Facing competition from internet heavyweights such as Cartoon Network and Webkinz, the Walt Disney Company has launched "Project Playground," a new initiative to redesign and reposition Disney.com over the next few months as a site focused on entertaining its users rather than promoting its merchandise and brand, according to a report from The New York Times.

Though Disney.com attracted up to 28.4 million unique visitors in May alone, ranking the site as the top online destination for children and family-oriented sites, the company is concerned with the time the average user spends at the official hub - 44.9 minutes. Compare that to Nickelodeon's group of family and child-oriented sites, which keep visitors busy for 79.8 minutes, mostly due to its Neopets virtual pet site.

Disney plans to make immediate entertainment, such as free video content, as the "central component" of its Project Playground effort, providing original clips and even full-length movies, such as Finding Nemo. Said Disney Online VP and managing director Paul Yanover, "It’s a repositioning of our digital front door."

The company also hopes to encourage more interaction with games that connect with user cellphones, such as a newly announced mobile component for Pixie Hollow, a forthcoming virtual world based on Disney's Tinker Bell fairy character. The mobile application allows users to create and care for a butterfly pet for their Pixie Hollow avatars, a feature not available in the online release.

Disney's executive vice president for mobile content, Larry Shapiro, commented, "I’m going to want to use my phone to feed and love my butterfly all the time. That kind of emotional vesting is what we’re after.”