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The Internet is really a wondrous place. Especially if you're a young person who's considering a career in animation. If you've ever considered becoming a character designer someday, you can always swing by Tom Bancroft 's Character Mentor Studio or Stephen Silver's blog and then...

It was late summer 1958 and things had been going well. The mad rush to wrap the animated feature film, “ Sleeping Beauty ” was finally succeeding, and the film was well on its way to completion. Taking a break from the drawing board, I headed up to the second floor of the Animation Building...

It’s always been one of the great what-ifs of Disney history. What if … All of the Studio’s overseas markets hadn’t been cut off by the start of World War II? It’s well known that – as of the late 1930s -- Walt was well into development of full-length animated versions of “ Alice in Wonderland ,” “ Peter...

Do you have a Disney fanatic in your family? Then this must be the time of year that you dread most. When you’re expected to come up with a suitable holiday gift for this problematic family member. Not to worry, though. Jim Hill Media is here to help. Over the first four Wednesdays in December, we’ll...

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...

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...

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...

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'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...

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...

I've been getting a lot of e-mail lately about Michael Barrier 's new book, " The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney " (University of California Press, April 2007). Particularly from Disneyana fans who just purchased Neal Gabler 's " Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination " and are now...

Gaelic Gary G. writes in to say: In honor of St. Patrick's Day , could you please share a few stories about my favorite Disney fantasy film, " Darby O'Gill and the Little People ?" Well ... What I always found intriguing about this Robert Stevenson movie is how long Walt Disney Productions had this project...