Walt Disney

TELEVISION 1.The Singing Bee, NBC 2.America's Got Talent, NBC 3.Law & Order: SVU, NBC 4.CSI, CBS 5.CSI: NY, CBS FILMS 1.I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, Warner Bros. 2.Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Warner Bros. 3.Hairspray, Disney 4.Transformers, DreamWorks 5.Ratatouille, Disney SINGLES 1.Hey There Delilah, Plain White T's 2.Umbrella, Rihanna featuring Jay-Z 3.Big Girls Don't Cry (Personal), Fergie 4.Party Like a Rockstar, Shop Boyz 5.The Way I Are, Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson ALBUMS 1.T.I.

NEW YORK -- Viacom Inc. said yesterday that it would acquire CBS Inc. for $37.3 billion, a deal that is the biggest media merger yet and would create the world's second-largest media company after Time Warner Inc.For Viacom and its 76-year-old chairman, Sumner Redstone, who will run the combined companies if the merger is completed, the deal adds a major broadcast television network, 15 CBS-owned television stations and the nation's biggest group of radio...

In the world according to Thomas Kinkade, life is simple, picturesque. Cozy cottages always glow with inviting light, flowers of all varieties always bloom in improbable synchronicity, the sun always breaks through storm clouds, promising hope and happiness and har-mony. Always.In Kinkadia, as in the incredibly popular paintings he produces, there are no angry slashes of emotion, no moral ambiguities, no overly cluttered lives. Always, though, there is a confounding of fantasy and realism, of light and darkness, a sense of childlike confidence in mankind and nature.

HOLLYWOOD -- Celebrity voice-overs have become a central part of the animation business, changing the ways studios today promote and market their family movies.Not only did Tom Hanks and Tim Allen receive "over scale" salaries for reprising their roles in "Toy Story 2," they're also the first stars to get their names above the title in all print advertising for the coming Thanksgiving release from Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios."There's no denying that when you have Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, two of the big stars around, it's a huge plus for us," said Richard Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group.

THE WALT DISNEY Co. and Warner Bros. announced plans last week to begin the first cutbacks of their once-thriving retail stores. Warner's parent company, Time Warner Inc., said it was considering decreasing the sizes and closing some of its 140 Studio Store locations in the United States. Disney, whose consumer products division's operating profit fell 38 percent to $102 million in fiscal 1999, said it might close underperforming stores and ease up in opening new locations. In mid-January, the entertainment giant will close its first retail location in Atlanta.

When opera singer Mary Costa comes to the Margaret Smith Gallery in Ellicott City on Sunday, she is likely to be greeted by a small army of enchanted viewers of the 1959 Walt Disney animated classic "Sleeping Beauty."Costa, the voice of Princess Aurora/Briar Rose in the film, will appear at the gallery to sign certificates of authenticity for original art from the film in which the character -- better known as Sleeping Beauty -- appears.Gallery owner Margaret Smith says she is excited about the visit.

WALT DISNEY WORLD, Fla. - The line snakes from "Space Mountain, presented by Federal Express," doubling, tripling, quadrupling between the metal cattle gates. The sign says the approximate wait is 30 minutes.Only 30 minutes! I think, and I think again: Where else did I ever see a line this long and say, only 30 minutes? And instantly I know the answer.Where else did loudspeakers mounted on poles fill the air with joyous, repetitive music and exhortations to greater happiness? Where else was the avuncular, beloved founder remembered and quoted so often, so affectionately, his portrait beaming down from so many walls?

Tall ship visitsDiscover what life at sea was like more than 200 years ago when the tall ship Endeavour docks at Baltimore's Inner Harbor Constellation Pier Friday through June 7 as part of a 16-port, seven-month North American tour. The vessel is a replica of the HM Bark Endeavour, the 18th century ship that Captain James Cook sailed around the world on one of history's most celebrated voyages of discovery.The visiting museum ship can be toured from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, beginning Saturday.

The family of Walt Disney opens its archives and shares recollections of the entertainment legend in a recent release from Disney Interactive, "Walt Disney: An Intimate History of the Man and His Magic."Hours of home movies and multimedia presentations take you into the private life of the Disney family. Interactive activities are fun and educational, and there's a vast collection of photos, animation art, drawings, and letters for the curious to peruse.The journey begins in the Main Hall, where visitors meet Disney's daughter, Diane Disney Miller, and her family.

WALT DISNEY CO. and ESPN haven't opened their first sports-theme dining and entertainment complex, but already they're fine-tuning the concept.The name has been changed from ESPN Grill to ESPN Zone. A new logo is in the works. The interior design is undergoing revisions as well.One element that will definitely stay, planners say, is a giant flaming "sports kebab" that will mark the entrance to the Inner Harbor attraction, which is scheduled to open this summer in the Pier 4 Power Plant."That's an integral part of the concept," said Scott Dickey, director of sales and marketing for Disney Regional Entertainment Inc., the Disney affiliate that is working on the project.

Nov. 6 Disney's A Christmas Carol: (Walt Disney Pictures) Director Robert Zemeckis distills the classic Dickens tale with a 3-D twist. With Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman. The Fourth Kind: (Universal Pictures) A psychologist investigates an extraordinary number of disappearances around a small Alaskan town. With Milla Jovovich and Elias Koteas. Men Who Stare At Goats: (Overture Films) A reporter in Iraq just might have the story of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady, a guy who claims to be a former member of the Army's First Earth Battalion, a unit that employs paranormal powers.

VIRGINIA DAVIS, 90 Walt Disney's first star Virginia Davis, who appeared in Walt Disney's pioneering "Alice" films, has died at age 90. The Walt Disney Co. said Ms. Davis died at her home Saturday in Corona, Calif., of natural causes. Ms. Davis was hired by Disney in 1923 when he was a struggling filmmaker in Kansas City, Mo., and later worked with him in Hollywood. She was the first of several girls to have the title role in the series of "Alice" comedies that ran from 1923 to 1927.

T. Rowe Price opens exhibit at Walt Disney World Baltimore money manager T. Rowe Price Group's new financial education and interactive exhibit opens Tuesday at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The Great Piggy Bank Adventure at Epcot's Innoventions will feature personal finance lessons for families on saving, spending wisely and diversifying investments, among others. This exhibit is the first of its kind for Price, which was approached by Disney three years ago. The exhibit also features a companion online game and a related Web site at www.greatpiggybankadventure.

Beverly Hills -Stan Lee sits in his Santa Monica Boulevard office, surrounded by images of his creations: A life-size statue of the Amazing Spider-Man, a poster of the Incredible Hulk, a desktop figure of Ben Grimm, aka The Thing. And then there's his Dell desktop computer. He has yet to master it (give the man a break, he's 86 years old). But he embraces it as a creative tool - and sees it as the next frontier for the comic books he helped turn from a kids' amusement to one of the world's most fertile and influential entertainment media.

Walt Disney World Resort in Florida will feature a new financial education and interactive exhibit thanks to a partnership with Baltimore money manager T. Rowe Price Group. The Great Piggy Bank Adventure is set to open May 19 at Epcot's Innoventions, whose exhibits focus on ideas and innovations, Price announced yesterday. Financial details of the sponsorship agreement were not disclosed, but money for the project will come from Price's advertising and promotions budget, Price said. The exhibit, designed in collaboration with Walt Disney Imagineering, will offer lessons on four financial issues: setting goals; saving and spending smartly; staying ahead of inflation; and diversifying your investments.

MidAmerican continues to reduce Constellation stake MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., which failed to buy Constellation Energy Group last year, continues to reduce its stake in the Baltimore-based company, according to a regulatory filing made public last night. MidAmerican, a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, owned 7.45 percent of Constellation as of yesterday, down from 8.65 percent late last month and down from 10 percent in December. Buffett received the stake as part of a consolation prize when Constellation rejected his offer and instead agreed to accept an investment from Electricite de France.

Buy 4 nights, get 3 free at Walt Disney World What's the deal?: Book a four-night Walt Disney World Value Resort vacation package and receive an additional three nights free. Package starts at about $1,271 and includes seven nights of accommodations for a family of four, including two adults, one junior and one child. The package also includes theme-park tickets. What's the savings?: Guests receive a seven-night package for the price of four nights. Guests who travel Jan. 4-March 29 also receive a $200 Disney gift card.

[Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment] Featuring the voices of Mary Costa, Bill Shirley, Eleanor Audley. Directed by Clyde Geronimi $29.99 (Blu-ray $35.99) *** 1/2 dvds The success of Disney's Enchanted helped revive the fortunes of its earlier Sleeping Beauty. Released in 1959, Sleeping Beauty was the last of the studio's classic fairy tale adaptations and, to many, the last film of the studio's vaunted Golden Age (though some argue that benchmark belongs to 1967's The Jungle Book, the last animated film Walt Disney actually worked on before his death in 1966)

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- OK, boys and girls, including all you chiffon-wearing princesses - it's time to go to your rooms and close your eyes and dream of whatever it is little darlings dream about these days. They gone? Good. Fellow adults, we're going to spend the next couple of pages talking about Walt Disney World for grown-ups. There are people, and you know who you are, who only come to Disney World hauling kids with them. Nothing wrong with that. I've done Disney with kids and lived.

Baltimore's Port Discovery children's museum will turn 10 in December, which is older than most of the kids who come through its doors, and it has launched a year of festivities to celebrate the milestone. Museum leaders recently unveiled the first new permanent exhibit since the building opened -- a $400,000 aquatic playground called Wonders of Water. They've also scheduled a series of programs and events called Ten for Ten to mark the anniversary and give visitors different experiences throughout the year.