Showing posts with label Disney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Disney. Show all posts

Video - Leo Howard Kicks Off Second Season of “Kick’n It” and Turns Into A Prank Star!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Leo Howard
Young Karate master Leo Howard has sure had a busy year!

First, the black belted prodigy was signed to Disney XD for their new karate themed TV sitcom “Kick’n It” - about young Jack who tries to save the Wasabi Karate Dojo with his friends.

He also starred as the young Conan in the summer movie thriller “Conan the Barbarian”.

Related: Leo Howard stars in “Conan” – Video

Leo also took part in Disney’s new prank show “PrankStar”, and had the opportunity to prank his biggest fan in a spoof involving a fake dojo and bizarre karate class.



And to round out his year, 14-year-old Howard was just profiled in “Black Belt” magazine where he talked about his career, family, social life, and what he looks for in a girl.

Now, Leo is back for a second season of Disney XD’s “Kick’n It” which launches its first new season showing on October 17th.

“The first season was a runaway success and Leo Howard quickly became the breakaway star. His fan base grew exponentially and it became clear that they wanted to see more of him. It was easy to order a second season after seeing the ratings of season one. Leo has become a teen idol.”



Leo, who has been performing martial arts since he was old enough to walk, has capitalized on his martial arts skills and turned them into a TV and movie career.

Related: Meet Leo Howard – Karate Master and Movie Star – Video

And Leo is no stranger to TV and movies.

In 2010 he starred in the hit movie “Logan”, and in 2009 he played the role of Snake Eyes in the summer blockbuster “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra”.

He also starred in Disney’s “Leo Little's Big Show” and “Zeke and Luther” before getting his role on “Kick’n It”.



The young star also has an impressive social media following on Facebook, Twitter, and his own official web site and blog.

Not a bad career for somebody who is only 14-years-old.

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Video - Who Is Leo Howard the Karate Master? - Biography, Photos, Video and News!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Kickin' It Star Leo Howard
Leo Howard – a name most are not familiar with.

But beware, because over the next few years you’re going to hear a lot about this 14-year-old extraordinary young man.

Let’s start with the basics:

Leo Howard was born on July 13, 1997 in Newport Beach California and lives near San Diego today.

From a young age Leo was fascinated by the martial arts, karate and kobudo and has studied the arts since he was just a child.

Today, Leo is a black belt master in the field of karate, Shorei Ru, and Wu Shu, and has stunned audiences since he was just 8-years-old with his karate, martial arts, and stunt skills.

Watch Leo do a Karate kobudo Demonstration


Leo’s acting career started when he was just 8-years-old with a small role as the front desk clerk in the television documentary “Camp Hollywood”.

From there, Leo got his big break on the TV series “Monk” playing the role of a young karate expert. From that one appearance, Leo Howard’s acting career took off.

Black Belt Karate Master
His mix of acting ability combined with his karate expertise is amazing, and producers and talent scouts took notice and started beating down his door.

2009 was a breakout year for Leo as he appeared in six different movie and TV projects that propelled him into a fast track Hollywood vocation.

First was the movie “Aussie and Ted's Great Adventure” about a lovable Australian dog who embarks on a mission to return his young owner's missing Teddy Bear.

Next was the movie “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” working alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Sienna Miller and Dennis Quaid – a story about an elite military unit comprised of special operatives known as G.I. Joe that takes on an evil organization led by a disreputable arms dealer. Leo performed all of his own stunts and impressed the director and audiences alike.

With two movies under his black belt, Leo completed his third movie titled “Shorts” working with Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, and James Spader.

“Shorts” told the story of a young boy's discovery of a colorful, wish-granting rock that causes pandemonium in the town of Black Falls and the jealous kids and cunning adults that try to steal it from him.

“Shorts” was the big break for Leo and showed he could hold his own in a large movie project. But his celebrity status was just starting to be noticed.

Disney got wind of Leo and cast him in his own show in 2009 called “Leo Little’s Big Show” where he appeared in thirteen episodes about him and his sister Amy who host a show about Disney stars, shows, and movies from their family room.

After appearing in two episodes of “Zeke and Luther” about two best friends who want to become the world's greatest skateboarders, Leo was hired for his first starring role in the movie “Logan”, about two brothers who have their minds set on an impossible task.

Watch Leo Howard in "Logan" Movie Trailer


“Logon” showed Hollywood that Leo had the staying power to not only carry a feature length movie but also work the long hours necessary for a television series while performing action sequences and his own stunts at the same time. Leo Howard was becoming a star.

But his big big Hollywood break came in 2011 when the Disney XD network cast Leo in the role of Jake in the network’s karate action TV series “Kickin’ It” working with Hanna Montana veteran actor Jason Earles.

The series is set at the Bobby Wasabi Martial Arts Academy - a strip mall martial arts studio and the worst dojo in the nationwide Bobby Wasabi chain.

The plot revolves around a motley crew of endearing misfit teens who welcome a hotshot skateboarder named Jack who teaches them about life, karate, and how to just plain kick it.

Watch Leo in "Kickin' It" Interview


Kickin’ It” was one of Disney’s highest rated new shows and forever cemented Leo’s star on Hollywood.

Leo also scored a major role as the young Conan in director Marcus Nispel’s “Conan the Barbarian” where again he performed all his stunts and karate moves while in heavy movie makeup and shirtless barbarian period costumes.

“Conan” tells of the quest that begins as a personal vendetta for the warrior but soon turns into an epic battle against colossal rivals, horrifying monsters, and impossible odds.

Watch "Conan" Movie Trailer


It’s clear that at only 14-years-old Leo Howard is going to be around for a long time. His combination of acting, humor, martial arts, karate, and teen idol appeal along with the marketing might of Disney tells us his star has just began to rise over Hollywood.

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Leo Howard Kicks His Way into Disney’s New Karate Series “Kickin’ It” – Video

Monday, June 13, 2011

Every now and then Disney gets it right.

The Disney XD channel, known for its predominantly teen oriented programming, launched its latest action series called “Kickin’ It” last night - and it looks like a hit.

Or maybe we should say a “kick”.

The premise of the show revolves around two competing martial arts dojos and their attempt to recruit the hottest karate kid in town played by 14-year-old Leo Howard.

Howard, no stranger to martial arts and action flicks, finds himself in the starring role of “Jack”, the grandson of the Wasabi Warriors Karate franchise founder and master trainer.

Jack not only tries to save the Wasabi Dojo, but also tries to impress the cutest girl in the club. It’s classic teen Disney, and sure to be a hit if they give the series enough time to find an audience.

And Leo Howard’s got the moves.

In the premier episode, Howard performs a number of high performance kicks, flips, punches, and deflections – showing he is no stranger to this type of work.

And for good reason.

Leo is a champion black belt in martial arts, has been doing karate since he was 5-years-old, and is a member of the Sideswipe Performance Team – a high impact martial arts exhibition club in California.

His dad is the famous Todd Howard - also called “The Big Bulldog" who is another master of the martial arts.

Leo was born in Newport Beach California, but today lives near San Diego so he can work on his karate and television productions.



Not only is Leo Howard a Karate Master, but he also knows his way around Hollywood.

Before joining Disney, Leo got his start in a bit part on the popular TV series “Monk” playing a young karate kid.




Karate Master Leo Howard
His first movie role was in the action movie “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” with Sienna Miller, Dennis Quaid and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The film told the story of an elite military unit comprised of special operatives known as G.I. Joe that takes on an evil organization led by a notorious arms dealer.

Leo has also appeared in a few high action television shows like “Children of the Corn”, “Leo Little's Big Show”, and “Zeke and Luther”.

All that practice has paid off, and now Howard is heading to the big big screen as the younger version of Conan, played by Jason Momoa, in “Conan the Barbarian” due in theaters later this year.

Conan tells the tale of Conan the Cimmerian and his adventures across the continent of Hyboria on a quest to avenge the murder of his father and the slaughter of his village.

Watch Conan the Barbarian Movie Trailer


We’re sure with Disney behind his promotion, Leo Howard and his karate skills could go on to be the next Disney teen idol.

After all, Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus will be leaving the nest soon and Disney needs to keep the machine running.

Related: Leo Howard Videos, Photos, and Biography

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Is Glee’s Chris Colfer’s New Career Writing for Disney and Starring in Movies?

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Golden Globe winner and Glee favorite Chris Colfer may have a new career.

Colfer, 21, who plays Kurt Hummel on the smash hit TV musical series Glee, says he is working with Disney writing a new children’s series to premier on the Disney Channel.

Colfer met up with reporters at the White House Correspondents Dinner last week and, between the Donald Trump jokes, brought us up to date on the project saying,

“It’s called ‘The Little Leftover Witch’ and I’m in the process of developing the pilot with Disney right now. I’ve always wanted to write and I’ve always been kind of a secret closeted writer. I honestly never had any intentions of being a part of it and it just sort of fell into my lap. People asked me do you want to do this and I said, ‘Yes, absolutely, why not?’ It’s a great little side gig, a great hobby!”

The plot of the show will be based on the children’s book of the same name written by Florence Laughlin and Sheila Greenwald.

The “Little Leftover Witch” will tell the story of a young witch stranded for a year on the ground after crash landing her broom on Halloween night. She is taken in by the Doon family, a situation which causes problems for everybody (think bewitched), and lots of funny and happy times follow, but ultimately result in a big change for the little witch.

It sounds like a story tailor made for the Disney Channel.

If working on Glee and writing for Disney is not enough, Colfer is also acting as head writer and taking the starring role in a new high school coming of age movie directed by Brian Dannelly called “Struck by Lightning”.

According to IMDB, the movie will be shot this summer during Glee’s downtime with an expected release in 2012.

Colfer will also be busy this summer on the Glee concert tour before returning to the set in the fall to start production on the third season of Glee.

Colfer was recently named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the world alongside Justin Bieber, Amy Poehler, Mark Zuckerberg, Colin Firth, Blake Lively, and Oprah Winfrey.

Both Colfer and Bieber are long time champions of the anti-bullying movement, as well as supporters of gay and lesbian youth awareness.

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Disney Releases Second 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Trailer - Video

Monday, March 21, 2011

Disney has just released a second trailer of our good friend Jack Sparrow and his cronies in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”

While there is still a lot of mystery and intrigue surrounding this version of Pirates 4 the trailer does give us a look into how strange the “Stranger Tides” will be, and how good of a pirate Johnny Depp can be.

For example, Jack’s ship “The Pearl”, has taken on a life and conscience of its own. Not only does it fight against Jack’s crew – but also will be fighting Jack himself.

Jack’s love interest is the key to finding the fountain of youth and Penélope Cruz sure does now how to look spectacular. It also appears she is the key to fighting and winning against Blackbeard.

Another bit if news is that famed Rolling Stone member Keith Richards will again appears as Jack Sparrow’s father and may already have found the fountain of youth and consumed some of its magical powers.

If anybody could use it…… it’s Keith Richards.

Due in theaters in May 2011, it looks like Disney has another hit on their hands.

Watch trailer for “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”