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Given that April 1st is typically the day when a number of Disney news sites post these elaborate prank stories where they then try & convince a few poor April Fools that their obviously bogus article is legit, I thought that JHM should go the other way today. In that I'm going to post a story...

Chris sent me an e-mail earlier this week in regards to the "Unofficial Guide Disney Dish" podcast that I do with Len Testa , where he asked: "Where do you get all of the stories that you tell on these podcasts? I'm a big Disney history buff. But you always seem to have these behind...

Never mind March coming in like a lion. This month is really more a mouse, given all of the Disney-related events that are going to be happening all over the country in the coming week. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Like what? Well, for starters, today through Monday, March 11th...

sk anyone who's ever worked in themed entertainment about what the tougher job is: building a brand-new ride, show or attraction from the ground up OR finding a way to shoehorn a brand-new ride into a pre-existing show building. And to a man, they will tell you that the retrofit is always the tougher...

By now, you've no doubt seen the maquette of that statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse which is supposed to be prominently displayed on Buena Vista Street (i.e. Disney California Adventure 's entrance plaza. The Main Street, U.S.A. equivalent for this revamped theme park). Copyright Disney...

Since JHM seems to be on a run of Christmas movie and holiday-related stories lately, I thought that I'd ask how many of you are fans of the 1954 version of " White Christmas ." And you may recall from a December 2002 story that ran on this website, Nancy and her sister Kathy are huge fans...

Fluffy-Not-Fat sent me a new Why For question earlier this week, saying: As a longtime fan, it's great that you've begun writing theme park history stories again. Those stories were always my favorite part of your site. So now that I've kissed your butt a little, I was wondering if you'd...

So what it take to create a killer canvas like this? Well, it takes time, talent and a friend who really knows their way around a train. "Right on Time" by Maggie Parr. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved Luckily, artist & designer Maggie Parr has all three of those things...

Jeannine B. writes in to say: I have a friend who worked in the Character Department at the Magic Kingdom back in the 1980s. She has lots of great stories about what it was like to be a member of the Zoo Crew back then. But one of the stranger ones that my friend tells is about when Michael Eisner wouldn't...

So how did Disney diehards react to the recent news that Walt Disney World would soon be getting a brand-new interactive experience, " Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom " ... Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved ... and Disneyland Park would soon be bumping out the borders of...

So what was the very best part of the original D23 EXPO ? To be honest, that depended on what aspect of the Walt Disney Company most excites you. For fans of Disney's live-action movies, it would be hard to top that moment from the Studio Showcase when the wreckage of a sailing ship slowly rotated...

Disneyland Park celebrated its 56 th anniversary of its opening yesterday. But for those who couldn't wait to get that party started, there was the Disneyana Fan Club 's annual convention . Photo by Paul Schnebelen Held just down the road from the Park at the Anaheim Crowne Plaza Resort in Garden...

What's the weirdest place you ever got a job offer? Because I bet John Tartaglia has you beat. Let me set the scene for you. It's September of 2009. And the star of " Johnny and the Sprites " - having a fun few days exploring & experiencing the inaugural D23 Expo - was over at Disneyland...

It's the Disney's Hollywood Studios icon that makes fan boys foam at the mouth. That 122-foot-tall Sorcerer Mickey Hat which stands of Hollywood Boulevard, blocking the view of the Chinese Theater. So if this icon is so controversial, why then did Alex Wright opt to put the Sorcerer Mickey Hat...

Okay. Last week, JHM reviewed a new hardcover that would be the perfect graduation present for any artists and animators that are on your gift list. This time around, I'd like to talk up a book that would be a great selection for any would-be Imagineers you may have in your extended family. And that...

By now, you’ve no doubt seen those online videos that made many a theme park fan go gaga. Where a few lucky Guests – as they were making a stop at Mickey’s House at Disneyland earlier this week – suddenly found themselves face-to-face with a NextGen walkaround character. A Mickey Mouse who not only addressed...

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...

Orange County Mountie writes in to say: I have just been loving these stories that you have been doing about Disneyland ’s expansion plans from the 1970s and 1980s. All of those rides, shows and attractions that the Imagineers wanted to build back then but never got around to. In your last article, you...

MonkFan wrote in to say: I really enjoyed that “ TRON attraction that Disneyland almost got ” you wrote earlier this month. So I was wondering if you have any more stories about rides & attractions that almost got built at the Parks that you could share. Maybe something about my favorite part of...

I'm sure -- by now -- you've seen photographs of those colorful construction fences that ring " The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure " work site. Photo by Angela Ragno Just as I'm sure that -- by now -- you've seen a concept painting or two of what the exterior of this currently-under-construction...