Our year-long celebration of the 10th anniversary of “Snide Remarks,” in which we spotlight a different column each Wednesday, continues apace with “Zombie for Mayor.” This “Snide Remarks” Classic, #290, was published May 29, 2002, and it was met with a lot of blank stares and head-scratching because it was the first time I’d ever written a column that was a work of complete fiction. Usually I talked about news stories, or related things that had happened to me, or just rambled about whatever was on my mind. But this time, I made up a fictional character and a fanciful situation, and the abrupt shift from the norm threw a lot of people off.

I really liked the character, though, and have brought him back on two subsequent occasions. I’ve also done a few complete-fiction pieces since then, and messed with the traditional “Snide Remarks” format quite a bit, so I think readers aren’t as baffled by it as they once were.

Tinkerbell: Not coming to a DVD player near you, thank goodness.

I want to mention a couple of Disney-related news items that have come from Jim Hill Media, and then I want to make fun of the way Jim Hill writes.

Hill’s site focuses primarily on Disney, and Hill is a thorough Disney-watcher who has come to be the go-to guy when it comes to Mouse House news. For example, he broke the very encouraging news last week that Disney is doing away with its dreadful straight-to-video sequels to its classic films. That means no “Cinderella III: Stepsister’s Revenge” or “Dumbo IV: Doin’ It Dumbo Style!” or “Peter Pan III: The Third Part of Peter Pan.” Sorry, 3-6-year-olds!

What led to this sudden change of heart? Weren’t those DVDs making obscene profits? Why yes, yes they were. But someone in charge realized that the sequels were usually complete crap, and that they sullied the good name of the originals.

That hero is John Lasseter, head of Pixar.

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