Jim Hill
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Anyway ... When Al booted me off MousePlanet last month, I had a pretty good idea where I could turn to for help. That night, I sent a note to Rebekah with a header that read: "Home Needed for Writer. Will Work for Relatively Cheap." 7 minutes later, I got a reply back that read simply: "When do you want to start?"

That's pretty much how the deal went down. Just for yucks, the Moseleys and I toyed with the idea of me making my LaughingPlace.com debut on Sunday, April 1st. But -- in the end -- Doobie & I both decided that it would be best if I made my LP entrance with as little fanfare as possible.

Granted, some explanation as to why a fairly high profile MousePlanet columnist was suddenly turning up over on LaughingPlace.com was in order. Which hopefully explains today's rather embarrassingly self indulgent column. But -- after that -- Doobie, Rebekah and I all want me to get down to the real business at hand: Me Regularly churning out new Disney-related stories for all you LaughingPlace.com's readers.

So, from this point forward, look for new Jim Hill stuff on this site every Tuesday & Thursday. And -- in spite of what some of my old MP readers may have been concerned about -- don't worry, kids. I've been given free rein to write about whatever aspects of the Walt Disney Company I wanna write about at LP. So expect to get the same old highly detailed, somewhat hard edged stuff you used to get over at MousePlanet. Just at a new address.

And what sort of "stuff" can you expect to see? Among the stories I've currently got in the pipeline are:

• The Real Story of Disneyland's "Light Magic." The infamous 'streetacular' that wasn't quite as terrible as you might have heard and the strange forces that combined to shut this $40 million show down after just one summer of performances.
• The Pixar / Disney Story. Learn how John Lasseter's recent decision to sign an exclusive 10 year contract with Pixar Studios could mean real trouble for Disney Feature Animation a few years down the line.
• Disney/ Muppets. The real behind-the-scenes story about the amazing merger that almost happened back in 1989. Learn about the Muppet-based rides that never made it off the drawing board as well as the proposed films & TV shows you never got to see ... As well as inside info on the new Disney/ Muppet deal that may go down just weeks from now.
• Disney / Oz. Learn just how close Walt came to taking movies goers & theme park guests back "Over the Rainbow." And how the connections between L. Frank Baum's Emerald City and Disney's Magic Kingdom are a lot closer than you think.
• II Much of a Good Thing? Finally, an inside look at the Walt Disney Company's newest cash cow: direct-to-video sequels to hit animated films. Learn how The Return of Jafar isn't quite what it appears to be ... as well as intriguing news about several still-in-the-pipeline projects, including Dumbo II, Jungle Book II and Lion King III.

All this -- plus in-depth features on upcoming Disney films like Pearl Harbor and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Also, I'll be taking another look at the inner workings of the Disney Store, the Mouse's retail chain that's still struggling to recover from the ravages for "Project Go." Plus reviews of great new Disney-related books and magazines that I'm sure you'll want to hear about.

You know. The usual assortment of crud you used to get from me over at MousePlanet. Just at a different address.

Before I close, I just wanted to thank the hundreds of you who wrote to me over the past few weeks, saying how sorry you were to hear that I got heaved off of MousePlanet and/or that how happy you were that I was about to set up shop at LaughingPlace.com. It was actually kind of touching to see how many of you seemed genuinely concerned about where I was going to end up.

Well, you can stop worrying now. I'm fine. I've finally found another place to work and will get back to cranking out all-new Disney-related stories for LaughingPlace.com shortly.

So now can we all *PLEASE* get back to concentrating on the *REAL* news?

After all, given that 4000 loyal long-term Disney employees are about to be put out on the street, the mis-adventures of one balding, pasty faced goon -- who got fired by one website, then hired by a couple of others -- doesn't seem all that important, now does it?

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Editor's Note: HELP! Jim Hill needs a name for this column. I couldn't come up with anything and neither could he so we're throwing it out to the readers. If you have any ideas, send them in the Talkback form below (be sure to include your email address). We'll pick our favorite from the bunch and Jim has even offered to throw in the Emporer's New Groove DVD for the winner. Thanks!

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-- Jim Hill

-- Posted April 3, 2001