I spent the last few days reading and working (aside from a small amount of the obligatory partying, of course). Is there a better way to end the year and to start the new one?

The reading involved a fair amount of non-Disney volumes, but the two Disney-related books that I devored were Mouse in Transition and Funnybooks. Mouse in Transition is an easy read and a very, very enjoyable one. Highly recommended if you want to be taken behind the scenes at the Studio in the late '70s and early '80s. As to Funnybooks, it is simply one of the best books I read in 2014... and I am not simply talking of Disney-related books when I say this. As is the case with Michael Barrier's two other books, Funnybooks is written clearly, reads almost like a mystery novel, but is also full of incredibly precise information which helps to connect millions of dots and to give context to our newly acquired knowledge. Just sheer pleasure.

As to work, I am starting to plan Walt's People - Volume 17, am trying to wrap up some aspects of Volume 16 and spent most of December 31 editing Eric Larson's lost autobiography. You will find the table of contents below. Of course, what I am now most looking forward to is getting the early galleys of They Drew As They Pleased - Disney's Golden Age, the first volume of my new coffee table book series about Disney's concept artists. Just a few more days to wait to get them, in theory. :-)

Memories of Eric by Burny Mattinson
The Lost Memoir by Didier Ghez
A Short Biography of Eric Larson by His Brother Roald Larson
50 Years in the Mouse House
Eric Larson Remembers
Larson in Mexico by JB Kaufman
Mexican Trip Sketchbook
Notes About Animation and Entertainment
The Lectures
Memo from Don Graham to Walt Disney (December 23, 1935)
Afterword by Dan Jeup

Happy New Year to all of you!