April, 2003

As Jim Hill prepares for his next attempt to drive down to Central Florida, he offers up three short stories: Why he's still up in New Hampshire, what's the deal with the aggressive new sales tactics at the Disney Store, and how David Stainton better learn from Bob Weis' mistakes....

Jim Hill wraps up yesterday's story, which details what happened when "VES 2002" attendees got the chance to explore Pixar's new headquarters, including the tale of the hacksaw blade as well as revealing what's in Pixar's trophy case....

In this first installment of a new series for JHM -- which details unique experiences that Jim Hill has had while attending various Visual Effects Society events -- Jim recreates a highlight from "VES 2002," which was when festival attendees got to spend a night noshing and nosing around Pixar Animation's new Emeryville digs....

A.K. returns with even more info about this upcoming Walt Disney Pictures' release ... including where to look in the film to find the Hidden Mickey!...

Don't you wish that you could dress up in a period costume and appear in the ballroom sequence of Disney's forthcoming "Haunted Mansion" movie? Well, one of our readers got that chance and here's the scoop from the set ......

As WDI tries to regroup from Friday's startling announcement, Jim Hill sifts through the clues and tries to figure out what comes next for the "Superstar Limo" redo. PLUS an update on the inaugural run of JimHillMedia.com's WDW tours....

Jim Hill offers JHM readers a sneak preview of one of the film world's cooler events: VES 2003 - A Festival of Visual Effects....

Jim Hill returns with some pretty distressing news about Animal Kingdom's soon-to-be-announced thrill ride. Are WDI's sharp pencil boys already trying to cut crucial story elements before construction even begins on this ambitious new DAK attraction? ...

Why For? Better late than never, Jim Hill returns with even more answers to your Disney related questions. This time around, Jim offers up an apology, brings us some sad news about "Miss Piggy's Superstar Limo," reveals Tinker Bell's X-rated past, then points you toward a great couple of articles over at FilmForce. ...

Jim Hill returns with even more answers to your Disney-related questions. This time around, he reveals why Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle is probably going to remain closed, what's up for DAK after "Forbidden Mountain" opens, what's the deal with the calendar in Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" as well as what may happen at DCA once Disney finally acquires the Muppets....

Jim Hill says that Alan Menken's songs for "Home on the Range" features some of the funniest lyrics in a Disney film in years. All thanks to Alan's new lyricist, Glenn Slater....

Jim Hill reviews Mark Cotta Vaz's great new book, which features hundreds of amazing images from Pixar Animation Studio's upcoming release. ...

In a change of pace, Jim Hill reviews Erik Larson's latest non-fiction novel -- which reveals the incredible impact that the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 had on the United States of America ... as well as Walt Disney....

Jim Hill reviews Steve Mannheim's book about the creation of Epcot, finding it to be well researched but a bit of a slow read....