It seems most TV series can be watched online for free now, so why not also stream episodes of a program like ABC's Wonderful World of Disney? Sure each episode is actually a feature-length Disney-made film, but a TV show is a TV show. Fortunately, Disney seems to agree, as they're putting this summer's crop of WWoD films online for free. Typical of Disney, though, and unlike ABC.com's library of episodes, each film will only be available for a limited time. Basically, each title will screen on ABC on Saturday night, then it will be up on Disney.com (specifically the WWoD page) the following week, from Monday through Friday only. Currently, Finding Nemo, which appeared on WWoD June 7, is being offered.

Other movies on the schedule this summer include Monsters Inc., Freaky Friday, The Haunted Mansion, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. Peter Pan will be the last to air and then stream, during the first week of August. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the one movie making its world premiere on the program, Camp Rock, will also (or is it only?) stream for 24 hours on June 23, on a separate page, after airing a few times on ABC and ABC Family the weekend prior.

I am almost totally caught up on the films of 2007. The only major awards contender I haven't seen yet is Pixar's Ratatouille. Damn you Netflix and your "Very Long Wait" status! I've heard great things though, and now I've got an added reason to check out the DVD. Over at JimHillmedia, a Disney-focused news site, a reader wrote in: "Can you please help me win a bet at work? A co-worker of mine says that WALL-E makes a brief cameo appearance in Ratatouille. More importantly, this guy has bet me $100 that I'll never ever be able to find that robot in this movie." (WALL-E is the title character of Pixar's next film -- WALL-E.) The post answers that question and adds a really neat compilation of lots of the "cameos," in-jokes, and easter eggs in Pixar shorts and features.

It seems there are all kinds of callbacks and interconnections in the Pixar universe, and you fans of the films should definitely check out the site. It will help you watch the movies with fresh eyes. Some of the crossovers are very fast and will require a pause button. For example, the birds from the Pixar short "For the Birds" appear in Cars...for a tenth of a second. Others are much easier to spot. Look carefully at those toys in Monsters, Inc. and you'll see some old friends. A boy at the dentist in Finding Nemo is reading an Incredibles comic. And did you know that a "Pizza Planet" truck drives through each and every Pixar feature? Oh, and by the way, it sounds like that guy who wrote in to the site was duped. if you want to find WALL-E, he's not in Ratatouille, just the disc's special features. Rats!

With Toy Story 3 coming to theaters in 2010, I keep wondering why Pixar didn't plan sequels to any of its other hits. I guess we kinda got a follow-up to Monsters, Inc., but I'd love to see another whole feature with Sulley and Mike. I'd also like to see a full-length return of The Incredibles. If I had to choose, though, I'd much rather see new, original stories like the wonderful Ratatouille. And I most certainly would never, ever ask for a sequel to Cars. Unfortunately, I wasn't asked, and even if I had been, my answer wouldn't have mattered. Pixar would just go on ahead and make Cars 2. It isn't official, but someone informed the JV Pixar News blog that the sequel would be Pixar's next movie after Toy Story 3. JV has been following the story for a little while; back in June, the blog reported Cars 2 would come as early as 2009 and that a Cars short would be shown with next summer's Wall * E (apparently all these rumors/info originated from statements made by Paul Newman at this year's Indianapolis 500).

Cars was the first Pixar movie to really bore me. Hearing that it will be continued in a sequel is extremely disappointing, because I hate to miss anything the studio puts out. I'd probably eventually force myself to watch it -- maybe it could be an improvement -- but it would take a long, long time. I'd even rather see Finding Nemo 2, despite the fact that I didn't love the first movie (I liked it a whole lot more than Cars, though, that is for sure). Nemo would even make more sense to me as the movie to do a follow-up to. It made the most money of any Pixar movie and I believe it is more popular and more critically revered than Cars. Even The Incredibles made more than Cars. So, I don't get it; why would Disney be most interested in that one? It didn't even win the Oscar, for goodness sakes. In my opinion, it was something of a failure for both Disney and Pixar.

Last September, when Ellen DeGeneres was first announced as this year's Oscars host, I gave my opinion that she was all wrong for the job, that she isn't funny or hip enough for the young audience that ABC is hoping for. More than twenty comments were posted by readers that stated the opposite. I have begun to realize I could be wrong, although I'm getting very tired of that commercial featuring her and a bunch of animals. I admit that my judgment of DeGeneres is based primarily on my annoyance with her voice work on Finding Nemo. Otherwise I have been known to chuckle at her jokes from time to time.

This week DeGeneres spoke about her preparations for the February 25 telecast. She said that her concentration thus far has been on making sure there aren't too many industry-specific jokes because a lot of the audience hasn't seen the nominated films. She knows she won't please everybody, and she stated that she plans on just being herself and doing what she finds to be funny. Those who enjoyed her previous experience as host of the Emmys and the Grammys can probably expect to enjoy this, I figure.

DeGeneres will not be copying Billy Crystal with a musical number, though she is hopeful for something as spontaneous and surprising as the Jack Palance one-armed push-up incident, which allowed for a lot of fun improvisation from Crystal in 1992. That reminds me: considering Palance died this past November, it would be a good idea if all the winners this year pay him tribute by doing at least one push-up on stage. I bet Helen Mirren can even do the one-armed variety.

Today on Fill-in-the-Blank: Blockbuster accuses Netflix of playa hatin', studio heads refuse to cough up the stats on their bling, and Jennifer Aniston is, apparently, the saddest girl in all the world. Got more name suggestions? Drop 'em as though they were of a significantly high temperature in the comments.

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Hosts
Karina Longworth

Editor
Randall Bennett

Music
Love as Laughter - I'm a bee

Format
5:30, 40.5 MB, MPEG4 (iPod / PSP compatible)

Program
00:00 - Netflix v. Blockbuster
01:56 - Hollywood resists SEC recommendation
02:49 - Avenue Q and Disney teaming up for Nemo musical
03:52 - Breakup ending changed because people love Jennifer Aniston