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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...

It was three years ago this week that -- after more than a decade of doggedly pursuing Miss Piggy & pals -- the Walt Disney Company finally completed its acquisition of the Muppets. And on the heels of the completion of this deal came news of Mickey's very ambitious plan to revive this much beloved...

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...

Yesterday, FraggleFan411 send me the following e-mail: Oh, come on. It's been months since you last wrote about the Muppets. Surely Disney must have something in the works for these characters by now. So spill already. FraggleFan411 -- Actually, I am working on a story about the Mouse's latest plan for...

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...

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...

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...

As any 10-year-old can tell you, " High School Musical " 's anthem is "We're All in This Together." Well, tween favorite Zac Efron clearly needs to give the soundtrack of that hugely popular TV movie another listen. Given how badly he's allegedly been behaving during the shooting of the sequel to this...

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...

The way I hear it, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew & Beaker were the real highlight of this year's corporate Christmas party at the Walt Disney Company. Over the past two months, numerous Mouse House insiders have written to me -- wanting to share details of their bizarre encounters with this next phase of Disney...

This week's "Toon Tuesday" column (I.E. "How will 'Ratatouille' fare in Hollywood's Summer 2007 rat race ?" ) generated an awful lot of controversy. I got phone calls from Burbank, e-mails from Emeryville. With all sorts of folks who are intimately involved with this production chiming in, wishing to...

First of all, don't let the title fool you. " A Sesame Street Christmas Carol " really doesn't have a whole lot to do with Charles Dickens. Copyright 2006 Sony Wonder Oh, sure. This 2006 Sony Wonder release does borrow a few key concepts from that classic holiday tale. In that -- on...