Conference koolit::disney

    The Disney Screen Saver from Berkeley Systems, Inc. will offer your
    idle computer screen a chance to display:
    
     The Chesire Cat appearing and disappearing...
    
     ...101 Dalmations running amok...          
    
      ...a haunting encounter with Mickey...
    
       ...Donald Duck painting...
    
          ...The Little Mermaid diving with other sea creatures...
    
             ...the crocodile chasing Captain Hook s Peter Pan flies by...
    
                ...and an interactive, user-controled Pinocchio playing
                   with Figaro.
    
     

    I went to both Comp USA and Computer City in Framingham this noon. 
    Neither has this software yet, but I will keep checking and let you
    know when it arrives. 
    
    Linda

    Disney Screen Saver should be available by now. Price range should
    be between $30-$40. It comes for both PCs and MACs.
    
    I'm putting it on my XMAS list.
    
    Mike

    
    Just got the Tiger Software catalog last night...
    
    It's listed in there for $29.90.
    
    Here's the ad for it:
    
    M-I-C...See Disney Favorites on your Screen!
    
    It's a world of laughter...it sure is!  With the hottest new
    screensaver available, the delightful Disney characters - Mickey,
    Donald, Goofy, Pinocchio, the Little Mermaid, 101 Dalmations and more -
    will help prevent screen burn-in and bring smiles to the faces of
    everyone who sees your monitor.  Over 15 colorful displays with classic
    Disney voices and sounds.  Includes password protection.  After Dark
    compatible.
    
    Catalog number B08-1011 $29.90
    
    To order from Tiger Software:
    
    For MAC - 800-666-2562
    For DOS - 800-888-4437
    FAX     - 305-529-2990
    Mail:     800 Douglas Entrance
    	      Executive Tower, 7th Floor
    	      Coral Gables, FL 33134
    
    
    Kris

    CompUSA has the Screen Saver in stock for $29.99! I will be picking it
    up and installing it this weekend. Full report on Monday. 
    
    Linda

    So Linda how's the ScreenSaver?
    
    Mike

    Sorry, I was offsite yesterday so couldn't sign in. 
    
    The screensaver is great! There are about 15 different ones ranging
    from a flower blossom falling, landing on, and being reflected in
    water (with amazing resolution) to The Little Mermaid with the entire
    assortment of creatures playing "Under the Sea". The music needs a 
    sound card which I don't have yet, but some sound can be heard on 
    the PC's own speaker: Donald squawking, the crash as Goofy pushes the
    icons off the side of the screen, etc. 
    
    My favorites right now are "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" (the brooms fill 
    the screen with water) and "The Magic Kingdom" (the castle that brightens 
    and darkens as fireworks go off in the background). 
    
    Each screen has certain parameters that can be customized, such as the
    number of brooms in The Sorcerer's Apprentice or the scare level of the
    spooky on (can't remember the name). 
    
    One caution: The software takess up 8.3 Mb on the hard disk. It is
    possible to do a partial install if space is an issue.
    
    IMO it's worth the $29.99. Last night I wasn't doing anything on the 
    computer but turned it on to watch the screensaver!
    
    Linda   

    I've got it installed on my system at home.  I got it for about $4 less
    at Costco.
    
    It's great.  I've got the one with Captain Hook and Smee trying to
    avoid Tic-Toc.  All the while it plays "Never Smile."
    
    The Sorcerer's Apprentice plays the Dukas theme, the Flowers are
    playing Waltz of the Flowers, and I can't remember the title of what it
    plays as it generates what looks like stained-glass pictures from
    "Beauty and the Beast"
    
    tom

    I picked it up as well when I was visiting CXO, I prefer the Digital
    Ink which plays Mickey (with sound effects) doing various things.
    
    Lots of fun.
    JP

    I was reading in the parent's guide to my step daughter's Disney
    Magazine that there is a Disney Screen Saver available.  I was
    wondering if anyone has it yet?  What is it like?  The magizine says it
    is $59.95.  Where can I find this?
    
    Thanks in advance for any info. 
    
    Rose East
    

    you can get it for less....mailorder
    
    here is a number I just found in a magazine:
    
    800-800-0003 $29.00
    

    
    
      Rose,
    
      I believe I've seen the Software package at Lechmere, in the Phesant
    Lane Mall, Nashua.   Sorry, but I don't know the cost.
    
    
    -Dean

    I've seen them at Electronic's Boutique too. 29.99$ I thought.
    There's one in the Burlington Mall and there's one in the 
    Rockingham Mall in Salem NH.

    CompUSA and Computer City both carry it for about $30. 
    
    Linda

    I saw it at WalMart for about $30.
    
    DaveV

    
    
    
    COSTCO had it for 25.00
    

    Thanks for the advice on the screen saver.  I can't wait to get it! 
    I'll be the envy of the office!  Maybe I won't do any work.  I just
    watch the screen saver!
    
    Rose East

    My husband just bought me a multi-media kit for my PC for our
    anniversary (he got a boring fly rod). I installed it and
    was looking forward to hearing the various songs that go along
    with the Disney screensavers. While I was out of the room, the 
    randomizer started the 101 Dalmatians sequence. I didn't know
    tht those little puppies yipped and yapped at each other! My 
    three dogs were frantic trying to find the barking dogs in their
    house! (Guess I'll turn the sound off on that screen!).
    
    Linda

     CHICAGO-(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 23, 1994--Microsoft Corp. announced today
    it will develop, market and distribute three original software programs
    based on Disney characters and integrating animation licensed through
    Disney Software.
      Designed to be fun as well as engaging, the products will add to a
    growing line of titles available under the Microsoft Home brand for
    children of all ages.
      The debut product of this licensing arrangement will be Microsoft's first
    offering for children in the 4-and-up age group. Expected this winter,
    "Mickey's Carnival"  will feature some of Disney's most familiar and
    best-loved characters, including Mickey Mouse, together with Minnie Mouse,
    Daisy Duck, Donald Duck, Goofy, Chip, Dale, and Huey, Dewey and Louie.
    Featuring animations created by talented Disney artists, the product lets
    kids interact with characters in a series of carnival ride activities,
    puzzles and games.
      "We think `Mickey's Carnival' will show the very best of what two leaders
    in technology and entertainment have to offer in terms of creative,
    high-quality content and value,"  said Patty Stonesifer, vice president,
    consumer division at Microsoft.  "We're very excited by the opportunity to
    bring these three Disney products to our line, and to offer a bit of the
    Disney magic in our line of titles for kids of all ages."
      "We're pleased to include Microsoft among our licensees,"  said Marc
    Teren, vice president of business development, Disney Consumer Products.
    "`Mickey's Carnival' builds on the proven appeal of Disney characters in
    our Disney software line.  This entertainment product will let kids
    interact in creative new ways and is sure to keep kids engaged and having
    fun for hours."
      Microsoft anticipates announcing two additional Disney titles --another
    product for children and one for teens and adults -- during 1995.  The
    products, to be sold under the Microsoft Home brand, will use Standard
    Disney characters as well as selected Disney television and film
    characters.  The new titles will be available through authorized Microsoft
    retailers worldwide.
      Microsoft Home comprises a broad range of consumer software products
    targeted at the rapidly expanding market of home software users.  The
    Microsoft Home brand has been created in response to customer demand for a
    line of useful and enjoyable products for the entire family. Under the
    Home brand, Microsoft offers software in the categories of personal
    productivity, kids, games, educational entertainment and reference and
    will continue to expand these categories.
      Disney Software is an operating unit of Disney Consumer Products, the
    merchandising and specialty retail group of The Walt Disney Co. Formed in
    1988, Disney Software is a developer, publisher and licensor
    of interactive entertainment software.
      Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
    software for personal computers.  The company offers a wide range of
    products and services for business and personal use, each designed with
    the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take
    advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
      Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp.

    
      CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 23, 1994--Sony Imagesoft and Disney
    Software Thursday announced their collaboration on a new video-game title
    based on the world's most lovable character, Mickey Mouse.
      Unveiled at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, ``Mickey
    Mania:  The Timeless Adventures of Mickey Mouse'' is the first-ever
    video-game title in which Disney animators created animation
    exclusively for a video game based on a nontheatrical release.
      ``Sony Imagesoft and Disney Software worked side by side on every
    creative and technical aspect of `Mickey Mania,' '' said Olaf Olafsson,
    president, Sony Imagesoft.  ``By marrying imagination with technology,
    Sony Imagesoft believes that `Mickey Mania' will set the pace for the
    Summer Consumer Electronics Show.''
      Mickey fans of all ages can take an interactive ride through seven
    animated Mickey shorts in which the player takes part in a retrospective
    journey through Mickey's life, beginning with ``Steamboat Willie'' and
    culminating in ``The Prince and the Pauper.''
      Moving into the 1994 holiday season with a solid video-game software
    lineup, Sony Imagesoft also announced additional new titles that
    respond to the multifaceted entertainment demands of today's players.
      ``Consumers expect the magic of Hollywood, the realism of interactive
    movies and the thrill of professional sports, and they demand titles which
    maximize the know-how offered by the leaders in entertainment,'' said
    Olafsson.  ``At Sony Imagesoft, we are making our mark by directly
    addressing players' needs in each of those categories.''
      When it comes to sports entertainment, Sony Imagesoft has partnered with
    ESPN, the premier sports television network, to tap ESPN's expertise and
    develop a library of fast-paced, realistic sports titles. Already on the
    market, ``ESPN Baseball Tonight'' features both the realistic ballpark
    action and compelling game-play experience that baseball fans demand,
    including ``live'' play-by-play analysis from ESPN personalities Chris
    Berman and Dan Patrick.
      ``The interactive sports experience from Sony Imagesoft and ESPN doesn't
    stop with `ESPN Baseball Tonight,' '' said Tom Hagopian, vice president,
    ESPN Enterprises.  ``We have been working the past 12 months to bring the
    thrill of competition and interactive game play to hockey, stock-car
    racing, football and basketball with `ESPN National Hockey Night,' `ESPN
    Speed World,' `ESPN Sunday Night NFL' and `NBA Hangtime '95.' ''
      Examples of Sony Imagesoft's Hollywood entries are ``Mary Shelley's
    Frankenstein,'' based on the eagerly awaited TriStar film; ``No Escape,''
    based on the futuristic motion picture of the same name; and ``3 Ninjas
    Kick Back,'' which features the characters in the ``3 Ninjas'' film
    series.  Sony Imagesoft will also launch Sega CD versions of America's
    favorite game shows, ``Wheel of Fortune'' and ``Jeopardy!''
                                                                   

    I've seen previews of Mickey Mania. It's not suppose to be an
    "easy" video game and they say the animation is 10 times better
    than the animation for the Aladdin video game.
    
    Looks like a winner. :)

 (WSJ):Walt Disney Will Announce Plans To Produce Video Games

 
  BURBANK, Calif. (AP-DJ)--U.S.'s Walt Disney Co. will announce plans for
its newly expanded interactive-software unit Monday, including its
intention to develop, publish and distribute its own video games for the
first time, according to people familiar with the situation, Monday's Wall
Street Journal reports. 
  Disney wouldn't comment, but the company is said to want to tout sales of
its first two CD-ROMs which hit the market last month, 'Aladdin Activity
Center' and 'Disney's Animated StoryBook: The Lion King.' 
  And it wants to trumpet the fact that the company's 'Disney Interactive'
unit has a newly named president in Steve McBeth, a vastly increased
staff, more interaction with other divisions of the company and a
stepped-up financial commitment from Disney's corporate overlord. 
  Disney Chairman Michael Eisner spent much of 1993 defying interactive
hype by portraying the company as low-tech. But even as he was making
these contrarian claims, he was ordering the revamping of Disney's
software unit, which started seven years ago as a sleepy licensor, then
developer, of Mickey Mouse and other characters for educational
floppy-disk computer software. 
  Even early last year, the unit had less than 50 employees, and there were
rumors that it was going to be sold. 
  But Disney coproduced a highly successful 'Aladdin' video game with
Virgin Interactive Entertainment (now a unit of Viacom Inc.), which sold
two million units, and began taking more and more of its game and software
development inhouse. 
  Disney plans to release two games next summer that it will have
developed, published and distributed itself, using its vaunted home-video
and consumer-products distribution systems. With more involvement from
Disney's feature animation team, its products recently have been better
received by critics and the public. 
  Disney isn't ruling out some outside alliances. The current popular 'Lion
King' video game also was developed with Virgin. And individuals close to
the situation say Disney's software unit is in talks about a broader
alliance with Sega Enterprises Ltd. of Japan. 
  Disney Interactive began ramping up last year, and has been up and
running with 120 employees for some months. But partly because multimedia
announcements so often seem like smoke-and-mirrors these days, the company
decided not to go public until it had a few real products on the market. 
  The unit is headed by McBeth, 38, who was executive vice president of
Disney's consumer-products unit. He reports to consumer products chief
Barton Boyd and to Rich Frank, chairman of television and
telecommunications. 
  Prior to Frank, the unit was partly accountable to Jeffrey Katzenberg,
chairman of Walt Disney Studios, who left the company late last summer.
News of today's announcement first surfaced in Friday's editions of Daily
Variety. 

PC Week, June 12, 1995

SLEEPING BEAUTY
Software.  Disney's magic touch ahs yet to reach software. But all that could
change, and without a price's kiss.  A new effort by the biggest brand name
in America may mean a new force in edutainment.

by Sean Silverthorne

Disney.  THe name rolls off the tongue like soft sweet chocolate.  Certainly
the Walt Disney Co. is America's best-loved brand, strong enough to strech
the franchise into everything from a cruise line to a baseball team.  Yet
the magic kingdom has not extended its borders very effectively to computers.
Sure, Disney has produced dozens of software titles, but the quality of most
was closer to the movie studio's somnambulitstic "One of our Dinosaurs is
Missing" than the sonorous "Sleeping Beauty."

But Sleeping Beauty is starting to stir -- and the influence on the PC 
edutainment market could be more enchanting than the kiss of a prince.  Over
the last six months, Disney has stared an ambitious and growing interactive
division, tapped its muscular home video sales network to sell software, and
taken steps to ensure that the company's rich talent pool of animators and
ride designers also work on multimedia titles.  Next year Disnet will start 
pumping out up to 50 titles a year. ... The goal:  $1 billion in annual sales
in five years.
...
Unlike Disney films, however, a happy ending is not guaranteed.  For one
thing, Disney periodically announces plans to get serious about interactive
entertainment, but then nothing much happens.  Sure, Disney knows how to tell
a linear story, but can it create interactive adventures?  Since many of its
stories are tied increasingly to movie titles, stumbles on the big screen
will dampen sales on the small one.  There is also a PR problem: former
employees say the company played Cruella de Vil with them, a reputation that
some say is now hurting Disney as it tries to recruit top talent.  Says a 
former employee, "they've managed to upset so many people that no one wants
to work there."

Nevertheless, it now appears that Disney gets it.  In December it formed
Disney Interactive by merging the old software division with the formidable
Walt Disney Television and Telecommunications division, the umbrella over 
film, animation, home-video, and theme-park groups. ... DI is staffing up
quickly.  Head count will increase from 125 last year to 400 in 1996...

Six multiplatform titles will be released through Christmas including a screen
saver, education title, and action game, all derived from the animated feature
"Pocahontas," to be released June 23.  Other titles include "Winnie the Pooh"
and a new "The Lion King."

...For the first time, Disney is harnessing the Imagineering team, the creative
force that designs its thrilling theme park rides.

...The Walt Disney Imagineering Virtual Reality Studio, which built Aladdin's
Magic Carpet exhibit at WDW, is helping develop a home version slated for 
1996.  Players will don a virtual reality headset, then mount a flying carpet
to search for Aladdin's magic lamp.

(There was lots more, it was a huge article!)
Bill A.

The Lion's Share of a Headache
(Sidebar to the article in the previous note)

The computer industry looked at Disney Interactive's "The Lion King"
CDROM experience last Christmas and proclaimed it a disaster.  There were
stories of children crying on Christmas morning when the program wouldn't
work.  THere was the bad PR when Disney delayed helping its customers.
Disney certainly took its lumps.  Now it's taking steps to ensure its customers
don't roar on Christmas day 1995.

Disney's black Christmas started when some 150,000 customers unwrapped "The
Lion King" software.  Technical and other glitches prevented thousands of
the programs -- may tens of thousands, DIsney won't say -- from running.  The
problem only snowballed when displeased parents called DIsney for help.  THe
support center was closed for the holiday.  Even weeks later, some people 
reported getting little or no help.  It didn't take long for displeasure to
turn into anger,

For immediate damage control in the days following, Disney contracted with 
outside support technicians to help out on the phone lines.  SInce then it 
has continued to beef up support staff, from eight before the Christmas 
crisis to more than 50 today.  It also established a toll-free number with
extended hours, including Saturday service.

THat's SOP for most software companies, of course. ...

...So next Christmas, for example, Disney titles will come with instructions
that advise the user to preload the software, so that problems can be dealt 
with before dawn breaks on Dec. 25.  ...

Disney has also adjusted the technology quotient in its games.  Once criticized
for employing stone age technology, Disney went the other way with "The Lion
King," developed for it by Media Station, Inc.  The game used the MPC Level 2
standard, which resulted in sound problems for the many computers users who
couldn't run 16-but sound.  Now DI targets 486/25SX-class machines as its
reference point for PC products.
...
Disaster?  Not really. Witness the power of s strong brand.  The company 
shipped some 400,000 "THe Lion King" units, and the title continued selling
briskly in the first quarter, even after bad PR. ...


(No wonder! Only PCs bought late last year would have had 16 bit sound
cards!
  Bill A. )