July, 2010

Let's cut to the chase here: There was just no escaping " TRON: Legacy " at this year's Comic-Con . Even before you entered the San Diego Convention Center , thanks to those banners that seemed to be hanging off of every light post in the city, you found yourself face-to-face with Jeff Bridge's not-exactly-smiling face. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved And then when you got out on the exhibition floor, there was no way you could miss that enormous Recognizer...

Okay. It's time for a little audience participation here at JHM. Normally, I'm the guy who answers your questions (Speaking of which: I'm working on a new "Why For" for Friday. So if you have any Disney-related questions that you'd like to see answered on this site, please send them along ASAP to whyfor@jimhillmedia.com . Anyway ...). But - this time around - I need you guys' help. To preface this question ... Everybody knows now that Billy Crystal was Pixar's original...

I know, I know. For the past week or so, JHM has been running a lot of Comic-Con- related stories . Talking about the various celebrities who made a special trip down to San Diego this year. Well, as it turns out, Anaheim had its own star-studded affair earlier this month. Jennifer Cody (i.e. the winner for this year's Annie for Best Animated Voice Artist for her works as Charlotte in Disney's " The Princess and The Frog ") as well as Michael-Leon Wooley (i.e. the Broadway veteran...

In many ways, " Tangled " is a return-to-the-1990s for Walt Disney Animation Studios . In that this film is a feature-length fairy tale that features a score by Academy Award-winner Alan Menken as well as animation supervised by the great Glen Keane (i.e. the industry legend behind Ariel in " The Little Mermaid ," the Beast in " Beauty and the Beast " as well as the title character in " Aladdin "). While at the same time, this new cinematic version of Rapunzel...

In the wake of yesterday's announcement that Guillermo del Toro would be riding herd on a brand-new "Haunted Mansion" movie for Walt Disney Pictures , the film & fan community erupted. And not necessarily in a good way. Guillermo del Toro. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney PIctures. All rights reserved Don't believe me? Then head on over to AintItCool 's Talkback section. Where posters there (who are still clearly pissed off that the director of " Pan's Labyrinth "...

With Preview Night at this year's Comic-Con just getting underway, let me offer up a quick cautionary tale to all attendees. Before Nancy and I headed out to San Diego back in 2004, we carefully went over that year's schedule. Cherry-picking all of the panels & programming events that we wished to attend. Copyright Comic-Con International. All rights reserved But then came Preview Night . Which was so crowded & so crazy that the two of us were completely exhausted by the time we got...

In the months leading up to the grand opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, whenever I spoke with Disney insiders about what the Company was going to do in response to this highly-anticipated Islands of Adventure addition, Mickey's mantra was pretty much the same: Just wait 'til you see Fantasyland Forest. Copyright Disney Enterprises, inc. All rights reserved But now that The Wizarding World has been open for a month and has proven to be this enormous success, the message coming...

What with " Toy Story 3 " in theaters right now, " Cars 2 " due to debut next summer and a sequel to " Monsters, Inc. " reportedly in the works, one has to wonder what other follow-ups Pixar Animation Studios has planned. Well, based on the domain names that The Walt Disney Company registered today and yesterday, it looks like Marlin, Dory and Nemo may soon be heading off for another aquatic adventure or two. Don't believe me? Then check out the names that Disney's...

When so much has already been written about Disneyland , how would you then go about putting together a brand-new book about the Happiest Place on Earth? That was the challenge that Jeff Kurtti faced when the folks at Disney Editions approached him last year about possibly putting together a new hardcover that could then be used to commemorate the Park's 55 th anniversary. "There have been so many great books & articles that have been written about Disneyland over the years," Kurtti...

Yeah, I know. JHM has a brand-new look. It took a long time (more importantly, an awful lot of hard work by Nancy Stadler and Max Schilling) to make this happen. So if you like what you see here, you have those two to thank. And normally, I'd be posting an article here that hyped all of the site's new bells & whistles. But given that JHM is primarily an entertainment news, all of that will have to wait. Given that I have some sad news to share this morning. You remember Pres Romanillos...

In this week’s Why For column, Jim Hill directs your attention to the Special Collections department at UCF’s Rosen School. Which is Harrison “Buzz” Price’s personal & professional papers are currently being held

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Jim Hill directs your attention to an upcoming bone marrow donor drive. Which will be held at the Minskoff Theatre next Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

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WARNING !! There be spoilers galore in this review of Jon Turteltaub’s latest for Walt Disney Pictures. So if you don’t want to know how this Jerry Bruckheimer production begins, you’d best steer clear of today’s JHM article

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Jim Hill talks with Rachel DiPaola, Product Director of this new Disney Online effort, about all the challenges that her team faced while creating this virtual version of Carburetor County

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Jim Hill brings you the Mouse House-related highlights from this year’s Comic-Con International. Which will be held in the San Diego Convention Center from July 22nd – 25th...

As part of this week’s Why For column, Jim Hill walks you through some of the Company’s plans to revive & revitalize this corporate icon. He also reminds JHM readers that the deadline for buying tickets to “55 Years of Music Magic” is rapidly approaching...

Jim Hill reviews Michael Singe's latest behind-the-scenes book. Which not only celebrates the poem, scherzo and short that provided inspirational material for this new Walt Disney Pictures release but also reveals how this magical movie was made...

As a special Fourth of July weekend treat, Jim Hill shares Tim Lewis’ take on what life was like at The Walt Disney Company back in 1995. Back when Mouse House employees weren’t all that enthusiastic about what John Lasseter & Co. were cooking up in the Bay Area...