What has it been now? Over six months since I last put together one of these “Jim, You Ignorant ***!” columns. Boy, time sure flies when you’re busy putting your foot in your mouth.
By the way, for those of you who are just too young to get the reference: “Jim, You Ignorant ***!” is basically a riff on Dan Ackroyd’s old catchphrase from “Saturday Night Live.” Back in SNL’s early, early days in the mid-1970s. When Dan & Jane Curtin – as part of that show’s weekly “Weekend Update” segment — used to do this bit that made fun of “60 Minutes” ‘s old “Point / Counterpoint” sequence.
Typically, this “Saturday Night Live” bit would start off with Jane pontificating about one particular aspect of the news of the day. Women’s rights. The legalization of marijuana. The energy crisis. Curtin would give her take on the situation. Then the camera would turn to Ackroyd, where he’d always start off his rebuttal by saying “Jane, you ignorant *** …”
“Jane, you ignorant ***.” “Jim, you ignorant ***.” You see, it’s just like a joke … Only not nearly as clever or funny.
*Sigh * It’s going to be a LOONNG column. So let’s get started, shall we?
For starters … I’d like to apologize to all you who came by JimHillMedia.com yesterday looking for a new “Jim, You Ignorant ***!” column. But — to circumstances beyond my control – this article had to be pushed back ’til Wednesday. Or should I say today?
Next up, in my May 3rd “Would ‘Noah’s Ark’ Have Been a Memorable Addition to Disney World’ Night-time Entertainment Line-up?”, I called noted Broadway composer Andrew Lloyd Webber “Sir.” When – in actuality – his proper title (these days, anyway) is “Lord.” As is in “Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber.”
Then, in my April 23rd “Why For” Column, I apologized to the nice folks over at www.wdwinfo.com for saying that www.laughingplace.com was the Disneyana website with the best overall traffic. Well, as it turns out, I now owe an apology to both Deb Wills at allearsnet.com as well as the crew who run disboards.com. It seems that both of these sites (according to Alexa.com, anyway) have better traffic than wdwinfo.com does.
Now here’s a particularly big boo-boo on my part. In my March 4th “Access Denied” article, I said that Chuck Oberleitner had never met Roy Disney. When – as any JHM reader who read Chuck’s February 9th column knows – Oberleitner actually met Walt’s nephew at this year’s Annie Awards. So that was a mistake on my part, folks. Not Chuck.
(Mind you, Mr, Oberleitner can make his share of mistakes as well. Take – for example – his May 6th article, where Chuck claimed that Art Linkletter was 93 years old. When the television pioneer was actually just a relatively youthful 91 years old.)
Getting back to my errors now … In my May 3rd story, “Would these little story changes have made that big a difference (box office-wise) with Disney’s ‘Dinosaur’?”, I said that Meg Tilly had provided the vocals for Grace the Cow. When it was actually Meg’s sister, Academy Award nominee Jennifer Tilly who actually did the voice for this “Home on the Range” character.
The Roy-Disney’s-name-still-being-on-the-“Disney-Treasures”-tins story … We already discussed in Monday’s “Does Michael Mind His Manners While the Web is Watching?” article. And as for that “Francs, not Euros” error that cropped in May 4th’s “What’s Next for EuroDisney SCA?”, that wasn’t Andrea Monti’s error. That was mine – “Mickey Fantasmic” ‘s dumb American editor who forget that France had changed its monetary unit (along with most of the rest of Europe) a few years back.
As for my March 17th article about the work that’s underway on Disneyland’s Space Mountain … I know that a lot of you coaster fans have sent me photographs of the new track that’s being loaded into this Tomorrowland facility. Which obviously means that – yes – Disneyland is getting a new coaster.
But – when you take into consideration that Disneyland’s new Space Mountain is basically going to follow the track configuration of the old version of the attraction – can you honestly say that Tomorrowland is really getting a new ride. If truth be told, this is just a particularly extensive rehab of an already existing attraction.
Sure, we’re going to get a brand new look for Space Mountain’s load area. As well as some nifty looking special effects along the way. Which we’ll – of course – enjoy while seated in this Tomorrowland thrill ride’s brand new vehicles. But – beyond that, folks – this is just the same old attraction.
Don’t get me wrong, folks. Disneyland’s Space Mountain is still a wonderful indoor coaster. One that I’m really looking forward to riding again in 2005. But wouldn’t it have been so much cooler if Disneyland management had opted to go forward with Marty Sklar’s original idea for the Anaheim theme park’s 50th anniversary? Which was – among other things – to add a loop to this Disneyland favorite.
And – finally – in a follow-up to my April 16th “Why For” column, where I said that I might have been a bit premature in saying that DCA’s “Superstar Limo” attraction would be re-opening this coming summer. Well, as it turns about now, I may have been a bit premature in issuing that retraction.
How so? Well, just last week, I received word that – due to the lengthy lines that “Twilight Zone Tower of Terror” has been drawing over the past week – Disneyland management is said to be revisiting its decision about “Superstar Limo.” Should the crowds continue to pour into DCA, this Hollywood Pictures Backlot attraction could be up & running again as early as the first week of June.
As of right now, the folks at the Team Disney Anaheim building haven’t made a final determination on this matter. But – me personally – I find it particularly intriguing that DCA has reportedly begun training cast members in how to operate “Superstar Limo” again. I’ve gotten e-mails from a number of these folks, who say that this much maligned ride is ready to roll right now. All it would take is one quick word from Disneyland president Matt Ouimet and “Superstar Limo” could supposedly be open for business TODAY.
So we’ll be sure to keep an eye on that story and see what develops. In the meantime, should you folks spot myself or any of the other JHM columnists making mistakes, feel free to drop us a line and point them out.
I mean, we don’t like making errors here at JimHillMedia.com. But we will own up to them … eventually.
Your thoughts?