January, 2004

Jim Hill shares the latest news about the Walt Disney Company / Pixar Animation Studios contract extension controversy....

Eisner's letter in this year's annual report as well as an e-mail from WDFA president David Stainton have Disney animation fans seeing red. Wanna know what all the fuss is about? Read on....

Jim Hill provides detailed answers your Disney-related questions. This time around, he responds to queries about the "Jolly Holidays" dinner show, the Dolphin and the Swan as well as what's going on with Disney's use of the "MGM" name.

...

After singing the praises of "Faster! Cheaper!"'s sequel, Jim Hill was shocked to find out that copies of Floyd Norman's first collection of cartoons are still available for purchase....

Disney execs are reportedly petrified about what they should do concerning the Oscar nomination that this Salvador Dalí -- inspired animated short just received. Should the studio run an aggressive campaign in an effort to claim this acclaimed award, but then run the risk of allowing "Destino"'s executive producer -- Roy E. Disney -- the opportunity to speak directly to 200 million TV viewers worldwide?...

JHM readers fire back about the state of Disney ... and boy, they've got a lot to say ......

Did Disney Feature Animation shut down production of yet another promising project last month? Jim Hill provides the depressing details....

Message in a Bottle Jim Hill shares a letter from a JHM reader who expresses some concerns about the upkeep of WDW's "Splash Mountain" attraction, then talks about what happened to Disney's standards of quality. ...

Jim Hill reports on Toontown's latest tragedy: Disney Feature Animation's decision to let studio vets John Musker and Ron Clements go....

You wanna know the REAL reason that Walt Disney Pictures upcoming animated release, "Home on the Range," has been rated PG? Jim Hill reveals this and more in an in-depth article about last Wednesday's WDFA "Town Hall" meeting at the Alex Theater in Glendale, CA....

Jim Hill provides answers to your Disney-related questions. This time around, Jim talks about when Ace Ventura appeared at Disney-MGM, why that new-Disney-theme-park-in-Turkey rumor really is a turkey, why "Plectu's Fantastic Intergalactic Revue" never landed in Disneyland's Tomorrowland. Plus Mr. Hill apologizes to the staff of Feature Animation-Florida for an unintended slight....

Jim Hill finally gets around to reading Dan Brown's best seller and wonders what all the fuss was about. "The Da Vinci Code" is a fairly standard thriller with a somewhat controversial stance on church history thrown in. Not to mention some very odd ideas about the significance of Disney's "Sleeping Beauty."...

As this unfortunate event winds to a finish, Jim Hill shares some of his favorite stories about Disney's soon-to-be-closed Central Florida animation studio....

JimHillMedia.com tries to put a human face on the closing of Disney's Central Florida studio by running a letter from a Feature Animation-Florida vet....

Only JimHillMedia.com can actually put you inside the room as artists and technicians confront the President of Disney Feature Animation as he tries to defend the corporation's decision to close the Central Florida studio....

Care to guess why Disney Feature Animation's next high profile project got announced late yesterday afternoon? Could it be that far too many reporters had begun asking questions about today's closing of the Central Florida studio?...

As the deadline for the official announcement draws ever nearer, Jim Hill tries to pin down the exact moment that Mouse House managers lost their enthusiasm for Feature Animation-Florida; he seems to think that it had something to do with "Lion King II". PLUS a dramatic new development! ...

As more WDFA-F staffers chime in with their stories about what's really going on inside Disney-MGM's animation facility, Jim Hill asks: Why is the Orlando Sentinelso silent on this issue? Shouldn't the WDFA-F hometown paper be doing more reporting on this proposed closure?...

... Jim Hill stumbled onto three websites that are well worth a look-see. And while we don't want you to leave us, there's some great, fun, funny sites out there that you'll definitely want to pay a visit to....

In a bit of a change of pace, Jim allows an unnamed Disney Feature Animation exec to tell his side of the story. How the proposed closure of the Disney-MGM animation operation is an unfortunate but necessary step if WDFA is to survive beyond the next few years....

JimHillMedia.com continues to shine a spotlight on a story that Disney officials hope you aren't paying attention to: the proposed closure of the company's Central Florida animation studio. Today, one of this Disney-MGM facility's vets reveals how it feels like to be on the inside as all of this is going down....

With just days 'til Mouse House managers officially announce whether or not they'll be shutting down Disney-MGM's animation facility, Jim Hill shines a spotlight on this situation. With the hope that something can still be done to prevent Mickey from pulling the plug....

As JimHillMedia.com gets into gear for the new year, Jim offers up an assortment of stories for your reading pleasure. This Monday morning, Hill talks about the Tournament of Roses / "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" PR flap, reveals the new storyline that Imagineers have cooked up for the Tokyo DisneySea version of this Disney-MGM favorite, as well as offering up an explanation / expansion of last Monday's "Magical Gathering" article....