SAVE THE DATE (If you live in Los Angeles)

If you live in LA, here is an event you do not want to miss. On Saturday, October 21, I will be selling and signing copies of They Drew As They Pleased - The Hidden Art of Disney's Late Golden Age at the Wonderful World of Animation Gallery (9517 Culver Blvd., Culver City) from 2PM to 5PM.

This will be the only time this year that I will be in LA and this will mark the official launch of the third volume in the They Drew As They Pleased book series.

Mindy Johnson will also be there selling and signing her seminal book about Ink and Paint - The Women of Disney's Animation.

See you there soon!!

Kem Weber: Furniture Designs for the Disney Studios by Dave Bossert

I love this new initiative by Dave Bossert (click on the link above) and I am planning to support it next week.

OK, now that Irma is behind us, that I enjoyed a relaxing two-week vacation and that my computer issues are fixed, I am finally back.

I think many of you will enjoy the interview that Dave Lee conducted with me about the making of the third volume of the They Drew As They Pleased book series which will be released in just a few days, on October 10.

Dear all: Have you been considering buying They Drew As They Pleased - Volume 2 but postponing your decision? If so, please think about buying it as soon as possible and possibly pre-ordering Volume 3. Both volumes are selling at a 55% discount on Amazon.

If sales do not pick up sharply for those two volumes before the end of the year, I am afraid that the future of the series may be at stake, which is a major concern on my end.

Those books are a labor of love. They are the books I have dreamed of writing my whole life. They can't exist, however, if sales are luck-warm. 

Project Updates

The blog will be silent for two weeks (until September 25), so I thought it might be time to give you a quick update about ongoing projects. Here is what I am working on at the moment:

1. They Drew As They Pleased

Volume 3 (The Hidden Art of Disney's Late Golden Age) will be released on October 10 this year. Later this week I will be able to start reviewing the first layout of Volume 4 (The Hidden Art of Disney's Mid-Century Era, which focuses on artists Lee Blair, Mary Blair, Tom Oreb, John Dunn and Walt Peregoy). This also means that I am now hard at work conducting research about Ken Anderson and Mel Shaw for Volume 5.

2. Walt's People

Volume 10 has just been re-released by Theme Park Press.

More importantly, Volume 20 will be released between the end of November and the first week of December.

3. Snow White's People - Volume 2

The manuscript is ready and the book should be released between January and February 2018.

4. My Life As A Cartoon by Leo Salkin

The recently re-discovered autobiography and diaries of Disney story artist Leo Salkin should be released around the beginning of next year at the latest.

5. Other projects

The Ward Kimball diaries are for the moment on the back burner for reasons outside of my control, but I am hoping that the project will be back on track at some point next year.

I recently located the lost autobiography of a Disney artist who was also a member of the Firehouse Five Plus Two. The book is quite fascinating, and while I can't give more details about the project yet, I am hoping that it will be released towards the middle of next year.

A great review of They Drew As They Pleased - The Hidden Art of Disney's Late Golden Age has just been released by Jerry Beck on Cartoon Research.

For those of us who can read Italian, this book promises to be interesting. I will become available via Amazon.it on October 1.

This just in from Jake Friedman via Facebook:

[After SEVEN YEARS of research, last March I began writing my book about Art Babbitt and the Disney strike. 

My goal: to complete the first draft before the end of the summer.

Yesterday: mission accomplished!!! 

Stay tuned for the book "WAR IN THE FACTORY OF DREAMS".]

Can't wait!

I am really looking forward to this upcoming book by Jeff Kurtti, which should be released next year.

This sad news just in from Joseph Titizian:

[I was so sad to hear of the passing of Ginni Mack, the original model and true inspiration for Tinker Bell.

I was honored to meet Ginni and learn of her contributions to Disney Animation from the 1940s to the 1990s as an Artist and Supervisor at the Studio's Ink & Paint Department. I look forward to learning more about Ginni and the many unsung Disney women in Mindy Johnson's upcoming book, "Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney's Animation".]

I just got a copy of this new book by Jim Korkis. As always, this is an enjoyable, light read full of fun stories about little known-aspects of Disney history.

I just got this newly released book from Theme Park Press.

I love those short autobiographies of Disney's Imagineers and Parks Operations people. This one is no exception: it's a easy and fascinating read. 

This just in from filmmaker Aaron Pacentine:

[I'm a filmmaker and producer with FamilyFilmsProductions.com I wanted to bring to your attention a brand new independent documentary film on The Parent Trap. Hayley Mills is participating and others from the 1961 film and sequels. I have already received clearance from Disney to go ahead with my documentary. We are also in the process of arranging to using music from the 1961 film as well.  

 We are trying to get the word out on the project and trying to raise the funds.]

I have no information about the project beyond this. I might support it this week.

I have not yet received this very specialized reference book but I know that some of you will want to know that it has just been released.

This book is pure images and no text. This is not a book for historians. It is one for Pixar hardcore fans and art directors.

I enjoyed it very much but I do not consider it a "must have."

Talk about a book that took me completely by surprise. With a title like this I was expecting a pure "marketing" product. Not so at all. This is an outstanding book, full of never-seen-before illustrations and photographs, and impeccably researched by Marcy Carriker Smothers, an author who clearly cares deeply about her subject matter.

This is a book that will be a pure delight to fans of Walt Disney himself and to Disneyland enthusiasts. I never thought I would say this about a book titled Eat Like Walt, but this is clearly a "must have" for many of us.

Outside world events rarely influence what is posted on this blog, but it happens from time to time.

They Drew As They Pleased - Volume 4 (Chronicle Books, 2018) will feature a chapter about Disney artist Walt Peregoy. Before he joined Disney for good, Peregoy created this beautiful drawing featuring the US, Russia and the UK defeating Hitler and Nazism...

Anyway... Brighter things tomorrow with a rave review of a book I was originally not expecting to like.

I just received recently a review copy of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons by Dave Bossert and David Gerstein. From my standpoint there is no doubt that this is a "must have."

It is full of never-seen-before artwork, photographs and illustrations (and I mean from cover to cover) and the text will allow you to know absolutely all there is to know to date about all the Oswald cartoons. I was utterly fascinated when I read an early version of the manuscript a few months ago.

Then again, I am biased, since I played a small part in this quest by strongly recommending to Dave and David to work together on this project (the quest for the lost Oswald and Alice cartoons not the book itself). I can't tell you how excited I am with the results and with the number of "new" Oswald shorts that they have re-discovered.

I will be reviewing two wonderful new Disney history books over the next few days, but in the meantime my good friend and animation historian John Canemaker has just released the first review of They Drew As They Pleased - The Hidden Art of Disney's Late Golden Age and I though you might enjoy reading it.

Ink & Paint: The Women of Walt Disney's Animation is a revolutionary book about Disney history. It finally gives the women of Walt Disney's animation (not just those from Ink & Paint) the place they deserve... and it's a very important place.

The book is also absolutely massive. You are definitely getting tremendous value for your money.

And it is chock full of brand new information and photographs... from start to finish.

I truly believe that this is a book that will remain THE reference on the subject in 50 years.

More importantly, I believe that this is a book that none of us can afford not to get. This one absolutely has to be part of your Disney history library.

The author, my good friend Mindy Johnson can really be proud of what she achieved!