Pixar obsession leads Wexford's Ethan (24) to set of hit TV show – ‘it felt very special to be there'
'I went to see Pixar's The Incredibles at the age of three. I remember being so incredibly immersed in the film . . . and this grew into a wider obsession for Pixar as a whole which led me to watch all of their films over and over again, including all of their short films and behind the scenes special features. I consumed so much of Pixar's work that I could find my way around their studio located in Emeryville, California without even having set foot in the United States.'
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The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- The Irish Sun
Win a family beach break to Cornwall worth £2,000 with Disney and Sun Club
TO celebrate Disney's 'Summer's Brightest Stars' promotion, we're giving one lucky family the chance to win an unforgettable beach holiday to Cornwall. With dreamy sandy beaches, quaint seaside villages, and breathtaking coastal views, Cornwall is the ultimate destination for your family's summer trip. Advertisement 2 Win a family beach break to Cornwall worth £2,000 with Disney and Sun Club The winning family will enjoy a three-night stay at a four-star hotel with breakfast included, dinner at a local Cornish restaurant, and the choice of either a two-hour paddle boarding lesson, or a guided kayaking tour. Disney's 'Summer's Brightest Stars' collection features hundreds of family-friendly films from Walt Disney Studios on 4K UHD, Blu-ray™ and DVD. 2 Join Sun Club for just £1.99 a month to enter the competition The promotion includes recent blockbusters Disney's Moana 2, Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King, Pixar's Inside Out 2, and Marvel Studios' Deadpool & Wolverine. Plus 20th Century Studios' Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, 20th Century Studios' Avatar: The Way of Water and Lucasfilm's Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Advertisement How to enter with Sun Club Sun Club Membership Programme Step 1: To enter our Disney family beach break competition join Sun Club now for just £1.99 a month for your first year. Following this, £4.99 a month. Or £12 for an annual subscription for the first 12 months, then £49.99 a year thereafter. Step 2: Then head to the ' Step 3: You now be entered into the competition and you will see a green tick with the message: 'Congratulations! You've successfully entered this competition' at the top of the page. Step 4: The winner will be selected at random and notified by email, so please ensure your email address is correct and has been verified. You can also get your hands on many more timeless classics from Pixar, Disney, and Marvel Studios. The Summer's Brightest Stars promotion is available at and . Competition is open to UK residents aged 18+ only. Competition ends at 23:59pm on Wednesday, August 12, 2025. Winners will be notified within 28 days. Full T&Cs apply, see below. © 2025 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS. © 2025 DISNEY. © 2025 DISNEY/PIXAR. © 2025 20th Century Studios / © & TM MARVEL 2025. © 2025 & TM LUCASFILM LTD. Advertisement Most read in Travel Exclusive Latest
The Irish Sun
27-06-2025
- The Irish Sun
How trendsetting Brit Anna Wintour became fashion's ultimate force at Vogue – with NO ONE safe from her sharp tongue
SHE came, she saw the fashion world from behind her Chanel sunglasses, she conquered. After 37 years as the formidable force on US Vogue , Anna Wintour is stepping aside as Editor-in-Chief. 6 Anna Wintour has announced she's quitting her iconic role at American Vogue in a shock career move Credit: GC Images 6 Anna, pictured in 1996, has had her signature razor-sharp bob since the age of 14 Credit: Getty The move marks the end of an era, in which the UK-born power player ruled the fashion industry with a perfectly manicured fist. One flick of her hair or glance and your fate was sealed. Dame Anna, honoured by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 in full Chanel couture, turned unknown models into stars, transformed 'trashy' celebs into tastemakers, and set trends the high street copied. Her signature razor-sharp bob — which she has had since the age of 14 — needs two daily blow-dries (morning and evening) and near-constant trims. READ MORE ON ANNA WINTOUR Her attitude is equally polished — and feared. Nicknamed Nuclear Wintour for her icy reputation, she remains fashion's most enigmatic personality. The documentary The September Issue offered a rare peek inside Vogue's Manolo Blahnik-strewn corridors, capturing the chaos of assembling an 840-page edition of the magazine in 2007. Debuting in 2009 at Sundance and grossing around £7million, the film cemented Anna's status as the ultimate force in fashion. Surrounded by 'thin, rich and young' people Her frosty persona inspired The Devil Wears Prada's Miranda Priestly — Meryl Streep's pursed lips and cutting glares were taken straight from the Wintour playbook — and even The Incredibles' eccentric designer Edna Mode was modelled on her. Most read in Fabulous But inside Vogue, Anna's power wasn't a scowl or stare. It was a yellow Post-it note stuck to the bottom of a printout, bearing the a seal of approval 'AWOK' — Anna Wintour OK — which could make or break careers. One star Anna truly legitimised was Kim Kardashian. When she boldly put Kim and then-fiance Kanye West on Vogue's cover in 2014, the fashion elite gasped. Anna Wintour finally sets record straight on Met Gala outfit rule rumor after years of speculation Her response? 'If we only put tasteful people on the cover, no one would talk about us.' Anna also championed other stars — giving Kendall Jenner strong Vogue backing and helping her break into high fashion. She championed Gisele Bundchen in the late 1990s and early 2000s, featuring her on many Vogue covers, and Kate Upton's debut on the front of the magazine in 2013 signalled a shift toward embracing curvier models in the industry. Infamously private, Anna Wintour's influence is impossible to ignore. The Devil Wears Prada even became a musical — proof of her cultural reach. At 75, she kept Vogue not just relevant, but reigning as fashion and culture's ultimate authority. From supermodel golden eras to today's social media trends, Anna transformed the title from a magazine into a global style empire. Every May, she breaks the internet with the Met Gala — her annual, star-studded spectacle where celebrities stun in jaw-dropping looks. What was once a low-key fundraiser transformed under her reign into fashion's most exclusive, over-the-top, meme-worthy night. 6 Anna Wintour cracks a rare smile while at work in 1989 Credit: Getty 6 Anna's frosty persona inspired The Devil Wears Prada's Miranda Priestly Credit: Alamy Starting in 2004, Anna harnessed showbiz glamour to skyrocket the event into global fame. Today, from TikTokers to A-listers, the guest list is fiercely selective — just 30 seconds of fame on a bright red carpet holds massive cultural weight. While Anna wields immense power over designer brands and celebrities, she has also had a huge impact on the high street. From her very first Vogue cover mixing budget jeans with couture, she has championed accessible fashion for all. Anna has been key in shaping runway trends that trickle down to high street retailers. In 2009, she launched Fashion's Night Out, turning shopping into a celebrity- studded, cocktail-fuelled event in New York and London , raising funds for causes such as the NYC AIDS Fund and September 11 Memorial until the event ended in 2013. But Anna did not just dip into retail — she transformed the high-street experience. By blending celebrity appeal, charity and immersive theatre , she redefined how brands engage with shoppers. She was a fixture at Topshop's London Fashion Week shows and has long championed luxury-meets-store collaborations — think Balmain x H&M — bringing runway glamour to the masses and giving the UK high street a major boost. FASHION QUEEN In an interview with The Times last year, Anna tipped her hat to Gap for snapping up designer Zac Posen and gave props to Uniqlo for working with Givenchy's former artistic director Clare Waight Keller, who had designed The fashion queen said: 'These big mass companies have finally clocked the power of creativity. You wouldn't have seen that ten, 15, even 20 years ago.' Anna has two children — Charles, a psychiatrist born in 1985, and TV producer Katherine, known as Bee, who she had in 1987. Their father is child psychiatrist David Shaffer, who Anna was married to from 1984 to 2020. She is reportedly romantically linked to actor Bill Nighy, though they describe themselves as close friends. Still, in Wintour's world, loyalty can be as fleeting as fashion trends. 6 When Anna boldly put Kim and then-fiance Kanye West on Vogue's cover in 2014, the fashion elite gasped Credit: AP:Associated Press 6 Anna with fellow Brit fashion icon Naomi Campbell Credit: Getty Her decades-long friendship with the late Andre Leon Talley — once her trusted right-hand at Vogue — ended bitterly after he was pushed aside. In his 2020 memoir The Chiffon Trenches, Talley claimed she preferred to surround herself with 'thin, rich, and young' people. Ouch. Top designers haven't escaped her icy glare either. After various scandals, names such as John Galliano and Dolce & Gabbana were swiftly frozen out of Vogue's world — proving that even fashion royalty are not safe from her. Yet despite the many ups and downs, one thing is certainly true. Anna Wintour is a force, a legend and one hell of a woman whose influence stretches far beyond the pages of Vogue. She will now focus on her roles as Global Editorial Director and Chief Content Officer at the magazine's publisher Condé Nast. Whoever is picked to take over her old job better be able to fill her Manolo Blahnik pumps.
The Irish Sun
27-06-2025
- The Irish Sun
I'm a Disney expert who's visited 50 times – what to expect from their new Florida theme park from Fortnite to Frozen
WALT Disney World have filed plans to add a fifth theme park to their Florida resort - which is major news for families heading to Orlando. Disney is already big business in Florida, heavily contributing to the Advertisement 7 Helen is a Disney expert and content creator at @passportstampsuk who has been to Orlando over 50 times Credit: Helen Wright 7 The iconic Disney castle has been the icon of Walt Disney World since 1971, but live-action films and computer games could dominate the new park Credit: Helen Wright As someone who has visited the theme parks in Florida more than 50 times, this is exciting news and could potentially change everything when it comes to theme park holidays - especially for Brits. Heading to Florida is not a cheap trip, with many families I speak to through my website For some, a potential new theme park opening is brilliant news, as once you've booked and paid to get to the US, you'll be getting even more for your money. Advertisement But, in reality, this means your Disney holiday will cost you even more, as a new theme park will likely mean a longer trip is necessary and even more cash needed for food, drinks and hotels. Ultimately, this is what Disney really wants - to welcome guests and keep them Walt Disney World is already Florida's unofficial city, bigger in size than Miami. So first-timers to the resort often have no idea what to expect and it A whole new world As someone who first went to Walt Disney World at the age of eight and has returned almost every year since, I have seen Advertisement With Disney acquiring franchises like Pixar, Lucasfilm, The Chronicles of Narnia and National Geographic, the potential for this new theme park is endless. With Universal Orlando Resort opening the new However, it's unlikely that we'll see the impact of that change for another Some reports are suggesting the 'fifth gate', an insider name for a completely new theme park, won't open until 2045! 7 Helen's children, pictured with partner, Simon, will be almost grown up by the time the new Disney park opens in Florida Credit: Helen Wright Advertisement 7 Disney has made an application, pictured, to build a whole new theme park in Orlando Credit: Central Florida Tourism Oversight District' My children are now five and eight, meaning they could be in their mid-twenties by the time it opens. I will be 60! However, I think things will move a lot faster. Epic Universe, which opened in May 2025, is now the However, Disney still have some magic up their sleeve, with the announcement of the new Advertisement This land, based on Disney baddies such as Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty and Hades from Hercules, will add a new dynamic to the existing park and change the pace from cute characters and pretty princesses to a darker, more mischievous vibe. After first being announced in 2019, Universal Orlando officially Using this as a guide, realistically, we won't see the gates open to the new Disney park until at least 2035. Disney fans can, however, look forward to a new area of the Magic Kingdom Park This will happen much sooner, rumoured to be opening in 2027. Advertisement This expansion itself will be the largest in Like many other theme park enthusiasts and Disney fans, I have some ideas on what the new Disney park will feature. From cutting-edge tech and immersive, live-action encounters, these are my predictions on what we might get to experience at Walt Live-Action Land 7 Live-action movies have made over $7bn at the box office, so Disney will want to capitalise on the popularity Credit: Helen Wright The original Advertisement Fast forward 70 years, and both the movies and the theme parks have come a very long way. Disney's live-action movies have made over $7bn at the box office since 2010, and franchises like So, it makes sense that Disney will want to have a modern, high-tech theme park, based on the most popular live-action Disney films, such as The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. Attractions are likely to be similar in style to the new, jaw-dropping Harry Potter and I expect the attractions to be fully immersive, featuring state-of-the-art video projections that use the original actors, an animated queue line and a physical ride. Advertisement Fortnite and Interactive Gaming One entertainment space that Disney Parks have not yet fully explored is the concept of This is a dedicated theme park land, based on a video game, or games, that incorporates a gaming element into the lands, projections and rides. Think In 2024, Disney announced they were collaborating with Epic Games, who own the worldwide phenomenon, Fortnite. At the time, Robert A. Iger, Chief Executive of The Walt Disney Company, said: "This marks Disney's biggest entry ever into the world of games and offers significant opportunities for growth and expansion. Advertisement "We can't wait for fans to experience the Epic Games already works with Unreal Engine, a software developer, and Disney has hinted they will collaborate on an all-new games and entertainment universe. Unreal Engine was used in the creation of more than 15 Disney Parks attractions, including Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. So watch this space. Moana Water Park In the new development plans, Disney have requested space for the new theme park as well as two 'small' theme park spaces, which could very well be used for a new water park. Disney currently has two water parks, Advertisement The film, which is set on a fictional Polynesian island, would be ideal to create a water park around, but incorporating modern elements like a water coaster, as seen on DisneySEA Florida 7 DisneySEA in Tokyo is one of the most unique Disney parks in the world, so a version could be created in the US One of the most unique Disney parks in the world is Japan's This is an entire theme park, which sits alongside Japan's other Disney park, Advertisement This would be ideal after the success of Disney's live-action Plus, Florida DisneySEA would be a None of the existing parks have a specially-themed water area, so this would be a perfect addition. Plus, the plans include requests for an underground basement level. Could this be to build a lake and river that would need to be below ground, for visual effect and purification? Marvel Cinematic Universe Marvel is a hotly debated topic in the realm of Florida theme parks, with Disney's biggest rival in Orlando currently holding the rights to original comic book brands, such as Advertisement While Disney now own Marvel and can create commercial properties with the brand in Europe, Asia and on the US's West Coast, they are not permitted to use the Marvel brand in the east of the US, where Walt Disney World is located. However, since Disney's acquisition with Marvel in 2009, there are some Marvel movies and characters that didn't exist when the intellectual rights were drawn up, are free to be That led to the opening of Advertisement The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is the highest-grossing film franchise of all time. There is no doubt Disney will want to create a modern theme park with this theme, which lends itself perfectly to the modern lands and attractions we have come to expect in the digital age. Rumours have been circulating for years that Universal will sell the Marvel brand back to Disney and re-brand their space at This could lead to an entire Animation World Showcase 7 Disney's most beloved movies could be celebrated around a large lake, just like at Japan's DisneySEA, pictured here Advertisement Finally, the size of the proposed theme park at Walt Disney World could make way for a new version of This classic area of Disney's EPCOT park features pavilions themed on 11 different countries around the world. With diversity at the forefront of Disney's movie projects, this could lead to an animated The most obvious franchise would be Advertisement The picturesque, snow-covered fictional kingdom would be perfect if set around an Other animated film pavilions could include a Mexican-themed Encanto, Italian-inspired Luca, Machu Picchu from The Emperor's New Groove and San Francisco from Inside-Out - another huge, yet under represented Disney movie across the parks. Disney has yet to comment on the new plans but, like
