Entertainment
Disney Junior's Hanukkah episodes aim to introduce the holiday with 'joy and love'
Growing up, Phil Weinstein, executive producer of “Mickey Mouse Funhouse,” celebrated both Christmas and Hanukkah.
“My uncle had a religiously blended family,” Weinstein says. “We would go to their house and they would have a Christmas tree and a Hanukkah menorah. It was kind of awesome.”
That cherished childhood memory is present in “Hanukkah at Hilda’s,” one of the first “Mickey” episodes to celebrate the Jewish holiday. In the episode, premiering Dec. 6 on Disney Junior, Mickey and his pals get stranded in a snowstorm at Hilda’s house and learn that she is Jewish and celebrates Hanukkah. The gang then celebrates both December holidays with Christmas sugar cookies and jelly-filled doughnuts known as sufganiyot.
Each year, starting around Thanksgiving, culture vultures get to unwrap an early present: a raft of films, TV shows, concerts and more that fill the calendar through the end of the season. And this week, The Times is happy to be your guide to some of the most noteworthy offerings, from Oscar contenders and crowd-pleasers to holiday specials you and the family can curl up with. Read on!
Since its premiere in 2021, “Mickey Mouse Funhouse” has highlighted many culturally diverse holidays including Nochebuena, a Christmas Eve tradition celebrated by Latinos; the Korean holiday Chuseok; Día de Muertos and the Armenian holiday Vardavar. “In our show, we have these stairs to anywhere, which is really about imagination,” Weinstein says. “Imagination can take you anywhere and then, as we got into the show, we realized it doesn’t just have to be fantasy places that they go off to. We can really celebrate real things like Hanukkah and Nochebuena.”
That ethos is shared among the Disney Junior shows that will highlight the Jewish holiday this season. In an episode of Marvel’s “Spidey and His Amazing Friends” titled “Hanukkah Heist,” premiering Dec. 3, Spidey and the Thing help his Aunt Petunia save her beloved latkes from the show’s villains, including Rhino and the Green Goblin. “The Thing is a really special character, and he’s Jewish so it was very natural to tell a story through his point of view,” says Becca Topol, “Spidey’s’’ story editor and co-producer. “The Thing might be tough and gruff but ultimately he’s a softy when it comes to family and holidays and things he loves.”
The “Hanukkah Heist” episode of “Spidey and his Amazing Friends” will premiere Dec. 6 on Disney Junior.
(Disney/Disney)
The hook of the story is that all the bad guys want Aunt Petunia’s latkes because they are so delicious. Aunt Petunia’s secret ingredient, in addition to the potatoes, oil, salt and onions, is love. “I know that’s true for people in other religions, that the food always ends up being so closely connected to the celebration of holidays,” Topol says. “The real beauty of the episode is that I think audience members can connect with it whether they are Jewish or not. It is the togetherness of the family and the really close relationship that the Thing has with his aunt.”
Topol says at her Hanukkah celebrations, there are always a few people who have never had a latke before. “Every culture has their food that they are really proud of that everyone wants to have. You can appreciate this and learn more about the Jewish culture and what traditional Hanukkah is like and connect to it,” she says. “[We are] taking the specific and making it universal and relatable on a bigger level. Spidey is also having latkes for the first time so Spidey is a way in for our audience.”
“SuperKitties” songwriter Keith Harrison Dworkin wrote “Hanukkah Lights” for the “Hanukkah Rescue” episode that premieres Dec. 4 and finds the heroic felines lighting the menorah. “I grew up in a Jewish household so I know what it is to say the prayer over the menorah and go through that ritual. That’s really the centerpiece of the holiday,” he says. “That first version of the song is kind of in lieu of the prayer. And then at the end of the episode, we get the full song, which is kind of the danceable fun party version, and that’s just a lot of fun.”
Dworkin loved being able to create a song that feels modern and relatable “because sometimes Hebraic music cannot feel that way.” The central lyric of the song is that “even when hope grows dim together, we will make it through.” “That was the line that’s really what Hanukkah is about for me thematically,” he says. “It’s about hope. In this particular episode, we are teaching the kids that cultural diversity is good and Hanukkah is a positive and valuable and beautiful part of the holiday season. What a wonderful message to share.”
Each of the episodes take the time to explain to their young audience what Hanukkah is. As she did for the Rosh Hashanah “Spidey” episode that aired last year, Topol worked with the nonprofit Tanenbaum as well as Disney Junior’s internal education and inclusion team.
“For our audience we need to explain it in a digestible way,” Topol says. “How are you going to explain something that’s relatively complicated? We really did want to go into the heart of it, the miracle of lights. The idea of introducing a holiday to viewers that they may not have celebrated before or know much about and introducing it with joy and love and family and togetherness is a way to really allow those universal themes of holiday to come out and bring more happiness and joy to the world.”
These may be preschool shows but for all involved, it’s also an opportunity to help impart positive messages on the young minds watching.
“We are all just people and we can treat each other with respect,” Weinstein says. “We are always consciously thinking about how we can hopefully help kids to learn how to treat their fellow humans.”
Entertainment
Stagecoach 2026: How to watch Friday’s livestream with Cody Johnson, Ella Langley, Bailey Zimmerman
Choosin’ to stay home instead of trekking out to Indio for this weekend’s Stagecoach festival? Don’t worry, you’ll be able to listen to all the country music your heart desires. You can get your country heartbreak on with Ella Langley, Bailey Zimmerman and Cody Johnson, and then rock out with Counting Crows. If you prefer EDM, you can catch Diplo and Dillstradamus (Dillon Francis and Flosstradamus) as Friday’s closing acts.
The festival will be livestreamed on Amazon Music, Amazon Prime Video and Twitch beginning at 3 p.m. On Sirius XM’s The Highway (channel 56), you can listen to exclusive interviews and live performances along with a special edition of the Music Row Happy Hour. The station Y’Allternative will also be covering the festival on Friday evening.
Here are updated set times for the Stagecoach livestream Friday performances (times presented are PDT):
Channel 1
3:05 p.m. Noah Rinker; 3:25 p.m.; Adrien Nunez; 4 p.m. Ole 60; 4:25 p.m. Avery Anna; 5 p.m. Chase Rice; 5:55 p.m. Nate Smith; 6:50 p.m. Ella Langeley; 7:50 p.m. Bailey Zimmerman; 8:55 p.m. the Red Clay Strays; 10 p.m. Cody Johnson; 11:30 p.m. Diplo
Channel 2
3:05 p.m. Neon Union; 3:25 p.m. Larkin Poe; 4 p.m. Marcus King Band; 4:50 p.m. Lyle Lovett; 5:35 p.m. BigXthaPlug; 6:30 p.m. Noah Cyrus; 7 p.m. Wynonna Judd; 8 p.m. Counting Crows; 8:50 p.m. Sam Barber; 10 p.m. Dan + Shay; 10:45 p.m. Diplo featuring Juicy J; 11:05 p.m. Rebecca Black; 11:45 p.m. Dillstradamus
Sirius XM Music Row Happy Hour
1 p.m. Avery Anna; 2 p.m. Nate Smith; 2:30 p.m. Josh Ross; 3 p.m. Cody Johnson; 3:30 p.m. Gabriella Rose; 5:15 p.m. Nate Smith; 7:50 p.m. Bailey Zimmerman; 9:30 p.m. Cody Johnson; 11 p.m. Diplo
Sirius XM Y’Allternative
5 p.m. Ole 60; 6 p.m. Larkin Poe; 7 p.m. Marcus King Band; 8 p.m. Sam Barber
Movie Reviews
Movie Review: The Mortuary Assistant – HorrorFuel.com: Reviews, Ratings and Where to Watch the Best Horror Movies & TV Shows
Forget the “video game movie” curse; The Mortuary Assistant is a bone-chilling triumph that stands entirely on its own two feet. Starring Willa Holland (Arrow) as Rebecca Owens, the film follows a newly certified mortician whose “overtime shift” quickly devolves into a grueling battle for her soul.
What Makes It Work
The film expertly balances the stomach-churning procedural work of embalming with a spiraling demonic nightmare. Alongside a mysterious mentor played by Paul Sparks (Boardwalk Empire), Rebecca is forced to confront both ancient evils and her own buried traumas. And boy, does she have a lot of them.
Thanks to a full-scale, practical River Fields Mortuary set, the film drips with realism, like you can almost smell the rot and bloat of the bodies through the screen.
The skin effects are hauntingly accurate. The way the flesh moves during surgical scenes is so visceral. I’ve seen a lot of flesh wounds in horror films and in real life, and the bodies, skin, and organs. The Mortuary Assistant (especially in the opening scene) looks so real that I skipped supper after watching it. And that’s saying something. Your girl likes to eat.
Co-written by the game’s creator, Brian Clarke, the movie dives deeper into the demonic mythology. Whether you’ve seen every ending or don’t know a scalpel from a trocar, the story is perfectly self-contained. If you’ve never played the game, or played it a hundred times, the film works equally well, which is hard to do when it comes to game adaptations.
Nailed It
This film does a lot of things right, but the isolation of the night shift is suffocating. Between the darkness of the hallways and the “residents” that refuse to stay still, the film delivers a relentlessly immersive experience. And thankfully, although this movie is filled with dark rooms and shadows, it’s easy to see every little thing. Don’t you hate it when a movie is so dark that you can’t see what’s happening? It’s one of my pet peeves.
The oh-so-awesome Jeremiah Kipp directs the film and has made something absolutely nightmare-inducing. Kipp recently joined us for an interview, took us inside the film, discussed its details and the game’s lore, and so much more. I urge you to check out our interview. He’s awesome!
The Verdict
This isn’t just a cash-grab; it’s a high-effort adaptation that respects the source material while elevating the horror genre. With incredible special effects and a powerhouse cast, it’s the kind of movie that will make you rethink working late ever again. Dropping on Friday the 13th, this is a must-watch for horror fans. It’s grisly, intelligent, and genuinely terrifying.
Entertainment
Former Live Nation executive says he was fired after raising ‘financial misconduct’ concerns
A former executive at Live Nation, the world’s largest live entertainment company, is suing the company, alleging that he was wrongfully terminated after he raised concerns about alleged financial misconduct and improper accounting practices.
Nicholas Rumanes alleges he was “fraudulently induced” in 2022 to leave a lucrative position as head of strategic development at a real estate investment trust to create a new role as executive vice president of development and business practice at Beverly Hills-based Live Nation.
In his new position, Rumanes said, he raised “serious and legitimate alarm” over the the company’s business practices.
As a result, he says, he was “unlawfully terminated,” according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
“Rumanes was, simply put, promised one job and forced to accept another. And then he was cut loose for insisting on doing that lesser job with integrity and honesty,” according to the lawsuit.
He is seeking $35 million in damages.
Representatives for Live Nation were not immediately available for comment.
The lawsuit comes a week after a federal jury in Manhattan found that Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary had operated a monopoly over major concert venues, controlling 86% of the concert market.
Rumanes’ lawsuit describes a “culture of deception” at Live Nation, saying its “basic business model was to misstate and exaggerate financial figures in efforts to solicit and secure business.”
Such practices “spanned a wide spectrum of projects in what appeared to be a company-wide pattern of financial misrepresentation and misleading disclosures,” the lawsuit states.
Rumanes says he received materials and documents that showed that the company inflated projected revenues across multiple venue development projects.
Additionally, Rumanes contends that the company violated a federal law that requires independent financial auditing and transparency and instead ran Live Nation “through a centralized, opaque structure” that enables it to “bypass oversight and internal checks and balances.”
In 2010, as a condition of the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger, the newly formed company agreed to a consent decree with the government that prohibited the firm from threatening venues to use Ticketmaster. In 2019 the Justice Department found that the company had repeatedly breached the agreement, and it extended the decree.
Rumanes contends that he brought his concerns to the attention of the company’s management, but his warnings were “repeatedly ignored.”
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