More than just an address

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Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Matt Hochberg

Although some may think it, I don’t really know everything about the Disney-MGM Studios (far from it, really. In fact, I know nothing. Who am I? Where is this...) and so in order to keep up with what’s going on at the Studios or to read about something I’ve missed, I often scour the internet and one of my new favorite sites is 2719 Hyperion, a blog that’s run by someone whom I recently had an opportunity to meet at Magic Meets this past July, Jeff Pepper.  Jeff knows quite a bit about the theme parks as well as traditional Disney animation and quite often talks about the Studios in a number of running segments he has on his blog.  I had a chance to talk with Jeff about his site and his love for Disney.

I know what you’re wondering, “The name of his site is 2719 Hyperion?”  Jeff named the site after then original Disney Studios which was in operation between 1926 and 1938 when they moved to Burbank. Jeff liked the name because it’s a clever reference to an early part of Disney history but also because it represents, “a very creative, brilliant time period in the history of the Studio.”  And creative is the name of the game for Jeff and his blog.  Jeff came up with the idea for the blog after going to a number of Disney Internet communities and listening to a number of Disney podcasts, and because he was so into the community, a friend suggested Jeff start a blog and that was all Jeff needed to get started.

Jeff’s goal for the site was to be unique compared to other sites and wanted to bridge a gap between Disney animation and the theme parks and Jeff saw a real connection between the films and the theme parks beyond the very obvious. Jeff saw “the bigger picture” to how the parks are interconnected to the films. Jeff uses the site to give his opinion on current Disney events but also as a window to sharing his love of many things Disney, especially the classic Disney cartoons that Jeff adores.

Jeff’s origins in writing go back to his days as journalism major in college.  Jeff received his degree but never pursued a career in journalism but was able to draw upon his experience from college and bring it into his blog. Jeff rediscovered his “drive for writing…and my love of writing”.  Jeff started incorporating elements of his personal life like old park memorabilia and older films and used them as a starting point for writing.  On days when Jeff has nothing to write, he’ll post a picture of a freeze frame from a feature film and show the significance of why it was put there or show a particular element of theme park theming that stands out in Jeff’s mind and explain its origins.

Jeff enjoys the many facets of his blog but he especially enjoys writing about what got Jeff interested in Disney in the first place and that’s the Disney animation like talking about animation shorts or different animated characters.  Jeff recalled one instance where he detailed the character of Humphrey the bear, “People were going ‘Who the heck is that?’ yet I can show them he’s over at the Wilderness Lodge at Walt Disney World; there’s a connection. I love showing people how you can kind of connect the dots in the big Disney picture.”

In addition to being a journalist and animation aficionado, Jeff is also an aspiring artist and incorporates his enjoyment of graphic design, specifically three dimensional rendering, with his blog readers.  Believe it or not, Jeff is completely self-taught and came up as a hobbyist and used his passion for three dimensional rendering to design some of the ideas in his head for his blue sky ideas.  They’re not professional by any means, just jabs at putting his ideas onto digital paper.  And Jeff’s passion for Disney isn’t just limited to himself.  His 14 year old son Cody, is an aspiring Disney trivia buff who has been on the WDW Today and WDW Radio show and Jeff encourages his son to write for the site.

The future for Jeff and 2719 Hyperion isn’t to just grow as big as possible, rather, Jeff wants the site to be an every day read for most folks in the sense of how people read newspapers.  Jeff also wants to expand the number of writers he has for the site so he can produce more content on a daily basis. On a more personal level, Jeff hopes to be able to meet more people in the Disney community and become more active in the growing Disney Internet community gatherings such as Mousefest.

Jeff also contributes to the WDW Radio podcast, which is hosted by Lou Mongello where he comes on nearly regularly to discuss various aspects of theme, design and the history of the Disney company.