Browse By Tags

Ever since the release of " Halo 3 " in 2007, Microsoft ’s hugely successful video game franchise has been spinning its wheels with no real progress. The two Xbox 360 titles which have followed "Halo 3" — " Halo Wars " and " Halo 3: ODST " were amusing but lackluster; and since both games were prequels...

First up, Danny writes in to ask: Jim, Any reason that you know of why Pixar started skimping on their DVD packages? Up to and including " The Incredibles ," no company did the medium justice better than Pixar. But the discs for " Cars " and " Rataouille " (which I have an advanced copy of) are pathetic...

A couple weeks ago, we had a visit from John Lasseter and two hundred of his wizards from Pixar Animation Studios . The Pixar team was getting a special tour of both the Burbank and Glendale facilities of the Walt Disney Company. It was good to see so many old friends & colleagues again. And I couldn...

This is probably going to seem like a very weird request. But -- if you could -- I'd really like it if you guys could buy up a bunch of copies of " Walt Disney's Cinderella " (Disney Press, August 2007) Copyright 2007 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved "And why should we do that?," you ask...

If you were a young woman working in Disney's animation department in the 1950s, chances are you were pretty darn good. Though it was clearly a man's world back then, you might be surprised to know that the Mouse House had a fair share of young women toiling away at animation desks. Savvy young women...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Earlier this week, Perry T. sent me the following e-mail : Jim, Are you as sick as I am about how the Imagineers keep forcing characters into older attractions at the Disney theme parks? Just in the past six months, we've had that new " Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor " show replace the Magic Kingdom 's old...

This past Tuesday afternoon, the news traveled around the Disney lot at lightning speed. PAs saw it displayed on their pagers, while executives read all about it on their Blackberrys. Sharon Morrill -- the long-time president of DisneyToon Studios -- was out. Morrill -- who (it's said) had made billions...

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...

When we arrived at the Walt Disney Studio as young apprentices back in the 1950s, much of Walt's "Brain Trust" still labored in the upstairs story rooms. The Storymen -- as they were called back then -- were Disney's elite, and their names are legendary. Bill Peet , Winston Hibler , Ralph Wright , Milt...

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...

You could hardly call it a competition. But back in the early seventies, two feature films were being developed at the Walt Disney Studios. Ultimately, only one project would be given the green light for production. F-Wing was on the second floor of the Animation Building. And at the far end of the wing...

I've always been fascinated by storytellers. Those gifted individuals who have the ability to spin a captivating yarn and pull you totally into a make-believe world. Animation has had its fair share of talented storytellers. Lucky for me, I've had the opportunity to know and work with a few of them during...

Monday, September 17, 1979 is a day that lives in infamy. At least for the folks at Disney Feature Animation. You see, that was the day that Don Bluth , Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy suddenly resigned from the Mouse House to form their own animation studio, Aurora. And over the four days, nine other...

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...