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Given that one of the key scenes in " Saving Mr. Banks " is the Hollywood premiere of " Mary Poppins " (which was held on August 27, 1964 at Graumann's Chinese Theatre ), I thought that all of you movie trivia buffs out there might be interested to learn that the 49th anniversary...

It's become quite the hot-button issue in cinematic circles. What to do about people who bring their electronics along with them when they go out to the movies and then fire these devices up mid-film. Just late week at the Toronto International Film Festival , Alex Billington -- the blogger behind...

If you listen carefully today, you can hear thousands of people around the country quietly cursing. "And why are these people cursing?," you ask. Well, that's because these folks are just now realizing it's February 13th. Which means that tomorrow is Valentine's Day. That day when...

Let's cut to the chase here: David Arquette is a REAL good sport. Elsewise how would you explain this " Scream " star's willingness to do a synchronized Sprinkler with Master Moves Mickey ... Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved ... or (harkening back to his appearance...

What with James Cameron's tour of Disney's Animal Kingdom on October 17 th (which was then followed by this Academy Award-winner's visit to Universal's Island of Adventure on October 18 th ), the Web has once again been a-buzz with stories about how The World of Avatar is supposed to...

So what was the high point of Destination D: Walt Disney World 40 th , that D23 event that was held this past weekend at Disney's Contemporary Resort ? Given that there were so many terrific panels & presentations over this two-day-long event, it wouldn't really be fair to single out a particular...

So how exactly did Dick Van Dyke wind up playing Bert in " Mary Poppins " ? According to his just-released memoir, " My Lucky Life In and Out of Show Business " (Crown Archetype, May 2011), Dick landed his role in that Disney classic because an earlier film of his - 1964's "...

In honor of Super Bowl Sunday (that annual television event that turns tens of millions of us into couch potatoes, when we wolf down handful of greasy potato chips and/or platters full of toppings-laden potato skins), I thought that - today - it might be appropriate to pay tribute to that most cinematic...

So what exactly is the deal with Boxing Day ? How did December 26 th wind up with this particular moniker? Well, in the U.K., the name supposedly dates back to the tradition of Victorian tradesmen receiving "Christmas boxes" and/or gifts on the day after Christmas in return for goods &...

I have been writing professionally about The Walt Disney Company for over 25 years now. Which is why I can tell you what it felt like to be in a theater on November 17, 1989. Which was the night that " The Little Mermaid " was first released to theaters. As the credits rolled, I remember turning...

You remember Michael Eisner , right? That infamous micro-manager who was in charge of The Walt Disney Company during an unprecedented period of growth. When - within one twenty year period -- the Mouse House moved from being this film & theme park company that was worth $1.8 billion to becoming a...

Greetings from the Universal Orlando Resort . Where I’m now in my final day of covering the grand opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter . Photo by Jim Hill It has been an absolutely amazing couple of days. And I’m heading back to New Hampshire tonight with all sorts of stories to share about...

Welcome to Las Vegas. Where the 2010 Licensing International Expo is just winding down. Just like last year, before attendees could enter the Mandalay Bay Convention Center , they first had to walk through this gauntlet of colorful banners which trumpeted all of The Walt Disney Company’s key brands and...

First up, Mark K. writes to ask about WDW ’s Night Kingdom / Jungle Trek project: There was considerable talk several years back about a potential 5th park opening but I have heard no mention of it recently. Did the recession and the decision to remake fantasy land doom this project? Dear Mark K. – There...

All’s well that ends well. Or so says William Shakespeare and/or John Heywood . But it’s not Heywood that we’re talking about today. But – rather – Hollywood. And after having watched Disney’s “ Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ,” I’m now wondering if it’s actually okay to overlook the first 100 minutes...

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...

Given that we now live in the age of DreamWorks 3.0 , with Walt Disney Studios distributing the films that Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider will soon be producing, it’s kind of hard to remember the bad old days. When Jeffery Katzenberg was … … out to deplete Disney’s talent pool. He flattered Disney...

Let’s start with the obvious question: Is Lee Unkrich concerned that he’s going to be the guy who breaks Pixar’s now-10-pictures-long winning streak? When I got to talk with the director of “ Toy Story 3 ” as part of a roundtable session at Comic-Con last year, Lee admitted that – with each new hit that...

Good God. Are we really already be up to Volume 9 in the “Walt’s People” series? I can recall when Disney Historian Didier Ghez initially proposed these books (which – if I’m remembering correctly – was sometime back during the Pleistocene Epoch) that would collect & then reprint the very best Mouse...

David Kracov remembers the night that he decided to quit working in animation. “A bunch of my friends took me out to Astroburger . And while we were eating, Brad Bird tried to talk me out of quitting. Brad said that he wanted me to come work with him on this new movie he wanted to make. Which was about...