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The full-length animated features that Walt Disney Animation Studios has produced over the past 75 years can mostly be sorted into two distinctly different piles: Those films that Walt personally had a hand in and those movies which were produced after Disney passed away. Please note that I said "mostly...

We're conducting a little experiment today. Taking one of the more popular pieces that was ever posted on this website (this detailed look at a full 10 pages of script that was cut out of the original theatrical release of " Who Framed Roger Rabbit " originally ran on JHM back in August...

First up, Danny writes in to ask: Jim, Any reason that you know of why Pixar started skimping on their DVD packages? Up to and including " The Incredibles ," no company did the medium justice better than Pixar. But the discs for " Cars " and " Rataouille " (which I have an advanced copy of) are pathetic...

This is probably going to seem like a very weird request. But -- if you could -- I'd really like it if you guys could buy up a bunch of copies of " Walt Disney's Cinderella " (Disney Press, August 2007) Copyright 2007 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved "And why should we do that?," you ask...

Well, here we are in Week 2 of the Walt Disney Company dealing with its Undressa Hudgens situation. And based on what I've been hearing, Mickey has finally decided that it will in fact stand behind this " High School Musical " star. Mind you, it's not like the Mouse ever really had the option of distancing...

By late Friday night, the headlines read " Disney Stands by High School Musical Star ." Which meant that -- in spite of what a Mouse House spokesperson called " ... obviously a lapse in judgment" -- the Walt Disney Company wasn't going to distance itself from Vanessa Hudgens. Punish this tween favorite...

Okay. Let's start your Monday morning off with a funny little Disney-related story from the September issue of " Star Wars Insider " magazine. Which alludes to a particularly bizarre moment during the production of " Episode IV - A New Hope ." It seems that -- with the hope that they might be able to...

A real treat showed up in the mail today. " Darkwing Duck: Volume 2 ." Copyright 2007 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved I don't know how many of you remember this " Disney Afternoon " show. But "Darkwing Duck" was great fun. A witty spoof of the whole superhero genre, "DD" debuted as part...

Let's start with the news that may confuse some of you. In that there are folks at Walt Disney Animation Studios who are downright giddy that " The Simpsons Movie " has done as well as it has over the past 10 days. "And why would WDAS employees be excited by the success of a 20th Century Fox film ?,...

You'd think that -- when the very first edition of " Leonard Maltin 's Movie Guide" was published back in 1969 -- that this then-18-year-old film historian would have been terribly proud of his first published work. Well, think again. "To be honest, I was embarassed by the book," Maltin admitted in a...

Little town It's a quiet village, Ev'ry day Like the one before Okay. So it isn't a "Little town." It's the Big Apple. And it wasn't a day "... Like the one before." This was Sunday, July 29th. The night when Broadway's "Beauty and the Beast" finally ended its 13 year run. Photo by Nancy Stadler Inside...

It was the super-secret holiday movie that you weren't supposed to know about. Until Bob Hoskins -- in a July 4th interview with EmpireOnline -- revealed that ... "... ( Robert Zemeckis ) is going to make A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey . He wants me to play Mr Fezziwig. He's doing in...

Anneliese van der Pol is not the first actress to play Belle in Broadway's version of "Beauty & the Beast" (That honor went to stage veteran Susan Egan . Who -- these days -- is probably best known to Disneyana fans as the voice of Megara in " Hercules ") ... Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All...

As a direct result of some of the "Ratatouille" -related pieces that I've posted on JHM over the past few weeks, I have received a number of ... er ... colorful messages from Pixar fans recently. Here's one of the more family-friendly examples. Which came from Patty T. of Haines City, FL : Why must you...

Okay. I admit it. Maybe -- just maybe -- the folks at Walt Disney Studios actually do know what they are doing. Case in point: " Ratatouille ." When this Brad Bird film only sold $47 million worth of tickets over its opening weekend (Which was at least 20% less than the $60 million that industry experts...

It's the word that every Disney executive dreads: Recall. Officials at the Mouse House still shudder when they think back on the " Rescuers " recall of 1999. When 3.4 million copies of that newly released video had to be pulled off store shelves. All because -- in just two frames out of the 110,000 that...

First up, Kevin writes in to say: I was just wondering, how do Disney executives feel about the Wiggles joining up with Six Flags for the " Wiggles World " theme areas in their parks? Is this a sign that the Wiggles and Disney may be parting company soon? Kevin Dear Kevin -- Nope. You have to understand...

Over the past six months, JHM has featured a number of stories that talked about the Walt Disney Company's concerns about " Ratatouille ." How the marketing department at the studio has been struggling to find just the right way to promote this new Brad Bird film. (Don't believe me? Then check out these...

Earlier this week, Perry T. sent me the following e-mail : Jim, Are you as sick as I am about how the Imagineers keep forcing characters into older attractions at the Disney theme parks? Just in the past six months, we've had that new " Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor " show replace the Magic Kingdom 's old...

This past Tuesday afternoon, the news traveled around the Disney lot at lightning speed. PAs saw it displayed on their pagers, while executives read all about it on their Blackberrys. Sharon Morrill -- the long-time president of DisneyToon Studios -- was out. Morrill -- who (it's said) had made billions...