This image released by Disney shows Elsa the Snow Queen, voiced by Idina Menzel, in a scene from the animated feature "Frozen."daram/The Associated Press
THE BIG CHILL
Let it go, Barbie. Your reign atop the holiday wish list of girls everywhere has come to an end.
People magazine reports that for the first time in 11 years, Barbie has lost the top spot – more young girls want Elsa and other Frozen merchandise this holiday season instead.
According to a new survey from the U.S. National Retail Federation, one in five parents intend to purchase Frozen merchandise for their young girls.
The annual Holiday Top Toys Survey also revealed that 16.8 per cent of parents are planning to purchase Barbie for the little girls in their household.
The same survey showed that Lego toys remain the top choice for boys this year, with 14.2 per cent of parents planning to buy the venerable building-block sets.
But the big news, of course, is the dethroning of Barbie, who has topped the NRF list every year since it began in 2003.
"Barbie has been the top girls' toy for over a decade, but it is no surprise that Disney's Frozen has taken the top seat as children have had it on the mind as far back as Halloween," said Pam Goodfellow, principal analyst for the consumer group Prosper Insights & Analytics.
Since landing in theatres last November, Frozen has become the most successful animated movie of all time with box-office receipts nearing $1.3-billion (U.S.).
More impressively, Frozen retains a high profile more than a year after the movie's release, with the film's principal characters being repurposed into the fourth season of the hit ABC series Once Upon a Time and the name Elsa breaking into the list of top baby names.
More proof of the Frozen phenomenon: When members of the Boston Bruins paid a visit to a children's hospital this past Halloween, they did so attired as the Frozen cast. Bruins defenceman Dougie Hamilton even donned Elsa's turquoise dress for the occasion.
And Barbie? She's on the way out, it appears.
According to a recent release from Mattel, who manufactures the iconic dolls and related merchandise, Barbie sales plummeted 21 per cent in the company's third quarter.
DINO-MANIA
The fourth entry in the Jurassic Park film franchise has released its first official trailer. Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Jurassic World is the the much-anticipated followup to the 2001 hit Jurassic Park III and casts Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt as a paranoid dinosaur hunter and Bryce Dallas Howard as a genetic scientist. In the trailer, the velociraptors of the previous films appear to have been replaced by a massive hybrid dinosaur that wreaks havoc on unsuspecting visitors. Jurassic World is set for theatrical release on June 12, 2015.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
ONLY THE LONELY
New research has revealed that young people are usually more lonely than the elderly. A recent study sampling British adults showed that people between the ages of 18 and 24 are almost four times more likely to feel isolation compared with people over 70. All told, the study indicated that 27 per cent of young people said they felt lonely "most of the time" compared with 7 per cent of seniors.
Source: The Telegraph
STAY HEALTHY
If you eat yogurt on a daily basis, there's a good chance you're lowering the likelihood of getting diabetes. The news comes from a recent Harvard University study that focused on nearly 200,000 men and women ages 25 to 75 over a three-decade period. Those subjects who consumed an average of 12 ounces of yogurt each day were found to have an 18-per-cent reduction in the risk for Type 2 diabetes. "Some mechanisms suggest that yogurt is special," said study author Mu Chen. "There is some research suggesting that the probiotic bacteria in yogurt may be beneficial."
Source: The New York Times
COUNTING DOWN
Winter is coming, and so is the fifth season of Game of Thrones. Earlier this week, the official GoT Twitter account tweeted a link to the hit HBO show's new website, titled ThreeEyedRaven.com. The site invites fans to sign up on Twitter, which immediately results in receiving a message stating, "You now have the power of #TheSight. Keep watch for visions of the future." The fifth season of Game of Thrones is expected to make its debut in spring of 2015.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
CAREER SHIFT
Don't be surprised if Angelina Jolie tosses her hat into the political arena in the near future. During a recent interview with ITV News, the Maleficent star expanded on her previous comments on her desire to transition away from acting. "I've always gone where I thought I was needed and when I was working with the UN I was working in the field," said Jolie. "I felt I was needed in the field." When asked directly if she was planning to become a politician, Jolie responded by saying, "If I felt I could really make a difference, yes."
Source: People