Tmall.com Partners With Walt Disney to Distribute Movie Merchandise for the First Time

Tmall.com, China’s largest third-party B2C platform for brands and retailers and a business of Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) has teamed up with The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), America’s mass media and entertainment company to be the first exclusive distributor of their Marvel Studio’s 2015 blockbuster, Avengers: Age of Ultron (hereafter referred as “Avengers 2”) merchandise on Tmall.com. This is the first time Alibaba Group has opened up its resources in connecting brands and filmmakers to establish a convenient model in developing a movie-related merchandise market made available online for movie fans.

By leveraging Alibaba Group’s strong foundation of merchants and user base, Tmall.com partners with Taobao ticketing platform to collaborate with more than 40 premium brands including Audi, Lego, Ecovacs, Hasbro, Li Ning, etc., to bring a selection of genuine Avengers 2 merchandise to Chinese consumers as the movie opens yesterday in cinemas across China. These superhero themed merchandise are available on Disney’s flagship store on Tmall.com.

“We are pleased to be working with Disney and brands on Tmall to bring genuine movie merchandise to our online consumers. This marks another effort into further enhancing the collaboration between the participants within our platforms and to also fully utilize the resources we have across Alibaba,” said Sherry Lang, Director of Co-Marketing for Tmall.com.

For the first time, Alibaba Group worked with Taobao ticketing platform and Tmall.com to establish a convenient connection between filmmakers and authorized intellectual property (IP) merchants on Tmall.com. This streamlined partnership will benefit filmmakers, merchants as well as movie fans to ensure that a wide selection of genuine movie merchandise is made available to online Chinese consumers through marketing projects.

The Avengers sequel topped U.S. box office for the second weekend in a row with an estimated US$ 77.2 million according to Rentrak as of Sunday May 10, 2015 and it opened in theatres in China yesterday.

Merchandise ranging from superhero themed t-shirts, gold pendants, cleaning robots, and special designed cars are available on Tmall.com:
http://brand-disney.tmall.com/p/rd947522.htm?spm=3.7396704.20000002.d5.MuOb3N&acm=tt-1141523-37080.1003.8.266734&aldid=yyItIWcX&scm=1003.8.tt-1141523-37080.OTHER_1433011197118_266734&pos=1

Share this:

Disney CFO Jay Rasulo Not ‘Concerned’ Fans Will Tire of Superhero Films

Scratch off the list of things that the Walt Disney Company is worried about: superhero “fatigue.” The company’s chief financial officer said in an interview Wednesday in New York that Disney’s comic book franchise films are sufficiently diverse and audiences abundantly welcoming.

Full Story

Share this:

Photos: Disney-Pixar’s ‘Inside Out’ Plants at Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival

Take a look at some plants from the Inside Out Emotion Garden at Epcot’s Flower & Garden Festival.

Click on the photos for a larger view.

Share this:

Which Side Are They On? A Captain America: Civil War Breakdown

Last week, Marvel announced that production was beginning on Captain America: Civil War and they announced the slew of actors involved, which makes the third installment in the Captain America franchise feel more like Avengers 3. This is going to be a big film, and according to the synopsis, there’s a lot happening, lots of which was set-up in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Full Story

Share this:

Town Center next phase of Disney Springs

Internationally known retailers and a 1900s look will be features of Town Center, the next phase of Downtown Disney’s transformation into Disney Springs, company officials say.

Full Story

Share this:

Disney announces new “Indiana Jones” themed lounge coming to Walt Disney World Fall 2015

With new shops and restaurants opening at Downtown Disney Walt Disney World almost every month now, while it’s transforming into Disney Springs, it comes as no surprise that we got another announcement.

Full Story & Concept Art

Share this:

The Walt Disney Archives Returns to D23 EXPO with “Disneyland: The Exhibit”

The Walt Disney Archives today announced it will celebrate the 60th anniversary of Disneyland at D23 EXPO 2015 with an exhibit of more than 300 pieces from the park’s incredible history. “Walt Disney Archives Presents—Disneyland: The Exhibit” will be the largest display the Disney Archives has ever showcased at D23 EXPO. The event, presented by D23: The Official Disney Fan Club, will take place August 14–16 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The 12,000-square-foot exhibit, which will be located on the Expo show floor for the first time, will include themed areas that honor the park’s history, attractions, parades, and entertainment over the past six decades, including the construction of Disneyland, Pirates of the Caribbean, Mickey Mouse Club at Disneyland, Club 33, and collectible merchandise, as well as the park’s iconic lands: Main Street, U.S.A., Fantasyland, Frontierland, New Orleans Square, Tomorrowland, and Critter Country/Bear Country. Each area will contain items from Disneyland’s past, including attraction vehicles, costumes, props, and even Audio-Animatronics® figures.

Among the more-than-300 items on exhibit, guests will be able to see Ticket No. 1, purchased by Roy O. Disney on July 18, 1955, the first day the park was open to the general public. Guests will see many pieces shown by the Archives for the first time, including early surveying equipment from the 1950s used in the construction of Disneyland, a prototype vehicle for the beloved Alice in Wonderland attraction, dancing­monkey costumes used in the nighttime spectacular Fantasmic!, an early Autopia car, original artwork from Mickey Mouse Club Circus, the Abominable Snowman from the Matterhorn Bobsleds, which was replaced during the attraction’s recent enhancement, and an original pitch book full of colorful artwork that was used to sell Disneyland to prospective sponsors on the East Coast.

Tickets for D23 EXPO 2015 are available at a discounted price for a limited time. Through June 30, 2015, tickets are $67 for a one-day adult admission and $48 for children 3–12. Tickets for members of D23: The Official Disney Fan Club are $58 for a one-day adult admission and $42 for children. Multi-day money-saving tickets are also available. D23 Members can save as much as $188 off the price of admission, based on the purchase of four three-day tickets at the D23 Member rate. For more information on tickets and the ticket pricing structure for D23 Members and general admission, visit D23EXPO.com.

Share this:

‘Avengers Infinity War’ Spoilers: Everything We Know About The Infinity Stones So Far

With “Avengers: Age of Ultron” now available for the world to see, many Marvel fans are already looking ahead to the super-powered team’s next big conclave. The two-part “Avengers: Infinity War” saga will unite the powerful stones that have been teased since 2011.

Full Story

Share this:

Brad Bird Talks Hollywood, Sequels, and Directing ‘Tomorrowland’ & ‘Incredibles 2′

The following conversation with Tomorrowland director Brad Bird is a good reminder of why we need filmmakers like him. Not that we could forget his cinematic contributions anytime soon thanks to The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol etc. but Bird’s commitment to big, original story ideas and the way in which he fosters them is important to all of us film-loving fans.

Full Story

Share this:

PHOTOS: See George Clooney and Co. take over Downtown Disney for ‘Tomorrowland’ premiere

George Clooney came back to Disneyland for the first time in 20 years on Saturday to celebrate the upcoming release of his long-awaited movie, “Tomorrowland.”

Full Story & Photos

Share this: