The other evening, a pal who works for an animation studio that shall remain nameless was telling me about the project he was developing. It was great news to hear he had garnered the attention of the studio bosses and was moving into development on his new movie. But I couldn't but think how things have changed in the cartoon business. People constantly tell me how much "The Jungle Book" impressed them. We thought it was okay. But this movie made a ton of movie back in 1967 and helped...

As a special holiday treat, Disney Legend Floyd Norman takes JHM readers on a tour of Walt Disney Studios circa 1957...

Disney Legend Floyd Norman returns with an object lesson for all you creative types out there. How falling on your face every now & then can actually play an important part in your growth as an artist and as a person...

Animation legend Floyd Norman continues his brand-new series for JHM about the production of "Toy Story 2." In today's installment, Floyd talks about a popular children's television show from the 1950s held the key to cracking a lot of the story problems for this then-direct-to-video sequel ...

Animation legend Floyd Norman continues his brand-new series for JHM about the production of "Toy Story 2." In today's installment, Floyd talks about how a cheesy direct-to-video sequel went through some ruff ...er ... rough patches and eventually became an animated masterpiece...

Animation legend Floyd Norman starts a brand-new series for JHM which chronicles the creation of the last feature-length animated film that Walt would work on. In today's installment, Floyd talks about his initial promotion to the Story department...

Disney Legend Floyd Norman concludes his look at "Wild Life," the CG project that Walt Disney Animation Studios developed but ultimately abandoned in late 2000...

Disney Legend Floyd Norman pays tribute to a master animator & sculptor. Who -- due to his soft-spoken nature -- often doesn't get the attention that he deserves...

Disney Legend Floyd Norman pays tribute to all those animation veterans who have hung in there through the tough times...

Disney Legend Floyd Norman returns with a detailed look at "Wild Life," an innovative animated feature that WDAS developed as a follow-up project for "Dinosaur" but ultimately abandoned in late 2000...

Disney Legend Floyd Norman concludes his series on the development & production of this 1996 Walt Disney Pictures animated feature...

Disney Legend Floyd Norman talks about what it was like to work at Walt Disney Studios in the post-strike era. And to Floyd's way of thinking, "The Bad Old Days" were pretty darned good...

Disney Legend Floyd Norman looks back on the life & career of the late Bruce Gordon. A funny, brilliant and irreverant Imagineer & Disney historian that Floyd believes had a lot in common with the man Bruce so admired, Walt Disney ...

As he concludes his new series about some of the storymen that he worked with at Disney Studios, animation legend Floyd Norman looks back over the career of Vance Gerry...

In the first installment of this new two-part series, Disney Legend Floyd Norman describes what it was like to visit the set of this 1961 David Swift film...

Disney Legend Floyd Norman is back with a trio of wild & wacky stories from his days at the Mouse House. And did we mention that Mr. Fun now has his very own blog ? ...

There's a first time for everything. And -- for animation industry vet Floyd Norman -- the chance to first work as an animator for Walt Disney Studios came with "Windwagon Smith." Floyd now looks fondly back on that time in his career and the talented folks that he worked with...

JHM favorite Floyd Norman reminisces about his old mentor. In particular the significant impact that this talented artist had on Floyd's career...

Animation legend Floyd Norman completes his four-part series about the production of "Toy Story 2." In today's installment, Floyd talks about the last year of production on this Ash Brannon / John Lasseter film. As the crew struggled to solve several story problems while they also tried to avoid burn-out ...

Animation Legend Floyd Norman returns with a look back at the creation of the very first Winnie the Pooh featurette as well as plugging the new "Art of Winnie the Pooh" book ...

Join Disney Legend Floyd Norman in the Coral Room on the Burbank lot in late 1984. And then listen in as Walt’s nephew reassures the troops in regards to all the changes that had recently been made at Walt Disney Productions

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Several years ago a group of young artists were griping about things at their studio. Their behavior amused and annoyed me. I scolded the kids and informed them that one day they would look back and remember this time as the good old days and wonder why they ever complained about anything. Every studio goes through this very special period. It's the beginning. It's the honeymoon. It's the start of a brave new adventure - and to be sure, it's always extremely exciting. I know - I've...

It's become a constant theme in my writing this past year. I've been comparing today's animation studios to the cartoon factories of years past and the changes I've observed. Most noticeable are the amazing technological advances as cartoon making has moved from traditional hand drawn production to today's digital process. You can't walk through a modern animation studio without seeing rows and rows of animation artists working away on their computers and Cintiq Tablets. What's...

In the final installment of his new two-part series, Disney Legend Floyd Norman recalls what it was like to be on the Burbank lot while this 1961 David Swift movie was being filmed...

Leaving Burbank behind for a while, animation legend Floyd Norman recalls his trip to Jamaica back in the 1980s. Back when he and his partner, Leo Sullivan tried to set up that island's first animation studio...