Michael Lyons

Editor

Michael Lyons is a freelance writer, specializing in film, television, and pop culture. He is the author of the book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney’s Animation Renaissance, which chronicles the amazing growth at the Disney animation studio in the 1990s. In addition to Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research, he has contributed to Remind Magazine, Cinefantastique, Animation World Network and Disney Magazine. He also writes a blog, Screen Saver: A Retro Review of TV Shows and Movies of Yesteryear and his interviews with a number of animation legends have been featured in several volumes of the books, Walt’s People. You can visit Michael’s web site Words From Lyons at: Words From Lyons at: www.wordsfromlyons.com

Articles By Michael Lyons

Disney Feature

In Disney’s 36th animated feature Mulan the title character arrives quietly in the story, taking everyone by surprise, at a time when no one expects it. The film Mulan did the same thing. Following on the heels of Disney’s “event” films, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Hercules, Mulan was a complete original in […]

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Disney

“Ten thousand yeeeeears will give you such a crick in the neck!” So said the Genie in the character’s now iconic first appearance on screen in Disney’s animated blockbuster “Aladdin.” With that character’s appearance, animated films changed forever- all of them from all studios wanted to copy “Aladdin’s” knowing, whiz-bang, pop-culture humor and sensibility. Few, […]

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September has always heralded the somber end of summer and the inevitable start of the school year. For several generations however, the sad farewell to vacation days and re-emergence of three ring binders came with only one glimmer of light: the beginning of a new Season of Saturday Morning TV. Forty years ago this September, […]

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Disney

The late, great animation historian John Culhane vividly remembered seeing Bambi when he was a young boy. The movie’s most impactful scene (maybe one of the most impactful scenes in all movie history), the death of Bambi’s mother was playing out on the screen. “Bambi’s screaming ‘Mother!’ ‘Mother!’,” Culhane recalled in a 1998 interview. “A […]

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Disney

Forty years ago this summer, the landscape in Hollywood changed forever. A film was released that rocked the moviegoing experience for both the industry and audiences. Oh sure, it may seem as if this is referring to George Lucas’ Star Wars, the flashpoint of summer blockbusters, but it also applies to another summer ’77 movie […]

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More From Animation Scoop

An Eye for A Classic: The 60th Anniversary of “Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol”

He may be near-sighted, but it was Mr. Magoo who could see the way and blaze a trail for all future animated television Christmas specials. Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol debuted on December 18, 1962, on NBC, making it the very first animated Christmas special to be produced for television.  It aired two years before Rudolph […]