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• Tune Thursday : Looking back at the development of Broadway's "Lion King"

  Jim Hill chats with Derek Smith, the actor who's now playing Scar in this Tony Award-winning musical. But whose ties to this show actually go all the way back to the costume & mask tests that Julie Taymor did in her workshop Read More... Posted Friday, July 11, 2008 12:00 AM | 1 Comments Filed under: Disney, Broadway, musical, Disney Theatrical, New York City, "The Lion King", Julie Taymor, New Amsterdam Theatre, Minskoff Theatre, Tony Award winner, NYC, Scar, Broadway musical, stage version, Tony Award, 1997, Broadway production, costume concept, staging, stage show , stage, New York, costume designer , costumes, Derek Smith, "The Green Bird", workshop, mask, "The Madness of King Scar", rehearsal, rehearsal pianist, stage manager

• Tune Tuesday: Get ready for the stage version of "High School Musical 2"

  Jim Hill shares all sorts of tidbits from the Disney Theatrical side of the fence. Including the tour schedule for both the North American & UK version of "Mary Poppins" as well as "The Little Mermaid" CD release celebration Read More... Posted Tuesday, February 19, 2008 12:00 AM | 3 Comments Filed under: Disney, theater, Broadway, "High School Musical", ABC, Walt Disney Pictures, Disney Theatrical, "The Little Mermaid", "High School Musical 2", The Walt Disney Company, "High School Musical 3", "High School Musical" franchise, New York City, Washington D.C., Australia, Chicago, "The Lion King", Los Angeles, "Mary Poppins", NYC, LA, Broadway musical, stage version, Disney Channel Original, 2009, October, Cameron Mackintosh , Broadway Cares / Equity Fights Aids , autographs, co-production, stage show

• "Dream Worlds" offers look at abandoned Disney animated features

  Jim Hill reviews Hans Bacher's new "Production Design for Animation" book. Which features visual development art from "My Peoples," "Fraidy Cat" and "Wild Life" Read More... Posted Wednesday, January 23, 2008 12:00 AM | 6 Comments Filed under: animation, book, Disney, Broadway, Andreas Deja, Disney Theatrical, "Beauty & the Beast", "101 Dalmatians", "Aladdin", "Dinosaur", Walt Disney Animation Studios, France, WDAS, "The Lion King", the New World, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", LA, Germany, film, Broadway musical, stage version, animated feature, 2007, Disneyana fans, Walt Disney Feature Animation, "Mulan", Hans Bacher , logo, visual development, visual development artist , production designer, paintings, drawings , inspirational material , artists , animators , "Dream Worlds: Production Design for Animation" , Focal Press, December , canvases , "China Doll", emperor, Shang, "My Peoples" , "Elgin's Peoples" , "Angel and Her No Good Sister", "Once in a Blue Moon" , "A Few Good Ghosts", "Fraidy Cat" , Alfred Hitchcock , crime story , London, development art , "Wild Life", The Secret Lab, urban, hipster, George Bernard Shaw, "Pygmalion", story points, BS-free , edited, massaged , Disney Publicity , production notes, European version, Loire , generic-looking , Mulan

• Animation fans prematurely shoot off their mouths about "Bolt"

  Jim Hill points out the parallels between what WDAS's next release is now going through and "Beauty & the Beast" & "The Lion King" 's troubled productions Read More... Posted Wednesday, January 02, 2008 12:00 AM | 18 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, movies, Pixar, DreamWorks, computer animation, John Lasseter, "Shrek", Walt Disney Pictures, "Beauty & the Beast", John Musker, "The Little Mermaid", "Ratatouille", Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, DreamWorks Animation, "Aladdin", Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Jeffrey Katzenberg, "Toy Story", WDAS, "The Lion King", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", WDI, Ed Catmull, Walt Disney Imagineering, Walt Disney Studios, "Bolt", Academy Award, film, movie, 2008, animated feature, Richard Purdum , "Cranium Command", Kirk Wise, Gary Trousdale, award, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Disney Feature Animation, "Mulan", "The Emperor's New Groove", "Kingdom of the Sun", "Kiskaloo", blind men and the elephant, Indian fable, pre-release image, teaser poster, November 2008, Bolt the dog, Mittens the cat, Rhino the hamster, Chris Williams, "American Dog", Chris Sanders, quirkiness, Jan Pinkava, George Scribner, Rob Minkoff, Roger Allers, S Gross, lemons into lemonade, November 28

• Broadway comes roaring back to life, and so does Disney's "The Lion King"

  Jim Hill brings you an update on the 10th anniversary celebration for this Tony Award-winning musical. Which was kind of thrown off-schedule by last month's stagehands strike Read More... Posted Tuesday, December 04, 2007 12:00 AM | 1 Comments Filed under: Disney, theater, Broadway, musical, The Lion King, Disney Theatrical, New York City, "The Lion King", Julie Taymor, New Amsterdam Theatre, Minskoff Theatre, Tony Award winner, NYC, 10th anniversary, gala performance, international production, Local One, stagehands union, The League of American Theatres and Producers, stagehands, road company, Broadway musical, canapé, caterer, after-party, Cipriani 42, original cast, Thomas Schumacher, Tony Award, South Africa, The Montecasino Teatro, Johannesburg, The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, celebration, scenery, picket line, reunion, TLK, "TLK", Mexico, Young Nala, Young Simba, Ron Kunene, family, unsung heroes, unsung hero, opening night, 1997, Broadway production

• Tune Thursday: Broadway's "Lion King" balances spectacle with intimate storytelling

  As this Tony Award-winning musical gets ready to celebrate its 10th anniversary in NYC, Jim Hill chats with Nathaniel Stampley. Who talks about how the sacrifices that his own father made as well as the recent birth of his daughter informs Stampley's performance of Mufasa Read More... Posted Thursday, November 01, 2007 12:00 AM | 2 Comments Filed under: Disney, music, theater, Broadway, musical, Disney Theatrical, New York City, Chicago, "The Lion King", Julie Taymor, Minskoff Theatre, 9/11, Simba, NYC, 10th anniversary, gala performance, Nathaniel Stampley, Detroit

• Tune Thursday: Sorry, but Kissy Simmons won't kiss-and-tell about her time in Broadway's "The Lion King"

  In honor of the upcoming 10th anniversary of this Disney Theatrical production, Jim Hill chats with Kissy Simmons, the actress who's now playing Nala in this long-running musical spectacular Read More... Posted Thursday, October 18, 2007 12:05 AM | 1 Comments Filed under: Disney, movies, Broadway, musical, Disney Theatrical, New York City, "The Lion King", Minskoff Theatre, Tony Award winner, 9/11, Michael Jackson, "The King of Pop", Nala, Simba, Show Palace Dinner Theatre, "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, "Aida", Apollo Theater, NYC, Kissy Simmons, Doubletree Guest Suites Times Square, Floral City, Florida, Audrey II, Denver, "Shadow Land", Times Square, 10th anniversary, gala performance

• Monday Mouse Watch: Will live action productions really help Pixar deal with its brand fatigue problem?

  Jim Hill asks: What's it going to take to make the domestic release of a new Pixar film seem like a special event again? Will live action projects like "John Carter of Mars" & "1906" really be enough to re-energize this animation studio's U.S. fanbase? Read More... Posted Monday, October 15, 2007 12:00 AM | 51 Comments Filed under: Disney, Pixar, John Lasseter, Bob Iger, promotion, "Cars", "Ratatouille", Leslie Iwerks, Brad Bird, Walt Disney Animation Studios, "The Incredibles", Pixar Animation Studios, Emeryville, marketing, "Toy Story 2", "20000 Leagues Under the Sea", WDAS, "The Lion King", Burbank, Mars, brand fatigue, "Song of the South", Herald Sun, "Monsters Inc.", Wally Hammond, Time Out, Time Out London, "The Pixar Story", "To Infinity and Beyond: The Story of Pixar Animation Studios", Karen Paik, Ed Catmull, Steve Jobs, "WALL * E", IMAX 3D, "John Carter of Mars", Barsoom, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, San Francisco

• Tune Thursday: Timon tells tails ... er ... tales about his time on Broadway

  In honor of the 10th anniversary of the stage version of "The Lion King," Jim Hill chats with Danny Rutigliano. The veteran stage performer who -- for nearly a decade now -- has been playing the world's most famous meerkat (Outside of Flower, of course) Read More... Posted Thursday, October 11, 2007 12:00 AM | 6 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, movies, music, theater, Broadway, musical, Disney Theatrical, The Walt Disney Company, New York City, "The Lion King", Max Casella, Julie Taymor, Danny Rutigliano, Bill Clinton, Minneapolis, "The Sopranos", New Amsterdam Theatre, Minskoff Theatre, The President of the United States, "Mary Poppins", Tony Award winner, meerkat

• How Mickey Mouse almost got to play Christopher Columbus

  Jim Hill talks about the featurette that Walt Disney Animation Studios almost made back in the late 1980s. Which would have celebrated the 500th anniversary of Columbus' voyage to the New World Read More... Posted Monday, October 08, 2007 12:00 AM | 12 Comments Filed under: Disney, movies, Disney Consumer Products, traditional animation, Walt Disney World, Disney-MGM Studios theme park, "Beauty & the Beast", Ron Clements, John Musker, "The Little Mermaid", "Aladdin", Walt Disney Animation Studios, The Magic Kingdom, Mickey Mouse, featurette, "Gilligan's Island", "Mickey's Christmas Carol", Columbus Day, Christopher Columbus, "Swabbies", "The Lion King", "The Prince and the Pauper", Disney Feature Animation Florida, the New World, "Christopher Columbus"