What am I up to at the moment? While the pandemic slowed many projects down, I still have a lot cooking these days... a few projects that I cannot yet reveal (including one in collaboration with historians JB Kaufman and Ted Thomas) and a few that I can: 

1. The manuscript of Walt's People - Volume 26 is ready and being reviewed by contributors. I expect it to be released around October of this year.

2. The monograph about The Origins of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures is awaiting review and approval by Disney and show be available well before the end of the year, if things go according to plan.

3. And along with my friend and fellow historian, Libby Spatz, I am currently tackling one of my most ambitious projects to date: a monograph titled Mickey Mouse on Stage and on Radio in the 1930s. We are making so many outstanding discoveries (among other things thanks to many volunteers around the US and around the world) that I have a feeling that the monograph may have to be split into two volumes. The photograph above is one of my latest finds. It dates from 1936 and features the two entertainers from New Zealand Reg Morgan and Albert Russell as they hosted the first Mickey Mouse radio program in Australia, "The Adventures of Mickey Mouse."

 The Disney Books Network has just been updated.

An exhibition about Disney's cinematographer Ernst A. Heiniger, "famous" for his role on one of the People and Places and on Grand Canyon, is now taking place in Switzerland. A catalog of the exhibition has been released and I just ordered a copy.

A documentary about Ernst A. Heiniger has also been posted at this link on YouTube. 

Thanks to Jim Hollifield for the heads up this morning.
 

 If you can read Finnish, do not miss this newly released book.

 

 

VOLUNTEER NEEDED IN DAYTON, OHIO

Is one of you based in Dayton, Ohio (or nearby) and willing to conduct some fascinating Disney-history-related research at Wright State University? If so, could you email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com?

 

There is an amazing, untapped collection there which is bound to contain a lot of photographs linked to Mickey Mouse in the 1930s. This ad from 1931 gives a small clue about the story.

 

Thanks in advance. Fingers crossed.

 Sometimes Mickey Mouse is a little scary...

VOLUNTEER NEEDED NEAR ROCHESTER, NEW YORK 

 

Dear all: I am still desperately looking for a volunteer based near Rochester, New York to conduct some fascinating Disney-related research at The Strong Museum. If you are willing to help, could you please email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com? Thanks in advance.