Tuesday, April 21, 2009

On May 6, Disney Editions will release the long awaited book by Jeff Kurtti and the late Bruce Gordon, The Art of Walt Disney World. This book will unfortunately be available only at Walt Disney World and Disneyland.

I have just received an advance copy yesterday evening and was so excited while I started looking at it that I knew I would not be able to wait to post a short review.

The companion volume to this book, The Art of Disneyland was a great piece and this one follows the same pattern. My excitment in the case of The Art of Disneyland, however, was compensated by the fact that I had seen many of the featured drawings and renderings in other books. Not so with The Art of Walt Disney World. I estimate that at least 75% of the artwork had never been released in book form before.

Every single piece of art has been selected very carefully by Jeff and Bruce and although the text is limited to the captions, every single caption is interesting and brings something of value. The equilibrium between the "WDW that was" and the "WDW that never was" also tends to perfection. I discovered quite a few attractions projects that I had never heard about before, designed by such prominent artists as Sam MacKim or Collin Campbell.

There is sheer beauty in this book if you love WDI's artwork, and although I have to admit that I often prefer the carefully rendered paintings of Dorothea Redmond, Collin Campbell, Tony Baxter, Julie Svendsen, and Sam MacKim, I also loved some of the art created by some artists of the most recent generation.

From my point of view this book is as much a "must have" for park enthusiasts as the Disney Studio Archives Series: Story was for animation historians. When I said I couldn't wait to get it a few months ago, my impatience was justified. This is a book that definitely lives up to expectations.

17 comments:

christopherkerry said...

Hello

As a Disney historian maybe you can help me. I have an original Paul Hartly painting that measures aprox 6ft by 16ft. the painting illustrates the design and construstion of the original Disney park and used to hang in the Disney Design studios at 808 W Vermont. I know very little about the work other than what i have just stated but would like to know more. have you ever seen or heard of this painting?

Thanks for any help you can offer
Chris

Anonymous said...

So excited for this book. Could you please post the SKU number on the back to make ordering easier from WDW merchandising? Thanks!!

Didier Ghez said...

ok. Will do so tomorrow morning.

Lou Mongello - WDWRadio.com said...

VERY excited for this book's release, as I have been eagerly anticipating its arrival. While I was sure it wouldn't disappoint, especially knowing Jeff's prior works, your review and endorsement has made me even more excited about it!

hay said...

cant wait for this! and another excuse to go to disneyland and pick it up

hay said...

cant wait for this! another excuse to go to disneyland to pick it up as well.

Anonymous said...

I cannot get merchandising at either park to give me any information about this book. They say it is "out of print." Anyone have any more information?

Didier Ghez said...

It will be released on May 6th. But they are so discoordinated that they probably do not know about it yet. My advice: wait two weeks and try again.

Unknown said...

Didier,

Thanks for the early review! It sounds like it will be amaqzing.

Anonymous said...

If it's a park exclusive, at least initially, it should be available through DeliverEars 1 800 362 4533
Like the Art of Disneyland book, it will probably be available on Amazon after a few months, although they may change the cover art.

Didier Ghez said...

The ISBN of the book is: 978-142310673-9

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the additional information. According to Delivears, the SKU is 14415208 and the system still shows it as not in stock. Hope this helps someone.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for alerting us to this exclusive book and for all the additional info here in the comments! I can confirm I have successfully orderd this book on the evening of May 5th over the phone from the WDW resort merch services. The number is 407-363-6200. $49.95. UPS shipping is an additional $10. Can't wait to get my hands on it.

Anonymous said...

As of today(May 8TH) Disneyland still does not have this book.

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know when Disneyland California will have this? I have been calling every day and no one seems to be familar with it.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

I'm going to DL Sunday the 17th and will check. It may only be sold in WDW for now.

Anonymous said...

Went to Disneyland today (5/17) and both the music shop on Main Street (5 copies on shelf) and Off the Page (2 copies on shelf) in California Adventure had the book in stock. World of Disney did not have it.