NOW AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY TO D23 MEMBERS Insider Glimpses of Monsters University , Iron Man 3, The Lone Ranger and Disney's Planes Plus an Extensive Feature Saluting 60 Years of Walt Disney Imagineering BURBANK, Calif. - April 29, 2013 - The summer issue of Disney twenty-three , the flagship magazine of D23: The Official Disney Fan Club, features a mega summer movie preview of Disney's upcoming theatrical releases. D23 gets readers back in the saddle with filmmakers Jerry Bruckheimer and...

So how exactly do you make an eyeball look like it's 18 years old? Copyright Disney Pixar. All rights reserved That was the challenge that Ricky Nierva faced on " Monsters University ." As the art director / production designer of Pixar's first-ever prequel, Nierva (working closely with this project's character art director Jason Deamer ) had to figure out how to properly reverse-age Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan. Turn these two " Monsters, Inc. " stars into...

You'd think -- what with getting the revival of "Jekyll & Hyde" ready for its 13 week-long, limited engagement at the Marquis Theatre -- that director Jeff Calhoun wouldn't have any time left for his other Broadway show, Disney's "Newsies ." But that's where you'd be wrong. Last month while he was out-of-town with this Frank Wildhorn musical in Chicago, Jeff used his one day off from "Hyde" to nip off to NYC's Nederlander Theatre to go check...

Members assemble in more than 25 Marvel costumes including Iron Man, She-Hulk and Captain America Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, April 25 - Penguins are once again assembling as Marvel Super Heroes and Super Villains in Disney's Club Penguin , the #1 virtual world for kids, for this year's all-new Marvel Super Hero Takeover event. Starting today, penguins will be called to defend the city of Penguintropolis and bring members dressed as Marvel Super Villains to justice before they take...

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FOURTH SEASON OF "GOOD LUCK CHARLIE" PREMIERES WITH A SPECIAL PERFORMANCE BY THE MUPPETS, SUNDAY, APRIL 28 ON DISNEY CHANNEL Season four of Disney Channel's hit family comedy "Good Luck Charlie," premieres SUNDAY, APRIL 28 (7:30-8:00 p.m. ET/PT) with a special performance by Disney's The Muppets. Guest stars Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and Animal join series stars Bridgit Mendler and Leigh-Allyn Baker to perform a show-stopping, Muppet-ational original song...

Earlier this week, Paul T. sent me an e-mail with an image attached that -- I'm sure -- will titillate a certain segment of the Disney fan community. Jim, Check out what I found on an animation art auction cite!! It's a bare-ass Ariel!! Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Well, okay. This is how this particular cel from that 1989 Walt Disney Animation Studios production was inked & hand-painted back in the day. But please note that the paint never actually makes it...

As the staff cuts at DreamWorks Animation and Walt Disney Studios prove, bigger is no longer thought of as better in Hollywood. The suits are now angling after a far more efficient business plan. Tinsel Town 2.0, if you will. A place where smaller teams follow shorter production schedules and work within tighter budgets yet still somehow manage to deliver top-quality motion pictures. You know. The way that Sony Pictures Animation has been doing business for the past 10 years. Copyright 2013 Sony...

It's been 36 hours or so now since those bombings happened at the finish line of the Boston Marathon . And a lot of us are feeling ... Well, kind of helpless. We wonder what we can do to show our support. Let the people of Boston know that we're solidly in their corner. That we genuinely care. Well, after the 9/11 attacks, then-president George W Bush famously went on television to tell Americans that the very best way " ... to restore public confidence" was for " ... the traveling...

Helen Mirren, Alfred Molina, Dave Foley, Sean P. Hayes and More Join Billy Crystal, John Goodman and Steve Buscemi in a Remarkable Roster of Monster Voices BURBANK, Calif. (April 17, 2013) -- Disney•Pixar's "Monsters University" welcomes some of Hollywood's top stars to its roster of voice talent for this summer's frighteningly funny comedy adventure, opening in U.S. theaters on June 21, 2013. Joining Billy Crystal and John Goodman are Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Alfred...

UNIVERSAL ORLANDO RESORT AND GIVE KIDS THE WORLD PARTNER TO CREATE AN UNFORGETTABLE VACATION AND VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE Universal Parks & Resorts Vacations to Donate $100 to Give Kids The World for Every Package Booked ORLANDO, Fla. (April 17, 2013) - Universal Orlando Resort today unveiled a one-of-a-kind vacation package allowing guests to spend cherished family time in its theme parks and then to create unforgettable memories for children at Give Kids The World Village. Give Kids The World Village...

Tune-in - by clicking below - to THE LONE RANGER trailer debut and live stream Q&A exclusively on Yahoo! featuring Johnny Depp, Armie Hammer, director Gore Verbinski, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer at 1:00pm PST.

Did you need a distraction from all of the sad news coming out of Boston tonight? I know that I do. Which is why -- rather than watch that footage of the explosion at the marathon's line yet again -- I picked up a copy of Doug Lipp 's terrific tome, " Disney U: How Disney University develops the World's most engaged, loyal, and customer-centric employees " ( McGraw-Hill , March 2013). Given that Lipp helped create the first international version of Disney University (which was...

So how was your Tuesday? Me? I wound up getting schooled on Pixar 's next full length animated feature, " Monsters University ." Photo by Jim Hill Early yesterday morning, I flew out to San Francisco to take part in a Press Day for this "Monsters, Inc." prequel. And I'll say this much: The folks in Disney & Pixar's marketing office really know how to theme a media event. As I (and 30 other lucky bloggers & journalists) got off the bus that took us over to the...

In the Toy Box mode, players can build their own adventures and worlds featuring hundreds of characters, vehicles, items and environments, including Scrooge McDuck's money pit, a Tron Recognizer, the Dumbo flying elephant ride and Stitch's Surfboard. Players can also use the logic editor to create any kind of game or experience, such as action adventures, obstacle courses, capture-the-flag, tower defense, car races - even re-create some of their favorite classic arcade games. About Disney...

Annette Funicello , long-time Disney and Beach Party star, passed away on Monday April 8 at Mercy Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield, CA, at the age of 70. She died peacefully from complications due to Multiple Sclerosis, a disease she battled for over 25 years. Beloved by television viewers in the 50s for her stint on Disney's original The Mickey Mouse Club, and by film buffs for her numerous roles in a series of popular teen-oriented movies in the 60s, Funicello became a pop culture icon. Copyright...

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray." This oft-quoted line from Robert Burns ' 1785 poem applies to an awful lot of aspects of modern day life. But none more so than the work that's recently been done in & around WDW 's Magic Kingdom Park . Take -- for example -- that "Tangled" -themed rest area that recently came online in Fantasyland. Even before this elaborately themed set of bathrooms was officially opened to the public, some of the Mouse's...

It has often been said that "... behind every great man, there's a great woman." Well, that certainly wasn't the case with Jane Henson . Take a look at these pictures from the early, early days of the Muppets . Back when these characters starred in their own late night television series, " Sam and Friends " on WRC-TV . Please note that Jane isn't standing behind Jim. But -- rather -- that this then-21 year-old was standing beside her future husband, puppeteering right...

Given that April 1st is typically the day when a number of Disney news sites post these elaborate prank stories where they then try & convince a few poor April Fools that their obviously bogus article is legit, I thought that JHM should go the other way today. In that I'm going to post a story that may sound bogus but is -- believe it or not -- absolutely true. Better yet, given all the chatter that there's been out there on various discussion boards around the Web about that Star Wars...

This morning on “Good Morning America,” the cast of Newsies , the Tony® Award-winning hit Broadway musical, celebrated one year on Broadway with a special performance of “Carrying The Banner” that took the newsies from the streets of the Nederlander Theatre (208 West 41 st St., New York City) to a takeover of GMA’s Times Square Studios. Click on the image below to view the performance: In its first smash year, Newsies has been seen by nearly a half-million people...

Pittsburgh 04/03/2013-The Toonseum Pittsburgh's Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art presents Comics 4 Comics 4! The 4th installment of this annual fundraiser brings headliner Michael Capozzola to Pittsburgh and onto to the stage at Little E's at 8pm on April 4th. Michael Capozzola is a San Francisco-based comedian and cartoonist. He's contributed to Mad Magazine, The New York Times and National Lampoon. Michael is the producer and host of the San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum's annual...

JANE NEBEL HENSON 1934-2013 Puppeteer, philanthropist and founder of The Jim Henson Legacy Hollywood (April 2, 2013) - Jane Henson died in her Connecticut home on April 2, 2013 after a long battle with cancer. A tribute page celebrating Jane and featuring images from her life canmbe found at www.henson.com/jane.html. A memorial mass is planned for next week. Donations may be sent in memory of Jane Henson to the following: Center for Puppetry Arts http://puppet.org/contribute/donation.shtml The Jim...

From above the world of "Cars" comes "Disney's Planes," an action-packed 3D animated comedy adventure featuring Dusty (voice of Dane Cook), a plane with dreams of competing as a high-flying air racer. But Dusty's not exactly built for racing-and he happens to be afraid of heights. So he turns to a seasoned naval aviator who helps Dusty qualify to take on the defending champ of the race circuit. Dusty's courage is put to the ultimate test as he aims to reach heights...