Tomorrow is a holiday in Spain. The blog will be updated again on Wednesday.

Beautiful Chernabog drawing by Kay Nielsen being sold by Van Eaton Galleries at the moment.

Two interesting new upcoming books announced on Amazon today:

Disney Trivia from the Vault: Secrets Revealed and Questions Answered by Dave Smith and The Toy Story Films: An Animated Journey by Charles Solomon.

Help needed

Would any reader of the blog be able to help me locate the article "Mickey Mouse Financier" released on October 21, 1933 in the magazine Literary Digest?

This just in from Scott Carmody, through Jim Korkis:

[I just enjoyed reading your article on the Snow White premiere. One anecdote that I know of involved Gustaf Tenggren, the famed artist who did conceptual work on Snow White and other Disney films. He and his wife were presented with 2 tickets to the premiere but his wife did not like the seats they were given. So she did not attend. Years later Tenggren gave his wife's ticket (and matching envelope) to a fiend of his in the Children's book trade. I eventually became the owner of the ticket and envelope for several years but have since sold it.]

Do not miss today:

- Eyvind Earle Narrates His Life Story by Amid Amidi
- The History of the Partners Statue: Part One by Jim Korkis
- Mystery of the Morgue by Billy Stanek

This just in from Jim Korkis:

[Apparently there will be a special PREP AND LANDING comic story in three Marvel superhero comic books in November and John Lasseter thinks it is great.]

This just in from Jim Korkis (wonderful news):

[Since 2010, Marty Sklar has been writing his memoirs in longhand and having someone else type them up. Here are two excerpts:

http://www.iaapa.org/industry/funworld/2011/sep/features/MagicKingdom/index.asp

http://www.iaapa.org/industry/funworld/2011/oct/features/MagicKingdom/index.asp]

The Disney Books Network was updated over the weekend.

Some of you may already know this obscure book and be aware of its direct connection with Disney, but I stumbled upon it yesterday and knew that some readers of the blog would love to discover it. I have not read it yet, but the back cover tells me I need to get it:

[Harold Bastrup, tells about one police officer's experiences over a 34-year period, from his start as an inexperienced deputy in Kenosha, Wisconsin to the time of his retirement as Chief in Anaheim, California years later. Unusual, dramatic, and often bizarre recollections in both departments, as well as many humorous events are given in 59 chapters in the 415 page book including the chief's work with Walt Disney and Disneyland in its early years.

Each chapter is a story in itself, including an incident with an embarrassed deputy who had to cut a young ladies brassiere strap when giving first aid, how police officers deal with death situations, policing of rock concerts, and pranks officers play to relieve tension. Chapter titles include: Child Neglect and a Father's Death, Murder at the Disneyland Hotel, Cops Have Feelings, The Motorcycle Gangs, The Stripper, and Protecting VIPS (including Presidents).

Disney chapters include: Walt Disney Recollections, Emperor Comes to Disneyland, The Hippie Invasion, The Clown and His Balloons, Police Problems at Disneyland, The All Night Graduation Parties, and Walt Disney Has Words the King Never Hears.]

If you have not checked the Disney Family Museum blog in recent months you should run to it today. It's under new management and contains better and better content each day. The latest treat: a pdf of the Lilly Belle's guest book.

Do not miss today:

- I Rode the Lilly Belle!
- Riding the Rails with Walt Disney by Joseph Titizian
- The Mystery of Charles Shows by Jim Korkis
- Tom Scherman's Iron Man - and the Great Race at Ward Kimball's Grizzly Flats Train Depot by Pat Burke (thanks to Roger Colton for the link)
- Google Honors Mary Blair by Amid Amidi
- Snapshot Missouri! - Walt Disney Elementary School by Jeff Pepper
- Helen Aberson and the Writing of Dumbo by Michael Barrier
- Winnie the Pooh and Burny, too: a chat with animation legend Burny Mattinson by Jérémie Noyer

I will be in Amsterdam very briefly tomorrow. The blog will be updated again on Monday.

I just found this short video of the 'Showman of the Year' ceremony in 1967 at Cinematographers Exhibitors Association Conference, Brighton. Sussex, and thought you might enjoy it.

Jim Korkis just gave me a heads up about this upcoming reference book. Weird but probably useful for some of us.

The catalog of S/R Labs' upcoming auction is now online. My favorite item is without a doubt the one above. The caption reads:

[Unimaginably rare, this cleaver-wielding chef was slated to be part of Hook’s crew when Peter Pan first went into pre-production in the late 1930s, but failed to make the cut when production resumed in the 1950s. He is 7-1/2”. The base is stamped “Return to Character Model Dept.” Disney, 1940.]

This just in from Gunnat Andreassen:

[Here's an English article MICKEY MOUSE and HIS MASTER, from Film-Lovers' Annual.
Probably the 1935 annual, published in 1934.

The initials of the author are M.D.P. I found another article in the same annual written by Malcolm D. Phillips, so I guess that it must be him that wrote it. I have found a person on the net who wrote an editorial in an English Film magazine in the 30s with the same name.]

This just in from my good friend from Serbia, Sasa Rakezic:

[I have just came across the material that will maybe be of some interest to you. These are the photos, made in the 1930s Serbia, from a collection of Belgarde's artist Vladimir Peric, better known as TALENT, which is his art name. He made a significant collection of found photos, from different periods, that he is exhibiting and presenting under the title of CHILDHOOD MUSEUM. He's got 1000s of images, mostly made by amateurs and in the cheap photographic studios. I'm forwarding you just some of his photos related to Disneyana, please do let me know of your opinion...]

My brother just discovered this French anti-Disney book and I thought some of you might want to know that it exists. The title says it all: The Murder of Mickey Mouse. I believe it only gets worse inside.

Do not miss today:

- "He was always grandpa" : The Miller children recall Walt Disney by Leo Holzer
- Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Jim Henson and the matter of time by Floyd Norman
- Why For did Epcot's Future World not turn out as WED had originally planned? by Jim Hill
- The Dog Who Was The Shaggy Dog by Jim Korkis
- 'Hi. It’s Steve.' by Aaron Sorkin

I spent the first weekend of the month in Paris and my mother shared with my brother and I some old photos of my father, including the two above. You can imagine my surprise and excitement when I spotted this Mickey Mouse rubber ball, which I had never seen before. The photos were taken in July 1936 in Tunis, when my father was just over one year old.

This just in from Gunnar Andreassen:

[Another caricature of WD from the 1930s - by Antonio Sotomayor, c. 1935. The original is found in National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.]

Not sure how good this book will be, but I am really looking forward to getting it.

Needless to say, this book should also be fascinating from a Disney history point of view.

Do not miss today:

- Steve Jobs and John Lasseter, 1995 by Amid Amidi
- Walt Disney and Ingmar Bergman by Joakim Gunnarson
- Making The Great Locomotive Chase by Michael Crawford
- I Have Always Loved Trains by Walt Disney
- Steve Jobs as Walt Disney by Mark Mayerson
- Come And Be Merry by Ger Apeldoorn
- D&M Archives : Grand Interview of WDI Imagineer Pat Burke - Edited Version with new pictures and stories ! by Alain Littaye

I am really looking forward to this book and am really grateful to have heard from it through the newslettter of the Carl Barks Fan Club.

For those of you for like to be the first ones to get the latest volumes of Walt's People, you can now order Volume 11 on Xlibris at this link and also on Amazon at this other link. Please spread the word!!

This just in from Seth Larson:

[I recently inquired/placed a preliminary order for the book, Kay Nielsenfrom Forlaget Vandkunsten. Inquired about an English edition. This was their response. Thought you might be interested.

"Thank you for your order. The book will be published in English as well as Danish, but not in the near future. We will keep you order and return to youin due time."]

Thanks to Jim Korkis and Kevin Kidney for allowing us to discover this forgotten Disney character!

Do not miss today:

- The Shaggy Dog Story by Jim Korkis
- Walt Disney in Stockholm 1959 by Joakim Gunnarson (Thanks to Jim Korkis for the link)
- Zorro viewmasters (Thanks to Jim Korkis for the link)
- Lion King D-rectors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff: 2D’s for a 3D hit! by Jérémie Noyer
- Ward Kimball: A New Look at a Legend by Kevin Carpenter (Thanks to Jim Korkis for the link)
- Disney Adventures by Jim Shooter (Thanks to Jim Korkis for the link)