I was conducting some research yesterday about the creation of a logo / mascot named King Mike by Disney artist Hank Porter for the King Radio station, in the context of David Lesjak's upcoming monograph about Hank Porter (that monograph will be a must have).

And that is when I stumbled upon this incredible photograph (c. 1947) of Walt Disney with Frank L. Newman. Yes, this is the same Frank Newman of Newman Laugh-O-Grams, who by then had moved to Seattle and become president of Evergreen Theatres Corporation.

The full story of how Walt and Newman met again via King Radio, will probably be told in David's upcoming monograph.

So, now that the They Drew as They Pleased - The Hidden Art of Disney series is virtually complete, what am I working on Disney-wise (aside from Walt's People and a few editing projects)?

I have just written the first draft of a monograph about The Origins of the True-Life Adventures (1938 - 1948), to be released by Hyperion Historical Alliance Press next year. This is the first volume in a planned series about True-Life Adventures-related matters.

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this project. I feel that I am venturing into an almost virgin field. I am discovering a lot of new information about the making of Bambi, the educational projects that were being developed between 1943 and 1947 (including all the abandoned ones which gave birth to many other Disney projects in the 1940s and 1950s), and the saga of Al and Elma Milotte that resulted in the making of both The Alaskan Eskimo (the first of the "People and Places) and Seal Island (1948).

And, of course, the monograph will be full of never-seen-before illustrations.

Thirty years after starting to conduct research about Disney history, I am finally beginning to feel that I am understanding how things really happened. This is truly exhilarating and I can't wait to share this new-found understanding and those discoveries.

It is hard to believe, but the sixth and final volume of my art book series They Drew as They Pleased - The Hidden Art of Disney is now complete and has been sent to the printer.

I am hoping to see a first physical copy late April or early May, for a release in bookstores around the end of August this year.

My good friend Alain Littaye mentions this new book on his blog this morning. Has any of you read it? Does Val Usle share many anecdotes about his work for Disney?

The new issue of Disney Twenty-Three will be released soon and I am especially looking forward to the article about Inside the Walt Disney Archives: 50 Years of Preserving the Magic, an exhibition of more than 400 treasures opening this March at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California.

I just stumbled upon this interesting Japanese book released last year to celebrate Mickey Mouse's 90th birthday. It seems to be 136-page long and a collection (on the model of The Art of Mickey Mouse) of drawings of Mickey and friends by famous Japanese manga artists. I just ordered a copy on ebay...

It thought that some of you might want to know that it exists.