MOVIESDisneyland’s ‘Toy Story’: Couldn’t make it to...

MOVIES

Disneyland’s ‘Toy Story’: Couldn’t make it to the El Capitan theater for Disney’s “Toy Story” extravaganza? Don’t despair. The Toy Story Funhouse, an amusement center that had been housed at the El Capitan in conjunction with holiday season “Toy Story” screenings, is moving to--where else?--Disneyland. The fun house, which will be stationed in the park’s Tomorrowland and included in the price of regular admission, opens to the public on Saturday and is expected to remain there at least through Easter. There will be no movie screenings at Disneyland, but the entire Toy Story Funhouse will be in place, including Buzz Lightyear, Woody, the Green Army Men, Mr. Potato Head, giant-sized toys and furniture, an interactive playground and live stage shows.

NEW MEDIA

Talking on the Internet: Linda Ellerbee, who has won Emmy, Peabody, CableACE and Columbia duPont awards for her TV journalism, is teaming up with Microsoft for a monthly interview show on the Internet. The online show, “Encarta on the Record,” will be relayed to a World Wide Web site (https://www.microsoft.com/encarta), as will a still video image of Ellerbee and her guest, a kind of snapshot that will be updated every eight seconds. (Encarta is the name of Microsoft’s CD-ROM encyclopedia.) The soundtrack, with a slight delay to keep it synchronized with the transcript, also will be fed onto the Internet, so that users with the right equipment can listen to the conversation. Ellerbee’s first “cybercast” will be on Feb. 21 at 6:30 p.m. The premiere guest has not been selected.

POP/ROCK

Barrie Leaving Hall of Fame: Less than five months after its Sept. 2 opening, Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is about to become director-less. Dennis Barrie, who rose to prominence in the art world in 1990 when he was indicted--and acquitted--on obscenity charges for presenting a Robert Mapplethorpe photography exhibition while director of Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center, has resigned from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, effective March 1. In a statement, Barrie said his 2 1/2-year tenure “was so gratifying that I have chosen to leave the museum in order to work with other organizations facing the challenges of the changing cultural and entertainment worlds.” Barrie said he hoped to go either to “a long-established institution looking for new vitality” or to “an organization that is little more than a concept on a drawing board.”

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Pop Queens Continue Reign: The Whitney Houston-powered soundtrack to “Waiting to Exhale,” Mariah Carey’s “Daydream” and Alanis Morissette’s “Jagged Little Pill” rank 1-2-3 on the national album sales chart for the third consecutive week, according to figures released Wednesday by SoundScan. In the seven-day period ended Sunday, “Waiting to Exhale” sold about 159,000 copies, “Daydream” sold about 128,000 copies and “Jagged Little Pill” sold about 127,000 copies. No other album sold more than 81,000 copies.

ART

Vatican Theft Alleged: A retired art history professor from Ohio State University was indicted in Columbus Tuesday on charges he smuggled from the Vatican into the United States three stolen pages from a 14th century manuscript commissioned by the Italian poet Petrarch. It is unknown how Anthony Melnikas, 68, got the lavishly illustrated animal-skin pages, which are part of a manuscript containing reproductions of Roman treatises on farming and war, but Vatican officials said he was allowed to examine the Petrarch manuscript in 1987 and was given free access to the library where it was kept. Two of the pages surfaced in May when Melnikas showed them to Akron art dealer Bruce Ferrini; the third was found a few days later in Melnikas’ house. The Vatican was not aware the pages were missing until Ferrini alerted authorities, U.S. Attorney Ed Sargus said.

QUICK TAKES

“Sally Jessy Raphael,” which KNBC-TV Channel 4 is dropping from its lineup this summer, has found a new Los Angeles home. The program will begin airing on KTLA-TV Channel 5 as soon is it goes off KNBC. The talk show’s new time slot is not yet confirmed, but sources say it is expected to air at 9 a.m., following the “KTLA Morning News.” . . . The Screen Actors Guild will honor “Star Trek” for 30 years of diversity in casting with the special Outstanding Portrayal of the American Scene Award. Rick Berman, “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry’s hand-picked successor, will accept the award during the second annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, being held Feb. 24 at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium for broadcast that same night on NBC. . . . Newport Harbor Art Museum director Michael Botwinick’s contract is being extended for one year only. The contract--Botwinick’s first with the museum--had been for five years. The director had no comment on the reduction of his term. . . . Former KABC-AM (790) host David Viscott is back on the air, hosting the 9 p.m. to midnight weekday shift at KMPC-AM (710).