April, 2007

| |

Jim Hill

Monday MouseWatch : Will the third time be the charm with Disney's Muppet revival project ?

Posted 04-29-2007

by Jim Hill
- 32 Comments
Jim Hill walks us through the recent history of the Muppet Holding Company / Muppet Studios LLC. Which has blown through a trio of seasoned Disney VPs in the past three years. So now the question is: Does Lylle Breier really have what it takes to restore Jim Henson's once-beloved set of characters to their former glory?...
Jim Hill

Why For wasn't this episode of "Dinosaurs" ever broadcast on ABC ?

Posted 04-26-2007

by Jim Hill
- 17 Comments
In honor of next Tuesday's DVD release of the third & fourth seasons of this acclaimed Touchstone Television / Jim Henson Productions series, Jim Hill talks about a particular show that never actually aired on ABC. A brutally funny send-up of Disneyland & Walt Disney World called "Variations on a Theme Park"...
Jim Hill

Kermit the Frog reveals what you need to do "Before You Leap"

Posted 04-25-2007

by Jim Hill
- 13 Comments
Jim Hill reviews this new Muppet-related book, which offers "A Frog's-Eye View of Life's Greatest Lessons"...
Jim Hill

Disney World to field-test after-hours party aimed at 14-year-olds next month

Posted 04-24-2007

by Jim Hill
- 31 Comments
With the May 4th debut of its 8th Grade Grad Jam program, the Mouse is now targeting the middle school crowd. But Jim Hill wonders: Should this new hard ticket event prove to be a huge success, can Disney's Kindergarten Graduation Celebration be all that far behind?...
Jim Hill

Mouse in MO? JHM says "No" : Why the latest round of Disney-in-Branson rumors aren't true

Posted 04-23-2007

by Jim Hill
- 26 Comments
Would Mouse House officials really be so stupid as to use the actual address of Disney's corporate headquarters on a "Registration of Fictitious Name" form? Jim Hill doesn't think so. Which is why he now points out all of the other problems with this new Mickey's-coming-to-Missouri story...
Jim Hill

Monday MouseWatch : Is Bob Iger getting ready to say "Buenas Noches" to Buena Vista ?

Posted 04-22-2007

by Jim Hill
- 22 Comments
The Mouse House's Big Cheese is all about the branding these days, or so says Jim Hill. Read about how historically significant names like Buena Vista & Hyperion are deliberately being pulled off of Disney's corporate roster. As this new CEO concentrates on putting his company's three main brands (I.E. Disney, ESPN & ABC) in the front window...
Jim Hill

Why For did WDW's Asian, Venetian and Persian resorts never get built?

Posted 04-19-2007

by Jim Hill
- 12 Comments
Following up on last week's column, Jim Hill talks about those highly themed hotels that were supposedly to be built during WDW's "Phase Two." Only to have those plans scuttled by the Oil Embargo of 1973 ...
Jim Hill

Broadway's "Beauty & the Beast" celebrates its 13th anniversary

Posted 04-18-2007

by Jim Hill
- 11 Comments
Over 130 current & former cast members of this acclaimed musical dropped by the Lunt-Fontanne theatre yesterday morning to take part in this very special event. Jim Hill shares some of the photos that Disney Theatrical took to commemorate this amazing reunion...
Jim Hill

"The Dream Team" serves up some intriguing insights about how the New Hollywood really operates

Posted 04-17-2007

by Jim Hill
- 11 Comments
Jim Hill reviews Daniel M. Kimmel's new book. Which tracks the rise & fall of DreamWorks SKG, that ambitious entertainment company that Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg founded back in October of 1994...
Jim Hill

Tune Tuesday : Meet the (Julie) Andrews Sisters

Posted 04-16-2007

by Jim Hill
- 14 Comments
Jim Hill points you toward a fun YouTube clip from 1972. Where -- for the first & only time -- Julie Andrews shares the stage with her two most famous characters, Eliza Doolittle and Mary Poppins ...
Jim Hill

Monday MouseWatch : WDI hopes that its "Living Character Initiative" will make up for losing "Harry Potter" as well as Kuka's robotic arm technology

Posted 04-15-2007

by Jim Hill
- 82 Comments
It's been a bruising couple of months for the Imagineers. What with Universal Studios acquiring the theme park rights to J.K. Rowling's characters as well as gaining exclusive use of a technology that the guys in Glendale already had plans for. But Jim Hill details how WDI hopes to bounce back with a little help from Pixar...
Jim Hill

Why For would Walt Disney Productions ever want to build a "Vacation Kingdom" right in the middle of the swamps of Central Florida ?

Posted 04-12-2007

by Jim Hill
- 22 Comments
Jim Hill shares some excerpts from the "Preview Edition" of the "Walt Disney World: The Vacation Kingdom of the World" guide. Which will give you an in-depth look at "Phase One" of WDW's master plan circa 1969 / 1970...
Jim Hill

Wandering the halls with Roy E. Disney

Posted 04-11-2007

by Jim Hill
- 21 Comments
Jim Hill brings you the highlights from this past Saturday night, when noted film historian Leonard Maltin interviewed this Disney Legend at the Philadelphia Film Festival ...
Jim Hill

"The Animated Man" offers an intimate, more immediate look at the life of Walt Disney

Posted 04-10-2007

by Jim Hill
- 6 Comments
Jim Hill weighs in on the "Which is better: Neal Gabler's "Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination" or Michael Barrier's "The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney" controversy. And finds that Barrier's bio touches on a number of stories that the Gabler book seems to have missed...
Jim Hill

Monday MouseWatch : "Meet the Robinsons" keeps moving forward, while "Grindhouse" grinds to a halt. PLUS new "Pirates 3" images !

Posted 04-08-2007

by Jim Hill
- 25 Comments
Jim Hill takes a look at what happened this past weekend at the box office. Plus he shares some image captures from the official "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" website, which just went live this past weekend...
Jim Hill

Roy E. Disney returns to Philadelphia to accept PFF's Inspiration Award

Posted 04-05-2007

by Jim Hill
- 19 Comments
What a difference three years makes. As Walt's nephew heads back to the City of Brotherly Love this Saturday night, where Leonard Maltin will then conduct an interview with Roy at the Prince Music Theater, Jim Hill looks back at all the changes that have occurred at the Walt Disney Company since March of 2004...
Jim Hill

Do you think that Disney invented the in-park movie premiere ? Think again

Posted 04-04-2007

by Jim Hill
- 14 Comments
Jim Hill takes you back to June of 1971. When the Duke moseyed on over to Knott's Berry Farm for the world premiere of his latest motion picture, "Big Jake" as well as to take part in the dedication of the John Wayne Theatre...
Jim Hill

"Tarzan : The Broadway Adventure" chronicles the misfire of Disney Theatrical's latest musical

Posted 04-03-2007

by Jim Hill
- 4 Comments
Jim Hill reviews Michael Lassell's latest Broadway behind-the-scenes book. Which is actually a surprisingly honest account of how Disney Theatrical's most recent production started out with such promise, only to then be derailed by brutal reviews...
Jim Hill

Toon Tuesday : Will "Robinsons" lackluster box office actually help speed the return of traditional animation at Walt Disney Studios?

Posted 04-02-2007

by Jim Hill
- 120 Comments
Jim Hill shares a story that one WDFA insider told him yesterday. Which explains how "Meet the Robinsons" earning less than "Chicken Little" did over its own opening weekend could actually turn out to be good news for traditional animation fans...
Jim Hill

Monday MouseWatch : These days, there's 'way too many rooms at WDW's inn

Posted 04-01-2007

by Jim Hill
- 43 Comments
Jim Hill takes a look at one of Disney World's most serious problems. Which is that this Central Florida resort now has 5000 more hotel rooms than it can actually fill on a regular basis ...

No results found