VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED IN LONDON

I am still looking for a few committed volunteers in London as a few who had reached out were eventually unable to work on the project for personal reasons.

Research for my future book about Disney's international expansion in the world in the 1930s and 1940s has really been progressing by leaps and bounds over the past few weeks thanks to volunteers all around the world.

The project at the British Library is larger than I originally thought, though, and I would welcome a second volunteer to help me with the research.

If you are in London and are able and willing to conduct two days of research at the British Library over the next few days / weeks, could you please email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com ?

Of course I immediately picked up Disney historian David Lesjak's massive new book and should get it today.
 

What a joy this morning to read that all of historian JB Kaufman's essays are now available in two physical books. If you know JB"s work (and who does not) you also know that all that he writes about classic movies and about Disney history is worth reading.

The Disney-related essays are gathered in Volume 1; the others are in Volume 2.

 

 Heads up... Imagineer Eric Robinson's book is now available on Amazon!

 

I am very much looking forward to the release of this upcoming book by Bob Weis!

As you know, my new book, The Wonderful Worlds of Disney will be released in a few weeks.

Some of you will enjoy the podcast Notably Disney in which I discuss its making as well as several other Disney-history-related matters.

I am delighted to share that Walt's People -- Volume 32 has been released today by Skyway Press.

It contains material about John Basmajian, Eric Cleworth, Anne Del Valle, Roy E. Disney, Eyvind Earle, Robert Foster, Andy Gaskill, Floyd Gottfredson, Michael Graves, Earl Hurd, David Inglish, Un Iwerks, Evelyn Kennedy, Gordon Legg, Ron Miller, Leslie Nielsen, Bill Peet, Parry Ray, Herb Ryman, Steve Segal, Lucy Wheaton Taliaferro and Al Taliaferro, Don Taylor, Larry Tryon, and Linda Woolverton.

I think you will all really enjoy it.

Needles to say, I just bought this book!

VOLUNTEER NEEDED IN JAPAN

I recently bought the newly released book by historian Nozomi Naoi, The Land of Happiness, about Japanese department stores in the 1930s.

In it, I found this fantastic photo of Mickey Mouse in a Japanese store window in the 1930s.

It comes from the National Diet Library. 

I would like to explore the collections of that famous library to try and find more Disney-related photos. However, without speaking Japanese, it appears to be incredibly difficult to achieve.

Anyone willing to help? If so, could you please email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com ?

 

Another book that looks like a must-read this year.

Looking forward to getting Dave Bossert's upcoming book, which is now available for pre-order.
 

New edition of Pierre Lambert's masterpiece coming up in November. 70% of the artwork will be different than what was included in the first version. 

I can't wait!!!!

VOLUNTEER NEEDED IN LONDON

Research for my future book about Disney's international expansion in the world in the 1930s and 1940s has really been progressing by leaps and bounds over the past few weeks thanks to volunteers all around the world.

The project at the British Library is larger than I originally thought, though, and I would welcome a second volunteer to help me with the research.

If you are in London and are able and willing to conduct two days of research at the British Library over the next few days / weeks, could you please email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com ?

 I just ordered this new book today.

This book coming up in September. No comment.

 Wonderful auction from Heritage Auctions coming up August 21-23.

Would anyone of you have a good collection of the Swedish "Musse Pigg Tidningen" or a copy of this special issue of the British "Mickey Mouse Weekly"?

If so could you email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com? I am trying to get high resolution scans of these two covers and a lot more information about the contents of "Musse Pigg Tidningen."

 

This book only contains a few pages about Disney but for anyone who cares about classic animation, this is a must-have and an absolute treasure trove.

It will be available via Stuart NG Books starting on Saturday.

I just discovered this exhibition that is taking place right now in Germany at the Kreissparkasse Heilbronn. and that a catalog has been released.

I will tell you more about it when I get it.

Over the past few weeks, while resuming my research about Disney's international expansion in the 1930s and 1940s, I was reminded of how fun it is to dig up new documents that have been sitting for years in untapped physical archives or in the collections of the families of the persons who worked for Disney.

At times, I am able to visit those archives and collections in person. But more often than not, I need to rely on a huge network of volunteers all around the world.

For this current project, my wife and I counted yesterday more than 15 volunteers based in France, the UK, Serbia, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Knoxville and New York (and I am certain I am forgetting a few locations).

One of the subject matters that I a researching right now is the Swedish Children Day, which saw Disney's official participation in 1937. In this context, I just dug up these two documents online. One (non-authorized) from 1934 (Three Little Pigs and Mickey Mouse) and one from 1937.

In the Swedish National Archives there is a lot more and I am hoping to get access to that material in a few weeks thanks to a local volunteer.

 

 An excellent book coming up early next year.

CHALLENGE FOR RUSSIAN SPEAKER / RESEARCHER

In 1936 a version of the Blue Ribbon book "Three Little Pigs" was released in Russia.

What makes this version very special is the fact that the story was translated and adapted by the famous Russian poet Sergei Mikhalkov (based on the French version of the book, by the way).

Here is the challenge for a Russian speaker / researcher who also enjoys Disney history...

Mikhalkov wrote a memoir about his life, "От и до..." ("From Start to Finish...") It would be great to locate a library that carries a physical copy of it (using worldcat.org for example) and to find out if it contains any relevant information about Mikhalkov work on the book.

Any volunteer??

VOLUNTEER NEEDED IN FRANCE IN OR NEAR CAEN

The historical discoveries keep pouring in!! I just located some rare documents linked to the early days of the immediate post-World War II Journal de Mickey (the French Mickey Mouse Magazine). 

Unfortunately the library in Caen (France) where those important documents are stored does not offer remote reproduction / remote access.

Would one of you be located nearby and willing to help? If so, could you please email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com ?

VOLUNTEER NEEDED IN STOCKHOLM

As I keep on researching the early days of Disney around the world in the 1930s and 1940s, I need some local help in Stockholm, Sweden.

Would one of you be willing to help me conduct in-person research in two local archives over the next few days or weeks?

If so, could you please email ne at Didier.ghez@gmail.com? 

It is with immense sadness that I wake up this morning to the news of the passing of Don Iwerks, an exceptional human being and an outstanding Imagineer and historian.

I had the chance of meeting Don a few times and I greatly cherish those memories. 

My thoughts go to his family and especially to his daughter, Leslie.

Fifteen years ago I began to work on a book about Disney's expansion outside of the US in the 1930s and 1940s. This was really the subtext of Disney's Grand Tour. It was also almost virgin territory at the time.

Having faced some serious setbacks in many other directions at the beginning of the year, I decided to re-focus on this project over the past few months.

While I still have no idea of when the book will be written and published, I am glad to share that the research is progressing by leaps and bounds.

This is especially thanks to two wonderful volunteers in New York.

I finally know exactly when Kay Kamen met Walt Disney for the very first time, who put him in touch again with Walt later on and how the July 1, 1932 agreement between Kamen-Blair and Disney was negotiated. I also now know who the second person from the left on this photo is (it is not the publicist Harry Hammond Beall as we believed), and when Kamen travelled around Europe for the first time with his nephew George (and what they did and what they saw).

It took me 20 years to find those answers, but over the past two weeks of intense research they have started pouring in, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

When it is ready, that book will be really, really fun and full of delightful surprises!

VOLUNTEER(S) NEEDED IN NEW YORK CITY

I just discovered a massive cache of untapped information about Disney's international expansion in the 1930s in four fascinating trade magazines (One from the UK, one from Australia, on from the US and one from the Netherlands).

All these magazines are preserved at the New York Public Library and I need some volunteers to go on site to shoot pictures of all the relevant pages.

If you are willing to help (this will probably require a few days of research at the NYPL), could you please email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com?

You will help uncover some really, really important new material.

I am very much looking forward to reading this book which I just ordered from the Chenango County Historical Society and Museum when I saw it announced today on the Vintage Disney Collectibles group on Facebook.

This is a peculiar poem by Disney story writer Dorothy Ann Blank that I found yesterday in an old issue of the international United Artists newsletter. I think that some of you will enjoy it.

I am particularly thinking of you Mindy Johnson and JB Kaufman!

 

VOLUNTEER NEEDED IN PRAGUE

I carry on my historical exploration of the early days of Disney in Europe and, in that context, I am looking for a volunteer in Prague, who would be willing to conduct some simple research at the National Library of the Czech Republic. 

If you are willing to help, could you please email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com ?

Back in 2011, when I began to research the book Disney's Grand Tour I realized that I was not just writing a book about Walt and his family's trip but also one about the early expansion of Disney around the world (Europe specifically).

I am now trying to dig much deeper into the matter in order to write an in-depth a story about the international expansion as possible for a future volume of Walt's People.

Which led me (among other places) to Australia and New Zealand. I finally understand the exact dates, the names of the people involved, etc.

And here are two letterheads that I had never seen before and that I have a feeling that you will enjoy :-)

 

 Interesting book to be released in July which I had not spotted yet.

How I managed to miss the release of this book last year is totally beyond me. I can't wait for it to arrive later this week!

Receiving the latest "art of" book from Chronicle Books is always a real joy. The Art of Toy Story 5 is no exception.

I am particularly delighted by the concept art pieces by Carlos Felipe Leon, Maria Lee and Deanna Marsigliese. Pure bliss!

 I can now confirm that this book is an excellent read with several in-depth chapters about Ike's Disney career.

I am currently working on an in-depth essay about the life and work of Disney's first merchandising representative in the Nordics and in Mexico and Central America, Robert Hartman. Hartman spoke at least three languages fluently (including German and Danish) and his correspondence and diaries used to be tricky to decipher.

Tricky, that is, until the advent of AI. Google's Gemini has become a close collaborator over the past few days and I am really blown away by what it can do. 

This is a example of a page in German, written in cursive, that Gemini was able to transcribe and translate in the blink of an eye. 

We are light years away from the very basic OCR tools that we had at our disposal until only recently, not to mention from the old version of Google Translate.

Truly stunning stuff.

I just bought this new book which contains two chapters about Eisenmann's Disney career. I will let you know in a few days what I think about it.

Here are the two marvelous Italian books that I received for my birthday yesterday.

One is about Disney's comic book script writer Tito Faraci and contains a long, in-depth interview with Faraci.

The second one focuses on historic covers from the magazine Topolino [Mickey Mouse], complete with details about the artists who drew them and other editorial content.

While looking for these two books, I noticed a few more that I need to get but that appear to be extremely hard to find. More about this in a few days.

 

I just received two new great books about two great Disney Italian comic artists. I have a feeling that some of you (especially Italian readers) will want to know about them.

 

 I really enjoyed getting interviewed last week by my friend Ed Mazzilli from the Disney Nerds podcast.

I just received my copy of Don Ballard's new book about the Disneyland Hotel ("1960 - 1964 The Little Motel Grows Up"). His first two books about the Disneyland Hotel are absolutely wonderful. 

This one is a masterpiece: The sheer amount of material, the quality of the writing, the marvelous layout, all of it makes it a "must have" if you are interested in the subject matter. And even you are not, the new photos of Walt, Roy and others that Don uncovered are in themselves worth getting this book.

Way to go Don. Can't wait for the next volume! 

 Coming to a bookstore near you in September. More about this in a few weeks.

Who is my audience?

I am reading an excellent collection of essays about books and the art of writing by Philip Pullman (author of the His Dark Materials series) and, since I am in a very reflective mood at the moment, this made me think about who I try to reach with my various essays and books.

This also made me think about the magazines Nature and Scientific American. Let me explain.

Nature is the peer-reviewed journal of reference for the scientific community. It is authoritative, in-depth and focused on research. It is not for everyone. It is a publication by researchers for researchers.

Scientific American, on the other hand, is a magazine that is read by people who already know quite a bit about science but want to understand more about recent discoveries. It is a magazine which attempts to explains scientific facts clearly for the laymen. It is not easy to read but it is much easier to read than Nature. In other words, a magazine for you and me.

When I write about Disney history, I sometimes have Nature for model, sometimes Scientific American.

Let’s take the Walt’s People book series. That one is clearly in the category of Nature. It is a series by historians for historians and serious Disney history enthusiasts. A casual Disney fan—even a casual Disney history fan—is unlikely to really enjoy Walt’s People. You need to already have a good grasp of Disney history to read and appreciate this series. This is not a bug, it’s a feature.

They Drew as They Pleased—The Hidden Art of Disney, on the other hand, is a series in the vein of Scientific American. To really enjoy it, you have to have a basic understanding of Disney history, but I try and make it easy for you, by including entry points, reminders and words of explanation here and there to draw you in, whatever your knowledge level. In this series and in similar publications like Disneyland Paris—From Sketch to Reality, I consciously try to reach several audiences at once, from casual Disney fans to Disney historians.

My Disney monographs, like Mickey Mouse in the 1930s—The Christmas Season fall somewhere in between.

And then there are my articles and essays. The articles I wrote about Kay Kamen and Disneyland Paris for the late Disney Twenty-Three, by the nature of this wonderful magazine, were aimed at the largest possible audience. Those are my “Scientific American” pieces.

But Disney historians also need their Nature journal, which is why, a few years ago, the Hyperion Historical Alliance launched the Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual, a publication aimed at Disney historians and serious Disney history enthusiasts. A publication that is, by definition, not intended to be accessible by everyone.

Why did we choose to go in that direction? Because in order for books or articles to be written for casual Disney fans, in order for stories about Disney history to be simplified and popularized by the Scientific Americans and Popular Science of Disney history, Disney historians, Disney researchers must first dig very deep to find those stories, verify them, set them in stone with references to exact sources of information, etc. The results of that research can be presented in well-written and entertaining essays, and yet, the casual Disney fans will have a hard time really enjoying those essays. The same way the papers released in Nature would be a very difficult read for yours truly.

Some of you will ask: If the audience of the HHA Annual is so limited, why bother? I got the answer no later than earlier this week, when a reader of the Annual mentioned that an essay written in one of the latest issues of the journal inspired him to begin working on a series of documentaries for Disney+! In other words, as intended, our in-depth research about a wide-range of obscure Disney-related subject matters is inspiring new Disney historians and feeding projects aimed at a much wider audience.

The good news, of course, is that the editors-in-chief of the HHA Annual, Jim Hollifield and JB Kaufman, are themselves serious and talented Disney historians who know that essays for the Annual only make sense when new documents have been uncovered, when the contributing historians have conducted their research in-depth and without cutting corners, and when what they bring to the table “moves the needle” from a Disney history standpoint, be it about Walt’s childhood in Chicago in the early 1900s or about the making of a movie from the Disney Renaissance of the 1980s and 1990s.

Disney historians having their own Nature magazine, and my having the privilege of contributing to it from time to time is one of the great joys of my life.

Knowing that Jim Hollifield and JB Kaufman are at the helm makes me confident that the soul of the Annual will remain alive and unadulterated for years to come and that, thanks to it, Disney historians will have a venue to publish their in-depth research—whatever the Disney-related subject matter—in order to give other Disney historians the building blocks they need to write their books, produce their documentaries of develop their multimedia projects, some of which will be aimed at a much wider audience.

A much wider audience that is bound to be enthused by the richness of Disney history.