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DISNEY LOOKING GOOD IN FIRST QUARTER, SAY ANALYSTS Tuesday, May 8 2007 
The
Walt
Disney
Co.
is
expected
to
report
first-quarter
revenue
of
$8.1
billion,
up
from
$8
billion
for
the
year-ago
quarter,
following
the
close
of
trading
today
(Tuesday),
a
figure
likely
to
cheer
investors
given
the
fact
that
its
ABC
television
network
didn't
broadcast
the
Super
Bowl
this
year
and
that
it
had
no
box-office
hit
on
the
level
of
last
year's
The
Chronicles
of
Narnia
during
the
quarter,
the
Wall
Street
Journal
observed
today.
(more)DISNEY TAKES STOCK Wednesday, April 11 2007 
Pixar
may
have
been
more
generous
in
granting
back-dated
options
to
its
employees
than
originally
reported.
According
to
today's
(Wednesday)
Daily
Variety
the
lucrative
options
were
issued
not
only
to
top
executives
but
many
mid-
and
lower-level
employees
as
well.
The
Walt
Disney
Co.,
which
acquired
Pixar,
said
Tuesday
that
it
will
issue
new
options
to
the
employees
and
pay
them
as
much
as
$34
million
for
the
backdated
ones.
(more) |
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Almost two years before its hoped-for release of its first hand-drawn animated film produced under the supervision of Pixar's John Lasseter, Disney has already drawn fire for alleged racial and ethnic insensitivities that were detected in its original announcement of the film, according to Disney watcher Jim Hill. Since the original title, The Frog Princess, might be regarded as a slur on the French, the title has been changed to The Princess and the Frog. The main character, named Maddy -- who was to become Disney's first black princess -- has had her name changed to Tiana, since Maddy reportedly sounded too much like Mammy. She will no longer be seen as a chambermaid working for a rich, white spoiled Southern débutante. In a statement, Disney, which said that it ordinarily does not comment on its animated films in the early stages of production, observed: "The story takes place in the charming elegance and grandeur of New Orleans' fabled French Quarter during the Jazz Age. ... Princess Tiana will be a heroine in the great tradition of Disney's rich animated fairy tale legacy, and all other characters and aspects of the story will be treated with the greatest respect and sensitivity."
