Disney’s 200-Character OpenAI Bet and a Detour Down the Yellow Brick Road (Ep. 337)

The Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Jim Hill Media Podcast Network

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, Tv & Film

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 16 December 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Drew Taylor and Jim Hill kick off this week’s show with a genuinely wild media landscape where holiday releases, awards season, and corporate maneuvering are all colliding at once. From a brewing battle over Warner Bros. Discovery to Disney’s latest tech-flavored swing, the first half is a rapid tour through what’s breaking (and what might be breaking next). Then Jim takes the wheel solo for a longer, history-packed trip over the rainbow, tracing how animation veterans, studio deals, and a certain pair of feuding cartoon animals keep finding their way back to Oz. NEWS • Netflix and Paramount Skydance are reportedly lining up competing bids for Warner Bros. Discovery, with the situation edging into hostile takeover territory • Disney signs a three-year OpenAI licensing and investment deal, reportedly tied to short-form character content and platform experimentation • Zootopia 2 clears the $1 billion worldwide mark, adding to a renewed “WDAS is back” narrative after recent holiday stumbles • The trailer drops for Andy Serkis’ Animal Farm, with Seth Rogen voicing Napoleon and Angel Studios handling distribution • A quick remembrance of animator Tony Benedict, whose career path traced the industry’s mid-century churn from Disney to TV animation FEATURE • Why Chuck Jones left Termite Terrace, briefly detoured to Disney, then later set up shop at MGM • How Disney’s MGM licensing deal and the later Turner-Time Warner corporate shuffle complicated who “owned” what in the Oz rights maze • The surprisingly effective mash-up of MGM legacies in Tom & Jerry and the Wizard of Oz (and why it was successful enough to inspire a return trip) • A lightning round of other animated Oz side-quests, including costly misfires and international oddities HOSTS • Jim Hill - IG: @JimHillMedia | X: @JimHillMedia | Website: JimHillMedia.com • Drew Taylor - IG: @drewtailored | X: @DrewTailored | Website: drewtaylor.work FOLLOW • Facebook: JimHillMediaNews • Instagram: JimHillMedia • TikTok: JimHillMedia SUPPORT Support the show and access bonus episodes and additional content at Patreon.com/JimHillMedia. PRODUCTION CREDITS Edited by Dave Grey Produced by Eric Hersey - Strong Minded Agency SPONSOR Unlocked Magic - Get real savings on Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando tickets, sometimes up to 12% off. Unlocked Magic is run by the same team behind the DVC Rental Store and the DVC Resale Market, so you can pick your dates, grab your tickets, and go. Visit UnlockedMagic.com and let them know Drew and Jim sent you. If you would like to sponsor a show on the Jim Hill Media Podcast Network, reach out today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Think about cheese.
0:02.0	Make your thoughts cheesier.
0:04.2	Now add 100% chicken breast fillet, Chipotle sauce and Amadea cheese melt.
0:08.3	And it's giving the new cheesy chicken stack at McDonald's.
0:12.0	Did we mention it's cheesy?
0:13.9	Cheese.
0:15.8	Availments with the 4th of Jan, 2026 from 11 a.m.
0:18.1	Plus and participation may vary.
0:19.2	Subjects availability.
0:20.1	Welcome back to fine-tuning with Drew Taylor, your one-stop shop when it comes to animation
0:24.4	news and commentary. I am entertainment writer Jim Hill and Mr. Taylor, whose writings on the
0:29.7	industry you can regularly read over on the rap and whose music is the Mission Impossible movies
0:35.4	you can still listen to on Light the Fuse,
0:38.7	the official Mission Impossible podcast.
0:41.6	Now, Drew and I are recording this week's show on Saturday, December 13th, a little earlier
0:47.7	than usual for us.
0:49.7	Drew's in his home in Toluca Lake, whereas for this week's show, I'm down in New Jersey,
0:56.1	hold up in a hotel for reasons I'll discuss later in today's show.
1:01.5	Anyway, Drew, I got to ask, this has to have been an absolutely crazy week for someone
1:09.1	like yourself who works as a professional entertainment reporter because
1:13.1	I mean first and foremost all of the holiday films are coming to market in fact you have to run
1:20.4	out and do some anaconda related stuff later today is I do I'm going to the premiere of
	...

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