Happy New Year to all of you! (Hauskaa Joulua in Finnish) See you all next week / next year.

Do not miss today:
- 1st Disney Studio Christmas card - 1930 by David Lesjak
- The Untold Story of Captain EO by Wade Sampson

Help Needed!

I urgently need to get a hold of the article below (especially the part that mentions Musicana). Could anyone help?

"World of Animation - The Next SNOW WHITE" by John Cawley in American Classic Screen (Volume 5, Number 4; 1980)

Is there anything better than ending the year with a Milt Kahl celebration? Thanks to Jim Korkis for this link.

Do not miss today:
- Tony Baxter on the Return of Mr. Lincoln by MouseStation Crew
- Winter fun with Walt and Mickey by David Lesjak

This just in from Jim Korkis:

[Even though Christmas is officially over, shouldn't we maintain the spirit of Christmas the entire year? In that spirit, here is a link to a page from a Christmas carols book published by King Features in 1949 showcasing their comic strip characters from Rip Kirby to Snuffy Smith decorating appropriate holiday songs. This link is to the page for the song with the Disney comic strip characters.]

Hake's new auction just opened. As ever it contains quite a few unique items. The two weirdest ones though are Mickey Mouse comics adult parodies from the '40s. Just plain odd.

Do not miss today:

- The Swedish Holiday Obsession with Donald Duck by Amid Amidi
- The Voice of Mickey Mouse by Jerry Beck
- TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS-Day Ten by Paul F. Anderson
- TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS-Day Eleven by Paul F. Anderson

Here is the Christmas gift I mentioned yesterday, courtesy of Are Myklebust:

[I promised to come back to the “Disney History Discovery” made by Gunnar and me.

The premiere date of the short “Steamboat Willie” here in Norway has been unclear, but after some research at National Library in our capital Oslo, we finally found it! The daily Norwegian newspaper “Aftenposten” (“The Evening Post”), published in Oslo, announces in its issue published on March 24, 1930 that “Steamboat Willie” will premiere that same evening together with the musical film “Love Comes Along” (from 1930), starring Bebe Daniels.

See the attachment below – a scan of the original advertisement. Notice the wrong spelling of the title, “Steemboat Willie” (sic).

It was even a small ad about its premiere in the same newspaper the week before (attachment above).]

Merry Xmas to you all. I will be in Morocco until the 29th of December and will try and post something on the 30th. If not, I wish you all also a great new year.

Do not miss today:

- Santa's Workshop by David Lesjak
- The Secret Origin of the Aristocats by Wade Sampson

Those concept art drawings were sold on Van Eaton Galleries a while back. I thought you would enjoy them just two days before Jack takes over.

I should have a nice historical gift for all of you tomorrow, hopefully.

Do not miss today:

- Roy Edward Disney by Michael Barrier
- Richard Todd by Michael Barrier
- The Princess And The Frog’s Supervising Animator Mark Henn – Part 1: It All Started With A…Mermaid! by Jeremie Noyer
- Roy E. Disney, Lyricist by Amid Amidi
- Diane Disney Miller - Happy Birthday ! by David Lesjak
- TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS-Day Six by Paul F. Anderson
- TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS-Day Seven by Paul F. Anderson

- TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS-Day Eight by Paul F. Anderson
- TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS-Day Nine by Paul F. Anderson
- Rowland B. Wilson’s Li’l Mermaid by Michael Sporn
- Thanks For Everything, Roy. by Pete Emslie
- The Archive Series: Animation by Mark Mayerson

Apologies for the lack of updates yesterday. There was snow in Madrid, which created utter havoc.

More on Disney and Garbo

Thanks to Gunnar Andreassen, at this link.

This just in from Jim Korkis:

[With all the great books reprinting comic strips, it might be nice to have book collections of some of the Disney comic strips from the annual Christmas strips to the work of Al Taliaferro on Donald Duck and Floyd Gottfredson on Mickey Mouse and some of the out of the ordinary comic strips.

Link to 1958 Donald Duck daily comic strips.]

Do not miss today:

- “Waking Sleeping Beauty” pays tribute to Roy E. Disney’s creative legacy by Jim Hill
- Disney biographer remembers Roy E. Disney by Bob Thomas
- TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS-Day Four by Paul F. Anderson
- TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS-Day Five by Paul F. Anderson
- Roy Edward Disney - R.I.P. by David Lesjak
- Santa / Mickey Lionel hand car by David Lesjak

Of course the terribly sad news today is the death of Roy E. Disney, who passed away on December 16, 43 years and one day after his uncle, 38 years less 4 days after his father.

Here are links to key tributes and obituaries:

- Remembering Roy E. Disney by Wade Sampson

- Roy Edward Disney dies at 79; nephew of Walt helped revive animation
- ROY E. DISNEY, KEY FIGURE IN REVITALIZING THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY AND DISNEY'S ANIMATION LEGACY, DIES AT AGE 79

(Apologies for the late posting. I was having issues with my PC this morning)

I already mentioned this upcoming book a few months ago. Here is the official Press Release. I am really looking forward to it.

[Walt Disney’s First Lady of Imagineering, Harriet Burns
by Pam Burns-Clair and Don Peri

After Harriet Burns—the first female Walt Disney Imagineer—passed away in July 2008, Harriet's daughter, Pam, received such an outpouring of love complete with colorful stories of her mother from family and friends, both personal and professional, that she decided to create a tribute book. Together with co-author Don Peri, they solicited and received many more stories about Harriet and they all are gathered in this book, together with many photos of Harriet not seen before by the public. Through this limited edition hard cover, coffee-table style book, you will discover the range and depth of Harriet's impact on those lives she touched whether as a mother, grandmother, relative, mentor, co-worker, or friend. The stories will bring a smile or a tear, or both, and will contribute to an understanding and appreciation of this tiny woman with a heart as big as her native Texas.

The book is a perfect holiday gift for those seeking inspiration from a pioneering woman venturing with bold finesse into what was previously a male-dominated workplace, for Disney history buffs and—of course—for those who knew and admired this multi-faceted woman. A presale holiday card to be presented to the recipient can be obtained by ordering from http://www.imagineerharriet.com/. The price will be $35 (+ $5 shipping/handling) scheduled for mid-January 2010.

Pam Burns-Clair, MFT is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice in Napa, California. Her daughter Chelsea contributed as the project designer. Don Peri is a Disney historian and author of Working With Walt: Interviews with Disney Artists (University Press of Mississippi, 2008). Don lives in Davis, California.

This limited-edition book will be published by The Donning Company Publishers of Virginia Beach,
Virginia–the largest specialty pictorial history publisher in the United States–and this publication will become
the newest book in Donning’s “Portrait of America” series.

Book Specifications:
8 1/2” x 10 7/8”, hardcover, limited-edition, 112 pages with almost 200 photographs.]

Do not miss today:

- TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS-Day Two by Paul F. Anderson
- TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS-Day Three by Paul F. Anderson
- Walter Elias Disney 1901-1966 by David Lesjak
- The Peter Pan War (Thanks to Jim Korkis for the link)

Philippe Videcoq was kind enough to authorize me to share with all of you this exceptional document (the synopsis of Alice the Beach Nut) that he sold at Christie's a few weeks ago.



I hope you will enjoy this early Christmas gift.



I will be in Barcelona tomorrow. The blog will be updated again on Thursday.

A few years ago I wrote an article for the magazine Tomart's Disneyana about the Disney magic lanterns from the English company Ensign Ltd.

I just discovered on ebay the display sign above (11 1/8" x 6 1/8") which I did not know existed and that I thought some of you might enjoy.

Do not miss today:

- TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS-Day One by Paul F. Anderson
- The Art of Princess and the Frog: Down in New Orleans with author Jeff Kurtti by Jeremie Noyer
- Roger Rabbit crew photos on Facebook by Jerry Beck

This item is currently being offered for sale by Van Eaton Galleries. It thought quite a few of you would like to see it.

According to the caption:

["The Miracle" is a song that Roy Williams wrote and illustrated, most likely as a storyboard for a performance on The Mickey Mouse Club.]

I love the caricature of Roy Williams as an ashtray. That item as well as the drawings below by Hugh Hennesy all come from the collection of Charlene Sundblad.

Do not miss today:

- Uncle Robert's house for sale by David Lesjak
- Peter searches for a cat by Ed Gombert
- Can I Keep It? by Ed Gombert

Let's admit it, the catalog of the exhibition currently taking place in New Orleans (Nov. 15, 2009 to March 14, 2010) is beautiful but is not a "must-have" as it does not contain much in terms of never-seen-before material.

Within its 120 pages there are 5 items, though, that caught my attention as I believe no other book ever featured them: a sketch of the Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Ferdinand Horvath; a concept painting of Cinderella by Bianca Majolie; two small concept studies from Sleeping Beauty by Joe Rinaldi; and a fascinating concept paiting of Belle by Mel Shaw. Having access to those four items justified the $20 I spent on this catalog, but I realize I am in a minority.

Do not miss today:

- Zorro at Disneyland by Wade Sampson

Tomorrow is a holiday in Spain. See you all on Wednesday with a review of the catalog of the exhibition that is currently taking place in New Orleans.

Here are a few drawings from Charlene Sundblad's collection. The two drawings below are sketches of Helen Hennesy. One by Ward Kimball, the other by Jesse March.

I believe the sketch above is by Kimball, also. I recognize Walt, Ham Luske and Kimball, but who is the man standing with the cigar. It's probably obvious but as I already mentioned I am very bad at recognizing faces, even more when they are caricatured.

Do not miss today:

- Paul F. Anderson has posted an astounding series of posts on the Disney History Insitute this weekend to celebrate Walt's 108th birthday. Not to be missed in any way, shape or form!
- Happy 108th Birthday Walter Elias Disney by David Lesjak
- Walt Disney's Birthday Celebration by Alain Littaye
- Barks cartoons by Joakim Gunnarsson (Thanks to Jim Korkis for the link)
- An exclusive look inside Disneyland’s Mr. Lincoln by Adam Townsend (Thanks to Jim Korkis for the link)

I will be in London tomorrow and Friday. See you all again on Monday.

Here are more documents sent by Charlene Sunblad from the collection of Helen and Hugh Hennesy.

Any idea of who the two caricatured artists are?

Do not miss today:

- FIFTEEN MINUTES with C. Northcote Parkinson by Paul F. Anderson
- As Walt Said by Wade Sampson

The Laughing Place store mentions two new Disney-history related DVDs, one of which I believe might be interesting. The Jiminy Cricket one (below) seems to short (40 minutes) to contain anything interesting. The second one, Magic Kingdom: Imagineering the Magic (2-Disc Set) sounds a lot more promising as it contains among other treasures Roy's dedication speech as well as Walt's press conference in Florida.