Pixar and Disney Animated Short Film Festival Opens; January Schedule for Symphony in the Stars; and More

Pixar and Disney Animated Short Film Festival Opens at Epcot:

Just a few weeks ago Captain EO ended its run at the Magic Eye Theater in Epcot. Disney made plans to replace it with the Pixar and Disney Animated Short Film Festival. Today, the new attraction opened and features three animated shorts. They are:

1. Get a Horse – Disney’s 2013 animated short film combines black-and-white hand-drawn animation and CGI animation including many of the classic characters. Walt Disney’s original records of Mickey Mouse were even used in the production. It was nominated for an Academy Award
2. For The Birds – Produced by Pixar and directed by Ralph Eggleston it was originally shown in festivals in 2000, then was attached to Monsters, Inc for theatrical release. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2001.
3. La Luna – From 2011, this Pixar short was directed and written by Enrico Casarosa with music by Michael Giacchino. It was nominated for an Academy Award.

Be sure to check out the Pixar and Disney Animated Short Film Festival when you visit Epcot next.

January Schedule for Symphony in the Stars: A Galactic Spectacular at Hollywood Studios:

Symphony in the Stars: A Galactic Spectacular debuted last week when "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" opened in theaters. The spectacular fireworks show themed to Star Wars music will set off daily. A schedule for the month of January has now been released for Disney's Hollywood Studios.

For January 1-3, the show will continue the holiday schedule where the fireworks will go off at 11 p.m. when the park closes. The show will be at 10 p.m. on January 4. From January 5-30, the fireworks show will be set off at 8 p.m. Details for beyond January 30 have not been released yet.

Opening Weekend Box Office Update on "Star Wars: The Force Awakens":

Yesterday, the record-breaking numbers were released for the opening weekend of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens". Today, Walt Disney Studios revised their estimates to even higher than the $238M domestically and $517M globally. The new numbers are expected to be anywhere between $247-$251 million and over $529 million globally. That would make it best global opening topping "Jurassic World" from this summer.