Michael Douglas looked happy and on his way to recovery Wednesday when he posed with wife Catherine Zeta-Jones and their kids, Dylan and Carys, in front of the Epcot Center in Disney World.

Last week Michael’s father, Kirk, told Entertainment Tonight that Michael’s appetite is back and he’s starting to feel feisty again.

Michael finished cancer treatment last month.

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Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas offered ET an encouraging health update about his Oscar-winning son, Michael Douglas, who’s battling throat cancer.

Michael’s appetite is back and he’s starting to feel feisty again, Kirk told ET at a black-tie dinner gala paying tribute to Harrison Ford in Santa Barbara on Friday.

At the event Harrison’s longtime love, Calista Flockhart, watched on as Kirk presented Harrison with a special honor: the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s fifth annual Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film.

The 26th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival takes place January 27 through February 6, 2011.

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Acclaimed director Steven Soderbergh will direct Michael Douglas and Matt Damon in a Liberace biopic next summer.

The project, which has been on the back burner for over two years, is expected to finally get underway. The Ocean’s Eleven director has drafted Douglas to play the flamboyant pianist and Damon is taking on the part of Scott Thorson, Liberace’s alleged lover.

“It’s told from the perspective of Scott,” Soderbergh told MTV News last year. “We have this framing device in which he’s laying [the story] out for us. As a narrator, it feels like he has an agenda – and then when you get to the ending you realize, ‘Oh, it’s not what I thought.’”

Liberace vehemently denied being gay and successfully sued The Daily Mirror and Confidential in 1957 for implying he was gay.

The personal life of Liberace – especially his true sexuality – remains mysterious to this day. Born in Wisconsin, he started playing the piano at the age of four. In the early 1940s he performed his musical act of classical whimsy to New York audiences to some success, but hit the jackpot in Las Vegas where he earned millions with his lavish – some would say campy – musical productions. In 1982, Scott Thorson sued the pianist for $113 million in palimony – claiming the pair shared a home for five years. The court dismissed his claim, but he did receive a $95,000 settlement.

Liberace died at the age of sixty-seven in 1987 from AIDS-related complications. His noticeable rapid weight loss was attributed to a “watermelon diet” by his longtime manager.

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Michael Douglas, who is suffering from throat cancer, stepped out this morning to walk his dog in New York City.

Douglas has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatment for throat cancer. He reportedly finished treatment earlier this month.

In one interview, Douglas told reporters he was determined to win his cancer battle: “It’s a fight. The treatment is brutal. It really knocks you out. But I’m going to beat this.”

The Hollywood legend’s longtime friend and rep Allen Burry tells ET this is the actor’s last week of radiation and chemo treatment. It will be followed up by at least six weeks of recuperation before he can begin to get back on his feet. The doctors are very pleased with how it has gone and no further treatments have been scheduled.

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Bauer Griffin

Michael Douglas hit the red carpet last night with his lovely wife, Catherine Zeta Jones, in support of his new movie, ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps‘. Sources tell Pop Eater that Michael was riddled with fear, and found it difficult to speak.

“It’s cancer, of course he is frightened,” a friend of Michael’s tells Pop Eater. “He’s 65 years old and has everything to live for. His career couldn’t be better and his personal life with beautiful wife, Catherine [Zeta Jones] and kids Dylan and Cary, couldn’t be more perfect. Now this has come along and knocked the entire family off its feet.”

More from Rob Shuter with Pop Eater:

“He’s had an intensive course of radiation and chemotherapy to treat a tumor in his throat,” an insider tells me. “It’s left him feeling very tired and sometimes finding it very difficult to even speak. In a few weeks, we fear he won’t be able to eat or swallow.”

At the premiere, Michael rushed past photographers, not stopping to pose for many pictures. He also rushed past the many TV crews and reporters without saying a word–making everyone wonder just how well the star was really doing.

“He is in a no-win situation,” a studio source tells me. “If Michael didn’t show up, everyone would be talking about him. Yet at the same time if he did show up, the press would see for themselves that he isn’t doing so great.”

Friends of Michael tell me his family and loved ones are all trying to be as optimistic about the outcome as possible, but at the same time, staying realistic. “We all understand this is stage 4 cancer and we are not taking that lightly. Michael is trying to enjoy every moment of the time he has with his friends and family and taking nothing for granted. He was determined to attend this premiere. Nothing, including cancer, could have stopped him.”

We hope you get better soon, Michael. God bless!