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• “Disney Prep and Landing” claims the top spot among this year’s holiday specials

  Jim Hill talks with Kevin Deters & Stevie Wermers-Skelton, the co-directors of this new Christmas show. Which airs again tonight on ABC Read More... Posted Wednesday, December 16, 2009 12:00 AM | 3 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, TV, ABC, CG, John Lasseter, ABC Family, Walt Disney Animation Studios, television, WDAS, Prep and Landing, Christmas, 2009, 2007, television program, TV show, Prep & Landing, TV special, holiday special, Christmas special, animated short, Chris Williams, Michael Giacchino , Stevie Wermers-Skelton, television show , holiday, holidays, elves, Disney Prep and Landing, Kevin Deters

• Disney in-jokes add to the fun of “The Princess & The Frog”

  Jim Hill reports in on how well this new hand-drawn animation feature did over its opening weekend. He also shares some of the hidden Disney references that pop up in this picture Read More... Posted Monday, December 14, 2009 12:00 AM | 11 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, Walt Disney Pictures, Ron Clements, John Musker, Disney Legend, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Cinderella, WDAS, Burbank, box office, 2009, animated feature, opening weekend grosses, opening weekend, in-joke, animators , animation industry, Aladdin, The Princess and the Frog, The Little Mermaid, animated film

• “Disney Prep & Landing” : The making of a modern Christmas classic

  Jim Hill talks with Dorothy McKim, veteran WDAS producer, about how what-was-originally-supposed-to-have-been-a-theatrical-short grew into Disney’s first-ever holiday special for ABC Read More... Posted Tuesday, December 08, 2009 12:05 AM | 2 Comments Filed under: Disney, TV, ABC, John Lasseter, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney Store, WDAS, Prep and Landing, Christmas, 2009, Lanny, TV show, Prep & Landing, holiday season , holiday perennial, TV special, holiday story , How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, holiday special, Christmas special, Magee, Wayne, story, holiday, elves, Dorothy McKim, Disney Prep and Landing

• Suspended Animation provides online showcase for the non-Disney art of noted Disney artists

  Jim Hill chats with Tenny Chonin, the former head of Artist Development for Walt Disney Animation Studios, about the new web-based gallery that she launched last month Read More... Posted Friday, November 13, 2009 12:00 AM | 1 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, WDAS, Burbank, animation student, 2009, animated feature, animated short, animated features, paintings, artists , animators , Disney Studios , artistic development, artwork, animated film, animated films

• Monday Mouse Watch : “Carol” makes cash registers ring, while “Frog” ‘s financial future makes Disney animators jumpy

  Jim Hill looks past what “Disney’s A Christmas Carol” earned over its opening weekend to what this new Robert Zemeckis movie will gross over the next 3 to 5 years. He also talks about what impact “The Princess & the Frog” ticket sales may have on veteran animators’ careers Read More... Posted Monday, November 09, 2009 12:00 AM | 10 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, A Christmas Carol, CG, John Lasseter, Robert Zemeckis, Walt Disney Animation Studios, WDAS, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, Tim Burton, Burbank, Ed Catmull, ImageMoversDigital, box office, 2009, animated feature, ticket sales, opening weekend grosses, opening weekend, Disney Feature Animation, animated features, soundstage , hand-drawn animation, animators , CG feature, Disney Digital 3D, 2011, Warner Bros. , The Polar Express, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas in Disney Digital 3-D , seasonal run , box office projections, box office estimates, The Princess and the Frog, hand-drawn, limited release, Charles Dickens, seasonal event, animated film, animated films, ImageMovers, hand-drawn feature, Winnie the Pooh

• 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

• Toon Tuesday: Glen Keane goes back to the drawing board

  Jim Hill shares some shots from Comic-Con. Where this master animator revealed that he had just ended a six month sabbatical and was now returning to work at Walt Disney Animation Studios Read More... Posted Tuesday, August 11, 2009 12:00 AM | 2 Comments Filed under: animation, book, Disney, convention, CG, Drawn to Life: 20 Golden Years of Disney Master Classes , Beauty and the Beast, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Tarzan, drawing class, WDAS, Burbank, Glen Keane, Rapunzel, Eric Goldberg, Tom Sito, panel discussion, 2009, animated feature, character animation, Disney Feature Animation, panel, animated features, drawings , animation fan, character , CG feature, train, 2010, Don Hahn , Walt Stanchfield, drawing classes, San Diego Convention Center , San Diego, convention center , Comic-Con , Comic-Con International, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, Walt Stanchfield lectures, stylization, Ruben Procopio

• "The Archive Series: Story" features a stunning selection of art from Disney's Animation Research Library

  Jim Hill reviews this impressive new hardcover from Disney Editions. He also talks up Don Hahn's book signing tomorrow night at the Barnes & Noble at the Americana at Brand Read More... Posted Wednesday, December 10, 2008 12:00 AM | 1 Comments Filed under: animation, book, Disney, Walt Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Samuel Goldwyn, Jeff Kurtti, Disney Editions, Walt Disney's Legends of Imagineering and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park, Cinderella, Animation Research Library, ARL, WDAS, featurette, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Los Angeles, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, Song of the South, Glen Keane, LA, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Christmas, film, 2008, feature film , Disney Feature Animation, The Fox and the Hound, short, holiday shopping list, Joe Ranft, Hans Christian Andersen, Chris Sanders, December , Mulan, animation fan, shorts, Don Hahn , Fantasia 2000, archives , Barnes & Noble, The Little Mermaid, Steamboat Willie, films, The Alchemy of Animation: Making an Animated Film in the Modern Age, Lilo & Stitch, story, Lilo and Stitch, holiday, feature-length cartoon, Highlander, Bill Peet, Brizzi Brothers, Gaetan Brizzi, Paul Brizzi, The Americana at Brand , In the Bag, Humphrey the Bear, Hellfire, What's This, Firebird Suite, Walt Disney Animation Studios The Archive Series: Story, storyboards, storyboard, story sketches, story sketch, boards, board, featurettes, 1930s, artwork, Malibu, sketches, signing, Christmas gift

• Toon Tuesday : Will Disney Animation's latest "Rapunzel" rescue attempt have a negative impact on "Bolt" 's debut ?

  Jim Hill wonders if Glen Keane's exit will result in more reporters asking about why Chris Sanders was taken off of "American Dog" Read More... Posted Tuesday, October 14, 2008 12:00 AM | 10 Comments Filed under: Disney, movies, DreamWorks, John Lasseter, Ratatouille, DreamWorks Animation, Walt Disney Animation Studios, marketing, WDAS, Ed Catmull, Bolt, Glen Keane, Rapunzel, Dean Wellins, film, movie, 2008, animated feature, Disney Feature Animation, The Fox and the Hound, The Emperor's New Groove, Kingdom of the Sun, American Dog, Chris Sanders, Jan Pinkava, Roger Allers, animated features, Disney Publicity , webmasters, webmaster, 2010, PR team , storyline , co-director, films, Byron Howard, Nathan Greno, Dean DeBlois, Crood Awakening, 2002, Woolie Reitherman, Wolfgang Reitherman, How to Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch, story, head of story, story problems, plot, plotline, reporter, reporters, entertainment writer, entertainment writers, marketing staff, PR Department, Lilo and Stitch, jewelry, Lilo, Stitch

• "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 and the Beast, 101 Dalmatians, Dinosaur, Walt Disney Animation Studios, France, WDAS, 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, 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 , Wales, China Doll, emperor, series finale, 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, school rivalry , 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, Walt Disney Pictures, Beauty and the Beast, John Musker, Ratatouille, Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, DreamWorks Animation, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Toy Story, WDAS, 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, The Emperor's New Groove, Kingdom of the Sun, Kiskaloo, blind men and the elephant, Indian fable, pre-release image, teaser poster, November 2008, gadget tray, 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, Cars, Ratatouille, Leslie Iwerks, Brad Bird, 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, banners, 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

• Tube Tuesday: Gary Trousdale tries to "Shrek the Halls" without first wrecking DreamWorks Animation's most important franchise

  Jim Hill chats with this WDAS vet about many of the ogre-sized challenges he faced while directing this new holiday special. Which airs tomorrow night on ABC Read More... Posted Tuesday, November 27, 2007 12:00 AM | 6 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, DreamWorks, ABC, CG, Epcot, Beauty and the Beast, Shrek the Third, DreamWorks Animation, Walt Disney Animation Studios, television, WDAS, Future World , Christmas, film, gags , film franchise, Happy Holidays, Tis the season, feature film , Shrek Goes Fourth, ratings, color coordinated , Godzilla, midnight snack, chimney, Disney Mix, cookie, It's the most wonderful time of the year, holiday season , gingerbread man, Twas The Night Before Christmas, Gingy, holiday perennial, dated , timeless , film parody, in-joke, Disney in-joke, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Mike Myers , recording session, DreamWorks campus, character bits , TV special, holiday story , How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Best Picture nominee, Richard Purdum , 1980s, Cranium Command, Kirk Wise, holiday special, Christmas special, Gary Trousdale, fairytale, Santa's workshop, The North Pole, Puss in Boots, Donkey, Saint Nick, Saint Nicholas, naughty list, Santa Claus, ogre, Shrek, Shrek's First Christmas, Shrek the Halls

• A special "Toon Much of a Good Thing" edition of Why For

  Jim Hill's back with even more answers to your Disney-related questions. This time around, Jim talks about why Walt Disney Home Entertainment stopped producing 2-disc versions of those new Disney / Pixar DVDs as well as revealing that Walt Disney Animation Studios may already have a second traditionally animated feature in the works Read More... Posted Friday, November 02, 2007 12:00 AM | 30 Comments Filed under: animation, Disney, DVD / Video, theme park, Pixar, traditional animation, computer animation, CG, John Lasseter, Walt Disney Pictures, Disney-MGM Studios theme park, Robert Zemeckis, Ron Clements, John Musker, Cars, Ratatouille, Brad Bird, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Disney's Hollywood , Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Walt Disney Animation Studios, The Incredibles, Pixar Animation Studios, Russia, WDAS, Burbank, WDW, Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Home Entertainment, WDSHE, WDHE, Disney Blu-Ray, Blu-ray, The Magic of Disney Animation, Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida, How to Hook-Up Your Home Theater, Prep and Landing, The Ballad of Nessie, Loch Ness, Glago's Guest, close encounter of the third kind, Walden Media, South of the Border with Walt: Walt Disney and the Good Neighbor Program 1941 - 1948, Heartland Film Festival, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Group, Mark Zoradi, Bolt, Glen Keane, Rapunzel, Dean Wellins, ImageMoversDigital, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, DVD

• 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, Burbank, Mars, brand fatigue, Song of the South, 1920s, 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, IMAX 3D, John Carter of Mars, Barsoom, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, San Francisco