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• London’s original musical “Mary” is now Broadway’s newest nanny

  Jim Hill talks with Laura Michelle Kelly, the Oliver Award-winning actress who has just begun appearing at the New Amsterdam Theatre in Disney & Cameron Mackintosh’s long-running production Read More... Posted Friday, November 06, 2009 12:00 AM | 1 Comments Filed under: Disney, Broadway, Disney Theatrical, New York City, restaurant, New Amsterdam Theatre, Minskoff Theatre, NYC, Broadway musical, 2009, Tony Award, Broadway production, Cameron Mackintosh , 2005, London, 2004, New York, Tony

• “Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol” book is sure to be a hit with baby boomers

  Jim Hill reviews Darrell Van Citters’ making-of book. Which takes you behind-the-scenes on the production of TV’s first animated holiday special Read More... Posted Wednesday, November 04, 2009 12:00 AM | 1 Comments Filed under: animation, book, Disney, A Christmas Carol, CBS, NBC, Robert Zemeckis, television, ImageMoversDigital, Christmas, UPA, 2009, television program, holiday season , holiday story , A Charlie Brown Christmas, holiday special, Christmas special, holiday classic, 1962 , animated version, holiday treat, 1964, television show , performance capture, Charles Dickens, holiday, holidays, ImageMovers

• Tube Tuesday: "V" is a very entertaining update of a dated sci-fi franchise

  Jim Hill reviews ABC's new sci-fi series. Which goes the "Battlestar Galactica" route by taking a cheesy TV show from the 1980s and then reimagining it as smart entertainment for today's audiences Read More... Posted Tuesday, November 03, 2009 12:00 AM | 6 Comments Filed under: ABC, television, 2009, TV show, 1980s, 1984, Warner Bros. , 1985, television show , TV series, Warner Bros. Television

• AquaDuck to bring theme park thrills out onto the high seas

  Jim Hill reports in from last Thursday’s Disney Cruise Line press event. Which talked up some of the more innovative features that will be found on the Disney Dream, the newest ship in the DCL fleet Read More... Posted Monday, November 02, 2009 12:00 AM | 2 Comments Filed under: Disney, Bob Iger, New York City, Disney Dreams, Disney Cruise Line, NYC, Walt Disney Imagineering, D23, 2009, tween, tweens, 2011, Typhoon Lagoon , water , creative team , creative process, technology, ocean

• Toon Tuesday: Klay Hall tinkers with Tinker Bell

  This sitcom vet talks about how he tried to make the Disney Fairy who stars in "Lost Treasure" much more like the version of Tink that Marc Davis drew for "Peter Pan" back in 1953 Read More... Posted Tuesday, October 27, 2009 12:00 AM | 3 Comments Filed under: Disney, John Lasseter, Marc Davis, Disney Fairies, Tinker Bell, Ed Catmull, Walt Disney Home Entertainment, 2009, DisneyToon Studios , home premiere, 2012, The Simpsons

• Disney treasures to come up for bid at S/R Labs’ Fall 2009 auction

  Jim Hill shares some of the 237 story sketches, animation drawings & concept paintings that will be go under the gavel today & tomorrow in Westlake Village, CA Read More... Posted Monday, October 26, 2009 12:00 AM | 1 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, Walt Disney, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Blair, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, Tim Burton, 2009, Pinocchio, The Fox and the Hound, Walt & El Grupo, animation fan, Disney Studios , Disney animation rarities, Snow White

• Practice makes perfect with the stage version of Disney's "The Lion King"

  Jim Hill goes backstage at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino, expecting to see all sorts of craziness. But what he finds instead is a smooth-running, relatively stress-free musical-making machine Read More... Posted Friday, October 23, 2009 12:00 AM | 3 Comments Filed under: Disney, Broadway, musical, The Lion King, Disney Theatrical, Julie Taymor, Las Vegas, Tokyo, Paris, stagehands, Broadway musical, stage version, 2009, 1997, Broadway production, backstage, staging, London, Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, stage show , Singapore, 2010, stage, costume designer , set, costumes, stage manager, stagecraft, tours, Mandalay Bay, sets

• What to know what’s “Up” at Pixar? Then buy a ticket to next month’s Cartoon Art Museum benefit

  Jim Hill talks up this annual fundraiser. Which allows a lucky few the chance to wander the halls at this Emeryville-based animation studio Read More... Posted Thursday, October 22, 2009 12:00 AM | 3 Comments Filed under: Pixar, Cartoon Art Museum, Pixar Animation Studios, Emeryville, Toy Story, Toy Story 2, San Francisco, Tokyo, animation student, Pixar campus, 2009, animated feature, ticket sales, Lifted, animated features, fundraiser, animators , animation community, animation industry, animation fan, Up, Mater, fundraising event, Emeryville campus, animated film, animated films, animation fans

• Toon Tuesday: Is "Disney's A Christmas Carol" a little too scary for its own good?

  Jim Hill shares what he's been hearing about this new Robert Zemeckis film. Which suggests that people who've seen the Digital 3D footage that was screened as part of "Christmas Carol" 's nationwide promotional train tour were somewhat put off by the more grisly moments Read More... Posted Tuesday, October 20, 2009 12:00 AM | 13 Comments Filed under: A Christmas Carol, Robert Zemeckis, Jim Carrey, ImageMoversDigital, 2008, 2009, 3D, Disney Digital 3D, The Polar Express, Back to the Future , performance capture, Charles Dickens, ImageMovers

• Monday Mouse Watch: Beyond the Blu-ray Horizon

  As DVD sales levels continue to fall and Hi-Def struggles to deliver on initial expectations, could an online subscription service that delivers top quality Disney content be waiting in the wings? Jim Hill shares what he’s heard Read More... Posted Monday, October 19, 2009 12:00 AM | 5 Comments Filed under: Disney, Bob Iger, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Song of the South, Walt Disney Studios, Blu-ray, DVD, 2008, 2009, online, DVD sales, content

• Coaster Corner: Tomorrowland favorite gets a warp speed makeover

  Jim Hill talks with Steve Roach, Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy's show producer, about how the Imagineers turned this indoor coaster into a Halloween Time-themed attraction in record time Read More... Posted Friday, October 16, 2009 12:00 AM | 5 Comments Filed under: theme park, attraction, Disneyland, Anaheim, Space Mountain, Disneyland Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland, Imagineer, 2009, 2007, ride, Imagineers, redo, thrill ride, roller coaster, Tomorrowland, Disneyland Park, Halloween Time

• Toon Thursday: Disney hits the reset button on Winnie the Pooh

  Jim Hill talks about that new hand-drawn feature that Walt Disney Animation Studios currently has in development. Which will be done in the style of the "Pooh" featurettes of the 1960s & 1970s Read More... Posted Thursday, October 15, 2009 12:00 AM | 8 Comments Filed under: Disney, theater, Pixar, Disney Consumer Products, CG, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Playhouse Disney, Disney Legend, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions, WDAS, featurette, Mickey's Christmas Carol, Las Vegas, 1977, D23, 2009, October, 1970s , TV show, 1966 , 1968, hand-drawn animation, home premiere, 2011, theatrical release, Meet the Robinsons, characters , 1960s, Development , chapter, relaunch, Licensing International Expo, DCP , source material , television show , The Princess and the Frog, D23 EXPO, hand-drawn, featurettes, TV series, animated film, reset button, hand-drawn feature, Steve Anderson, story supervisor, Don Hall, Winnie the Pooh, animation fans, old school, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, A. A. Milne, Japanese Bunraku puppeteering, technique, Japanese, storybook, stuffed animal, Bunraku, stuffed animals, Christopher Robin, The Book of Pooh, CG animated, watercolor, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, watercolor backgrounds, Hundred Acre Woods, whimsical, contemporary audiences, Darby, commercialized, Buster, feature-length project, Winnie the Pooh franchise, silly old bear, hand-drawn film, Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, style, tone, Burny Mattinson, David Benedictus, Return to the Hundred Acre Woods, Dutton Juvenile, Dutton, original source material, The House at Pooh Corner, Eeyore, Expotition, North Pole, cutsie-pooh, cutsie-poo, expo, reset, Pooh products, juvenile, Winnie the Pooh movie, Pooh featurette, Pooh featurettes, theaters

• Let George Do It: One-time WDW busboy becomes Disneyland’s newest president

  Jim Hill looks back over this Park & Resorts vet's 38-year-long career with the Company. In particular why George Kalogridis was chosen to help guide the Disneyland Resort through its upcoming transitional period Read More... Posted Tuesday, October 13, 2009 12:00 AM | 1 Comments Filed under: Disney, Downtown Disney, Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Epcot, Disney's California Adventure, The Walt Disney Company, Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Disney's Contemporary Resort, Disneyland Resort, Disneyland Paris, Disney Parks & Resorts, Disneyland Hotel, Walt Disney Studios, cast members, cast member, 1971, 1976, 2009, Disney World, The Walt Disney World Resort, pin, 2012, 2010, Rich Ross , pins, 1988, millennium celebration, opportunity, Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Park, Chairman of Walt Disney Studios, DLP, Ed Grier, regional theme park, Al Weiss, George Kalogridis, busboy, senior management, senior management position, UCF, Contemporary Resort Hotel, Disney Wonder, University of Central Florida, training issues, adversity, Creating Magic: 10 Common Sense Leadershio Strategies from a Life at Disney, transition period, transitional period, Winter Olympics, Nagano, Olympic pins, IBM, Coca-Cola, Happiest Place on Earth, Resort Operations, maintenance, general manager, 15th anniversary, Sunshine Plaza, Anaheim property, Grand Flo, development team, Disney's World of Color, gay

• ... and then go behind-the-screams at Knott's Scary Farm

  Jim Hill reveals photos that Angela Ragno took last month while they toured two still-under-construction mazes for Halloween Haunt. WARNING: This article contains at least one shot that is somewhat grotesque Read More... Posted Friday, October 09, 2009 12:00 AM | 0 Comments Filed under: theme park, theme park visitor, theme park guest, 2009, Halloween, September, Knott's Berry Farm , props, construction, design team, maze, finale, set, costumes, Santa, Santa's sleigh, Halloween Haunt, Knott's Scary Berry, Buena Park, Knott's Merry Farm, Terror of London, sets, design, mazes, walk-thru, still-under-construction, year-round, 13 Axe Murder Manor , Brooke Walters, propping, bodies, scare, Scare Force, Lockdown: The Asylum, The Asylum, Ghost Town, electrocution, chain link, finale sequence, picnic table, seasonal event, maze designer, picnic, picnic tables

• You don’t know Jack about Disneyland’s “Halloween Screams - A Villainous Surprise in the Skies"

  Jim Hill talks with John Addis, Senior Show Director for Disney Entertainment Productions, about how this new fireworks show came together Read More... Posted Wednesday, October 07, 2009 12:00 AM | 0 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, theme park, fireworks, Disneyland, Walt Disney World, Magic Kingdom, Anaheim, Disney Legend, The Magic Kingdom, Disneyland Resort, The Haunted Mansion, Sleeping Beauty Castle, Dumbo, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party, WDW, Paul Frees, Ghost Host, Jack Skellington, spider, 2009, Disney World, Halloween, snow, 2005, November, Cinderella Castle , Walt Disney Creative Entertainment , Steve Davison, parades, fireworks display, flight path , trick-or-treat, trick or treat, Zero, Disneyland Park, Castle, John Addis, Scream-Along, shell, public performance, Senior Show Director, Disney Entertainment Productions, fireworks show, magical orb, spectaculars, magical, flight pattern, main street, snow falling, Disney Villains, Ursula the Sea Witch, Oogie Boogie, The Hub, The Ghost Host, Cruella De Vil, trick-or-treating, Ursula, spiders, Castle walls, Haunted Mansion, Halloween fireworks display, Corey Burton, Holidays at the Disneyland Resort, snow falling on Main Street, Halloween Time, Disneyland Guests, Halloween Screams, M.C., Halloween Screams - A Villainous Surprise in the Skies, Disney Villain, Happy HalloWishes, shimmering lights, Happy HalloWishes: A Grim Grinning Ghost Spectacular in the Sky