I just spotted this on Amazon today.

More details about the upcoming Mickey Mouse Taschen book thanks to J.B. Kaufman's blog.

INCOMPLETE ROSETTA STONE

A few months back, I stumbled upon one page of a document titled "Story Situations", dated September 20, 1939. I was stunned! I knew exactly what I was looking at: This was a page of a much longer document listing story ideas for abandoned Disney shorts. Looking at a list I have in my collection, I deducted that the full document must have been between 30 and 35 pages long. By conducting some additional research, I realized that a friend of mine had 9 additional pages. I now have pages 21 to 30, but I am still missing pages 1 to 19 and 31 to 35 (or 34).

The Disney Archives do not seem to have a copy of this document and it is entirely possible that the additional pages will never be found.

This is immensely frustrating from a historical standpoint since the document contains the synopses of various shorts in progress about which we know almost nothing. Based on another list, I know for example that the lost pages of the "Story Situations" document contain the synopses of a planned Band Concert sequel and a Country Cousin sequel.

If anyone of you has any idea of where to find the additional pages, please do not hesitate to email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com

This is a long-shot, but who knows ;-)

The contents of the new Disney twenty three magazine have just been released. I am especially looking forward to:

"Animation historian Fox Carney dives into the vaults of the Animation Research Library to show off stunning paintings and drawings from Mickey’s rich history."

Great review of They Drew As They Pleased - The Hidden Art of Disney's Mid-Century Era on Boing Boing! today.

Walt's People - Volume 21 was released today! Do not miss this specific volume. I believe it is one of the best in the series.

Walt's People: Volume 21 features appearances by Ferdinand Horvath, Ken Peterson, Bob Givens, Sylvia Holland, Tyrus Wong, John Hench, Marc Davis, Alice Davis, Al Kasha and Joel Hirschhorn, Floyd Norman, Paul R. Hartley (via his daughter Stacey Hartley), Bill Cottrell, Lillian Disney, Glen Keane, and Darrell Van Citters.

They Drew As They Pleased - The Hidden Art of Disney's Mid-Century Era will be released in just a few days.

I discussed the making of the book with the team of Mousetalgia. You can listen to it at this link. 

One more interesting auction coming up at Van Eaton Galleries.

Great preview of the upcoming Nine Old Men exhibit catalog released here.

Fascinating interview of Chris Merritt and Pete Docter about their upcoming book(s) about Marc Davis. That book will be revolutionary and I just can't wait for it to be released.

I can't wait to get a copy of the catalog from the Nine Old Men exhibition which will be released in October.

And here is one additional new book from Theme Park Press that I am interested in. The publisher mentions:

[Disneyland has a lot to hide. Well, that sounds nefarious, so how about, Disneyland has a lot for you to discover. And I don't mean wait times and ride descriptions. I mean the deep, rich, hidden legacy of the park. Its real secrets.

No one knows Disney history better than Disney historian Jim Korkis. In this book, the latest in his best-selling "Secret Stories" series, he unearths still more Disneyland gold and presents it in bite-sized stories that you can enjoy while waiting in line, sitting in a monorail, or whenever you have a few moments to fill with fresh Disney knowledge.

With over 90 "mini chapters", organized by theme park "land", plus a special section devoted to some of the attractions that exist beyond the berm, you're sure to discover new lore about the Happiest Place on Earth, including Roastie Toasties, the Jungle Cruise elephants, Ray Bradbury's Halloween Tree, the (new) Redhead from Pirates of the Caribbean, the Matterhorn Garden, Star Tours, Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, and so much more that the pixie dust will dance in front of your eyes for days.]

Theme Park Press just released two more good books. Here is the description of the first one from the publisher:

[You've heard Jim Korkis' secret stories of Walt Disney World. Then you heard more of Jim Korkis' secret stories of Walt Disney World. Now, with the neighbors gone home and the kids asleep, Jim has a special treat: other secret stories of Walt Disney World. Gather round.

You know what's more fun than finding Hidden Mickeys at Walt Disney World? Reading secret stories about Walt Disney World. And no one knows more Disney secrets than Jim Korkis. Just when it seems like the secrets well is dry, the often imitated, never duplicated Korkis hits a gusher:

The evolution and emancipation of the Redhead in Pirates of the Caribbean
The one place in Disney World where you'll see radioactive monsters, zombies, and a giant psychotic woman
The backstories of Auntie Kau'i, Miss Adventure, and other little-known Disney "characters"
More "Disney that never was" with Epcot's Venezuela pavilion and the Lake Buena Vista monorail
Each story is short enough to read whenever you have a spare moment that needs Disney in it. That's, like, every spare moment, so pace yourself... ]

Happy 4th of July.

Do not miss this great article today:

Disney's Lost and Found: James Lewis by Vincent Randle

I just read this small book by Scott Madden about Walt and polo. It is well written, and the author really did his homework, going to all the sources available to him to put it together. And it is an easy read.

The issue, of course, is that Scott Madden did not have access to the Disney Archives, which means that, despite his best efforts, all of us who have read most of the books written about Disney learn very little.

It is an excellent starting point, though, and one that will be very useful to researchers who might have the opportunity in the future to dig even deeper into the subject matter. 

I just received my own copy of Pierre Lambert's spectacular new version of his Pinocchio book. If you love Disney history books and have an unlimited budget (and a large house) you will want to pick this one up. (Otherwise you will want to wait a few months for the release of the regular edition.)

The special edition that has just been released is the largest Disney history book I have ever seen in my life, is limited to 750 copies, and is not cheap. I was blown away by it.

You can find more information (and a video) about it on the site of dealer Stuart Ng. My heartfelt congratulations to Pierre for another masterpiece.

This came in the mail today. I have to admit that I am extremely proud of this fourth volume in the They Drew As They Pleased book series, which focuses on Lee and Mary Blair, Tom Oreb, John Dunn and Walt Peregoy.

Almost every single one of the pieces of artwork included in the book had never been seen before in book form, and the story of the 1950s and the 1960s was almost virgin territory when it comes to concept artists (Mary Blair aside, of course).

I have a feeling that you will be amazed.

Some exciting material coming up at auction via Van Eaton Galleries.

While I eagerly await the first physical copy of They Drew As They Pleased - Volume 4, which should arrive in about 2 weeks, I spent a large part of Thursday, Friday and Saturday finalizing all the elements of Volume 5. The text was fully written last year and edited last month, all the close to 400 illustrations have been selected and this allowed me to put together over the past few days the massive caption file which will guide the designer Cat Grishaver over the next few months.

This is a massive amount of work, but I have a feeling all of you will love the end result. 

Now on pre-order on Amazon.