The talks are (mostly) over and it is now confirmed that Disney is buying Playdom valued at $763.2 million (US).

According to the New York Times, Walt Disney Company will pay $563.2 million and $200 million more later if Playdom “achieves growth thresholds that were not made public.”

As part of the deal, Playdom Chief Executive John Pleasants become a Disney Executive Vice President, reporting to Disney’s Interactive Media Group.

This also coincides with…

Disney Interactive Studios gave a lot of booth time to Epic Mickey at E3 2010.

Available Fall 2010 for Wii, Epic Mickey will include more than 60 Disney animated characters and feature a brush-wielding Mickey Mouse.

With the power of paint and paint thinner, a 1920s-to-1930s-era Mikey is able to erase and redraw the game’s environment (*cough* Shaun White Skateboarding *cough*) in this action-platformer-RPG hybrid designed by Warren Spector (and developed by Junction Point Studios).

The latest Disney animated flick to hit Blu-ray is also the company’s super proud return to hand-drawn animation and the wonderful world of the musical.

The Princess and the Frog offers a zesty blend of Cajun musical flavors, voice talent, humor, creepy voodoo and animation that you’ll wonder where the company has been for the last few years.

Miayazaki’s films can arguably be described as a bit too weird for American audiences to accept, lacking a clear, super-hero style main character and, instead focusing on normal people in not-so-normal circumstances. Most times he exudes a mood more than a clear, linear story in his films, though this may be one of the most linear of his productions (thanks to the film’s literary inspiration).

Some elements in Ponyo may not immediately endear older American viewers but the overall story will prove entertaining to its true target: very young viewers.

The Nintendo Wii has pulled off quite a coup becoming the exclusive home to a game that promises to change everything you think you know about Mickey Mouse.

Disney’s corporate mascot wasn’t always the happy, smiling doormat we’ve come to know him as. When Walt Disney first created him, he had a playful but mischievous streak that got him into trouble. That’s the Mickey Mouse legendary game creator Warren Spector loves. When Disney officials approached him about redoing Mickey in a video game, he was shocked to find they wanted to bring that mousy miscreant out of the mothballs.

You’ll get unlimited health, costumes plusa few other fun extras when you download the Pirates of the Caribbean: A World’s End extra content free at ‘X-marks-the-spot’ wireless hotspots at Walt Disneyland in Anaheim, CA, and Walt DisneyWorld in Florida. Guests of the Disney theme parks can download the extra contents for free only when they more »