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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...

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...

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...

We got any " Get Smart " fans out there? If so, how many of you remember the Cone of Silence ? The weird Plexiglas thingy that Agent 86 would insist on having lowered whenever he had something super-secret to share with the Chief of CONTROL? Which was then supposed to shield the outside world...

First up, Kelly T. writes in to ask: Whatever became of Roger Colton ? I used to really enjoy his "Ruminations" column. But it's been months now since you last published anything from Roger. Is everything okay? Kelly T. Everything's fine. It's just that -- after almost four years of writing for JHM ...

Whatever you're reading, whatever you're doing right now ... Stop it. Drop everything and click on this link ASAP. This, my friend, is the on-line version of the Walt Disney Company's 2006 annual report. And -- as you burrow through all of the various sections of this report -- if you're a hardcore Disney...

This week's "Toon Tuesday" column (I.E. "How will 'Ratatouille' fare in Hollywood's Summer 2007 rat race ?" ) generated an awful lot of controversy. I got phone calls from Burbank, e-mails from Emeryville. With all sorts of folks who are intimately involved with this production chiming in, wishing to...

"Dying is easy. Comedy is hard." These were supposedly the last words of Sir Donald Wolfit , a British actor & director who passed away back in 1968. Though I'm sure that there's a few Imagineers at Walt Disney World right now who - after five weeks of watching their CG performers repeatedly die...

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...

Correct me if I'm wrong. But weren't we all laboring under the assumption that -- now that a new management team was in place -- that the Walt Disney Company would stop using Michael Eisner 's old playbook. And yet what did the Mouse do this past Friday afternoon? Waited 'til Wall Street had closed up...

So here I was yesterday, talking about how the Mouse is growing frustrated with the on-line Disneyana community . Reportedly because us dweebs are so quick to condemn anything new that Walt Disney Imagineering proposes for the parks. But now comes word that WDI is actually thinking of using us weenies...

John Lasseter clearly must be a theater fan. After all, week before last, Lasseter was down at Disney World checking out DAK 's " Finding Nemo --The Musical ." Then this past Thursday, John was out in NYC attending the opening night of Disney Theatrical 's newest production, " Mary Poppins ." Which is...

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...

I got this e-mail from Jessica L. yesterday: Jim, I'm confused. I picked up a copy of the Platinum Edition of " The Little Mermaid " at the store today. Copyright 2006 Disney Enterprises But when I put this disc in my DVD player, I not only saw an ad for "The Little Mermaid III" ... Copyright 2008 Disney...

You know, it was almost inevitable that Donny Osmond would wind up appearing in Disney's "Beauty & the Beast" on Broadway . Photo by Jeff Lange After all, back in 1962, the Osmonds supposedly got their start in big-time show business because they sang one day at Disneyland . As the story goes, Alan...

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...

First up, Roger A. writes in to ask: Jim, We just went to see Disney Live !, the new touring magic show this weekend, and were very impressed that Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Daisy all had mouths that moved in sync and their eyes blinked. Copyright 2006 Disney/Feld Entertainment Do you know if...

Now I know that this may sound like a very left-handed compliment. But -- as I was reading Tim Hollis & Greg Ehrbar's excellent " Mouse Tracks: The Story of Walt Disney Records " (University Press of Mississippi, May 2006) -- I kept putting their book down so that I could then go downstairs &...

Cheryl O. writes in to say: Jim -- I feel that I'm speaking for a lot of JHM readers out there when I say: Enough with the " Cars " and the " Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest " stories already! Don't get me wrong. I understand what you've been trying to say with all these Advertisement articles...