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When I had the opportunity to interview Peter Ellenshaw, the Disney master of matte painting, who worked on several projects with Ub Iwerks about what Iwerks was really like, Ellenshaw very diplomatically answered "He was amazing. He was a genius. But it was obvious we had very different senses of humor...

In the first installment (of this series), I covered a little of the history behind the Eternity Comics publication THE UNCENSORED MOUSE which reprinted the earliest episodes of the MICKEY MOUSE comic strip which apparently was no longer copyrighted. For Malibu Graphics, I wrote over a hundred historical...

True Disney fans are part of a large, extended dysfunctional family. The regular media often produces feature pieces on the strangeness of those folks who are passionate about Star Trek or Star Wars or comic books or lunch boxes or teddy bears or Disney. It seems to provide no end of amusement to show...

Once upon a time (actually early 1989), the Mailbu Graphics group (Scott Rosenberg, Dave Olbrich, Tom Mason, Chris Ulm) was publishing the Eternity Comics line of independent black and white comic books. Some of these comics featured original material like MEN IN BLACK (which later inspired the popular...

"It's your turn to entertain the troops. I'm going to Disneyland." - Bob Hope to honorary Hollywood Mayor Johnny Grant in 1999 when Grant took over Hope's holiday tours for the overseas troops while an ailing Hope participated in the first Disneyland official Christmas lighting ceremony. With the recent...

In February of this year, I got the wonderful opportunity to be a guest speaker on The Disney Wonder on the first cruise completely filled with Disney Vacation Club members. I write a monthly Disney heritage column for the DVC newsletter and so I got to join speakers like Tim O'Day and Imagineer Tom...

On the backstage tour at Disney-MGM Studios in Florida, the tram passes by a plane and the guide comments that this is the plane that Walt Disney flew in to pick out the area in Florida where he was going to build Disneyworld. (It was later renamed "Walt Disney World" by his brother Roy after Walt passed...

Jim Hill's mention of the "Disney Memorial Orgy" drawing done by Wally Wood for the centerfold of THE REALIST (issue #74) in 1967 and later turned into a popular blacklight poster brought back some memories because I used to have a copy of that poster framed in the hallway leading to my bathroom in my...

After World War II, America became deeply concerned about protecting itself from the "Red Menace." The Cold War created an era of paranoia that the Communists would attack with atomic weapons at any minute and bury us all. Many may be aware of the activities of Senator Joe McCarthy and his witch hunting...

Here is a little something special for those of you who might be visiting Walt Disney World and want to try something a little different. For the Magic Kingdom Annual Passholders, I created a special 100 question experience to encourage guests to search for elements of storytelling that they may have...

In my personal collection, I have video copies of Fifties commercials where Dumbo is shilling for Canada Dry, Alice in Wonderland (in Kathyrn Beaumont's voice) is proclaiming the joys of Jello, B'rer Rabbit hawks American Motors cars and Jiminy Cricket urges viewers to drink Baker's Instant Chocolate...

In the final installment of this three part series, Disney Legend Joyce Carlson talks some more about her time at WED. In these installments, I am reprinting the very first interview I did with Joyce Carlson in 1998. I also had the pleasure at the DISNEYANA 2000 convention which was dedicated to IT'S...

In Monday's installment , we began our conversation with Joyce Carlson who started as a traffic girl at the Disney Studio in 1944 and then went into the Ink and Paint Department before becoming an Imagineer. Joyce was officially named a Disney Legend by the Walt Disney Company in 2000 but for those of...

I recently had lunch with Pat Williams who is Senior Vice President of the Orlando Magic basketball team and the author of almost two dozen inspirational books including HOW TO BE LIKE MIKE (Jordan) published by the same folks who publish the CHICKEN SOUP books. Currently he is working on a book to be...

The previous two installments (of this series) dealt with the history behind these unique Disney collectibles. This final installment lists all of the issues, dates, and titles of the Good Housekeeping pages as the only reference guide in existence to help collectors locate a particular page or character...

In 1937, Whitman released a linen book which reprinted a dozen of the GOOD HOUSEKEEPING pages from 1934-1935. They were printed the same size as the magazine pages even though the overall size of the book itself is larger. The series of Disney linen books featuring Disney characters were thicker and...

Some of the most beautiful Disney paper collectibles from the Golden Era of Disney animation are the 125 color pages that appeared between 1934 and 1944 in the pages of GOOD HOUSEKEEPING magazine. These artistic contributions often showcased upcoming Disney animated cartoons. GOOD HOUSEKEEPING magazine...

Hey, folks! Jim Hill again. Once again, I'm pleased to introduce JHM's newest columnist, Jim Korkis. Though -- as I read the first paragraph of today's story -- I was somewhat saddened to see that mention of Jim's Mom. Why was I saddened? You see, Mrs. Korkis passed away this weekend. And -- given how...

Hey, gang! Jim Hill here. You know, one of the real pleasures of running a website like JHM is you just never know who is going to toss an e-mail your way. Like late last month. I had just put a story up on the site, announcing the beta test of JimHillMedia.com's Walt Disney World tours, when this note...