The media giant is working with HandsOn Network, the nation's largest volunteer network and part of the Points of Light Institute, which has 250 on-the-ground volunteer action centers across the country and connects volunteers to more than 70,000 nonprofit agencies that need their help.

"We are thrilled at this unprecedented effort by Disney Parks to help mobilize 1 million volunteers into action," said Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light Institute.

Starting Jan. 1, 2010, guests can go here for the United States and Puerto Rico or here for Canada to search for volunteer opportunities available in those areas and sign up for a day of volunteer service.

For its latest reported quarter ended June 27, Disney showed it has stopped a recession-fueled free-fall in sales at its theme parks, but had not yet turned a corner to return to growth. Analysts said this latest promotion would help fill up parks and that Disney was more than likely to make up on lost admission revenues with merchandise and food sales.

"Disney parks margins have held up better than the last recession, as they have continued to raise prices over the years to offset their promotions. They make healthy margins on concessions, so even if they lose revenue from an entrance, they get an additional head that needs to eat and buy Mickey ears," said David Joyce, analyst with Miller Tabak.

Debt-ridden Hollywood studio MGM, whose library is home to such gems as the Rocky and James Bond flicks, has replaced CEO Harry Sloan, appointing a three person team to run the show: famed turnaround ace Stephen Cooper, motion pictures group boss Mary Parent, and CFO Bedi Singh.

Sloan is out as CEO but the veteran Hollywood businessman, who took the helm a few months after MGM's 2005 buyout by a group of private equity and media investors,  will stay on MGM as non-executive chairman of the studio. The studio has been grappling with a massive $3.5 billion debt load stemming from its 2005 buyout by private equity and media firms.

Along with the debt load, MGM , which has not had a major film release since Tom Cruise's "Valkyrie"  in December, has been struggling like other Hollywood studios with  lining up fresh film financing due to the economic crunch and dropping DVD sales.

Cooper,  well-known for  turning around big troubled companies Krispy Kreme and Enron, has been appointed to restructure MGM's  balance sheet to enable Parent to make movies.

MGM is due next to release a remake of the 1980's hit "Fame" and to start production on "Red Dawn" another remake, in September.

Sloan left a private law practice in 1983 and has been a media executive and investor since. He invested and ran three media companies, including SBS Broadcasting, Lions Gate Entertainment and New World Entertainment.

Greenfield also ponders whether DreamWorks president Lew Coleman, who happens to be Bank of America's former vice chairman and CFO, had a role in getting the bank to run the promotion.  Monsters vs Aliens stars Kiefer Sutherland (pictured above), or at least his voice.

DreamWorks declined comment, but directed inquiries to spokesman Joe Goode at Bank of America, who said the news spin on the promotion, which had amounted to a marketing investment of $175,000 for the bank, had reached "monstrous" proportions.

"The cost to us is very minimal. This is a strategic marketing decision, independent of our business relationship with DreamWorks. It is a terrific platform to reach the family and female demographic," he said.
"We know Americans are looking for opportunities to save, given the current state of the economy. This offer gave us a way to pass along some savings to customers at a very little cost to the bank and reward them for their business and loyalty," Goode said.

The bank is promoting the film at 6,100 banking centers and 18,000 ATMS, but anyone an participate as long as they have an e-mail addres in the promotion which provides up to 4 certificates per e-mail address to upgrade from 2-D to 3-D via the online registration form, while supplies last.
Bank of America is providing a total of 80,000 coupons through the offer which expires on May 29 or before if supplies run out. 3-D movies are expected to a premium of as much of $5 per ticket compared with regular movie tickets.

Monsters vs Aliens opens March 27th.

(Photo Reuters/actor Sutherland promoting Monsters vs Aliens in Berlin)

From short and glimmery to fruity and funny,  musical stars hit some high and low fashion notes at the 51st annual Grammy Awards.

Just-about-to-pop pregnant hip-hopper M.I.A. performed her hit "Paper Planes" prancing around in a  polka-dot outfit with a sheer midriff that made her look like a bumble-bee.

Pop songstress Katy Perry summoned up memories of Carmen Miranda with a fruit-filled short mini dress featuring hanging bananas as she sang her breakout hit, "I Kissed A Girl."

"The highlight of my night would probably have to be the looks on...faces when people saw my ridiculous outfit," Perry said backstage later, sporting a more elegant mini pink lace dress.

Shimmery metallic dresses seemed popular, including ones worn by both Grammy winner Estelle -- who nabbed a trophy for best rap/sung collaboration with Kanye West for her hit "American Boy," -- and actress/presenter Gwyneth Paltrow, wife of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.

Rappers like T Pain wore outlandish hats and jumbo size glasses, while other male musicians, like former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant, 60, who swept the Grammys with bluegrass queen Allison Krauss for their collaboration "Raising Sand," stuck to the rocker-chic jeans formula. But he admitted  that the tight jeans look was getting harder to pull off at his age .

When asked backstage if he had future plans to work on anything with his former band, Plant, sporting his trademark long blond curls,  said to a reporter, "I don't know how old you are, but you look older than me. You try doing 'Communication Breakdown,' in tight jeans!"

                                                           
Then shortly later, before Rihanna's scheduled performance, reporters backstage were handed a tersely-worded notice by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences saying the singer would not be performing at the Grammys.    

                                                                                      
"We have just been informed that Rihanna will not be attending tonight's 51st Annual Grammy Awards. We're sorry she is unable to join us," the academy said in a brief statement that did not offer any further explanation.   

                                                                                                         
But the show must go on and so two stars, pop icon Justin Timberlake and R&B legend Al Green stepped in to fill in the slot where Rihanna had been slated to perform her latest hit, "Disturbia" early on in the telecast. 

"We had 2 hours and 40 minutes to rehearse it," said Green backstage. "I thrive on that kind of energy becuase it is just spontaneous."

                                                                                                        
Brown, who released his first album in 2005 at the age of 16, the self-titled "Chris Brown," topped the charts with his hit single "Run it." Barbados-born Rihanna has already logged four Number 1 singles since breaking onto the charts in 2005. In 2007, she scored a Grammy for her hit "Umbrella," a collaboration with the rapper Jay-Z.      

(Reuters photo of Rihanna and Chris Brown by Lucas Jackson)

Even Sir Paul McCartney is a good sport when it comes to losing, pretending to weep but making light of the fact that he lost an early bid to get his first Grammy in 29 years on Sunday at the 51st annual Grammys.
"I am really annoyed. That is why I didn't come. I don't come to win it, I come to be in it," said McCartney backstage, sporting a t-shirt of the four Beatles with clown noses  designed by his daughter to benefit the charity Comic Relief.
"It is a great thing and I am honored to be asked. I was watching the Golden Globes and I saw Mickey (Rourke) win for best actor. And in the audience there's Clint (Eastwood), there's Brad (Pitt) -- they come to be a part of it, not necessarily win it."
McCartney is the most-honored former Beatle, with 13 Grammys, but his chance at topping that eluded him early on at the Grammys on Sunday. He was competing for two awards and was also scheduled to perform with Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl.
McCartney lost out to John Mayer on Sunday in the best solo rock vocal performance category. The former Beatle had been nominated for his cover of the early Beatles tune "I Saw Her Standing There," a track from the 12-inch vinyl release "Amoeba's Secret."
McCartney, 66, is also nominated for best male pop vocal performance statuette for "That Was Me," another track from "Amoeba's Secret."

(Reuters photo by Mario Anzuoni)

"I believe that blues, the way things are today, are more important now than ever before," KIng said backstage after picking up a Grammy Sunday for Best Traditional Blues Album for "One Kind Favor."

He said that when people are having hard times, they can see that blues is "kind of an international thing, not just from Mississippi."

King said the election of  Barack Obama as the nation's first black president showed that America is "growing up," and urged the country to give the new Commander-in-chief  time to clean up the economic crisis.
"I think he's doing very well," said King.  "I don't think we've been supportive enough or given this guy enough time," he said, but added, "I'm happy that they did get him elected...it makes me believe America is really growing up."

Coldplay, Foo Fighters and Jennifer Hudson were among the pop stars paying tribute to Neil Diamond Friday night in Los Angeles to kick off Grammy weekend charity event, MusicCares Person of the Year.

The celebrity-studded gathering of 2,200 people at the L.A. Convention Center honored Diamond, 68, for his philanthropy, including large donations to relief efforts for Texas areas ravaged by Hurricane Ike.

Diamond thanked his children and grandchildren who forgave him for often leaving home to tour and work on "my little musical creations." The singer-songwriter also thanked his mother for setting him on his musical path, getting him a guitar as a kid in Brooklyn

"When the Brooklyn Dodgers left Brooklyn, I was so depressed, my parents bought a guitar and paid it off $1 a week, for 10 weeks. It was a good investment, Mom. You made a life for me," he said.

Hudson's moving rendition of "Holly Holy" and Coldplay's smooth version of Diamond's "I'm A Believer," made famous by the Monkees were among the highlighted performances showcasing Diamond's 50-year body of work. The Jonas Brothers kicked off the show with "Forever in Blue Jeans."

Diamond, himself, slow-danced with Faith Hill during their duet on "You Don't Bring Me Flowers," and then roused the crowd with "America" and his finale of "Sweet Caroline."

Host Jimmy Kimmel called Diamond "one of the few Jews who looks good in sequins" riffing on Diamond's penchant for sparkly clothes during the 1970s.

Recording Academy president Neil Portnow said he told Diamond, "welcome to your bar mitzvah" upon greeting him on Friday night and then wound up buying the singer/songwriter's donated 1956 Thunderbird convertible at a live auction with a bid of $75,000. Portnow and Diamond said they planned to take a ride together.

Grammys

Some industry watchers even think the Grammys, which have seen viewership slide, need a facelift to revamp several award categories and change the show's format to stay current with a generation of fans who have long bypassed mainstream music events.

"The Grammys are looking pretty long in the tooth when you consider the fragmentation of the music culture" said Robert Thompson, professor of culture at Syracuse University.

As usual, the broadcast will be performance-heavy, featuring best album nominees; best new artist nominees Adele and the Jonas Brothers; and veterans such as Paul McCartney and U2.
The night's top contenders are rapper Lil Wayne with eight nominations and British rock band Coldplay with seven.

The economic crisis is just the latest insult to the music business which has lost its groove and 33 percent in U.S. album sales since 2000 amid a faster-than-predicted shift to digital distribution. But despite all the gloom and doom, the beat goes on. "A lot of people have in the industry have been beaten up in the past few years although the art form is vibrant," said Mike McGuire, analyst with Gartner.

"We have to find a solution to the economic woes, but this is still a celebration of the artistic product, whether people are buying it or not," said entertainment attorney Jay Cooper.

 Coldplay's "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends," is vying in the best album category against "In Rainbows" by fellow British rockers, Radiohead, which bypassed major labels to distribute the album on its own Web site at a price to be determined by consumers. It later released the album through a small label owned by rocker Dave Matthews.

Another indie release is considered the favorite: "Raising Sand," an acclaimed collaboration between former Led Zeppelin rocker Robert Plant and American bluegrass singer Alison Krauss, while two rappers are also vying for the prize: Lil Wayne with "Tha Carter III" and Ne-Yo with "Year of the Gentleman."

The album of the year is just one of 110 categories, with prizes to be given out in such genres as country, pop, reggae, bluegrass, polka, blues and spoken word. All but a dozen awards are hurriedly handed out before the main event kicks off at 8 p.m. EST (1 a.m. GMT Monday)

Pictures of Mattel's new Star Trek Barbies were released on Wednesday causing a stir among Trekkies, eagerly anticipating Paramount's May release of the film, "Star Trek," chronicling the earliest days of Captain Kirk and Spock.

The toys' images, released by CBS Consumer Products, which owns the licensing rights for Star Trek consumer products, show the three dolls, which are modeled after the three actors playing Captain Kirk, Spock, and Lieutenant Uhura in the film, which is set to be released in theatres on May 8th!

The dolls will hit shelves in April, over a decade after Mattel released a Barbie and Ken Star Trek themed collectible set in 1996 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the cult hit TV show. Unlike the new line made to resemble the actors, the 1996 set features Barbie and Ken themselves dressed as original series characters.

Mattel also released a Barbie and Ken Star Trek watch in 1996.