By Guest Blogger Kathleen Hubert

For decades, the name Walt Disney has conjured up images of magic, wonder, imagination, joy and laughter for children and adults of all ages. This coming year, The Walt Disney Company has big plans for its movies, videos, television shows and theme parks.

Disney will start off the New Year with a theatrical re-release of one of its most beloved animated classics, Beauty and the Beast. The film is a technological, artistic and historic landmark in the studio’s history. It was the first animated feature film to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Picture and one of the first films to blend traditional, hand-drawn animation with innovative computer imagery. To honor its legacy and introduce it to a new generation of moviegoers, Disney has converted the entire film to 3D from the original computer files, bringing out more of the vividly detailed animation. Disney has planned more 3D re-releases for its classics in the future, including The Little Mermaid and Pixar’s Finding Nemo.

Speaking of Pixar, the Emeryville-based CGI studio behind the beloved Toy Story trilogy, Monsters, Inc., The Incredibles, Cars, and Up, is releasing Brave, its 13th feature film, this summer. Set in medieval Scotland, it tells the story of a courageous young female princess named Merida, a skilled archer who defies tradition and unleashes chaos within her family’s kingdom. The film features the voices of Julie Walters, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Robbie Coltrane and John Ratzenberger. Pixar director Andrew Stanton is making the leap into live-action films with this spring’s release of John Carter, based on a series of books by Tarzan author Edgar Rice Burroughs.

In home entertainment news, two of Walt Disney’s most popular animated classics are making their Blu-Ray debuts this year. Lady and the Tramp and Cinderella are coming to Blu-Ray in beautifully restored special editions for a limited time. LED TV reviews are sure to praise the studio’s restoration department for carefully removing dirt, dust, scratches and other age-related artifacts. In addition, The Muppets, the critically acclaimed return of Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and all their friends, to the big screen for the first time in over a decade, will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray this spring.

On TV, Disney-owned ABC led TV reviews to praise them for their hit series, including the groundbreaking, Emmy-winning sitcom Modern Family, The Bachelor, and Dancing With the Stars. New shows coming to ABC this year include Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, Missing, The River, and GCB.

Disney’s theme parks and resorts have a lot of things in store this year, from the maiden voyage of the Disney Fantasy cruise ship to the opening of the first phase of the renovations of Fantasyland at Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida. The newest attraction is an enclosed ride based on The Little Mermaid, taking visitors under the sea to experience Ariel’s underwater world.

When Walt Disney first created Mickey Mouse several decades ago, even he could never have imagined the heights to which his company would soar. Exciting new movies and rides and the return of old favorites is sure to make 2012 the most magical year ever in Disney history.

Kathleen Hubert is a blogger who writes on a variety of different sites. Check out more of her work at LED TV reviews.