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If you've been reading JHM for a while now, you already know that I'm a very big fan of Didier Ghez 's "Walt's People" books . So -- that said -- is it really all that big a surprise that I enjoyed reading " Volume 5 " of this ongoing series. Mind you, at 443 pages in length, this paperback is the heftiest...

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...

As a direct result of some of the "Ratatouille" -related pieces that I've posted on JHM over the past few weeks, I have received a number of ... er ... colorful messages from Pixar fans recently. Here's one of the more family-friendly examples. Which came from Patty T. of Haines City, FL : Why must you...

Mindy T. writes in to say: I'm a big Beyoncé fan. So last week's story about how Disney was after her to star in the movie version of "Aida" really excited me. Is there any other new on this project? Dear Mindy T. Talk between Ms. Knowles and the Mouse are continuing. And though Beyoncé has yet to officially...

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...

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...

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...

Over the past six months, JHM has featured a number of stories that talked about the Walt Disney Company's concerns about " Ratatouille ." How the marketing department at the studio has been struggling to find just the right way to promote this new Brad Bird film. (Don't believe me? Then check out these...

Here's the official party line for the Walt Disney Company nowadays : That everyone who works in Burbank is just thrilled that John Lasseter & Ed Catmull now exert so much control over the corporation. More importantly, that all Mouse House employees have been eager to embrace Pixar 's "Quality is...

You know what's really striking about Andreas Deja ? Not that he's such an accomplished animator, the talent behind such memorable Disney characters as Gaston in " Beauty & the Beast ," Jafar in " Aladdin ," Scar in " The Lion King ," the title character in " Hercules " as well as one of the title...

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...

Okay. Given that " Pirates of the Caribbean : At World's End " sold more than $114 million worth of tickets over its opening weekend, it only stands to reason that this Gore Verbinski film would see some sort of drop-off in business over its second weekend in domestic release, right ? That said, no one...

Have any of you folks checked out those "X-marks-the-spot" hotspots that went live at Disneyland as well as at WDW's Magic Kingdom last week yet ? If not, I really suggest that you make a point of dropping by some of them sometime this summer. For the people-watching in these parts of the theme parks...

It's one thing for Disney Studio executives to decide to base a motion picture on the " Pirates of the Caribbean " theme park ride. It's quite another to take that bare-bones idea and then turn it something truly special. A series of films that people the world over could then enthusiastically embrace...

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 -...

Having gone for the gold with its " Pirates of the Caribbean " trilogy, is the Mouse now getting ready to go for the silver ? As in "Hi-yo, Silver ! " It certainly sounded that way late last week. As the Web (Keying off of a story that had originally been posted on Collider back on May 24th) was suddenly...

Kelly T. wrote me yesterday to say: You didn't forget about that Matt McConaughey story that you started last week , did you? At this point, JHM readers have been waiting for almost a week for you to finally finish that story. Please don't leave us hanging ! Dear Kelly -- Sorry about that. Why don't...

Look, if you're a regular reader of JHM, I'm just going to assume that you already know what this is a picture of. Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved Yep, that's Johnny Depp. Making his memorable entrance as Captain Jack Sparrow in the very first film of Disney's " Pirates of the...

Christian P. writes in today to say: I'm a huge Pirates of the Caribbean fan and I'm literally counting down the hours now until the third movie opens next week. Do you have any new stories that you can tell about these great great movies that might distract me for a while? Prevent me from spending so...