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Spring brings many things. April showers. May flowers. As well as the catalog for the Spring S/R Laboratories animation art auction. This time around, there are some absolutely amazing pieces of animation history up for bid. Take -- for example -- this gag drawing that Disney Legend Carl Barks did for...

Known for both his temper and his stunning draftsmanship, Milt Kahl has been described as Disney’s “Jekyll and Hyde” figure, a man who defined animation and defied his fellow animators. More than any other artists, Freddy Moore and Milt Kahl defined the Disney style. Freddy Moore designed the studio...

I hope that you’ll allow me to indulge myself here with a new series that I’m going to call “The Disney Artists You Never Knew.” Only this time, it’s personal. Because I’m now going to write about my old pal & colleague, Jim Fletcher . James Lawrence Fletcher was born in Des Plains, Illinois, and...

This past Saturday, film directors and animators gathered to pay tribute to Hungarian-born artist Jules Engel , a man whose work combined a modernist orientation of serious art with the commercial leanings of animated films. This year marks the 100-year anniversary of his birth. A small man, usually...

In response to last week's review of Jeff Kurtti 's newest book , " Walt Disney's Imagineering Legends and the Genesis of the Disney Theme Park ," I got the following e-mail: Not everyone who reads JimHillMedia is interested in the Disney theme parks. Some of us come to your site because we want to learn...

Last Tuesday night, I traveled down to one of the cities I most dislike in all of Southern California: I went to Hollywood . Good ol’ Tinsel Town, with its sidewalk hucksters wearing eBay costumes of Bugs Bunny and SpongeBob , with its endless food courts and faux-trendy boutiques. Hollywood, that theme...

There's a popular television show called " Survivor ." I've never been able to watch this show or even take it seriously. It's difficult to consider the consequences of surviving on a desert island when craft services is located nearby. However, I did see some real survivors a few weeks ago as I walked...

The loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and the birth of Mickey Mouse in 1928. The creation and release of “ Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ” in 1937. The development of Disneyland and its opening in 1955. All of these were important and challenging periods for Walt Disney and his company. But there was...

Hey, folks -- Jim Hill here. Before this month's Floyd Norman column officially gets underway, I thought that I'd take a moment to let JHM readers know that Mr. Fun recently launched his very own blog. Appropriately titled Mr. Fun's Blog . So if you want more than just the usually once-a-month dose of...

" ... and then there were none." For over three decades now, animation fans have been quietly counting down. As first John Lounsbury , and then Les Clark slipped away. Followed by Woolie Reitherman , Milt Kahl and Eric Larsen . Then Marc Davis , Ward Kimball and Frank Thomas . And today word came out...

Back in the 1960s, our morning was interrupted by a special meeting. It was held in a small conference room just off A-Wing in Disney's animation building. I honestly don't recall everyone in the meeting. But I do know that production boss Ken Peterson and Andy Engman were present. Why this special meeting...

Did you know Walt Disney Studios once provided what could be considered the finest animation course ever offered? That's right, kids. If you've shelled out the big bucks for an animation education at such institutions as California Institute of the Arts or Sheridan College , you might be surprised to...

You have to admit that it's a pretty amazing time to be an animation fan. By that I mean: The best reviewed film of 2007 was " Ratatouille ." With " Enchanted " and "How to Hook Up Your Home Theater," we're getting our very first glimpses of the revival of hand-drawn animation at Walt Disney Animation...

It's a standard thing this time of year. Travelers loaded with gifts are trying to make their way home to spend the holidays with family and friends. This scenario is often played out in movies where our hero finally makes his or her way home just in time to spend Christmas with the family. After all...

It's been a little over a week and I'm still trying to deal with reality. Sometimes, reality is hard to take. Although much has already been said and written , I feel there is still a little more to say about the loss of Disney Imagineer Bruce Gordon . It's difficult to believe that only two weeks ago...

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 know anything about the Walt Disney Studio, you know that the Old Maestro exercised total control over his animated kingdom. From the studio's humble beginnings in the 1930's to his passing in 1966, nothing -- and I do mean nothing -- ever escaped the careful gaze of Walt Disney. Maybe Walt Disney...

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...

What's your absolute favorite musical moment from a Walt Disney Production? Me? If I really had to choose, I guess it would either be that moment in "Uncle Remus Tales" when that old storyteller leads an animated congregation in singing Ned Washington & Leigh Harline 's sweet spiritual, "I'll take...