November, 2004

In honor of Veterans' Day, JHM pays tribute to a navy vet (as well as a Disney Legend) whose "Can Do" attitude had a huge impact on both Disneyland & Walt Disney World. ...

Did you know that the Walt Disney Company has yet to honor the man who found just the right spot to build Disneyland at, then went on supervise the construction of that theme park? Jim Hill needs your help if he's going to convince Mouse House officials to recognize C.V. Wood during Disneyland's 50th anniversary celebration next year....

Since he was without power for most of Friday, Jim Hill was unable to send along this column 'til just now. Which details what Disneyland would have been like if the "Disney Decade" plan had actually been followed as well as revealing which lucky JHM readers won the NYC "World of Disney" contest. ...

Looking back at yet another project that the Imagineers once wanted to build at Walt Disney World, Jim Hill offers up some info about the 600-room western-themed hotel that was supposed to built between Wilderness Lodge & the Fort Wilderness campground.

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Everybody's heard the stories about Disneyland's $17 million price tag. But only Jim Hill can tell you what actually cost what by recreating some Disneyland construction invoices that he recently unearthed....

Why would someone take a 14.55 carat emerald, then sculpt this precious gem 'til it looked just like Mickey Mouse? Jim Hill suspects that it may have something to do with the early, early days of WDW's World Showcase project. ...

Jim Hill offers us a glimpse inside Marc Davis' ""Enchanted Snow Palace,"" then explains why the ""most beautiful thing that had ever been designed for a Disney theme park"" never got built....

Jim Hill brings us up to speed on what's going on Lindsay Lohan, the star of Disney's upcoming "Herbie: Fully Loaded." ...

Jim Hill's back with a lot of Muppet-related news, including the real origins of that sculpture in the Fifth Avenue "World of Disney" store as well as what's been going on with the "Muppets Wizard of Oz." All this -- plus a new JHM contest!...

Jim Hill returns with even more answers to your Disney-related questions. This time around, Jim talks about the Times Square hotel that the Walt Disney Company almost built, where to look to find Frank & Ollie in "The Incredibles" as well as announcing his next set of Disney World tours. Enjoy!...

Jim Hill starts the week off with some Disney related news, including what Pixar may be looking for in order to extend its current deal with the Mouse House, a brief desciption of "Cars" 's plot, an update on Hong Kong Disneyland's "Autopia" as well as revealing what sort of stage show cruisers can expect to see when the "Disney Magic" makes its inaugural West Coast voyage next summer....

Jim Hill unearths a transcript of a video press kit that was released to the media back in July of 1985, just in time for Disneyland's 30th anniversary. This transcript talks about yet another version of "The Happiest Place on Earth" that never quite happened. ...

Jim Hill answers only one JHM reader's question this week. But what a question! This time around, Jim talk about Steve Jobs' plans for Pixar, what the Walt Disney Company has just started to do with the Muppets, a one-of-a-kind Henson event that's being held this weekend at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as well as his upcoming Disney World tours. ...

Jim Hill reveals animators' fears that the Mouse's marketing staff -- in an effort to prove that Disney Feature Animation can actually compete with Pixar -- may be over-selling this Summer 2005 release. ...

As news continues to leak about the "Winnie the Pooh" -themed meet-n-greet area that may soon occupy the spot where Captain Nemo's subs once sailed, Jim Hill reminds us that supposedly temporary shows have this awful habit of becoming permanent attractions. ...

In his first post-Thanksgiving article, Jim Hill talks up an important new movie, previews an upcoming JHM article, plugs fabsboards.com as well as carouselchecks.com and ... Oh, yeah! Announces the next JHM contest. ...

Jim Hill talks about the never-produced project that Disney Company execs once saw as the logical follow-up to "TRON," a big screen bio of the noted physicist that was to have used computer animation to help illustrate Einstein's theories. ...