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How many of you know the story of the blind men and the elephant ? I bring up this ancient Indian fable because ... Well ... I have to admit that I was highly amused by what happened last Wednesday. When the on-line animation community went completely bananas over those "Bolt" pre-release images . Copyright...

There's this genuinely eerie passage in Karen Paik 's " To Infinity and Beyond! The Story of Pixar Animation Studios " ( Chronicle Books , November 2007), which talks about how a single book basically changed the course of John Lasseter 's life. In ninth grade, Lasseter was searching the art section...

By now, you've probably heard that -- over this past weekend -- " Ratatouille " finally officially achieved really-for-real blockbuster status. Earning over $200 million during its initial domestic run. Mind you, it did take this new Brad Bird film quite a while to reach that milestone. As you can see...

As part of their classic comedy routine, " The 2000 Year Old Man ," Carl Reiner asked Mel Brooks what he attributed his amazing longevity to. To which Mel replied: "I never, ever touch fried food. And I never run for a bus. There'll always be another." I bring up Brooks' bus joke for a reason. In that...

It was the super-secret holiday movie that you weren't supposed to know about. Until Bob Hoskins -- in a July 4th interview with EmpireOnline -- revealed that ... "... ( Robert Zemeckis ) is going to make A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey . He wants me to play Mr Fezziwig. He's doing in...

Okay. I admit it. Maybe -- just maybe -- the folks at Walt Disney Studios actually do know what they are doing. Case in point: " Ratatouille ." When this Brad Bird film only sold $47 million worth of tickets over its opening weekend (Which was at least 20% less than the $60 million that industry experts...

If you go strictly by the numbers, there aren't really a whole lot of reasons to be happy with the way " Ratatouille " performed this past weekend. Were you to compare how this new Brad Bird film opened versus how other earlier Pixar movies did over their opening weekends ... Title of Movie Year Released...

It is one of the more intriguing aspects of the production history of Pixar 's latest, " Ratatouille ." The fact that this animated feature started off with one director (I.E. Jan Pinkava , who helmed this animation studio's Academy Award-winning short , " Geri's Game ") yet wound up being completed...

Did anyone else find it kind of bizarre that Disney's PR flaks are already out there, trying to spin " Pirates of the Caribbean : At World's End " 's box office results ? Okay, admittedly this Gore Verbinski film didn't top " Spider-Man 3 " 's stateside opening weekend numbers ... But -- that said -...

First the good news: The rumors that you've hearing are true. Johnny Depp actually has told the folk at Walt Disney Studios that he'd be willing to reprise the role of Capt. Jack Sparrow. Which is why the Mouse has already tentatively made plans to shoot "Pirates 4" in 2009. With the hope that this film...

In October of 1994, when Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg first announced that they were about to launch a brand-new entertainment company ... Well, this trio of show business vets was thought to be so unstoppable that the Hollywood press corps dubbed them the Dream Team. But 11...

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...

There is this rather brutal business-related saying. Which -- at various different times -- has been attributed to Gore Vidal , Genegis Khan , Larry Ellison , David Merrick and Attila the Hun . "It is not enough that I succeed. My enemies must fail." Now, given that I know that several executives at...

I spent the better part of yesterday on the phone with folks at Walt Disney Studios. Each of whom put their own special spin on " Meet the Robinsons " 's No. 2 finish at the box office this past weekend. Okay. So $25.1 million in ticket sales isn't exactly something to sneeze at. Particularly when you...