Note to Netflix: Keep the binge-watching option

One of the key innovations that Netflix introduced was “binge watching,” the ability to stream multiple episodes of a new TV show in one sitting. It replaced the legacy broadcast and cable TV model of releasing one new episode every week.
While some people might tolerate or even approve of the old model, I do not. Proponents of the traditional model say it allows a show to build buzz and anticipation for upcoming episodes. But with so many programming options out there, it’s easy to lose track of shows on a weekly release. I need a recap video to watch even new seasons of many shows.
Binge watching gives viewers the option of watching one or more episodes to satisfy their demand. It puts them in control. Weekly episode releases give all the control to the programmer and it seems stingy by today’s standards.
When services such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+ and HBO Max release a new series that I’m interested in, I’ll mark my calendar for when the full season will be available.
My suggestion to those services is to switch to the user-friendly binge-watching model and drop the old-school weekly release model.
According to a survey by Hub Entertainment Research, 64% of viewers prefer all episodes of a series to be released at once as opposed to one episode per week (36%).

Photo: Season five of the Apple TV+ series “Slow Horses” premiered on Sept. 24, 2025. But all six episodes won’t be available until Oct. 29. (Apple TV+)

Rachel Zegler joins long list of actresses who have played Snow White

The casting of Rachel Zegler as Snow White in Walt Disney’s upcoming feature film was controversial in part because that movie would have you believe that she’s more attractive than evil queen Gal Gadot. Clearly the magic mirror on the wall is lying or blind.
Zegler is cute but she’s no statuesque beauty like Gadot.
Some say Zegler was a diversity hire for the part because she’s mixed race, half Latina, and not lily white like the German fairy tale. But I don’t think it would have been an issue if Disney had just cast a knockout beauty as Snow White.
By that measure, the most controversial casting as Snow White should have been Camryn Manheim in “The 10th Kingdom” (2000). She’s definitely not a beauty queen.
Zegler joins a long list of actresses who have played Snow White. I’ve put together a list of actresses who have played the character in U.S. movies and TV shows. There’s also been quite a few European productions. In Germany, her character is called Schneewittchen.

Actresses who have played Snow White in U.S. movies and TV shows

• Marguerite Clark, “Snow White” (1916)
• Carol Heiss, “Snow White and the Three Stooges” (1961)
• Elizabeth McGovern, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” episode (1984) of “Faerie Tale Theatre”
• Sarah Patterson, “Snow White” (1987)
• Monica Keena, “Snow White: A Tale of Terror” (1997)
• Camryn Manheim, “The 10th Kingdom” (2000)
• Kristin Kreuk, “Snow White: The Fairest of Them All” (2001)
• Ginnifer Goodwin, “Once Upon a Time” (2011-2017)
• Kristen Stewart, “Snow White and the Huntsman” (2012)
• Lily Collins, “Mirror Mirror” (2012)
• Eliza Bennett, “Grimm’s Snow White” (2012)
• Shanley Caswell, “Snow White: A Deadly Summer” (2012)
• Stephanie Bennett, “Descendants” (2015)
• Lauren Parkinson, “Avengers Grimm” (2015)
• Jennifer Mischiati, “Snow White’s Christmas Adventure” (2023)
• Rachel Zegler, “Snow White” (2025)

I previously wrote about actresses who have played Snow White back in 2017 and included photos of some of the women. Check out “Actresses who have played Snow White in U.S. movies and TV shows.”

Photos: Rachel Zegler as Snow White (top); poster for Disney’s “Snow White” (2025), scheduled for release on March 21.

Expect Disney to get litigious as Mickey Mouse enters the public domain

The Walt Disney Co. will lose copyright protection over the earliest version of Mickey Mouse on Jan. 1, 2024. That’s a big win for the general public. But the media conglomerate isn’t going to cede control over the character without a fight.
The purpose of copyright is to provide legal protection of literary and artistic ideas for a limited period of time. After which, those ideas belong to humanity, which can freely reinterpret them, expand on them and copy them in new ways. Copyrights are similar to patents, which are for business ideas.
Over the years, copyright protection has been extended several times, mostly benefiting corporations. The last extension of copyright terms in the U.S. in 1998 is derisively referred to as the “Mickey Mouse Protection Act.”
On Monday, the cartoon “Steamboat Willie” (1928) will finally enter the public domain. It features the earliest depictions of Mickey Mouse, his love interest Minnie Mouse and his arch-nemesis Pete.
Since that original cartoon short, those characters have appeared in numerous cartoons, movies, TV shows, comics and other media. And that’s where things get complicated for copyright. Also, Mickey’s appearance and that of the other characters have changed over the years.
Anyone wanting to adapt Mickey Mouse will need to stick closely to what was shown in the original 95-year-old cartoon. Since “Steamboat Willie” was in black and white, you probably can’t even depict the character with red shorts and yellow shoes. He also didn’t wear white gloves until a 1929 cartoon, “The Opry House.”
Anything Mickey Mouse has done in the decades since is off limits. For instance, you likely can’t portray Mickey as a soldier, firefighter, band conductor, detective, secret agent, sorcerer and more, because Disney did those later.
Ironically, unflattering depictions of Mickey Mouse are most likely safest from Disney’s copyrights. This includes Dan O’Neill’s depiction of Mickey as a drug smuggler in the “Air Pirates Funnies” (1971), which legal critics argue should have been covered by the parody exception to copyright.
There have been many cases of copyright holding companies and creator estates filing lawsuits against perceived infringements of later works of a popular character, such as Sherlock Holmes.
Also, Mickey Mouse is covered by trademarks of the Walt Disney Co. So it’s doubtful anyone can make Mickey-themed products like T-shirts and plush animals. Unlike copyrights, trademarks last in perpetuity as long as they continue to be used commercially by the owner.

Related articles:

Why the original Mickey Mouse copyright is expiring on New Year’s Day (New York Post; Dec. 28, 2023)

Mickey Mouse, Long a Symbol in Copyright Wars, to Enter Public Domain: ‘It’s Finally Happening’ (Variety; Dec. 22, 2023)

Mickey Mouse will soon belong to you and me — with some caveats (Associated Press; Dec. 30, 2023)

Why Is Media Lamenting Disney’s ‘Loss’ Of Copyright Instead Of Celebrating The Public Domain? (Techdirt; July 25, 2022)

There’s bound to be legal drama when Batman and Superman enter the public domain in coming years — but experts caution there’s ‘no precedent’ for the thorny issue (Business Insider; Aug. 25, 2022)

Locating movies and TV shows online is becoming a major hassle

For cinephiles and video enthusiasts, it is becoming increasingly difficult to track where specific movies and TV shows can be found online, if at all.
Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and other streaming services lately have been reducing their content libraries in a cost-saving move. Some of that content will be licensed to other services but much of it will go into the vault.
The days of “peak TV,” “long-tail content” and deep libraries at subscription streaming video services appear to be over. It was nice while it lasted.
Meanwhile, the number of video services consumers use continues to climb. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the average number of video sources consumers used reached nearly 12, according to Fierce Video. That’s up from about nine a year earlier.
Online services have sprung up to help video consumers keep track of shows and movies they’d like to watch and which ones they’ve already seen. They also point viewers to the services that have the specific movie or TV series they’re searching for.
These services include aggregators JustWatch and Reelgood. IMDb and Letterboxd are other useful services for film fans.
Review aggregators Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic also play an important role today because no subscription service is going to tell you which of their shows suck.
My biggest gripe is that these services don’t interoperate. I’m not going to create duplicate lists of movies I’ve seen along with ratings and reviews. The same goes for watch lists I’ve compiled.
There either needs to be more interoperability or consolidation or both.

Related reading:

The Reason So Many Favorite Shows Are Leaving The Big Streamers (Forbes; June 7, 2023)

Why are streaming services removing some of their own movies and shows? (NBC News; May 29, 2023)

The Streaming Purge: Behind The Wave Of Library Content Removals & Its Impact On The Creative Community (Deadline; Feb. 14, 2023)

True-story business movies are hot as Hollywood tells the tales of Nike, Tetris, BlackBerry and Flamin' Hot Cheetos

Movies based on true stories in business are having a moment.
Last year saw docu-drama miniseries based on business failures Theranos and WeWork and the founding of Uber. The year ended with Netflix miniseries “The Playlist” on the creation of streaming music service Spotify.
At least six movies are due out this year based on true stories about businesses.
Up first is “Tetris,” premiering March 31 on Apple TV+. The movie, starring Taron Egerton, is about the struggle to obtain international distribution rights for the Russian video game of the same name.
Next is “Air” about Nike’s efforts to sign basketball rookie Michael Jordan to a deal to wear its sneakers. The movie, directed by Ben Affleck, will premiere in theaters on April 5, followed sometime later on streaming service Amazon Prime Video.
“BlackBerry,” a movie about the making of the BlackBerry brand of mobile phones, will premiere in theaters on May 12. It stars Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton.
Next, “Flamin’ Hot” will premiere June 9 on Hulu and Disney+ streaming services. The film tells the story of Richard Montañez, the Frito-Lay janitor who claimed to have invented Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
Then on July 12, select theaters will show the true-life dramedy “The Beanie Bubble,” starring Zach Galifianakis and Elizabeth Banks. The movie, about the 1990s Beanie Baby toy craze, will premiere on Apple TV+ on July 28.
Finally, director Michael Mann is making a biopic about Italian driver and entrepreneur Enzo Ferrari. The movie, “Ferrari,” is slated to premiere later this year.

2022 predictions in technology and media

The new year looks to begin just like the old year, with the nation gripped by the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s also starting off with a bunch of year-ahead predictions that most likely won’t happen. But hey, they’re still fun to consider. (Check out last year’s predictions for 2021.)
What follows is a compilation of interesting predictions for the technology and media industries in 2022.

Netflix possible acquisition target?

Internet television network Netflix could be acquired by a large media company in 2022, says Phillip Swann, editor of TV Answer Man.
“I predict that Netflix Chairman Reed Hastings and his team will conclude the time is right to join with a rival to form an even more powerful company – one that can survive a long-term streaming war that will be even more expensive than the current one,” Swann wrote in a blog post.
Two buyers make the most sense: Disney and Comcast, he said. “If I were betting today, I would bet on Disney. But either company could be in the hunt,” Swann said.

Roku: Acquisition target or studio buyer?

Depending on who’s talking, streaming video platform Roku either will be acquired by a larger company or bid for a major studio in 2022.
Hub Entertainment Research analyst Peter Fondulas predicts a large company like Apple could buy Roku. The deal would help Roku’s expansion into international markets and give Apple customers a lower-priced alternative to the Apple TV box, according to Fierce Video.
Media analyst Michael Nathanson told CNBC that Roku might buy a studio, such as Lionsgate, to bolster the exclusive content for its Roku Channel. But it likely would face other bidders such as Comcast’s NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, Netflix and Disney.

Twitter, Pinterest acquisition targets?

MKM Partners made several “black swan predictions” for internet companies in the year ahead. It calls these “high-impact, low-probability” events.
It’s possible that Twitter and Pinterest will no longer be independent public companies after 2022, MKM managing director Rohit Kulkarni said in a Dec. 23 report.
“Both companies have had issues during 2021, with media reports surfacing around M&A. If the stock price stays under pressure, we wouldn’t be surprised if such speculations start swirling again. Twitter has a new CEO while (former CEO Jack) Dorsey leaves the board. Pinterest altered executive compensation this week – such events increase the likelihood of M&A speculations on both Pinterest and Twitter,” Kulkarni said.

NFT bubble might pop

Activate Consulting, a management consulting firm for technology, internet, media, entertainment, and sports businesses, predicted that non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, will continue to grow in 2022. NFTs are unique blockchain-based digital assets such as artwork, videos, games and recordings.
“Buying, collecting, and trading non-fungible tokens will become a mainstream behavior,” the firm said in a news release. “Many industries are creating NFTs, including art, fashion, sports, video games, and consumer products. Every technology and media company will need an NFT strategy.”
However, “NFTs could be experiencing a speculative bubble,” Activate Consulting noted.
But others are highly skeptical about the worth of NFTs.
“NFTs will remain hyped to oblivion (and) some people will lose their shirts,” James Ball, global editor at The Bureau of Investigative Journalism at the Guardian, said in his 2022 predictions.

Photo: Television from Best Buy brand Insignia running the Fire TV operating system from Amazon. (Best Buy)

Music documentaries are hot right now

Thanks to the explosion of streaming video services and the need for fresh content, music documentaries are hot right now. These films also give artists a chance to connect with fans when touring has been canceled by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Netflix this year has premiered documentaries about singer-songwriter Taylor Swift (“Miss Americana”) and Shawn Mendes (“Shawn Mendes: In Wonder”) as well as female K-pop group Blackpink (“Blackpink: Light Up the Sky”). Its library also includes documentaries about Beyonce, Bob Dylan, Quincy Jones, Amy Winehouse, ZZ Top and more.
Apple TV+ entered the music documentary arena with Spike Jonze’s “Beastie Boys Story” in April. It later added the documentary “Bruce Springsteen’s Letter to You.” It plans to premiere a documentary about singer-songwriter Billie Eilish in February (“Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry”).
Not to be left out, Disney+ picked up the Taylor Swift documentary “Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions.” And HBO Max is producing a six-part docuseries on rapper-singer Nicki Minaj. HBO also will release a documentary on the Bee Gees called “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” on Dec. 12.
Meanwhile, Showtime earned raves for its eponymous documentary on female pop-rock group The Go-Go’s, which premiered on July 31.
Other prominent music documentaries out this year include movies about Frank Zappa (“Zappa”), Suzi Quatro (“Suzi Q”) and Billie Holiday (“Billie”).

Fall TV season 2020: ‘Bly Manor,’ ‘Helstrom,’ ‘WandaVision’ top watchlist

The 2020 fall television season is the strangest one ever with U.S. broadcast and cable TV networks filling their programming slots with game shows and reality TV, shows from Canada and the U.K., and series that previously aired on streaming services. That’s because the Covid-19 pandemic cratered their production of new scripted shows.
I’ve checked out the many fall preview articles online as well as the latest issues of TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly magazines to compile a list of new shows to try out.
I’m a true believer in the binge-watching model of TV viewing, which Netflix perfected. Even if a show has new episodes weekly, I’ll wait until there are several episodes to watch before diving in. For instance, I’m waiting for season two of “The Boys” to finish on Amazon Prime Video before sitting down to watch it. And I loved season one.
Here are the new shows that have caught my attention:

• “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” (AMC, Oct. 4 premiere): The latest spinoff in the Walking Dead zombie apocalypse franchise looks bad, but I’ll still give it a try.
• “Next” (Fox, Oct. 6): This series is about a Silicon Valley genius and an FBI agent joining forces to stop a rogue AI from destroying the world. The plot seems better suited for a movie or miniseries than episodic television.
• “Swamp Thing” (CW, Oct. 6 broadcast premiere): This dark superhero horror series was rescued from the DC Universe streaming channel where it was canceled after one season.
• “The Haunting of Bly Manor” (Netflix, Oct. 9): This horror series is a follow-up to the excellent Netflix series “The Haunting of Hill House.”
• “Helstrom” (Hulu, Oct. 16): “Helstrom” is from the world of Marvel Comics and centers on a brother and sister, the children of a serial killer, who now fight the forces of evil.
• “WandaVision” (Disney+, Nov. 27 unconfirmed premiere): Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany reprise their Marvel Cinematic Universe roles of Scarlet Witch (aka Wanda) and Vision.

I’m also looking forward to second seasons of “The Mandalorian” on Disney+ and “Evil” on CBS. Plus, there’s the conclusion to the final season of “Supernatural” on the CW and the third season of “Star Trek: Discovery” on CBS All Access.
As I’ve written before, there are many more interesting TV series now than I have time to watch. I still have shows like “Star Trek: Picard” from CBS All Access and “Raised by Wolves” from HBO Max on my watchlist, to name just two.

Related reading:

Fall TV season 2020: Covid-19 pandemic limits new shows (Tech-media-tainment; June 20, 2020)

The pandemic wiped out the fall TV schedule. Does it matter? (Los Angeles Times; Sept. 4, 2020)

Networks Are Prepping for the Craziest Fall Season in the History of Broadcast TV (Bloomberg; Sept. 22, 2020)

Blackwashing gains momentum in Hollywood

The Black Lives Matter protests have forced Hollywood to confront how it represents blacks and other minority groups in its movies and TV shows. After years of complaints about Hollywood whitewashing stories by using mostly white actors, the tables have started to turn.
“Blackwashing” is casting black actors in roles that were previously white characters for revisionist adaptations. In some cases, a black cast replaces a white cast.
Personally, I support the practice. Color-blind casting and viewing stories through different cultures and races is good for art as well as business.
The practice of blackwashing is not new. Consider the musical “The Wiz,” an urban black reimagining of “The Wizard of Oz.”
A more recent example is the 2012 remake of “Steel Magnolias” starring Queen Latifah, Phylicia Rashad and Alfre Woodard.
Last week, Variety reported that black actors Will Smith and Kevin Hart will star in and produce a remake of the 1987 movie “Planes, Trains & Automobiles.”
Last month, the Hollywood Reporter said producer Lee Daniels is doing a reboot of the TV series “The Wonder Years” that will feature an all-black cast.
Elsewhere, the CW has cast black actress Javicia Leslie to replace white actress Ruby Rose as the title character in the TV series “Batwoman,” Variety reported.
Also, black actress Halle Bailey will star in Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid.”
More to come, I’m sure.

Related articles:

Color-blind casting (Wikipedia)

Photo: Actress Javicia Leslie (Javicia Leslie)

CES 2021 organizers pressing ahead with in-person conference

As 2020 progresses, more and more planned gatherings of people for entertainment, sports and business are being canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The most recent cancellations are for events that had been scheduled for this fall, when a second wave of the coronavirus is forecast.

• On May 26, video game publisher Blizzard Entertainment canceled this year’s BlizzCon fan show, which usually takes place every year at the beginning of November.
• On May 29, organizers of the CEDIA Expo home electronics conference canceled this year’s show which had been set for Sept. 8-12 in Denver.
• On June 4, organizers of Milwaukee’s Summerfest, the largest music festival in the U.S., canceled this year’s event, which had been rescheduled to September from late June and early July.
• On June 12, TAITRA, the Taiwan organization that oversees the Computex Taipei tech show, canceled this year’s show, which had been scheduled for Sept. 28-30.
• On June 15, Disney-owned Lucasfilm canceled the 2020 Star Wars Celebration convention slated for Aug. 27-30 in Anaheim, Calif.
• That same day, the GSM Association canceled its MWC Los Angeles 2020 wireless industry event, which had been scheduled for October 28-30.

CNet has a comprehensive list of the events that have been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
So far, the Consumer Technology Association is sticking with its plans to hold CES 2021 in Las Vegas. The 2020 consumer electronics show attracted over 175,000 attendees from more than 160 countries.
On June 15, Karen Chupka, executive vice president for CES at the Consumer Technology Association, posted an update on CES 2021 planning.
As of now, CES 2021 is still planned as an in-person event running Jan. 6-9. The physical event will be augmented by an enhanced online presence.
“In January, we plan to convene the technology industry, both physically in Las Vegas and digitally online,” Chupka said. “Though we do expect the show to be smaller, many of the world's leading tech brands are confirmed to showcase the latest technologies, and we will be announcing soon the tech luminaries who will speak on our CES stages.”
CES 2021 will feature new health and safety protocols. They will include new sanitization and social distancing measures.
CES 2021 also will cover the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. That will include discussions about tech for battling pandemics and digital health initiatives like telemedicine, she said.

See also:

CES 2021: Will it happen? And if so, how different will it be? (May 23, 2020)

2020 predictions for media and tech company mergers & acquisitions

Ahead of the new year, analysts and pundits made 2020 predictions for mergers and acquisitions in the media and technology industries. Some are far-fetched “black swans” while others are more rooted in reality.
What follows are a few interesting ones.

MGM hangs ‘for sale’ sign

Staff writers at Variety predicted that movie studio MGM will put itself up for sale in the new year.
“MGM will be on the block as speculation about Apple and Amazon kicking tires on IP assets reaches fever pitch,” Variety said in a Dec. 17 article. “It’s a seller’s market for companies with proven franchises, and MGM controls the rights to no less than James Bond.”

Sony, Lionsgate studios in play

Research firm Strategy Analytics believes Sony Pictures and Lionsgate are likely acquisition targets because they are “now midsized studios in a land of behemoths.”
“Both traditional media companies and undercapitalized and underperforming privately held digital pure plays become logical M&A candidates,” the firm said in its “Media & Entertainment Predictions for 2020.”
The media and entertainment industry has been rocked by major deals in recent years. They include AT&T acquiring Time Warner ($85 billion), Disney acquiring 21st Century Fox ($71.3 billion), Comcast acquiring Sky ($39 billion), CBS re-acquiring Viacom (they split in 2005) ($12 billion), and SiriusXM acquiring the remaining 81% of Pandora it didn’t already own ($3.5 billion).

Smaller streaming video services targeted

Strategy Analytics also believes that many smaller online video services that rely primarily on ad dollars are strong acquisition candidates. They include Tubi, Xumo and Popcornflix. Some of them could be sold at fire sale prices.

Apple seen buying Disney

Year after year, analysts who don’t understand Apple predict that the iPhone maker will announce some huge transformative acquisition. And year after year, they are wrong, because Apple prefers to do smaller tuck-in acquisitions of technology and engineering talent.
What gets their minds racing is the fact that Apple has a huge war chest – $206 billion in cash and securities as of Sept. 28.
Bilal Hafeez, chief executive officer and head of research at Micro Hive, thinks Apple will buy media conglomerate Walt Disney Co. to supercharge its services aspirations.
“While Apple has famously been reluctant to make large acquisitions, perhaps 2020 could see them lose patience and take that path instead,” Hafeez said in Dec. 23 article. “And what better target than Disney? The financials could work. Apple’s market cap of $1.2 trillion dwarves that of Disney ($265 billion). In fact, Apple has over $200 billion in cash on its balance sheet, which alone could almost fund the purchase. The acquisition would give a large library of high-quality content including the Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar properties. It would also give Apple another entry point into the Chinese consumer market.”

Arlo, GoPro get snapped up

Fortune magazine staff writers predict that more small consumer electronics companies will be acquired in the new year, following Google’s planned purchase of struggling fitness device maker Fitbit.
“Action-camera maker GoPro and security-cam maker Arlo Technologies both trade 80% below their IPO prices, with the market valuing each at less than a single year’s sales. Expect both to be snapped up in 2020,” Fortune said in a Dec. 2 article.

Related article:

Year-ahead predictions in technology IPOs and robotics (Dec. 28, 2019)

Photo: Movie poster for upcoming James Bond action movie “No Time to Die.” (MGM)

Revisionist fairytale art and reimagined Disney princesses

I’ve had fun these last few years exploring how pop culture artists reimagine fairytales, particularly the Disney princesses. But I think it’s time to move on to other subjects.
What follows is a roundup of my articles on revisionist fairytale artwork.

Disney princesses as modern ladies and fashionistas (Nov. 25, 2019)

Sexy Goldilocks fairytale artwork (Nov. 24, 2019)

Sexy Elsa artwork proliferates ahead of ‘Frozen 2’ release (Nov. 17, 2019)

Sexy Tinker Bell artwork (Aug. 18, 2019)

Lindsay Lohan as trashy Disney princesses (Dec. 14, 2018)

Disney princesses as war criminals, film noir and Adventure Time characters (Oct. 29, 2018)

Revisionist Disney princess depictions in review (March 21, 2018)

Revisionist fairytale depictions in review (Aug. 31, 2017)

Revisionist fairytale art, a retrospective (Feb. 13, 2016)

Revisionist fairytale artwork in review (Dec. 9, 2014)

Revisionist fairytale art (July 29, 2013)

Artwork: Elsa depicted as a modern lady by Eddie Holly (top); Elsa and Anna by German artist Scrappy195 on DeviantArt.

Disney princesses as modern ladies and fashionistas

Public domain fairytales and Disney’s interpretations of them are the source of endless inspiration for pop culture artists.
What follows is my latest collection of interesting works on the subject.

Pennsylvania-based artist Isabelle Staub has done some excellent work giving Disney movie characters a more detailed look in her illustrations. See her takes on Ariel from “The Little Mermaid” (up top) and Belle from “Beauty and The Beast.”
(Also, check out her Instagram page and this article by Beme This.)

Chilean artist Fernanda Suarez likes to modernize Disney princesses in her works. Here is a collage of her portraits of Snow White, Belle, Ariel and Jasmine.
(Check out her Instagram page and articles by Beme This and Bored Panda.)

Russian artist Anastasia Kosyanova did a series of portraits imagining Disney princesses as models for today’s top fashion brands. Her works have Cinderella wearing Valentino, Elsa sporting Ralph Lauren and Rapunzel rocking Prada.
(See article by Bored Panda.)

Jakarta-based artist Andhika Muksin has had fun presenting Disney princesses in not-so-flattering scenes and situations in his works.
(See articles by Little Things and Fatherly as well as his Instagram page.)

Finally, German artist Stephanie Hermes highlighted the problem of ocean pollution in her twist on “The Little Mermaid.” Her series is titled “The Little Trashmaid.”
(See article by Bored Panda and her Instagram page.)

Sexy Elsa artwork proliferates ahead of ‘Frozen 2’ release

The Walt Disney Co. is releasing its animated musical “Frozen 2” on Nov. 22 and pop culture artists are having fun reimagining Queen Elsa as a sexy siren.
Artists love to reinterpret Disney princesses as more mature subjects, as I’ve written about repeatedly over the years.
What follows are some examples of sexy Elsa artwork that I’ve seen online.

Digital artist Jeff Chapman made a picture of sexy Elsa using a composite of photos. (At top)

South Korean artist Ham Sung-Choul, aka Brave King, made this epic illustration of the Snow Queen.

Russian-born graphic artist Andrew Tarusov depicted Elsa as a Playboy cover model.

Tarusov also illustrated Elsa and her sister Anna as pinup models.

Chilean artist Raúl Ayala, aka Lapizypincel, drew this sultry version of Elsa.

Mexican artist Biaani made a series of pictures showing Disney princesses as pin-up girls, including Elsa.

Pinup illustrator Elias Chatzoudis did a mashup of Queen Elsa and X-Men character Emma Frost.

Artist R3ydart of El Salvador also did a mashup of Elsa and Emma Frost.

Artist Prywinko did a sexy depiction of the Snow Queen.

Mexican artist AtlasMaximus showed Elsa wearing skimpy lingerie.

Sexy Tinker Bell artwork

Occasionally I like to check up on how pop culture artists are riffing on Disney characters in their work.
In July 2013, I did a roundup of sexy depictions of Peter Pan fairy Tinker Bell. In this post, I’ll review some more sexy Tinker Bell artwork.

Comic-book artist J. Scott Campbell has drawn Tinker Bell for his Fairytale Fantasies calendars. (See example above.)

Italian artist Emmanuel Viola, aka Evvi, has created illustrations that reimagine Disney princesses as tattooed hipsters. (See his version of Tinker Bell below.)

Pin-up artist Elias Chatzoudis made this come-hither version of Tinker Bell.

Pin-up artist Andrew Tarusov did a series of illustrations depicting Disney heroines as Playboy magazine cover models. Here’s his version of Tinker Bell in a bathtub.

Artist Adam Hughes made a sketch of a buxom Tinker Bell sitting on a flower.

Artist James Dillon Wright, aka Dillon Boy, created a series of illustrations called Dirtyland that showed Disney princesses as objects of desire on smut magazines. Here’s his bondage art of Tinker Bell with cartoon characters Tom and Jerry.

Russian artist Otto Schmidt made this cheeky depiction of Tinker Bell and Peter Pan.

Artist Deacon Black made this black-and-white drawing of a voluptuous Tinker Bell.

And finally, here’s some Tinker Bell cosplay from Danielle DeNicola, aka Ellei Marie.

The TV content discovery problem

With the plethora of TV viewing options available today, keeping track of possible shows and movies to watch is a difficult task.
It’s only going to get worse as Apple, Disney and AT&T’s WarnerMedia launch subscription video-on-demand services later this year. They will join Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, HBO, CBS and many others.
A recent survey of U.S. consumers by Deloitte found high frustration with the process of discovering video content across multiple platforms.
Nearly half (49%) of respondents said the sheer amount of content available makes it hard to choose what to watch.
A similar percentage (48%) said content is hard to find across multiple services.
And 43% of consumers give up on the search for content if they can’t find it in a few minutes.
Also, just because you find a show or movie to add to your watch queue, doesn’t mean it will stay there.
Some 57% of consumers said they are frustrated when content disappears from their streaming libraries, the Deloitte survey showed.
I keep close tabs on new TV shows and movies through online media. I read Entertainment Weekly, follow reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, and get news from other pop-culture sources online.
“In a world of seemingly infinite choice, content discovery becomes an increasing challenge,” investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a report April 22.
A consumer survey by Morgan Stanley found that the most common way people discover new content is by “word of mouth.” Some 55% of consumers learn about new shows to watch via word of mouth.
Video trailers came in second for content discovery at 50%, followed by social media, recommendation engines and paid advertising, each with 20%.
“This highlights the opportunity for aggregators/curators to extract value from the ecosystem,” Morgan Stanley said.
The lack of organization in online video is a big pain point for a video fan such as myself.
Some services have emerged to try to solve the problem, allowing users to search for titles across streaming video services. My favorite is JustWatch. It has the most accurate listings and best user interface. (Other services include Can I Stream It?, InstantWatcher and Reelgood.) Even Google is trying to set up its game in this area.
In the past, I’d add movies to my Netflix DVD queue and set up my DVR to record series on cable and broadcast.
But lately an increasing number of movies aren’t being released on disc. And interesting new series are popping up on streaming video services to which I may or may not subscribe.
For movies and TV series not available Netflix DVDs or on my streaming services, I keep a file for those programs in my web browser bookmarks. It’s not ideal, but it works.

Photo: Reelgood

TV viewers to test ‘subscription fatigue’ theory this fall

The recent announcements by Apple and Walt Disney that they will be launching subscription video-on-demand services this fall have media pundits wondering if consumers soon will experience “subscription fatigue.”
Consulting firm Deloitte says 55% of U.S. households now subscribe to paid streaming video services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu. And 43% of U.S. households subscribe to both streaming and traditional pay TV services.
The average U.S. streaming video household subscribes to three such services.
“With more than 300 over-the-top video options in the U.S., coupled with multiple subscriptions and payments to track and justify, consumers may be entering a time of ‘subscription fatigue,’” Kevin Westcott, leader of Deloitte’s U.S. telecom, media and entertainment segment, said in a news release March 19.
Consumers are growing frustrated by the explosion of video entertainment options.
Nearly half (47%) of U.S. consumers surveyed by Deloitte said they are frustrated by the growing number of subscriptions and services required to watch what they want.
I don’t think the number of subscription services is necessarily a problem. The new streaming video services make it easy to start and stop subscriptions. That will create a lot of subscriber churn among the lesser players in the market.
Many subscribers will sign up for a service to watch a new season of a hit show, binge watch it and then cancel the service. They can then move on to another service.
Ultimately there will be a shakeout in the market and consumers will pick a handful of winning services that they will subscribe to month in and month out.
The bigger problem for consumers is just the explosion of content among all of the new and existing channels.
The number of scripted original TV series in production hit a record 495 last year, the Los Angeles Times and Business Insider reported.
The average consumer can’t keep up with the avalanche of video programming choices. I know I can’t.
For instance, I didn’t finish the last seasons of “Marvel’s Iron Fist” and “Marvel’s Daredevil” until months after they were canceled already by Netflix. I've got over two dozen shows on my watch list that I haven't started yet. Some of those I likely will never watch.
Plus, there are shows of interest on other services. For example, I’d like to watch the second season of “Star Trek: Discovery” on CBS All Access and “Future Man” on Hulu, but I’m already way behind on watching shows on Netflix, HBO and Amazon.
What's a modern TV viewer to do?

Related articles:

Netflix show cancellations point to limits of ‘peak TV’ (Dec. 2, 2018)

Drowning in video in the age of ‘peak TV’ (Sept. 4, 2018)

Clock ticking for DVDs, Blu-ray Discs

The recent announcement that Samsung plans to stop making Blu-ray Disc players has people talking about the end of physical media for movies and other videos.
People prefer the convenience of streaming video to having to pop in a disc to watch a movie. But the loss of physical media for movies will mean changes to how readily available those films will be to consumers.
The rise of streaming video services like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu has steered people away from DVDs and high-definition Blu-ray Discs. The trend has led to lower sales of movies and TV series on disc because people can access a wide selection on demand from streaming services.
But you can’t always count on streaming services to have specific movies or TV shows. You have to check different services or use a search tool like JustWatch or Reelgood.
In the past, you could count on Netflix’s DVD service to be the great equalizer. It had practically every movie you could think of in its vast library. Or you could always buy video discs on Amazon. But many movies and TV series aren’t being released on disc anymore.
With new video services on the way from Walt Disney, Apple, WarnerMedia and NBCUniversal things are about to get a lot more complicated for video fans. And discs probably won’t be around much longer to help out.

Related articles:

Samsung to stop making Blu-ray players (Cnet; Feb. 15, 2019)

Samsung Halting Blu-ray Disc Player Production (Media Play News; Feb. 16, 2019)

Another blow to Blu-ray: Samsung will no longer make Blu-ray players for the US (Ars Technica; Feb. 18, 2019)

Samsung kills Blu-ray players. Blame streaming, smart TVs and Apple (Cnet; Feb. 23, 2019)

The end of Blu-ray (ZDnet; Feb. 25, 2019)

Lindsay Lohan as trashy Disney princesses

Actress Lindsay Lohan paid homage to her Disney movie roots with a recent pictorial in Paper magazine.
She dressed as Disney princesses Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora and Ariel in a series of portraits. Unlike those innocent characters, Lohan comes across as oddly whory in costume and makeup. Worse, she seems more like a cheap cosplayer than an actress inhabiting roles.
Maybe this is what Paper magazine had in mind for its latest attempt to “Break the Internet.”
(See articles by the Daily Mail, E Online, Bustle and Who What Wear.)

See @lindsaylohan as all your favorite princesses! Royalty recognize royalty. https://t.co/qVZWRrfxiF pic.twitter.com/0m4gEw5O9B

— PAPER Magazine (@papermagazine) December 3, 2018

Gender-switching trend continues in Hollywood with more female-led movies and TV shows

Walt Disney Co. reportedly is planning to reboot its “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie franchise with a female lead character.
Disney is ready to part ways with Johnny Depp, whose Jack Sparrow character has led the franchise over the last five films, according to news reports.
The new movie would center on a female pirate named Redd, who is featured in the Disneyland attraction and as a meet-and-greet park character.
If it comes to fruition, it would be the latest in the gender-flipping trend that kicked off with movies like “Ghostbusters” (2016) and “Ocean’s Eight” (2018).
What follows are some other gender-swapped movies and TV shows in the works with female leads.

• “What Men Want” starring Taraji P. Henson is a remake of “What Women Want” (2000), which starred Mel Gibson. The new movie follows a woman who, after getting passed over for a promotion at her work, gains the ability to hear men’s thoughts. “What Men Want” is scheduled for release on Feb. 8.
• Actress Daisy Ridley stars in “Ophelia,” a reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” told from Ophelia’s perspective. The movie is scheduled to open Jan. 22.
• “The Hustle,” a gender-flipped remake of the 1988 comedy “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” is set for release on May 10. It stars Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson.
• “L.A.’s Finest” is a spinoff of the “Bad Boys” film franchise with female leads. The TV series, starring Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba, is scheduled to premiere next year on Charter Communications’ Spectrum cable service.
• Disney has cast actress Zoe Kravitz to star in a series adaptation of “High Fidelity,” a 2000 movie that starred John Cusack. The series is for Disney’s upcoming streaming video service, Variety said.
• NBC is developing a spinoff of its supernatural series “Grimm” that would center on a female Grimm, Deadline reported.
• Annie Clark, also known as musician St. Vincent, is directing a gender-bending adaptation of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” for Lionsgate, according to the Hollywood Reporter and Variety. The 1890 novel by Oscar Wilde is in the public domain.
• The CW is developing a series called “Dorian,” a comedic adaptation of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” with a gender switch. It would star Marisa Coughlan, according to Deadline.
• A movie based on the Broadway musical “Cats” is in the works. Actress Judi Dench has been cast to play Deuteronomy, a role traditionally played by a man, the Guardian reported.
• Sony is working on a sequel to its upcoming animated film “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” which would focus on female characters in the Spider-Man universe, according to the Hollywood Reporter and Deadline.

Related article:

Gender-swapped roles in movies and TV shows: an update (July 6, 2018)

Photos: Brassy buccaneer Redd at Disneyland park (Disney); and movie poster for “What Men Want.”