Let me start off by saying that the “JimHillMedia.com” name was *NOT* my idea.
If I had my way, gang, this website would have a nice, innocuous sounding name like “The Hub” or “MouseWatch.” Something certainly more humble sounding than “JimHillMedia.com.”
But the folks who actually got this site up out of the ground – Michelle Smith & Jon Nadelberg – evidently felt that it was important that my name be on the thing. Supposedly so that all my old readers (all five of them) would be able to find the place. So “JimHillMedia.com” it is … at least until I figure out how to trick Jon & Michelle into changing the name of the site to something less egotistical sounding.
*Sigh*
Welcome to my nightmare, kids. Back into the spotlight again. Not exactly sure what I should be saying. Which makes me – in a word – uncomfortable.
Why uncomfortable? Well, friends will tell you I’m not really a spotlight kind of guy. I actually prefer to hang in the background & report the news. Not *BE* the news. Which is why I’m kind of embarrassed to be this guy that Disneyana web fans seem to love to gossip about. I mean, I guess I can understand why they love to tell the story. After all, I *AM* the man who got kicked off of MousePlanet.com, got shown the door at LaughingPlace.com and had DCACentral.com shut down on him. All inside of 18 months or so.
This is why Michelle not-so-jokingly describes “JimHillMedia.com” as “Finally, a site that won’t fire him.” At least I hope that she & Jon don’t fire me. Because – I mean – it would be *REALLY* embarrassing if I actually managed to get thrown off of my very own website.
Okay. Enough of my self-absorbed whining. Let’s now talk about something positive, something fun. Like what Michelle, Jon and I – as well as all the other folks that we’ve been busy recruiting – plan to do with JimHillMedia.com.
One thing I can promise you that you’re *NOT* going to see the same sort of tired stuff that you get at all the other Disneyana websites. Construction pictures of Tower of Terror at DCA or someone’s photo essay of their trip to Tokyo Disney Seas. You also won’t get exact reprints of press releases from Disneyland’s Marketing office. Nor will you get essays from 8-year-olds about what their favorite theme park ride might be.
So what will you get instead? Stories that you (hopefully) haven’t heard before. Over the next few months, you’re going to see stories about the Port Disney project in Long Beach, CA., Disney’s America, Mineral King & Independence Lake. I’m also going to take you behind-the-scenes and show you what really happened during the production of “Monsters, Inc.” and “Beauty and The Beast.” Plus reveal the numerous & weird ways that Walt Disney’s Magical Kingdom and L. Frank Baum’s Wonderful Land of Oz are intertwined.
And – yes – I will also try to finish up all of those incomplete series that I have left scattered around the Web. Stories like “Remembering Light Magic,” “The Bear Facts” and (maybe) “When You Wish Upon a Frog.” Which (hopefully) will please some of you folks.
You know what else will be different about JimHillMedia.com? Jon, Michelle and I are going to make this amazing assumption: We’re going to assume that our readers actually have interests outside of the Walt Disney Company. Which is why I’m also going to do stories about people like Steve Spielberg (And reveal all of the production problems that led up to the creation of “E.T.”) and Max Fleischer (And take you all in search of Florida’s first feature animation studio). And Jon & Michelle are going to contribute articles and photo essays about great spots to visit in & around LA and Seattle.
Speaking of photo essays … Sometime very soon, look for the Jeff Lange photo archives to make their debut at JimHillMedia.com. Who’s Jeff Lange? Jeff is this extraordinary photographer who’s been taking pictures at the Disney theme parks and other venues for almost 20 years now. His amazing collection of images (EX: Want to see Epcot’s “World of Motion” or “Horizons” again in all their glory? Or witness the Main Street Electrical Parade’s one-and-only trip up 5th Avenue in NYC? The Jeff Lange photo archives can take you there) will give you plenty of reasons to regularly drop by the site. (Particularly after we start offering Jeff’s one-of-a-kind pictures as freebie desktops.)
Our goal is that JimHillMedia.com (God, I really hate that name) will eventually become your alternative Disneyana news source. Here, you won’t find stories that are deliberately downbeat about the Walt Disney Company. Nor will you find stories that are so sticky sweet about the Mouse that your teeth start to ache as you read them. But this site will (hopefully) become the place that you eventually come to if you’re looking for fairly lengthy, well researched pieces about Mickey and his minions have been up to.
Stories that will (hopefully) be written by me. Provided – of course – that Jon & Michelle don’t fire me first.
Okay. Enough with the explanations and excuses. As the character of Lilo so eloquently puts it in this summer’s release from Walt Disney Feature Animation:
“Our family’s little right now and we don’t have many toys. But – if you want – you could be part of it.”
Here’s hoping that you want to be part of our family. See you here again next week, okay?
Best Regards,
Jim Hill