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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's the very best way to break into the biz? Does going to some four year school like Emerson College or CalArts (which specializes in Communications and the performing arts) really give you an advantage? Or would it better in the long run to just hook up with some outfit like pabootcamp and...

When people talk about where the Disney / Pixar magic comes from, there are always a few California cities that get mentioned right away. Burbank. Glendale. Anaheim. Emeryville. But - to be honest -- there's one other place that really belongs on that list. And that's Valencia, CA. Which is home...

Remysthe14me writes in to say: Copyright Disney Pixar. All rights reserved I saw Jon Nadelberg 's story about the " Pixar: 25 Years of Animation " exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California and was wondering if this is the same exhibition of art that was presented at the MOMA in 2005?...

You've heard "How Do You Solve a Problem like Maria," right? The song that the nuns sing in "The Sound of the Music" when they're fretting about that novice's behavior? Well, have you ever wondered what that Rodgers & Hammerstein song might sound like if Roz from "Monsters...

With “Toy Story 3” earning over $365 million worldwide since this Lee Unkrich film was released on June 18 th (More importantly, with the “Toy Story” franchise having produced over $8 billion in global retail sales to date), it is sometime hard to remember that – just 15 years ago – there weren’t a whole...

If you read my March 16 th non-review of that Showest screening of “ Toy Story 3 ,” then you already know that I’m a huge fan of this Lee Unkrich film. But you know what truly impressed me about this Pixar production? That in the months leading up to the release of this acclaimed animated feature, no...

My apologies for JHM getting a late start today. But Nancy and I really do have a very good excuse for not posting ‘til just now. You see, we were invited down NYC yesterday for Disney’s holiday showcase. Which means that we spent 5 hours going from room-to-room-to-room, seeing virtually everything that...

Do you recall – just a few weeks back – how quick industry analysts were to write off “ How to Train Your Dragon ”? That – because this Chris Sanders & Dean DeBlois film “only” earned $43.3 million over its opening weekend (as opposed to the $59.3 million that DreamWorks Animation ’s “ Monsters vs...

You’ve probably seen a lot of Joe Ranft -related material popping up around the Web over the past few days. John Musker ’s excellent story reel-based tribute to his old pal (who was tragically killed in an automobile accident back on August 16, 2005 ). No to mention the first installment of Leo Holzer...

A few days ago, Lee Unkrich tweeted this phone message that he received from someone named Geordi. Who – upon learning that Lee was directing “ Toy Story 3 ” – actually left Unkrich voicemail which said : “Please, please don’t screw (this movie) up … Make it big. Make sure that something very important...

First up, Davis P. writes to ask about JHM’s American International Toy Fair coverage this week : I thought that Jim Hill Media was a website that mostly covered Disney’s theme parks and animated films. What made you decide to go to New York and cover Toy Fair this year? Dear Davis P. Why did Nancy and...

With its turn-of-the-century architecture, Gotham Hall has long prided itself on being that spot in New York City “ … where style meets sophistication.” Well, yesterday morning, all of that style & sophistication gave way to silliness. As Disney Consumer Products turned this seven-story-tall gilded...

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...

Have you looked at the calendar lately? No, I’m not talking about how there are just seven shopping days ‘til Christmas. I mean that – as of today – we’ve just two weeks left ‘til 2010 gets underway. Well, the folks who run The Walt Disney Company are clearly already making plans for next year. Over...

According to John Lasseter, the folks at Pixar Animation Studios have been dying to make “Toy Story 3” for years now. But – that said – that doesn’t mean that it’s been all that easy to come up with a storyline that was a worthy follow-up to the much-beloved “Toy Story” & “Toy Story 2.” As John recalled...

When people talk about the impact that John Lasseter has had on the Mouse House, they tend to focus on Walt Disney Animations Studios as well as the Company’s Parks & Resorts division. Which is a shame. Why For? Because these folks are really missing the bigger picture. You see, John isn’t just out...

If you haven’t already decided that you really, really , REALLY need to attend this year’s Comic-Con International, the following will certainly seal the deal. You wanna know who Disney’s bringing to San Diego this year? Would you believe John Lasseter, Tim Burton, Robert Zemeckis and Hayao Miyazaki...

It's been a week now since that "TR2N" teaser trailer ran at Comic-Con. And Disneyana & sci-fi fans are desperate for additional information about this Summer 2010 release. Well, let me share some info that I'm sure will send all of you "TRON" fanboys out there straight off the Game Grid. Guess who...

As I was reading through the most recent issue of " Tales from the Laughing Place " magazine (Which -- FYI -- features a spectacular selection of articles on Epcot & its history. If you aren't yet a subscriber of this high quality quarterly, this is one issue that you should probably go out of your...