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So what does it actually take for D23 to pull together those Fanniversary events that they've been presenting around the country for the past few weeks? According to Jeffrey Epstein, spokesman for the Official Disney Fan Club, it takes a solid six months of behind-the-scenes effort to produce each...

The Internet is really a wondrous place. Especially if you're a young person who's considering a career in animation. If you've ever considered becoming a character designer someday, you can always swing by Tom Bancroft 's Character Mentor Studio or Stephen Silver's blog and then...

Earlier today, Chris sent me a note which read: Hi Jim I am loving the daily why for entries. I heard that when planning a european park the original plan was to construct somewhere is Spain. if this is true why for did Disney feel the need to build it in France? As a Britt, I can say that the amount...

Last Monday afternoon, I was at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum and overheard a pretty funny exchange between two of the docents who'd been assigned to work the " D23 presents Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives " exhibit. Photo by Alice Hill It seems that one of these...

It wasn't always easy directly working for Walt Disney. Sometimes you found yourself dealing with some very weird assignments. "My brother and I were in our office one day when we got a phone call. 'Walt wants you down on Stage 4,' " Disney Legend Richard M Sherman recalled during...

It's one of those must-do aspects of a Walt Disney World vacation. Especially if you've got young kids. Character dining . That pricey breakfast, lunch or dinner which is periodically interrupted as Disney characters come by your table, pose for pictures and sign autographs. Copyright Disney...

You know what they say: the third time's the charm. As D23 mapped out its plans for 2012 ... well, Steven Clark knew that it was going to take more than just charm to make the third year of operation for the Official Disney Fan Club memorable. "Heading into Year No. 3, we felt that it was time...

It all starts one week from today. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved A solid two years of planning has gone into the 2011 edition of the D23 Expo . We're talking about months of meetings with the various divisions of The Walt Disney Company. Hundreds of hours spent putting together...

There's a joke from " Annie Hall " that I love: Two elderly women are at a Catskill mountain resort. And one of them says, "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible." And then the other one says, "Yeah, I know; and such small portions." I bring this story up today...

You know, I kind of feel sorry for all of you Disneyana fans who live out in the Los Angeles area. Why For? Because starting tomorrow ... There are so many Mouse-related events going on in & around Southern California that it will literally be impossible to attend them all. Want proof? Okay then...

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 &...

Greetings from Beantown. Where Nancy and I joined several hundred D23 members at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts yesterday night for a special celebration of "Fantasia" & "Fantasia 2000. " Photo by Nancy Stadler Even before this event officially got underway, attendees could...

Steven Clark was a very busy man in July. When he wasn't down in Anaheim, helping Tony Baxter dispatch StarSpeeders full of D23 Members at last month's "Star Tours Final Flight" event ... (L to R) Steven Clark and Tony Baxter actually suited up in this July 26th members-only event,...

The summer of 1970 wasn’t exactly a time when Walt Disney Studios was covering itself with cinematic glory. By that I mean, its big new release for the summer movie-going season was that utterly forgettable Don Ameche – Robert Morse Aquacomedy, “ The Boatniks .” Copyright 1970 Walt Disney Productions...

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...

It’s long been said that – if you build a better mouse trap – the world will beat a path to your door. Well, as the folks in charge of D23 have learned, if you give Disneyana fans an exciting new way to celebrate the Company that (as Walt Disney once so famously said) was “ … started by a mouse,” an...

D23 is still a few weeks out from its really-for-real birthday (Just for the record, The Walt Disney Company launched its Official Community for Disney Fans back on March 10, 2009). But given that D23 just revealed that it will be holding first anniversary parties at Disneyland and WDW’s Magic Kingdom...

“ … There is hope for the future. When the world is ready for a new and better life, all this will someday come to pass, in God's good time.” Copyright Disney. All Rights Reserved The above quote is – of course – from Walt Disney Productions’ Academy Award-winning version of “ 20,000 Leagues Under The...

The late, great George Carlin once had this routine about words that no one has ever said before. Truly unlikely phrases like: George Carlin (1937 – 2008) "Please saw my legs off." "Hand me that piano." "Do what you want to the girl, but leave me alone!" Why do I bring that up now? Well, while I was...

It all started with a shoebox. To be specific, a shoebox full of old travel photos from the 1940s. “I was talking with Diane Disney Miller ,” Ted Thomas remembered. “And she told me that J.B. Kaufman – while he was doing research for this book that J.B. was writing about those Good Neighbor films that...