Browse By Tags

It's engaging stories, great characters, good acting, lighting and hundreds of things working together that makes a motion picture a truly MOVING experience. One of the most critical pieces is a film's musical score. Even before recorded dialogue, music was there and it's always had the power...

The following is an email interview that I recently had with David Tanaka, the creative editor of " Pixar in Concert ." I'd like to thank David for his detailed answers and Chris Wiggum at Pixar for arranging the interview. Q: Please tell me about the process. What prompted the Pixar in...

This past Friday, Mickey Avenue on the Disney Lot in Burbank was redressed as Victory Lane. Photo by Jim Hill That was because The Walt Disney Company -- out ahead of the June 24th release date of " Cars 2 " -- wanted to celebrate Pixar 's latest production. So there were games for Studio...

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...

Here's kind of a depressing fact to start 2011 off with: 88% of all people will fail to keep their New Year's resolution . With 45% of those folks falling off the self-improvement wagon by the end of January. And why is that exactly? To be blunt, it's because a lot of us aren't willing...

Looking for something fun to do with the family after you finish Thanksgiving dinner? Well, why not toss a copy of " Toy Story 3 " into the Blu-ray player. Where you can then learn about what happens to poor Buzz Lightyear once he begins malfunctioning and then has to be sent to Taiwan in order...

So why exactly should you buy " Two Guys Named Joe: Master Animation Storytellers Joe Grant & Joe Ranft " (Disney Editions, August 2010)? Because this new John Canemaker book not only does a brilliant job of paying tribute to these animation legends, this 192-page hardcover contains one...

What with " Toy Story 3 " in theaters right now, " Cars 2 " due to debut next summer and a sequel to " Monsters, Inc. " reportedly in the works, one has to wonder what other follow-ups Pixar Animation Studios has planned. Well, based on the domain names that The Walt Disney...

So how’s your summer shaping up so far? Are you like so many of us these days? In that you’re really feeling the call of the open road and yet unable to get away in June, July and August because there are things to do and bills to pay. Well, given that it’s unlikely that you’ll...

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...

Let’s say that you had this great idea for a theme park ride. So you write your idea down and then ship it off to The Walt Disney World Resort . Care to guess what happens once your new ride proposal arrives in Orlando? As soon as the cast member who works in Guest Relations (they’re the department at...

Alec M. writes in to say: I’ve really been enjoying all of these stories that you’ve been running lately that tie back to the D23 EXPO . As someone who wasn’t able to get out to the Anaheim Convention Center last September in order to experience this Disneyana fan event in person, I have to admit that...

Quick question: What do you think of the “Back to the Future” sequels? Copyright 1989 Universal Pictures. All Rights Reserved The reason I ask … Well, while many people consider the original “Back to the Future” to be an enormously entertaining movie, most folks don’t feel the same about “BTTF II” &...

Earlier this week, it was kind of ironic that – in a headline that talked up how well “Up” was doing at the domestic box office – Variety mentioned “ The Incredibles .” Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc and Pixar Animation Studios. All Rights Reserved “Ironic how?,” you ask. Well, in a time where this...

You all remember Lightning McQueen and Mater from " Cars ," right ? Copyright 2008 Disney - Pixar. All Rights Reserved Well, the folks at Disney - Pixar certainly hope that you remember these two animated autos. Given that -- come the Summer of 2011 -- they're going to be starring in " Cars 2 " ... Copyright...

As I watched last night's debate, I was reminded of that old joke : "People who like sausage and appreciate politics shouldn't watch either one being made." Mind you, those of us who have been following " Bolt " 's production have sometimes wondered if -- just like with politics & sausage -- it might...

Judging by the long lines at " Toy Story Mania " as well as the brisk business that "Hey Howdy Hey!" & the gift shop across the way have been doing, it would appear that Pixar Place has already proven to be a very popular addition to Disney's Hollywood Studios . The only problem with the studio theme...

Will the third time really be the charm for Click & Clack ? Or will this latest attempt to adapt NPR 's " Car Talk " to television stall out just like the other two? Truth be told, Tom & Ray Magliozzi -- the real-life brothers who host this extremely popular National Public Radio program -- bear...

WALL-E sure gets around, doesn't he? Late last month, this cute little robot was spotted at the Philadelphia Science Museum . This past weekend, Pixar's latest star made an appearance at the Miami Science Museum . And this Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth Class unit was recently seen rolling around...

Following up on last month's article about how Children's Place is getting ready to sell the Disney Store retail chain back to the Walt Disney Company ... I spoke with the managers of a number of New England-area Disney Stores over the past few days. And while none of these folks wanted to go on-the...