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Ever imagined what classic Disney villains would be like as teenagers?

Dylan: Leo [Howard]

Q: If you could have any pet in the world, what pet would you choose?

Dylan: I would have a fox—a red fox. I think they are beautiful! I think it would be great to show up at a party with a fox on a leash. Or I’d pick a Savannah cat…they’re the cats that look like cheetahs. But I’m allergic to cats!

image courtesy Disney Channel

Q: What’s something about you that most people don’t know?

Dylan: I like science a lot. I like looking at things in different ways, solving puzzles, and doing things with my hands…fixing stuff.

Q: What should people do to make the world a better place?

Dylan: Take a look in the mirror and fix what you can. Think about how you can make the people around you happy! And speak up! The world would be a much better place if more people would say what makes them happy.

Be sure to also check out Dylan’s book recommendation video

See ya next time,

 — En-Szu, STACKS Staffer

"It's kind of like "The Lion King" meets "The Avengers," says Nancy Kanter, general manager of Disney Junior, when describing their upcoming preschool series "The Lion Guard."

We love, love, LOVE Dog with a Blog! (Did you see our Dog with a Blog Would You Rather Quiz last week?) And we’re super-excited to bring to you this interview with Blake Michael, who plays Tyler James (the older brother of Avery, a.k.a. G Hannelius

Q: Lemonade Mouth has a great soundtrack. Do you really play drums?

Q: Is the environment important to you?

Blake: I’ve been buying organic food, and I actually bought some flowers and planted them in my house. I love gardening. I have this little tree that is growing out of a coconut in my room. I love forestry and nature, and gardening!— En-Szu, STACKS Staffer

Philip Vose is a graduate of the CalArts animation program and lives in the Bay Area working as a freelance animation artist.

Philip has recently worked as a freelance location designer and background painter for the Disney Channel series Gravity Falls. In the personal work that he posts on his blog, Philip is able to explore grittier subject matter than what is allowed by children’s television work.

You can find Philip’s personal work on his blog and portfolio site, and his collection of videos including several short cartoons on Vimeo.

Cartoon Brew has an exclusive clip from the first-look telecast of Wander Over Yonder which follows the premiere of “Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel this Friday, August 16, at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on Disney Channel. In this clip, we are introduced to Emperor Awesome and his fist-fighter army.

What does every galactic villain need when facing off against his arch enemy Lord Hater for the ultimate cosmic power – a classic battle theme song! In this exclusive clip, you’ll see Emperor Awesome and his fist-fighter army rock Lord Hater on the battlefield – just one of the many adventures Wander experiences on his travels through outer space. The epic battle music is performed by Two Man Gentlemen Band member and composer for the series, Andy Bean.

In the episode, “The Picnic,” Wander discovers the perfect spot for his celestial picnic — right next to Lord Hater’s epic battlefield, consequently making it extremely difficult for Hater to focus on his battle against arch enemy Emperor Awesome for ultimate cosmic power.

Disney Channel’s new animated comedy series Wander Over Yonder, premieres Friday, September 13 (9:00 pm ET/PT). The series stars Jack McBrayer (30 Rock, Wreck It Ralph) as the free-spirited Wander, April Winchell (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse) as Wander’s true-blue stallion and best friend Sylvia, Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants) as Commander Peepers, the leader of the Watchdog Army, and Keith Ferguson (Gravity Falls, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends) as evil villain Lord Hater. Wander Over Yonder is created and executive produced by two-time Emmy Award-winning animator Craig McCracken (Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, Powerpuff Girls).

Here’s a new extended clip from Craig McCracken’s upcoming TV series Wander Over Yonder, which will be previewed on Disney Channel this Friday, August 16, at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.

The Disney Channel provided us with this sneak peek of the main titles for Wander Over Yonder, their new series created by Craig McCracken. The main title theme song is written and performed by Two Man Gentleman Band, and the group’s banjoist Andy Bean is the composer of the series. The Wander Over Yonder first-look telecast will premiere on Disney Channel Friday, August 16 (9:00 p.m., ET/PT), followed by the series premiere on Friday, September 13 (9:00 p.m. ET/PT).

Bonus points if you spot the tribute to Ward Kimball’s Mars and Beyond!

These two promos are the publicly released footage that I’ve seen from Wander Over Yonder, the upcoming Disney Channel series created by Craig McCracken (The Powerpuff Girls, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends).

Also, here’s a lo-quality version of the trailer that someone recorded at the San Diego Comic-Con yesterday:

(Thanks, Anthony DiPaola via Cartoon Brew’s Facebook group)

Just two months after Disney cancelled the Cartoon Network series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, they have announced a new series called Star Wars Rebels. The show will debut on the Disney Channel as a one-hour special in 2014, before continuing as a regular series on Disney XD. The show will be set during the two-decade timespan between Episode III and IV, at a time when “the Empire is securing its grip on the galaxy and hunting down the last of the Jedi Knights as a fledgling rebellion against the Empire is taking shape.”

Dave Filoni, who was supervising diretor on Clone Wars, will head up the production as exec producer. He will be joined by Clone Wars veterans Kilian Plunkett (Art Director) and Joel Aron (CG Supervisor), as well as some fresh faces:

Leading the development of the series is a creative team of exceptional talent. Screenwriter/producer Simon Kinberg (X-Men: First Class, Sherlock Holmes, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) is an executive producer on Star Wars Rebels and will write the premiere episode. He is joined by Dave Filoni as executive producer, who served as supervising director of the Emmy nominated Star Wars: The Clone Wars since 2008. Executive producer Greg Weisman brings with him a wealth of animation experience with credits such as Young Justice, The Spectacular Spider-Man and Gargoyles.

Just two months after Disney cancelled the Cartoon Network series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, they have announced a new series called Star Wars Rebels. The show will debut on the Disney Channel as a one-hour special in 2014, before continuing as a regular series on Disney XD. The show will be set during the two-decade timespan between Episode III and IV, at a time when “the Empire is securing its grip on the galaxy and hunting down the last of the Jedi Knights as a fledgling rebellion against the Empire is taking shape.”

Dave Filoni, who was supervising diretor on Clone Wars, will head up the production as exec producer. He will be joined by Clone Wars veterans Kilian Plunkett (Art Director) and Joel Aron (CG Supervisor), as well as some fresh faces:

Leading the development of the series is a creative team of exceptional talent. Screenwriter/producer Simon Kinberg (X-Men: First Class, Sherlock Holmes, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) is an executive producer on Star Wars Rebels and will write the premiere episode. He is joined by Dave Filoni as executive producer, who served as supervising director of the Emmy nominated Star Wars: The Clone Wars since 2008. Executive producer Greg Weisman brings with him a wealth of animation experience with credits such as Young Justice, The Spectacular Spider-Man and Gargoyles.

Twihards rejoice! The full trailer for ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1′ is finally here (and by the looks of it, it may be the most intense of the movies yet. Needless to say, we know where millions of teen girls will be on... Read the rest of this post

If you thought Rebecca Black was just a one-hit wonder (then think again! Sure she stumbled upon fame, but after getting more YouTube hits than Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga — impressive right? — it’s no surprise that Rebecca is continuing... Read the rest of this post

Xbox users can stay involved (even during ads, thanks to in-game ads which use the same voice and motion technology as the Kinect console. Gamers can say a command to tweet or text, or wave their hands in front of the device to vote. Users can... Read the rest of this post

‘Glee’ cast member (Chris Colfer — aka Kurt — is writing a pilot for Disney Channel based on the children’s book The Little Leftover Witch. Here’s the cast of “Glee” doing Lady Gaga’s “Born This... Read the rest of this post

Borders & MarVista Entertainment partner (to launch an exclusive line of merch for new Disney Channel movie "16 Wishes." And Twilight's Ashley Greene is replacing Lauren Conrad as the face of the Avon brand Mark) (Cynopsis Kids) (WWD) - In... Read the rest of this post

Today we bring you our weekly sampler of the cool youth media and marketing gigs you can expect to find on our Ypulse Jobs Board. If your company has an open position in the youth media or marketing space, we encourage you to post there. Post a... Read the rest of this post

Warner Bros to launch Supergirl line (by Olympic medalist Nastia Liukin for J.C. Penney. Also now word is "Fantastic Four" star Chris Evans has been offered the role of Captain America. And music to Whedon fans' ears: Neil Patrick Harris says the... Read the rest of this post

Today we bring you our weekly sampler of the cool youth media and marketing gigs you can expect to find on our Ypulse Jobs Board. If your company has an open position in the youth media or marketing space, we encourage you to post there. Post a... Read the rest of this post

All jokes about tween hearts breaking aside, the news of 21-year-old Kevin Jonas, a.k.a. the oldest member of the Jonas Brothers, getting engaged did make me wonder about the impact on the group's "boy band" image. I realize that Kevin Jonas will... Read the rest of this post

Today's Youth Advisory Board post is from Caroline Marques, one of the Jonas Brothers' more casual fans who caught their new Disney show the other day and wanted to share her thoughts. Remember, you can communicate directly with any member of the... Read the rest of this post

For anyone who DIDN'T watch the movie I wrote on the Disney Channel - DADNAPPED - (and not having kids between 8 - 14 is no excuse!), the plot revolved around a famous author who writes books featuring a super-cool teen James Bond-type named TRIPP ZOOME.

A TRIPP IN TIME, ZOOME TIME/BOOM TIME, and TRIPP'S LAST TRIP are just a few of the books my Dad character wrote featuring the self-assured sleuth. These books are big stuff and fans just can't get enough of the former dentist's crazy plots and frequent use of dental floss as a deterrent.

What's been fun since the movie's been airing is I'm getting lots of searches for "Tripp Zoome Books". Seems kids are curious how they can read the same books that inspire my teen heroes in the film. Though the plot is light and silly - one thing I'm proud of is I created teen characters who love to read. Books are important to the story and okay - this movie isn't winning an Oscar, but "Reading Rocks" is definitely one of the messages.

Maybe reality should follow fiction and I should write the books that I wrote about in the movie...

It's time. After 2 years - 4 drafts - numerous notes - and who knows how many hours in edit suites (probably tons) - the movie that I wrote for the Disney Channel will be airing Monday night at 8:00pm e.s.t.

It's exciting to know that the characters I made up and the story I plunked them into will finally be alive and in color and the subject of online debate and comments from tweens all over the world.

DADNAPPED began as a one sentence idea I had years ago: What if a girl had to compete for her father's attention with a fictional character that the father felt closer to.

In the movie - Melissa (played by the wonderful Emily Osment from Hanna Montana) despises that her father's success as an author comes from the series of books that feature Tripp Zoome, a super-slick teen James Bond type of kid who is so popular fan-conventions are devoted to him. Dragged along on a vacation with her dad, Melissa is confronted by her fictional nemesis, Tripp Zoome, when her father makes a "quick stop" at a Zoomer Convention, where he gets kidnapped by a bunch of teen fans desperate to prove they are Zoome Worthy!

Forced to prove she is just as clever as "Tripp" Melissa teams up with some Zoome-maniacs and figures out how to get her father back!

I haven't seen the movie yet - but the trailers look fun and the Disney Channel is promoting it as part of their "Night Of Stars". I'll be watching Monday night.

Hope you will be too!

As I sit staring at my backyard where several leaves have the nerve to change colors already - I have good news.

My Disney Channel movie (no, not High School Musical: The Musical) is in pre-production, which for any non-film folks out there means the director and his minions of hard-working crew folk are on location in Utah gearing up for the actual shoot which will happen starting mid-October.

WOW! I'm very excited that this idea I had over 10 years ago is now (numerous rewrites later) actually getting made. Sadly, the title DADNAPPED has to change and I'm resigned to it, though have no good alternative title yet.

They might still need extras - so if you're in Utah, check it out!

On the writing front: I've just sent my amazing agent Jill Grinberg five chapters of something "new" and top secret! I value her input and hope to be able to tell everyone about it soon.

And - I'm gearing up for my big Texas trip, which is also scheduled for mid-October. I'll be visiting the CyFair school district for two solid weeks of author-silliness, and with the exception of missing my family, it promises to be a blast!

More on that later... Read the rest of this post

I'm a little early, but just in case I get too busy, thought I'd pass this around for the celebration.