Welcome to Why Want That, which is an ongoing series here at the Jim Hill Media Podcast Network, a show that focuses on the dynamic world of Disney merch.

I'm entertainment writer Jim Hill and with me tonight is Disney expert Michelle

Viale. Michelle come on in. Hi Jim. Hey there and folks we are recording this

on Sunday December 27th, 2020. And I sincerely apologize for the

lag between episodes here, folks, but just to cut to the chase here, we had a death in the family. My father and Alice's granddad, Frank

Robert Hill passed away on Saturday, December 19th, just three days after his 89th birthday.

Mind you, it wasn't unexpected.

Dad had been dealing with some pretty serious health issues

over the past few years, But even so his death came as kind of a shock.

Anyway, if you folks like the stories you hear in the Jim Hill Media Podcast network, you honestly have Frank Hill to thank for that.

He's the guy who sent me down this very weird career path.

Dad's the guy who taught me how to spend a yarn. He's also the one 50 years ago this year who drove our entire family from Massachusetts all the way out to California so we could then

experiences in the park. There were a few national parks in the middle there.

But it was honestly that visit that launched my interest in the history and the backstory of the place.

And I could tell you all sorts of stories about my dad.

How because he was the principal of the primary school in a very small town that I grew up in,

Maynard, Massachusetts.

My dad was a genuinely below figure.

My mom, too.

She taught kindergarten in the exact same school that my

dad was principal at for decades. But instead of me...

But he was Santa too. Yeah he was Santa too.

...