The mission is to raise funds for unpaid services provided by children’s hospitals statewide. The collaboration involves the Disneyland Resort, the California Children’s Hospital Assn. and the Health Facilities Financing Authority overseen by the state treasurer’s office, according to a news release.

“In this time when Californians are struggling to get access to care, we are thrilled to help unlock new funding to help expand care, improve health outcomes and promote the well-being of children with serious and complex medical needs,” State Treasurer Fiona Ma said.

Next steps toward approval

The announcement begins the process of developing a Disney-themed tag and securing approval from the Department of Motor Vehicles to add to its special license plate program.

Getting the DMV’s OK requires a pre-order minimum of 7,500 license plates. The agency also needs to sign off on the design.

It’s unclear how long this process will take. A DMV representative could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Disney-themed plates, if approved, would be among several the DMV offers to fund charities or causes, including the Arts Council, Breast Cancer Awareness, the Lake Tahoe Conservancy, museums, firefighters and veterans.

What will the license plates fund

After deducting administrative fees, proceeds from the Disney plates would go toward services provided by hospitals and clinics that are not covered by insurance or a patient.

Earnings will be deposited into the program fund established in the State Treasury and awarded to 13 children’s hospitals, including:

• Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
• Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital
• Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford
• MemorialCare Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Long Beach
• Rady Children’s Health Orange County
• Rady Children’s Health San Diego
• UC Davis Children’s Hospital
• UC Irvine Health Children’s Hospital
• UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital
• UC San Diego Health Children’s Hospital
• UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland
• UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco
• Valley Children’s Hospital

How much will these Disney-themes plates cost

Specialized plates cost $50 — or $103 for personalized versions — with an annual renewal fee of $40 or $83, respectively, in addition to standard vehicle registration fees.

How to pre-order

The California Health Facilities Financing Authority has launched a website for those interested in the Disney collaboration. Interested parties who fill out a form will receive updates on the program, including application details and opportunities to pre-order.

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That’s only if Disney wins approval from local officials to expand its Anaheim resort over the next four decades.

The proposed expansion wouldn’t increase Disney’s 490-acre (488-hectare) footprint in Southern California or change what the company already has permission to build. But it could help the company develop new attractions. They could place rides and entertainment options on what is currently a sprawling, 50-acre (20-hectare) parking lot — and move parking for Disneyland to a multistory structure — all while keeping within the boundaries of a resort surrounded by residential neighborhoods.

“We know there are stories out there we haven’t told yet, like ‘Wakanda’ or ‘Coco’ or ‘Frozen’ or ‘Zootopia’,” said Rachel Alde, Disney’s senior vice president of global development and finance. “We know what kind of stories we would love to tell. We need to get the guidance on what we can build there so we can understand how.”

The city of Anaheim’s planning commission is scheduled Monday to review the proposal for Disneyland, dubbed the “happiest place on Earth.” The project — which would require Disney to invest at least $1.9 billion in the theme park, lodging, entertainment and related uses over the next decade — still must be approved by the city council before taking effect.

Disney’s goal is to create what it calls more immersive experiences for tourists, similar to the attraction Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which opened in California in 2019. The company said it doesn’t yet know which stories would be central to the new developments, but the idea is to create areas like “Zootopia” in Shanghai Disneyland, where animal characters walk through a vibrant cityscape that resembles the setting of the film.

Right now, there isn’t enough room in the original Disneyland in California to build something on a large scale without affecting existing attractions, which are relished by loyal, long-time visitors to the company’s oldest theme park, Alde said.

It’s the first time Disney has sought a major change to its California theme parks since the 1990s, when the company obtained approvals to turn its first park into a resort hub. It later added a second park, Disney California Adventure Park, and a shopping and entertainment area called Downtown Disney.

Disneyland, which dates back to 1955, was the second-most visited theme park in the world in 2022 with 16.8 million people coming through the gates, according to a report by the Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM.

Disney’s parks are a tourism magnet for Southern California and especially for Anaheim, which is Orange County’s most populous city and home to more than 345,000 people as well as a major league baseball team and national hockey league team. Hotel revenue typically makes up about half of Anaheim’s revenue, and is expected to climb to $236 million this year, according to city estimates.

“Visitors generate a tremendous amount of revenue for our city that allows us to invest in our neighborhoods,” said Erin Ryan, a spokesperson for the city of Anaheim. “Disney brings a lot of tourists here.”

The plan also would require the company to invest tens of millions of dollars in street improvements, affordable housing and other infrastructure in the city. Disney has held workshops to address residents’ questions about the proposal, including concerns about the company’s plan to absorb a local road into the theme park.

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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Walt Disney Co. will cut about 7,000 jobs as part of an ambitious companywide cost-savings plan and “strategic reorganization” announced Wednesday by CEO Bob Iger.

The job cuts amount to about 3% of the entertainment giant’s global workforce and were unveiled after Disney reported quarterly results that topped Wall Street’s forecasts.

Iger returned as CEO in November following a challenging two-year tenure by his handpicked successor, Bob Chapek. The company said the job reductions are part of a targeted $5.5 billion cost savings across the company. As of Oct. 1, Disney employed 220,000 people, of which about 166,000 worked in the U.S. and 54,000 internationally.

In a statement, Iger said Disney is embarking on a “significant transformation” that management believes will lead to improved profitability at the company’s streaming business.

The company, which owns Star Wars, Marvel and Pixar, will focus more on its core brands and franchises, Iger said.

The executive also announced changes to how executives will operate Disney’s various divisions. Specifically, creative executives will now be responsible for determining what movies, TV series or other content to produce, as well as the marketing and distribution.

“Our new structure is aimed at returning greater authority to our creative leaders and making them accountable for how their content performs financially,” Iger said during a call with Wall Street analysts.

In its latest results, solid growth at Disney’s theme parks helped offset tepid performance in its video streaming and movie business.

Disney said Wednesday that it earned $1.28 billion, or 70 cents per share, in the three months through Dec. 31. That compares with net income of $1.1 billion, or 60 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, Disney earned 99 cents per share. Analysts, on average, were expecting adjusted earnings of 78 cents per share, according to FactSet.

Revenue grew 8% to $23.51 billion from $21.82 billion a year earlier. Analysts were expecting revenue of $23.44 billion.

Disney said sales at its parks, experiences and products segment grew 21% to $8.74 billion, from $7.23 billion a year earlier. While revenue for the segment that includes Disney’s movie business edged up 1% to $14.78 billion from $14.59 billion a year earlier.

The company’s direct-to-consumer business, which includes its streaming services, posted a $1.1 billion operating loss amid higher programming and production costs at Disney+ and Hulu.

Disney+ ended the quarter with 161.8 million subscribers, down 1% from since Oct. 1. Hulu and ESPN+ each posted a 2% increase in paid subscribers during the quarter.

The company rolled out new price tiers for its U.S. Disney+ service in December that raised the monthly price for ad-free viewing from $7.99 to $10.99 and created a new basic Disney+ service with ads that costs $7.99 a month.

Management said Wednesday that Disney+ plus will achieve profitability by the end of its next fiscal year in September 2024.

The latest results marked the first quarterly snapshot since Iger’s return as CEO.

The move to revamp the company and slash costs comes as Disney is under pressure to turn its business around.

Activist investor Nelson Peltz, CEO of Trian Fund Management, is vying for a seat on Disney’s board of directors, arguing that the company’s recent operating performance has been disappointing and the result of self-inflected problems stemming from failed succession planning efforts, a flawed direct-to-consumer strategy and “over-the-top” compensation practices, among other concerns.

Disney has urged shareholders to vote against Peltz and last month named board member Mark Parker as its chairman. Parker, who also serves as executive chairman at Nike Inc., has been tapped to head Disney’s newly created succession planning committee, which will advise the board on CEO succession planning.

Iger also announced Wednesday that he intends to ask the board to approve the reinstatement of a “modest” dividend by the end of this year. The company suspended its dividend in the spring of 2020, in the early days of the pandemic.

Shares in Disney, which is based in Burbank, California, rose almost 6% in after-hours trading.

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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Even though only a small percentage of Walt Disney Co. workers participated in a walkout Tuesday, organizers felt they had won a moral victory with the company issuing a statement denouncing the anti-LGBTQ legislation that sparked employee outrage.

Throughout the day, pockets of employees staged demonstrations at various sites across the country, including near Orlando’s Walt Disney World and Walt Disney Animation Studios in California. According to a Disney official, there had been no interruptions in any operations.

Disney employed 190,000 workers last October, with roughly three-quarters working in its theme parks division.

The debate forced the company into a balancing act between the expectations of a diverse workforce and demands from an increasingly polarized, politicized marketplace.

On one side are LGBTQ advocates and Disney employees calling for the walkout in protest of CEO Bob Chapek’s slow response in publicly criticizing Florida legislation that opponents dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The legislation awaiting the governor’s signature bars instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.

On the other side are politicians like Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who accuse the entertainment conglomerate of bending to woke politics. Earlier this month, the company decided to temporarily suspend political contributions in Florida. DeSantis, who has been tacking toward the Republican base on culture war issues, is seen as a 2024 presidential hopeful.

Union leaders for the tens of thousands of unionized workers at Disney theme parks in Florida and California said they saw no walkout momentum among their members, advising them not to do so because it would defy contractual obligations.

Evan Power, Leon County’s Republican Party chairman, said he believes a strident minority of Disney employees are pushing the issue, and DeSantis has more to gain by taking the side of parents who want more control over education and “sexual conversations” in early grades at school.

In a Tuesday Facebook post, Disney wrote that the company opposes “any legislation that infringes on basic human rights” and stands “in solidarity” with LGBTQ employees “who make their voices heard today and every day.”

A half-dozen Disney workers gathered Tuesday morning at an Orlando LGBTQ center to write letters in support of queer students. “You’re Amazing. You Matter and We Care” and “It Gets Better,” they read, next to a drawing of a rainbow.

“We are creators, and we felt that we could be creative and productive and write letters of encouragement to LGBTQ youth,” said Gabe, a Walt Disney World product development manager who didn’t want his last name used for fear of having his privacy invaded.

Scores of Disney workers marched outside the company’s Burbank, California, studios, including one carrying rainbow-colored Mickey Mouse doll and chanting, “Say gay!”

“We had a great group out here just to show our support for our queer employees and their families,” said Nora Rogers, a production supervisor at Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Disney, whose movies and properties shaped generations of children around the world, has spoken out several times in recent years about contentious social and political situations.

In January 2021, it said it would suspend political donations to lawmakers who voted against certifying President Joe Biden’s electoral victory. It also threatened to pull business from Georgia — a favorite of movie and TV studios — following a 2016 anti-gay bill, which was ultimately vetoed by the then-governor.

Chapek, who became CEO in 2020, has now drawn fire for speaking out about the gender identity bill only after it passed the Florida Legislature.

Republican lawmakers pushing the Florida legislation argued that parents, not teachers, should be the ones talking to their children about gender issues during their early formative years. The legislation attracted scrutiny from Democrats including Biden, who called it “hateful.” It has been sent to DeSantis, who is expected to sign it into law.

Chapek has apologized for not coming out more forcefully and publicly against the bill, saying Disney officials worked behind the scenes to stop it. Chapek also announced a pause to political donations in Florida and support for advocacy groups fighting similar legislation in other states, reiterating those points during a company-wide discussion Monday.

Outside Walt Disney World’s property, Disney employee Nicholas Maldonado was a lone protester Tuesday, wearing a rainbow flag and holding a sign reading, “Trans rights are human rights” and “#DisneyDoBetter.”

“Where was Chapek when the bill was introduced?” said Maldonado, who had a day off from his merchandising job at an Orlando Disney store and, while disappointed with Chapek’s initial response, said he felt Disney’s leaders were beginning to hear the concerns of the company’s workers.

Disney has long been influential in Florida politics, tending to support Republicans who have been in control of Tallahassee, the state capital, for two decades, but also being more open on social issues, said Patricia Campos-Medina, co-director of the Worker Institute at Cornell University. “That’s why people felt surprised that they wanted to stay quiet on this issue,” she said.

Walkout organizers maintain that withholding political contributions isn’t enough.

The group of employees calling for the walkout said on its website that, until the legislation is repealed, Disney leaders need to stop investments in Florida, including the relocation of 2,000 mostly professional jobs from its California headquarters to Orlando. They also say Disney needs to develop an LGBTQ brand similar to the Onyx Collective, an initiative aimed at developing content by and for people of color.

About 20 Disney workers gathered at New York City’s Stonewall Inn, birthplace of the gay rights movement, to write letters in support of families affected by the Florida legislation.

Jonathan Shutt, a senior product manager for Disney Streaming Services, said he was aware that not every worker who wanted to participate could do so and that the company “just needs to do better.”

“There are many of us who are privileged enough to be able to do this, to be able to walk out and stand up for people,” Shutt said.

Cynthia Cooley, an enterprise program senior manager at Disney Streaming Services, said there was an unspoken signal among workers who decided to walk out, with participating employees putting a rainbow flag next to their names in the Slack messaging app.

“We don’t talk about Bruno,” she cracked, referring to the catchy song from the Disney movie “Encanto.”

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Playing the role of Mulan is Star Loza and Adan Nunez is Captain Shang. Dara Bailey is playing the mischievous dragon, Mushu. Mulan’s Ancestors, who narrate the play and keep a watchful eye on Mulan are Olivia Pena, Nadaici Davis, Mya Votaw, Ivanna Manzyuk, Cosette Cardenas. The Emperor of China is Andy Ballard and his advisor, Chi Fu is
Drake Rogers. Mulan’s Soldier comic buddies are Ellie Ballard, Nick Jones, Joshua McLeod.

The evil leader of the Huns, is Devon Young. The Fa family are James Serna as Father Fa, Chamisa Inoway-Mann as Fa Li her mother, and Deja Carrillo as the humorous Grandma Fa. The Matchmaker is played by Kaitlyn Armas and Clarissa Vasquez.
The children rehearse for three weeks before they present the show in the Ramona Bowl. They learn singing techniques, choreography, and acting.

For more information about this program or ticket sales call 951 658 3111, visit the Ramona Bowl Amphitheatre Facebook or website, ramonabowl.com.

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