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• Monday Mouse Watch : Hannah Montana & High School Musical-themed makeovers soon to be offered at Disney's Hollywood Studios

  Jim Hill talks about this variation on "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique" that's about to be built at the Walt Disney World Resort. Only this time around, this pricey beauty parlor will help your child look like their favorite Disney Channel star Read More... Posted Monday, February 04, 2008 12:00 AM | 22 Comments Filed under: Disney, movies, theme park, "High School Musical", Disney Channel, Downtown Disney, Walt Disney World, Magic Kingdom, Orlando, Disney's Hollywood Studios, "High School Musical 2", The Magic Kingdom, "High School Musical 3", "High School Musical" franchise, "High School Musical 2: Extended Edition", "Hannah Montana", Dwayne Johnson, "The Rock", Miley Cyrus, Emily Osment, Disney Princess, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, WDW, Ariel, film, movie, World of Disney, Disney Channel Original, HSM, Disney World, The Walt Disney World Resort, film franchise, merch, tween, merchandise , merchandise location , TV movie, TV movies , tweens, "Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both World Concert" , concert film, 3-D, Disney Digital 3D, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, beauty parlor, Cinderella Castle , Belle, Jasmine, Gabriella , Sharpay , Hannah Montana , Hannah Montana wig , Ashley Tisdale , Sharpay Evans , retail establishment , concert tour , "Camp Rock" , "The Cheetah Girls 3", mini-Miley

• Oscar Watch '08: Miramax maxes out while the Mouse gets skunked

  Was today a good day or a bad day at Walt Disney Studios? Well, as Jim Hill points out, it all depends on whether you work at Miramax Films or on the Walt Disney Pictures side of the house Read More... Posted Tuesday, January 22, 2008 12:00 PM | 37 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, movies, Pixar, ABC, NBC, Brad Bird, "Enchanted", Pixar Animation Studios, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End", Amy Adams, "How to Hook-Up Your Home Theater", Academy Award, film, movie, actress, 2008, Disney / Pixar, animated feature, 2007, feature film , Best Picture nominee, Disney Feature Animation, animated short, picket line, Jan Pinkava, animated features, Oscar-winning , Norman Jewison , "The Man I Love" , George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, "good news day" , Amy Ryan, nomination , Best Actress in a supporting role , "Gone Baby Gone" , Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, ABC Inc, Best Actress , Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Motion Picture of the Year, Achievement in Music – Original Song, Original Song , nominee, nominations , "Happy Working Song" , "So Close" , "That's How You Know" , Best Animated Feature Film of the Year, Jim Capobianco, Best Original Screenplay, Achievement in Sound Mixing , Achievement in Sound Editing, Achievement in Makeup , Achievement in Visual Effects , Oscar, Oscars, Best Animated Short Film, Academy Award nominee, Academy Award winner, Academy voters , February 24th , 80th annual Academy Awards , actors , picket lines, Academy Award nominations , Academy Award nominees, Academy Award winners, Miramax Films , "No Country for Old Men" , Paramount Vantage, Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role , Achievement in Directing , Achievement in Cinematography , Achievement in Film Editing , Adapted Screenplay, "There Will Be Blood", Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role , Achievement in Art Direction , "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" , Pathé Renn , co-production, Michael Giacchino , Achievement in Music – Original Score, Original Score, Oscar broadcast, Golden Globes, hand-drawn animation

• 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

• "To Infinity and Beyond!" is an entertaining look back at Pixar's first two decades

  Jim Hill reviews Karen Paik's inspired (more importantly, inspiring) new history of Pixar Animation Studios. Which offers a lot of insight about how John Lasseter became the Big Kahuna of the CG world Read More... Posted Thursday, November 29, 2007 12:00 AM | 4 Comments Filed under: animation, book, Disney, movies, Pixar, computer animation, CG, John Lasseter, John Musker, "The Little Mermaid", "Cars", "Ratatouille", Leslie Iwerks, Brad Bird, "Aladdin", Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Ron Miller, "Toy Story", "Toy Story 2", WDAS, featurette, "Monsters Inc.", "The Pixar Story", "To Infinity and Beyond: The Story of Pixar Animation Studios", Karen Paik, Ed Catmull, Steve Jobs, Walt Disney Studios, film, movie, Mouse, Disney / Pixar, 2007, "Tis the season" , feature film , Chronicle Books, "The Art of Animation", Bob Thomas, cartoons, epiphany, coffee table book, hardcover, church, pew, gourd, sermon, pencil, pencil time, award, The Headless Horseman, "The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr Toad", station wagon, Casper the Friendly Ghost, California Institute of the Arts, CalArts, character animation, Walt Disney Feature Animation, Disney Feature Animation, calcified, middle management, "The Fox and the Hound", old guard, Tom Wilhite, Maurice Sendak, picture book, "Where the Wild Things Are", Thomas M Disch, "The Brave Little Toaster", Marin, Lucasfilm, "The Adventures of Andre & Wally B", SIGGRAPH, animated short, short, character comedy, cutting-edge technology, money pit, Jane Eisner, Roald Dahl, "James and the Giant Peach", human costs, keyboard, repetitive-stress injury, "The Art of Ratatouille", aspiring animator, holiday shopping list

• Could you please have the Rat whip me up some crow?

  Here (finally) is the JHM column that Pixar fans have been waiting for. Where Jim Hill talks about how well "Ratatouille" has been doing overseas ... as well as other Disney-related matters Read More... Posted Friday, November 23, 2007 12:00 AM | 31 Comments Filed under: Disney, movies, TV, Visual Effects, Gore Verbinski, Walt Disney Pictures, "Ratatouille", Brad Bird, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Pixar Animation Studios, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End", television, "The Game Plan", Hollywood, WDSHE, DVD, box office, film, movie, Thanksgiving, leftovers, crow, international, worldwide box office, Disney / Pixar, animated feature, production costs, release date, stateside, exhibitors, ticket sales, top selling, FX, effects, The Michael Eisner building, Michael Eisner building, character-based merchandise, 2007, "Wild Hogs", "Wild Hogs 2", titles, floss, promotional costs, "The Best Reviewed Film of the Year", domestic performance, The Ivy, opening weekend grosses, opening weekend, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, strip-mining, wild-assed guess, Magic 8 Ball, television program, TV show, television programs, TV shows, The Hollywood Reporter, The Nielsen ratings, Nielsen ratings, domestic box office numbers, entertainment industry, initial domestic run, evergreen title, franchise, film franchise, film franchises, merch, nuturing, long term profit potential, long term profitability

• 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

• 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

• Toon Tuesday: Wanna see what the first few minutes of "Enchanted" looks like?

  Jim Hill shares some images from the animated portion of this new Kevin Lima film. Which the Mouse hopes will get today's audiences excited about the idea of seeing Walt Disney Studios do traditional animation again Read More... Posted Tuesday, October 09, 2007 12:00 AM | 24 Comments Filed under: Disney, movies, traditional animation, Walt Disney Pictures, Dick Cook, Andreas Deja, "Beauty & the Beast", "The Little Mermaid", Alan Menken, "Enchanted", "Aladdin", Walt Disney Animation Studios, "The Game Plan", Kevin Lima, Amy Adams, James Marsden, Patrick Dempsey, Susan Sarandon, "Cinderella", "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", "Sleeping Beauty", "The Pacifier", "Three Men and a Baby", "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", Oren Aviv, James Baxter, James Baxter Animation, Andy Fickman, Vin Diesel, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Rotten Tomatoes, Chris Chase, Jason Reed, Nina Jacobson, Bill Kelly, Barry Josephson, Stephen Schwartz

• 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"

• "Walt Disney's Cinderella" is a picture-perfect picture book

  Jim Hill reviews this new hardcover from Disney Press. Which features a spectacular selection of Mary Blair's concept art for Walt Disney Productions' 1950 release Read More... Posted Thursday, October 04, 2007 12:00 AM | 4 Comments Filed under: animation, book, Disney, DVD / Video, movies, Walt Disney, traditional animation, Disney Press, "Peter Pan", Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions, "Walt Disney's Cinderella", "Cinderella", "Alice in Wonderland", Mary Blair, concept art, Newbury Medal, Cynthia Rylant, Animation Research Library, ARL, Jon Scieszka, WDAS

• Monday Mouse Watch : Will a second set of nude photographs cause Disney to flunk Vanessa Hudgens out of its "High School Musical" franchise?

  With "People" magazine now reporting that this "HSM2" star may have previously sent naked pictures of herself to a performer on Nickelodeon's "Drake & Josh" show, Jim Hill talks with an unnamed Mouse House official about what Mickey's next move may be Read More... Posted Monday, September 10, 2007 12:00 AM | 41 Comments Filed under: Disney, DVD / Video, movies, musical, "High School Musical", Disney Channel, Walt Disney Pictures, "High School Musical 2", Vanessa Hudgens, People Magazine, The National Enquirer, "High School Musical 3", "High School Musical 4", "High School Musical" franchise, Zac Efron, "Drake & Josh"

• Does "Graduation" actually bring Kim Possible's career to a close? Maybe

  On the eve of the airing of this series finale, Jim Hill talks with KP creators Robert Schooley and Mark McCorkle. Who talk about the surprise fourth season that this Disney Channel show received as well as how Kim will now live on as the star of a brand-new interactive attraction at Epcot Read More... Posted Thursday, September 06, 2007 12:00 AM | 18 Comments Filed under: Disney, movies, theme park, TV, attraction, Disney Channel, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Epcot, World Showcase, Robert Schooley, Mark McCorkle, "Kim Possible", "So the Drama", "Sky High", Nickelodeon, Walt Disney Television Animation, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End", "Team Possible" interactive game

• Toon Tuesday: Why "Ratatouille" 's good-but-not-great box office numbers are now causing problems for Disney's marketing department

  Jim Hill talks about all of the finger-pointing that's going on in Burbank & Emeryville, as execs try to find someone to blame for this Pixar picture's perceived under-performance Read More... Posted Tuesday, September 04, 2007 12:00 AM | 105 Comments Filed under: Disney, movies, Pixar, computer animation, Walt Disney Pictures, promotion, "Cars", "Ratatouille", "The Simpsons Movie", Brad Bird, "Enchanted", WALL E, "The Incredibles", "Finding Nemo", Pixar Animation Studios, "A Bug's Life", marketing, "Toy Story", "Toy Story 2", "The Bourne Ultimatum"

• Monday Mouse Watch: Is Disney getting ready to send in the "Clones" ?

  How badly does the Walt Disney Company want to acquire the broadcast rights to George Lucas' new animated "Star Wars" TV series? So much so that it's reportedly willing to let Lucas ride herd on the retheming of much of Disneyland's Tomorrowland section. Jim Hill shares the latest scuttlebutt coming out of WDI Read More... Posted Monday, August 27, 2007 12:00 AM | 37 Comments Filed under: Disney, DVD / Video, movies, theme park, TV, attraction, Imagineering, ABC, Disney Channel, Disneyland, 20th Century Fox, Fox, Disney-MGM Studios theme park, The Jungle Cruise, Anaheim, George Lucas, Innoventions, Star Tours, "Star Wars", ABC Family, HBO, Jedi Training Academy, Astro Orbitor, Star Wars Weekends, Autopia, "Star Wars Insider", Toon Disney, The Clone Wars, ABC Studios

• Toon Tuesday : Want to help chart Pixar's future? Then be sure and take that animation studio's online survey

  Jim Hill directs your attention to several interesting new spots that have recently popped up on the Web: The Buy n Large homepage as well as an online survey that asks for your opinion on what the most important aspects of Pixar Animation Studios are Read More... Posted Tuesday, August 07, 2007 12:00 AM | 38 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, movies, Pixar, traditional animation, computer animation, CG, Walt Disney Pictures, promotion, The Lion King, Disney-MGM Studios theme park, "Beauty & the Beast", "Cars", "Ratatouille", "Aladdin", Buy n Large, WALL E