MIGHTY CARTOON: With a Mighty Ducks movie,...

MIGHTY CARTOON: With a Mighty Ducks movie, a sequel and a Mighty Ducks hockey team, did you really think the Disney Co., built on animated features, could pass on a Mighty Ducks cartoon? It will be syndicated for TV across the country for fall 1996. . . . Yes, these Ducks play ice hockey--and at The Pond of Anaheim. But they’re off-ice heroes too. From a galaxy far away, the Disney announcement says, these six ducks “bring with them really super cool hi-tech stuff.”

PLANE SENSE: A few tips from John Wayne Airport for avoiding terminal headaches this weekend: Call ahead to make sure East Coast flights haven’t been delayed by snow--and arrive early because of the long lines. . . . Spokeswoman Pat Ware also warns that security might insist on unwrapping carry-on wrapped Christmas gifts. “Put them with checked luggage or use those easy-access gift bags instead of wrapping,” she says. “It’s no fun to ruin a perfectly wonderful gift-wrapping job.”

GREAT SUB: As a USC piano student three years ago, Robert Thies came here as a late substitute to play with a small local orchestra. “He did a bang-up job too,” the conductor, Ami Porat recalls. . . . So Porat had him booked for two April concerts, in Irvine and Newport Beach, with his Mozart Camerata. And that was before Thies became a star (F1). Last week, he gained world attention--many hailing him as the next Van Cliburn--by winning the prestigious Prokofiev Piano Competition in Russia.

HOT HAVEN: Orange County is the fifth most popular area in the U.S. for hot tubs or spas, says a new industry marketing study. Carefree California lifestyle? Not really, says Larry Allan, owner of Coastal Hotspring Spa in Yorba Linda. . . . Most are buying them for therapeutic value, to help with muscular aches, arthritic problems and stress. . . . “It’s a high-stress county--people work hard here,” Allan says. “They’re looking for relief, and it’s an easy way to get relief.”