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Remember how I talked yesterday about how the CBS " Shower of Stars " version of " Scrooge " should have worked? What with a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright handling the adaptation of Dickens' classic holiday tale, a two-time Academy Award-winner performing the title role and...

Picking up where we left off yesterday ... By the middle of the 1950s, Hollywood was ready to take yet another stab at "A Christmas Carol". Only this time around, it was a TV network (CBS, to be exact ) that rode herd on the next adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic holiday tale. And...

Picking up where we left off yesterday ... Following MGM's good looking if somewhat heartless " A Christmas Carol ," leave it to English filmmakers to deliver what many consider to be the very best movie version of Charles Dickens' holiday tale. Copyright 1999 United Home What is it...

Picking up where we left off yesterday ... Most of you Disney dweebs out there will probably be able to identify this character. Copyright 1964 Walt Disney Productions That's right. Admiral Boom from Walt Disney Productions' 1964 release, " Mary Poppins ." Naming this next character...

Picking up where we left off yesterday ... Though sound would arrive in Hollywood in 1928, it wouldn't be until 1935 'til someone made the first full-length "talking picture" version of "A Christmas Carol." Copyright 2005 Delta Entertainment Corporation Produced in the U.K...

Here in the U.S., Thanksgiving officially ushers in the holiday season. Between now and New Year's Day, you won't be able to turn your television on without encountering some holiday special. Which brings us to the subject of today's article. Which (I should warn you) is the first installment...

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...

I was just watching the news. And they had on another one of those stories about Black Friday . You know, the day after Thanksgiving? Which is supposedly the busiest shopping day of the year. Anyway ... This reporter was going on and on about the sales that the big boxes will be holding this Friday....

" Mary Poppins " touched down on Broadway last night, toting a carpet bag that was filled to the brim with new songs, colorful sets & costumes as well as eye-popping special effects. Copyright 2006 Disney / CML. Photo by Joan Marcus Of course, the big question is: Will Disney purists (As well as...

The order reportedly came down on November 1st. Target employees around the country were given very specific instructions about what they were supposed to do. Which involved pulling down in-store signage that promoted most Disney products. Mind you, this order didn't just go out to a handful of Target...

When musical theater fans complain about Disney Theatrical (And they do complain about Disney Theatrical. If you don't believe me, go check out the discussion boards over at Talkin' Broadway and Broadway World ), their main complaint about the Mouse seems to be that " ... the shows that Disney presents...

If you're a Disney history buff, you've undoubtedly seen this photograph before ... Copyright 2006 University Press of Kentucky It's from the infamous strike of 1941. When hundreds of artists & animators picketed right outside of the Buena Vista Street entrance to the studio. With the hope that Walt...

Yesterday's announcement that DreamWorks Animation SKG will be producing "Shrek the Halls," a new holiday special for ABC, caught a number of animation professionals by surprise. Not so much because this Glendale-based animation company was looking to move into television. As DreamWorks Animation's 2004...

Perhaps some of you are knowledgeable about Disney's first female animator, Retta Scott . Ms Scott has a credit on the Disney feature, " Bambi ." And I'm willing to bet she has been an inspiration for a lot of young women hoping for a career in animation. Unfortunately, I never met Retta Scott. But I...

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...

You'd think that -- what with it being October 31st and all -- that " Runaway Brain " would at least be shown once today on Toon Disney . But no. This hilarious Chris Bailey short remains tucked away in the Disney vault. Mostly because the suits don't exactly like the way that Mickey Mouse is portrayed...

This past Tuesday afternoon, a group of artists gathered on the patio of Disney's new Consumer Products building in Glendale for a book signing. The artists were all participants in a new Disney book entitled " The Art of Winnie the Pooh: Disney Artists Celebrate the Silly Old Bear ." Photo by Floyd...

It's what every good Disney dweeb dreams of. Someday getting into the ARL. As in: WDFA's Animation Research Library . You see, the ARL is the place where -- once production is completed on a particular animated feature -- all the artwork is then sent. Both the finished animation drawings as well as the...

Let's clear up the confusion right from the start, shall we? That " Sister Act: The Musical " that's holding its world premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse tonight ... Copyright SisActs, Limited Liability Company ... is based on the Whoopi Goldberg movie that Walt Disney Studios released through its Touchstone...