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This past Friday, Amid Amidi (Who -- along with noted animation historian Jerry Beck -- rides herd on the always-entertaining-and-informative Cartoon Brew ) was singled out for a pretty amazing honor. You see, the Theatre Library Association declared that Amid's latest book -- " Cartoon Modern: Style...

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...

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...

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...

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 Christmas-crunch time, kiddies. You know what I mean. That horrible moment that arrives every holiday season. When you're feeling all smug & self-satisfied because you think that you've completed your Xmas shopping. Only to suddenly sit bolt upright in your chair and say: "Oh, cr*p! I forgot...

Are you still struggling with your holiday shopping? Are you having trouble finding just the right gift for that "creative" person on your list? You know the one that I'm talking about. That person who used to tie up your kitchen table with all of their "projects" when they were a kid. Who'd turn construction...

When you've seen as many versions of "A Christmas Carol" as I have recently, you begin to notice that there's this pattern to the way a lot of actors portray Ebenezer Scrooge. That they tend to employ the same sorts of acting tricks in order to keep their performances entertaining & emotionally effective...

Earlier today, Mark S. sent me an e-mail asked: Dear Jim: Today's "Scrooge U" article compelled me to pull out my old VHS copy of " Mickey's Christmas Carol ." And you're right. It is fun spotting all of those characters from earlier Disney films that pop up in the picture. In addition to those " Mr...

Just the name seems somewhat sacrilegious: " An American Christmas Carol ." Copyright 1999 Image Entertainment I mean, is it even legal to do that? Take Charles Dickens' almost quintessentially English story out of its familiar 1840s London setting and then drop it into Depression-era America? To be...

John S. writes in to ask: Jim -- My son and I recently discovered your website and we've really been enjoyed digging through all of your old stories. Since my son is now showing such a keen interest in the history of the Walt Disney Company, I thought that I might give him a Disney history book as a...

It was 50 years ago tonight that the 1939 version of " The Wizard of Oz " was first shown on television. Copyright 2005 Warner Home Video The first-ever telecast of this Victor Fleming film was a rating smash. Over 44 million people tuned in to catch this broadcast (Which was hosted by the...

Let's cut to the chase, shall we? The Walt Disney biography that all of us dweebs have been waiting for (Some of us, for decades now) ... is finally here . While there may have been other fine books written about the founder of the Walt Disney Company (Bob Thomas' " Walt Disney: An American Original...

Has it really been just eight months since " High School Musical " was first presented on the Disney Channel ? Copyright 2006 Disney Enterprises Back in January of this year, Disney Channel execs obviously had very high hopes for this Kenny Ortega film. Otherwise, why would they have spent all of that...

First George K. writes in to say: Jim I really enjoyed today's story about the Muppet Mobile Laboratory that's going into DCA next year. But in that listing of all the "Living Character Initiative" projects that have gone into the parks already, you left out the first (and my personal favorite) : Push...

To answer your first question: Yes, the "Walt" that's referred to in the headline for today's story is Walt Disney. To answer your second question: The conversation in question actually happened back in the 1960s. A young reporter from the New York Times heard the old Mousetro say this. In the Disney...

Got plans for tomorrow night? Change 'em. Or -- at the very least -- set up your Tivo and/or throw a tape into the old VCR and be sure & record what ABC is airing Saturday night between 8 - 11 p.m. "What's the big deal?," you ask. "Isn't ABC just supposed to be showing 'The Wonderful World of Disney...