July, 2013

Just a quick heads-up to all you animation & theme park history buffs out there: Profiles in History is holding an animation art auction on Wednesday, July 31st that you really don't want to miss. Copyright 2013 Profiles in History. All rights reserved Joseph Maddalena and his PIH team always manage to chase down some truly amazing items for their auctions. Rarer-than-rare pieces like this early concept painting of Snow White from back when Walt was considering making "The Fairest in...

Let's get the bad news out of the way first. We probably won't be returning to Toontown anytime soon. During the Q & A portion of a panel celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of " Who Framed Roger Rabbit? ," a San Diego Comic-Con attendee asked if the rumors online were true. That there was in fact a sequel to this Robert Zemeckis movie in the works. Cover of proposed Roger Rabbit prequel script, "Toon Platoon." Which was originally submitted for consideration...

While I was away in San Diego, The-World's-No.-1-Brave-Fan sent me this e-mail: I was wondering what your take was on that whole Merida makeover controversy which happened back in May. Do you think that it was wise of Disney Consumer Products to try & turn Pixar's first princess into one of their glitzy & glamorous Disney princesses ? Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved What do you mean "try" ? Look, I know that over a quarter of a million people signed...

Katie Q. dropped me a line earlier today to say: I've really been enjoying JHM's Comic-Con coverage. All of the pictures that you've posted so far make me want to come out San Diego one summer and experience it all for myself. The key to enjoying yourself at Comic-Con -- especially when you're dealing with the extremely crowded, stressful conditions that you often find in San Diego -- is to always keep your head. Photo by Jim Hill My only concern would be the crowds. Are there really...

What's the biggest surprise that Comic-Con attendees have encountered as they've been arriving in San Diego this week? It isn't that building at the corner of 7th Avenue & J Street which looks like Godzilla attacked it. But -- rather -- the changes that Comic-Con International staffers have made in an effort to make the 2013 edition of this super-sized pop culture fest seem a bit more user-friendly. Photo by Jim Hill Take -- for example -- how Comic-Con is now trying to get a handle...

Greetings from San Diego . Where -- in just a few short minutes -- Preview Night at Comic-Con 2013 officially gets underway. Photo by Jim Hill Mind you, when Alice and I dropped by the convention center earlier this afternoon to pick up our credentials, the lines weren't all that bad.But trust me, folks. That'll change real soon. Photo by Jim Hill And it was kind of cool to be able to walk about the Gaslamp Quarter and see some of the displays that various studios had set up around the city...

There's a common misconception out there right now that -- just because The Walt Disney Company is holding its third D23 EXPO at the Anaheim Convention Center on August 9 - 11 -- this then means that the Mouse is taking a pass on this year's Comic-Con in San Diego . Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Which isn't entirely true. I mean, sure. The Disney Company has significantly cut back on the number of panels & presentations that it will be hosting inside &...

It was the phone call that Walt Disney had never expected to receive. Tony & Emmy Award-winner Julie Harris was on the line. She had just portrayed Queen Victoria in a very well-received Hallmark Hall of Fame production of Laurence Housman 's "Victoria Regina." And the morning after this TV special aired, Julie got a call from P.L. Travers , the author of the "Mary Poppins" books . Julie Harris as Queen Victoria and James Donald as Prince Albert in the Hallmark Hall of...

If you look around the Web today, you're going to see some pretty extreme "Lone Ranger" -related headlines. Take -- for example -- the one that Roger Friedman placed atop his after-actions article about this new Jerry Bruckheimer production over at Showbiz 411 : "Lone Ranger" Financial Disaster: Will Disney Heads Roll Again? Yet over at Deadline.com , Nikki Finke (who is infamous for her take-no-prisoners, no-BS take on Tinsel Town) showed remarkable restraint while writing...

Let me guess: Just like millions of other people around the world, you've already been out to your local multiplex to see " Despicable Me 2 ." Which would explain why this Universal Pictures release has already racked up an estimated $59.5 million in domestic ticket sales . More importantly, why industry insiders are now projecting that this Illumination Entertainment production will earn $140 million in North America alone before the long Fourth of July weekend is over. Copyright Universal...

Hey, gang! My apologies for JHM being light on content these past few days. But over the weekend, I was out in Ohio at Dayton Disneyana . Which is this two day-long event presented by the Plane Crazy Chapter of the Disneyana Fan Club . Photo by Jim Hill Disney historian Jim Korkis and I gave a couple of talks over the course of this con. And when we weren't wandering the halls at the Wyndham Garden Hotel meeting & chatting with the very nice members of the Plane Crazy Chapter and/or area...