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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...

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...

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...

Steve T. writes in to say: My family and I caught a sneak preview of " Nancy Drew " this past weekend. And I was surprised to see Pat Carroll do a cameo in that movie. She's always been one of my favorites, even before she did her memorable turn in Disney's " The Little Mermaid ." But I've also heard...

Good God. Has it really been less than a year and a half since " High School Musical " originally debuted on the Disney Channel ? Copyright 2006 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved Back in January of 2006, Mouse House execs were just hoping that they hadn't wasted any of their promotional money...

For " Simpsons " fans, it's one of those moments that always brings a smile. Some character shows up unexpectedly at C. Montgomery Burns' front door. The bitter old billionaire listens politely for a moment or two. Then Burns turns to his flunkie, Waylon Smithers and says: "Release the hounds." And then...

It is arguably the most talked about show of the coming television season : ABC 's " Cavemen ." Okay, admittedly there have been other TV programs that have prominently featured cavemen. " The Flintstones " come immediately to mind. As does " It's About Time ," that CBS sitcom about those two astronauts...

Back in the old days, when an animator had trouble visualizing what a particular prop and/or problematic character looked like from a certain angle ... Well, the usual solution to this problem was that that artist then had to construct a model. So that they could then literally see things from a different...

Karl T. of Watertown, MA. writes in to say: I just discovered your " Making Fun of the Mouse " series from last year. And I really enjoyed reading through that trio of stories. I was wondering : Do you have any plans to continue that series? Because I am sure that there are lots of other cartoons and...

William Shakespeare once said : "What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other word would smell as sweet." Well, I don't know Bob Iger would agree with the Bard. The way Disney's new CEO supposedly sees things, the proper answer to that "What's in a name?" question should probably be: "Brand...

Barry S. of Stowe, VT writes in to say: Dear Jim - Since you're such a fan of visual effects , I was wondering if you've seen Christina Aguilera 's new video, " Candyman ". Didn't the effect artists who worked on this production do a great job ? The digital doubling of Christina looks seamless to me...

To hear Roy Disney tell the tale, he basically owes his entire career in animation to his mother needing a babysitter. "When my Mother needed to go shopping, she'd drop me off with my Dad's office," Roy explained. "And my Dad would eventually say 'Get out of my office and find someone else to play with...

Karen M. writes in to ask a special favor: Dear Jim -- I just want to send you a quick e-mail to thank you for writing about Charlie Ridgway 's new book, " Spinning Disney's World ." On your recommendation , I picked up a copy and found that Mr. Ridgway's biography was just as you said it would be: Loaded...

For the past decade, the Sonoma Valley Film Festival has heard the refrains of "You've Got A Friend In Me" from John Lasseter , the creative force behind Pixar . Now the festival is turning the tables and planning quite a bash April 11-15 in recognition not only of its 10th anniversary but in tribute...

In a little more than three months time, Pixar 's next big release, " Ratatouille " will be rolling into theaters. And -- to date -- Walt Disney Pictures ' promotional department has done everything that they can in order to get the word out about this Brad Bird film. This includes creating a teaser...

By now, you've probably seen pictures of " WALL E " 's title character. Maybe you've even caught a glimpse of this film's unique-looking logo. But what do you actually know about Pixar 's 2008 release? Very little, I'll bet. Which is standard operating procedure for this Emeryville-based animation studio...

I got a lot of nice notes in response to yesterday's Peter Ellenshaw tribute . Though what I thought was kind of intriguing was the theme that ran through many of these e-mails. Which was: "How I wish I'd had the chance to stand in Peter Ellenshaw's studio and watch that man work. See how the special...

It's often been said that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Well, I'm guessing that the folks at Walt Disney Feature Animation have never heard that expression. For they're right in the middle of an Extreme Makeover of their 2008 release, "American Dog." Gone is Chris Sanders ' quirk-filled take...

First up, Robert M. writes in to ask: Jim, This may have been asked before. But since Robert Zemeckis is now back with Disney, what do you think the chances are that they will try to produce that long anticipated Roger Rabbit sequel? Rob M. Rob M. To be honest, I think that the ship has already sailed...