disney at Work: Magic Kingdom” app for iPhone and iPod is now available at the App Store for a limited time at $4.99 (USD).

How many times have you been to a Disney theme park, seen an item in one of their merchandise stores that you just had to have but would get later, and then left the park for getting to acquire that desired item?

Worry no longer as DisneyStore.com, formerly known as DisneyShopping.com, has expanded to offer a wide assortment of merchandise from Disney theme parks, Disney Store and Disney consumer products.

“We are delighted to be able to offer this great experience and convenience to our loyal guests who can now go to DisneyStore.com and purchase that forgotten item, one that was too large to carry or one that will make their Disney vacation all that more magical, like autograph books, which are great to have in advance,” said Edward Kummer, senior vice president of Disney Global E-Commerce. “Many of these products are among the most frequently asked for by our guests and now they are available to them at the click of a mouse.”

Online shoppers can choose from more than 100 top-selling products previously available only at domestic Disney theme parks, including customizable novelty ear hats, birthday gifts, exclusive art, collectibles, toys and plush items. The product selection will continue to expand throughout the year with special Disney theme park items just in time for the holiday shopping season.

In addition, DisneyStore.com will expand its online selection of merchandise from Disney Store retail locations across North America, offering a variety of popular seasonal and gift items throughout the year, plus apparel, costumes and playthings for infants, toddlers, kids and adults.

DisneyStore.com will also offer an expansive line-up of licensed merchandise from Disney Consumer Products, including electronics, movies, books, home décor, toys and apparel, vintage items, jewelry and more.

Now I’m off to see if the online shop offers something that I just had to have but forgot to get during my last visit to Disneyland.

Disney Consumer Products and the LEGO Group recently announced a multi-year licensing agreement that gives the LEGO access to an extensive portfolio of renowned Disney and Disney Pixar properties. LEGO and LEGO Duplo products are currently in development for three franchises — Disney Pixar’s Toy Story and Cars, and Prince of Persia. The products will launch in 2010.

Toy Story

Toy Story-themed construction sets will be available on both LEGO Duplo and LEGO System platforms, building the adventure and fun for children ages 2-12. LEGO System products based on Toy Story and Toy Story 2 will launch in January 2010, to be followed in May by construction sets based on the new animated feature, Toy Story 3, scheduled to hit theaters in Disney Digital 3D June 2010. Toy Story-themed LEGO Duplo products launch in June 2010.

Cars

The Cars-themed LEGO Duplo line will feature iconic scenes from Radiator Springs and the Piston Cup Championship raceway and will feature favorite Cars characters like McQueen, Mater and Sally. Cars-themed LEGO Duplo products are scheduled to launch in June 2010.

Prince of Persia

A line of LEGO System construction toys based on the film “Prince of Persia: Sands of Time,” which is scheduled to release in May 2010 is also in development. The film, based on the best-selling video game franchise of the same name, tells the story of Prince Dastan’s struggle to stop an evil ruler from unleashing a sandstorm that could destroy the world. Prince of Persia-themed LEGO products are scheduled to launch in April 2010.

Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, CEO LEGO Group, had the following to say.

“We are thrilled to team up with Disney, another of the world’s premium brands for families with children. When two brands who share similar values bring their franchises together — in this case a timeless play pattern with some of the industry’s most beloved stories and characters — and combine their access to families, retail strength and marketing power, amazing things can happen. We can’t wait to launch the first three lines and look forward to exploring all of the ways in which we bring the wonderful world of Disney to life in LEGO form.”

Disney seems similarly excited.

“Joining forces with LEGO Group speaks to the commitment and vision both companies share for quality product and innovative creativity that invigorates kids play,” said Vince Klaseus, senior vice president, global toys, Disney Consumer Products. “Our collaboration will continue to extend the vitality of our roster of franchises by bringing our characters and their worlds to life in a fresh and exciting way. Through these new LEGO product lines, Disney will continue to build presence in the construction toys category and grow market share in the boys demographic.”

For the first time in its history, Disney is creating a film with an African-American princess. Princess Tiana’s story will come to the big screen later this year in the animated musical “The Princess and The Frog.” She is the first princess introduced by Disney since Mulan in 1998.

The doll representing the new princess will make its debut Monday at the American International Toy Fair in New York City.

For Disney, it’s not just about being culturally and politically correct, it’s also about growing its lucrative — but aging — Disney Princess franchise in an ailing economy. Created in 1999, Disney Princesses had $4 billion in global retail sales last year.

Though Princess Tiana was on the drawing board long before Barack Obama was elected the nation’s first black president, marketing experts say she signals a growing awareness by industries from toymakers to cosmetic companies that diversity is critical in a nation where people of color will be the majority in little more than 30 years.

“It’s very significant,” says Lisa Skriloff, president of Multicultural Marketing Resources. “It’s like a stamp of approval for one of the most outstanding family (entertainment) companies to say this is important.”

Disney representatives say that they did not set out to make a social statement.

“It was much more about the storytelling,” says Kathy Franklin, vice president, global studio franchise development for Disney Consumer Products. “This was not about a conscious decision to say we need an African-American princess.”

Yet, industry watchers say that when Princess Tiana dolls hit stores in the fall, they will bring diversity to a marketplace where it’s been sorely lacking.

The doll itself will sport a tiara, a flowing blue gown, and is roughly the size of a Barbie. It is expected to sell for about the same $10 to $15 as Barbie brand dolls. Disney has hopes that it will boost the franchise through rough times.

Disney, which has had great success with its Princess franchise, predicts that sales will surge with the arrival of Tiana. “We expect our sales of Princess Tiana products to be significant, and not just to African-American households,” says Franklin.

Tiana merchandise will range from Halloween costumes to backpacks. There are plans for Tiana-theme MP3 players and digital cameras to be in stores by the end of the year, and a line of Princess Tiana and “The Princess and the Frog” books will go on sale this fall.

The second installment of C.S. Lewis’ timeless epic has now been released on DVD and Blu-ray Hi-Def, bringing the fantasy adventure that has enthralled millions into homes across America in time for the Christmas holiday. Packed with interviews, exclusive featurettes as well as deleted scenes, the “Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” DVD is sure to be a DVD you will want to add to your collection.

Besides the full-feature length movie itself, the collector’s edition Prince Caspian DVD will offer viewers several special bonuses.

• Special audio commentary by director and actors

• Behind-the-scenes interview with cast and crew

• A tour of the film’s locations and sets

• An inside view of the technology and production behind the movie

• Bloopers, deleted scenes and more

Get the Blue-Ray version and enjoy these additional features not available on the standard DVD:

• An interactive Narnia game

• Downloadable features

• “Circle-vision” interactive, which provides viewers with a 360-degree look behind the scenes of the castle raid sequence

“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” has a suggested retail price of $29.99 in the U.S. but is available at Amazon.com for half-price. The Collector’s Edition, meanwhile, is $39.99 (43% off on Amazon), and the Blu-ray disc is priced at $35.99 (31% off on Amazon).

While I myself would love to add this to my collection, I think I’m going to wait until all seven installments of The Chronicles of Narnia are completed and available in some sort of box set, just as I did with The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Still, if you can;t wait till Disney finishes production of several more films, the Amazon pricing is looking pretty good right now.

Related: Book your dream Disney vacation at Expedia.com!

Have you ever imagined what it would be like to walk in the footsteps of Walt Disney himself during and after Disneyland was built? Now you can with a new pocket sized guide entitled “Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland” which aims to answer the question, “What would it be like to walk through Disneyland with Walt by your side?”

The 128-page paperback takes readers land by land through the Anaheim theme park, offering anecdotes, history and trivia from Disney Imagineers as well as early concept art, sketches and schematics of many rides and attractions.

“From a process standpoint, it offers a bit of a peek behind the curtain of how we turn concepts into reality,” said Alex Wright, an Imagineer who gathered tales from his co-workers for the book. “In a way, there’s no one person who can tell you all these different stories. We have so many different disciplines.”

To research the book, Wright delved into the extensive Disney archives and toured the park with long-time Imagineers Tony Baxter and Kim Irvine. The hard part, Wright said, was deciding what to leave out.

“When it’s Disneyland, there’s always more to tell,” Wright said. “You could have told another 1,000 stories with all the history that’s gone on there.”

Designed to be read in the park, the “field guide” attempts to strike a difficult balance between appealing to first-time Disneyland visitors as well as life-long fans.

Brady MacDonald of Los Angeles Times who reviewed the book for an article offers some of his own personal favorite finds.

Early Concepts Never Realized:

• Walt envisioned live exotic animals roaming the banks of the Jungle Cruise.

• A runaway mine-car theme for Indiana Jones Adventure incorporating the Jungle Cruise boats and the Disneyland Railroad.

• A walk-through Pirates of the Caribbean wax museum — the water and boats weren’t added until after construction started.

• A Casey Jr. Circus Train roller-coaster thrill ride — retooled within weeks of opening day into a gentle kiddie ride.

Trivia Tidbits:

• The New Orleans Square train station depot taps out Morse code of Walt Disney’s opening day dedication speech.

• The Latin motto on Mr. Toad’s coat of arms reads: “Speeding with Toad is always absurd.”

• Walt liked to take pre-opening morning drives in a Carnation milk truck along Main Street U.S.A.

• Steven Spielberg recorded the rumbles and clanking of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad for the mine-car chase scene in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”

The Truly Odd:

• Uprooted orange trees were planted upside down during the construction phase of the Jungle Cruise to represent missing foliage.

• Walt gave his wife, Lilly, a petrified tree for their wedding anniversary. (She donated it to the theme park, where it still resides in Frontierland.)

• Visitors in the Star Tours queue may hear an intercom page for Egroeg Sacul (George Lucas backwards).

You can get the book on Amazon for $9.95. I’m hoping it is available at the park itself as I’ll be there next Thursday and Friday. And as this Disney fan is always hungry to learn the in-and-outs of the park, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on this little gem one way or another.

Related: Book your dream Disney vacation at Expedia.com!

Disney Interactive Studios is releasing a new interactive trivia game for Wii and PlayStaion 2 called TH!NK Fast featuring a TV game show format in which contestants use quick wits and agility to answer both general knowledge and Disney-themed questions. The game is filled with beloved Disney characters and hosted by the wisecracking but always charming Genie from Disney’s “Aladdin.”

“The perfect party game for the entire family, Disney TH!NK Fast is guaranteed to give your brain cells a high-intensity entertainment workout this holiday season,” said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. “Whether you’re 6, 16 or 60, you’re never too old for a friendly showdown.”

Playing as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, and other Disney characters, contestants compete in a variety of trivia rounds ranging from multiple-choice questions to exciting mini-games set in themed locations based on Disney classics such as “Lilo & Stitch,” “The Little Mermaid,” “The Lion King” and “101 Dalmatians.” Each of the locations features special guest hosts, such as Stitch from “Lilo and Stitch.”

Disney TH!NK Fast challenges one to four players with more than 5,000 questions on topics ranging from Disney trivia to general knowledge. A unique visual answer system puts players right in the game.

TH!NK Fast will be available for Wii ($49.99)and PlayStation 2 ($39.99) in November. Visit the official game site for more information as well as link to pre-order.

Related: Book your dream Disney vacation at Expedia.com!

Even though it is one of my all-time favorite animated features, I still do not own a copy of Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Now that will change with the release of a 2 Disc Collector’s Edition in available starting today.

If you do not recall the story line, let me refresh your memory. Bored and unhappy with the life of being “The Pumpkin King” Jack Skellington of Halloween Town, Jack sets out to find something exciting. Jack discovers “Christmas Town” and takes it upon himself to take over the duties of Santa to deliver toys across the world to children.

Disc One contains the main feature (along with several previews) which has been digitally remastered and restored. Unlike the earlier release in 2001, this version is true anamorphic widescreen, meaning that the picture expands to fill the entire screen on widescreen televisions.

While most of the bonus features are on Disc Two, there are some goodies on the first disc including:

• Tim Burton’s original “The Nightmare Before Christmas” poem is narrated by Christopher Lee with unique paper-style animation.

• The Making of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas.

• New audio commentary with Tim Burton, Henry Selick (director) and Danny Elfman.

• “Backstage Disney” – a selection of special material about the Haunted Mansion Holiday attraction at Disneyland created just for this DVD set. The first segment, called “On Track,” lets you experience the Haunted Mansion Holiday attraction with actual ride narration in English, optionally with trivia pop-ups. Then in “Off Track”, you discover what went into creating all the creepy fun of Haunted Mansion Holiday.

Disc two contains all the additional bonus features including:

• Frankenweenie, with a new introduction by Tim Burton

• Vincent

• Deleted scenes – some storyboarded but not animated, and some animated but cut before the final edit.

• The Worlds of Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” – concept art and basic character animation samples.

• A storyboard-to-film comparison of the “Town Meeting Song”A selection of posters and trailers.

What’s the cost of this collector’s edition? Get ready for a bit of sticker shock, at least as far as DVDs go. The retail version will run you $32.99 ($39.99 for Blue-Ray). For any serious collector of animated features, this will be a must have, even if you have previous copies.

Related: Book your dream Disney vacation at Expedia.com!

Very soon you will be able to see your beloved Disney/Pixar characters in comic book format. Disney Publishing Worldwide and BOOM! Studios have announced that they will bring brand new stories from beloved Pixar movies to the comic book medium. Initial offerings will feature characters from Toy Story, Finding Nemo and Disney/Pixar’s newest film – WALL*E.

“Today, American comic books are aimed primarily at an older readership. Comics produced for an upcoming generation of readers are scarce – and BOOM! Studios aims to do something about that,” said Editor-in-Chief Mark Waid. “There will be comics for kids again!”

Waid will be writing The Incredibles comic book, featuring cover art by DC: The New Fronteir writer and artist, Darwyn Cooke.

To commemorate this historic partnership, BOOM! will be releasing a special preview book featuring sneak previews of upcoming projects using the characters from Toy Story, Finding nemo and Monsters, Inc. This preview is aimed give comic fans and interested parents a look at the quality comics BOOM! will be producing for a younger audience by the end of the year.

“It’s nothing short of an honor to work with Disney Publishing Worldwide and Pixar for this project,” said BOOM! Studios co-founder Ross Richie. “We found kindred spirits in the creative counterparts we have at both companies, and have just really had a fantastic time finding the right writer and artist combinations to do the source material justice. I think young and old alike are going to love these books!”

The Pixar preview book will be available for $5 during San Diego Comic-Con which runs July 24-27, 2008 at the BOOM! Studios booth.

Original story at IGN.com.

Related: Book your dream Disney vacation at Expedia.com!