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Elizabeth Jane Cochran didn't exactly make headlines when she was born in Western Pennsylvania 148 years ago this Saturday. But all of that would change when -- at just 16 years of age -- Ms. Cochran took up the pen name Nellie Bly and thus became America's first female investigative reporter...

New and a bit alarming Who 'd have ever thought that this could be? Well, " Beauty and the Beast " co-director Kirk Wise doesn't seem all that surprised that this Academy Award-winning film (which was the first animated feature to ever be nominated for Best Picture) got selected for...

It's now considered one of the great PR disasters of 2010. The way that NBC totally mismanaged its Jay Leno / Conan O'Brien situation. Which ultimately resulted in Conan bolting for TBS , a significantly battered & bruised Jay resuming his duties as host of " The Tonight Show "...

W.C. Fields is often credited with coining that old show business adage, "Never work with children or animals." Copyright 2009 W.C. Fields Productions. All rights reserved Well, Robert Vince has clearly never heard this adage. Given that - as the writer / producer / director of Disney's...

IronManFan236 sent in a question that was short & sweet: Did Marvel Studios deliberately make Howard Stark look like Walt in “ Iron Man 2 ” as a tribute / tip-of-the-hat to the Disney acquisition deal? Iron Man 2, the Movie: Copyright 2010 MVL Film Finance LLC. Iron Man, the character: TM & Copyright...

When it comes to real estate & retail, there are two adages that these worlds share: “Timing is everything” and “Location, location, location.” Which brings to mind “ Studio Disney 365 ” (i.e. that tween-centric store which opened in the Disneyland Resort ’s Downtown Disney shopping district back...

Did you hear about the play test that WDI ran at The Magic Kingdom last month? Where the Imagineers used Guests who were waiting in line for a character meet-n-greet right outside of Pooh’s Playful Spot to try out a new entertainment-based queuing system? Though the Imagineers are being pretty close...

First up, RedRyderBB writes in to say: Disneyland can’t be serious about bringing back “Captain EO.” I saw that 3D movie when it first opened in 1987 and once was really enough. “EO” was just a glorified music video. And even MTV doesn’t show music videos anymore. So what’s the point of bringing “Captain...

Feeling pretty smug (or – at the very least – hung over) because you spent last night at some hoity toity New Year’s Eve party? Well, take a gander at these shots. Which were taken on the very last night that members of the general public were allowed into WDW's Adventurers Club. Photo by Jeff Lange...

Okay. I know. JHM has already done a number of stories on “ Disney Prep and Landing ,” that new holiday special that Walt Disney Animation Studios produced exclusively for ABC (which – FYI – wound up being the highest rated Christmas special of the 2009 – 2010 season ). Copyright 2009 Disney Enterprises...

Every family has Christmas Eve traditions. For the Hills … Well, first we eat itty-bitty pizzas. Then the family gathers in the living room, where – going from oldest to youngest – we each hang up our stocking before taking a single candy cane off of the Christmas tree. Whereas for the Gattelli family...

Disney's A Christmas Carol Train Tour is now in the home stretch. After today's stop in the Amtrak Station in Jacksonville, FL. , this rolling promotion for Walt Disney Pictures' next Digital 3D release has only three cities left on its 40-city intinerary: Charleston, SC (October 23 - 25), Philadelphia...

Talk about your Heigh Ho / Oh No moments. On the heels of reports that the 70th anniversary edition of " Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs " had topped national sales charts (supposedly because of high consumer demand for this Disney classic in Hi-Def) came Bob Iger’s comments at an entertainment law conference...

You gotta give DreamWorks Theatricals & Neal Street Productions their props. These folks will do whatever they have to in order to make sure that “ Shrek the Musical ” stands out from the crowd. Seem that much more different than all the other shows that are currently running on Broadway. Take –...

Is it just me or does Nathan Fillion seem to be everywhere these days? I mean, the guy reprised his role as Captain Hammer in that “ Dr. Horrible ” sketch on the Emmys back on September 20th. The second season of Fillion’s latest show, “ Castle ,” debuted on the 21 st , while the DVD version of the first...

You’d think -- given that those 104 days of summer vacation are now finally drawing to a close – that “Phineas & Ferb” would also begin winding down as well. That – what with the start of school and all -- this Disney XD & Disney Channel hit series would begin ratcheting things back a bit. Over...

First the good news: What Disney Princess is for little girls, Cars has become for little boys. Copyright Disney·Pixar. All Rights Reserved As in: This John Lasseter film is now one of Disney Consumer Products ’ fastest growing key franchises. Global retail sales of “Cars”-themed licensed merchandise...

If you’re going to see “ Ponyo ” and expecting yet another ambitious animated feature like “ Spirited Away ” and/or “ Princess Mononoke ,” you may be in for a bit of a disappointment. Copyright 2009 Disney Enterprises, Inc. / Copyright 2008 Nibariki-GNDHDDT. All Rights Reserved This time around, Japanese...

You remember what happened to Wart in “ The Sword in the Stone ,” right? How he suddenly went from being Kay’s clumsy squire to becoming the “ … rightwise King born of England.” Copyright Disney. All Rights Reserved Well, Bradley James now knows a little bit about Wart must have gone through. Given that...

Given the firestorm that that “TRON” test footage created at last year’s Comic-Con … Well, it only made sense that the creative team behind this highly anticipated follow-up to that landmark 1982 film would then return to San Diego to reveal even more to this year’s attendees. The only problem is … Director...