The blog will be updated again on a regular basis starting on October 14.

Presentation of They Drew As They Pleased - The Hidden Art of Disney's Golden Age at Books and Books three days ago.

You can see the whole thing at http://livestream.com/uainmedia/didierghez
 
It contains behind the scenes about the making of the book and some previews of Volume 2

Not sure how interesting this catalog is, but I just ordered it. (Thanks to Jim Korkis for the heads up.)

I just received this new book and unfortunately there is no way I can recommend it. All of the classic posters it features are posters that we have already seen in several other books in the past. The editors do not seem to have made any effort to dig up new, exciting material, which is particularly sad considering how many beautiful, off-the-beaten path Disney posters have never been released in book form. A wasted opportunity.

Nice little article found on ebay a few weeks ago.

Live Event on Monday at 8PM EST / 5PM PST

The presentation of my new book They Drew As They Pleased - The Hidden Art of Disney's Golden Age at Books and Books in Coral Gables, Florida, will be streamed live in two days, on Monday, September 21.

This will be a great occasion to order signed copies and to learn more about the making of the book and about its content.

The link to the live event is:

http://livestream.com/uainmedia/didierghez

An off-the-beaten-path books just spotted on Amazon, which I will not pick up, but that might interest a few of you:

- Cleaning the Kingdom by Ken Pellman and Lynn Barron

The "Look Inside" functionality has still not been implemented on Amazon despite all our efforts, so here is a page with a short preview of the book.

This just in from Garry Apgar:

[We all know about two kinsmen named “R. Disney” who played a vital role in Walt Disney’s life – big brother Roy and Uncle Robert, "the real dandy of the family," as Walt once called him. Turns out, per this report from the London tabloid The Mirror, another “R. Disney” left his mark in history, in Nottinghamshire, England, almost three hundred years before Walt was born:

Kirstie McCrum, “Graffiti Scrawled by Walt Disney’s Ancestor Discovered at Civil War Centre 400 Years Later”

The Mirror, September 1, 2015

It’s a small world after all, as the graffiti left on a Nottinghamshire wall by schoolchildren 400 years ago shows that Walt Disney’s ancestor was adding his mark.

The writing can be seen on walls at the Old Magnus Building in Newark ahead of work to create the National Civil War Centre on the site.

Originally a grammar school, the markings were found in the attic, formerly a dormitory.

The list of names include R Disney 1608 – believed to be an ancestor of animation legend Walt.

Disney’s family came from Norton Disney, in between Lincoln and Newark, he even visited the village in 1949.

Manager Michael Constantine told the BBC the graffiti was daubed on the walls by pupils at the school which was built in 1529.

He said: “We think school discipline would have been a bit more fierce back in the 1600s, so it was probably the thing the children did the day before they were due to leave.

“Probably like a tradition - just before they set sail.”

“We know some of the children were at this free grammar school because their fathers lent King Charles £1,000-plus and never got it repaid.

“Which is why, instead of being educated at home as members of the gentry, they attended a grammar school in Newark.”

The public are now able to see the graffiti in the £5.4m National Civil War Centre.]

A few interesting books are now on pre-order on Amazon (thanks to David Peake for the heads up):

- Disney Facts Revealed: Answers to Fans' Curious Questions by Dave Smith
- The Art of Sanjay's Super Team by Sanjay Patel
- Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland: An Illustrated Journey Through Time by Mark Salisbury

Two interviews you might be interested in this morning:

- Jeremie Noyer from Animated Views interviewing me about They Drew As They Pleased
- The second interview of Wilfred Jackson by Michael Barrier

A few books of interest that have just been released by Theme Park Press:

- The Ward Kimball - The Story of Disneyland Engine No. 5 by Steve DeGaetano
- On the Disney Beat: Over 30 Years of Chronicling the People and Places in Walt's World by Chuck Schmid
- From Disneyland's Tom Sawyer to Disney Legend: The Adventures of Tom Nabbe
- The Disneyland Railroad: A Complete History in Words and Pictures by Steve DeGaetano

They Drew As They Pleased - The Hidden Art of Disney's Golden Age has been released today. If you already picked up your copy, please, please do not forget to post a review on Amazon. This will help a LOT.

Another upcoming book from Theme Parl Press which I am really looking foward to.

The publisher has the following to say about it:

[Stop the Presses!

Journalist Chuck Schmidt has covered Disney for over three decades, attending lavish special event parties and enjoying access to Disney executives and Imagineers. He was first in line for new attractions, shows, even cruise ships. What's that like? Chuck's memoir tells all.

Being a newspaper reporter is not a life of glitz and glamour. But for a reporter like Chuck Schmidt, who was on the "Disney beat" for the *Staten Island Advance*, it means one-on-one time with Disney Legends like Marty Sklar and Tony Baxter; admittance to private, after-hours galas in the parks; and plenty of bling.

Now retired, Chuck tells the never-before-told story of how he and other journalists publicize the latest and greatest from the Mouse, taking you backstage to a side of Disney that guests never see:

- Celebrity-studded soirees for events like the opening of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and the christening of the *Disney Dream*

- How former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo's innovations changed the theme park experience for many guests—but few people know who he is

- The evolution of Disney's increasingly over-the-top press events, traced back to a Hollywood operator named Eddie Meck who taught Walt how to promote Disneyland

- How Chuck became an "honorary citizen" of Walt Disney World

With a foreword by Marty Sklar, and featuring exclusive photos and contributions from Disney Legends Sklar, Tony Baxter, Bob Gurr, and Charlie Ridgway, *On the Disney Beat* is your personal press badge to all things Disney!]

Really looking forward to this upcoming book from Theme Park Press!

This just in from Garry Apgar:

[Recently, BBC Radio 4 broadcast a 28-minute program, “Donald Duck Gets Drafted,” devoted to the wartime films made by the Walt Disney studio in the 1940s. The program was narrated by the great English cartoonist and self-avowed “life-long Disney fan,” Gerald Scarfe, whose drawing (above), published in the New Yorker in 2006, will appear in my book Mickey Mouse: Emblem of the American Spirit, due out next month from the Walt Disney Family Foundation Press.

Here’s how the BBC describes the show:

“Marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, illustrator and animator Gerald Scarfe tells the story of Disney’s fascinating on and off-screen contribution to the war effort. This documentary explores how the iconic Studio in California became a war plant in the 1940s, churning out groundbreaking military training films and propaganda shorts, educational posters and leaflets, along with insignias for troops to help boost morale on the frontline.  

“Gerald, who worked as production designer on Disney’s 1997’s big screen animation Hercules, examines what motivated Walt to offer his artists’ inkwells as weapons of war. He uncovers why Donald Duck rather than Mickey Mouse became the Studio’s wartime mascot and reveals which film reportedly put Walt on Hitler’s own personal hit list. Plus he examines Walt Disney’s personal role as a Goodwill Ambassador in South America, intended to help stem potential Nazi influence.”

Providing additional commentary are Brian Sibley, David Lesjak, Paula Sigman Lowery, and John Baxter. Are Myklebust provided the audio link to the program currently available online.]

Six days only until the release of They Drew As They Pleased - The Hidden Art of Disney's Golden Age!

Jerry Beck just published a review on Cartoon Research. Enjoy!