Welcome back to the Two Minute Drill!! Today is one of those "blank" days where I dont know what to write about. So its gonna be a bunch of different things today.
Vin Scully Re-signs With Dodgers
Throughout the years, there have been many changes within the Dodgers organization. Be it new owners or new players only one thing has remained a constant and that is Vin Scully. "The Voice" of the Dodgers, Scully has been broadcasting Dodgers games for 57 years!! The only other person in the Dodgers organization that say he has been there as long is "Mr Dodger" himself Tommy Lasorda.
At the ripe age of 78, Scully signed a three year contract that may very well end up being his last. Scully hinted that he may retire after this new contract is up. If that is true, then it will be a very sad day for Dodgers fans and the end of an era.
For most fans, Scully is the only baseball voice they know. Widely considered the best in the game, Scully has won numerous awards including being named the California Sports Broadcaster of the Year 27 times by the National Sportswriters & Sportscasters Association, and in 2000 was voted as the "Sportscaster of the 20th Century," by more than 500 national members of the American Sportscasters Association.
In 1982, Scully was inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. Shortly after that, he received his very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
I personally will never forget his call of Game 1 of the 1988 World Series, when Kirk Gibson hit that dramatic homerun that gave the Dodgers the victory: High fly ball into rightfield...she is GGOONNEE!!!!" After pausing to allow the crowd noise to subside he continued: "In a season that has been so improbable, the IMPOSSIBLE has happened!!"
Its good to know that we'll be hearing his trademark "Its time for Dodgers baseball!" for at least three more years.
Superman Returns News
Through a friend I have learned that the first rough cut for "Superman Returns" clocked in at 2 hrs 45 min!! Obviously, the final version wont be that long, but it is a sign that director Bryan Singer is making this an epic film. More than likely, I have heard that this film will end up being just a tad over two hours like "Batman Begins" was.
Speaking of which, it was reported today that both "Batman Begins" and "Superman Returns" have had their respective sequels greenlighted. "Batman Begins 2" (Obviously not the final name) will be released in 2008 with the Superman sequel following in 2009.
Friday the 13th: Reloaded
Jonathan Liebesman, director of the upcoming "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" prequel is in negotiations to remake the original "Friday the 13th" for New Line Cinema.
This time around, Jason will be the main killer, unlike the original where it turned out to be his mom. There were rumors going around that this film would be fast tracked to be released this year in October for Friday the 13th, but New Line squashed those rumors saying that the "Chainsaw" movie would be in theatres October 6th and the new "Friday" movie will release in 2007.
A Walt Disney Original is Back With Disney
I wasnt able to report on this, but I wanted to chip in my two cents on it anyway. Back in the 1920's, an unknown animator named Walt Disney created a rabbit character named Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. He was an immediate hit and Disney had his first animated star. After several Oswald cartoons were made, Walt wanted to make better Oswald cartoons and went to New York to speak with his distributor, Charles Mintz (representing Universal) about an increase in his budget. Mintz refused and notified Walt that he would have to accept a 20% cut in budget and that if he refused, Universal (The legal owners of the character) would take the series away from.
Walt of course refused and was forced to give up his creation. This twist of fate however, led to the defining moment in animation history. On the train ride back from New York to California, Walt began brainstorming and trying to come up with a new character. He literally redesigned Oswald from a rabbit into a mouse and gave him the name "Mortimer". His wife spoke up though and felt that "Mortimer" was too pompous sounding and suggested "Mickey". The rest of course is history.
For years though, the loss of Oswald haunted Walt and he tried to regain the rights to the character for several years and vowed never to allow himself to be put into a similar situation again.
Flash forward to 2006. New Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger made a promise to Diane Disney Miller that he would do his best to get Oswald back to Disney. The first thing he needed though, was to identify something Disney had that Universal would want bad enough.
This turned out to be ESPN Monday Night Football announcer Al Michaels.
NBC (Which is owned by Universal) wanted Michaels to head up their new NFL broadcasts. The problem was though, Michaels was under contract with ESPN (owned by Disney) and wasnt going anywhere. This is where Iger saw his opportunity.
He would allow Michaels out of his contract for more exclusive sports highlights from NBC, more rights to Olympics highlights and as a "throwaway" the rights to "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit"
Universal quickly agreed and returned Oswald to Disney without thinking twice.
So after almost 80 years, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is home and I think Walt Disney can rest in peace a little easier. ;-)
OK, that will do it for this edition. Hopefully be back manana, to wrap this thing up. Til the next time!
DQ
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