The Disney Books Network has just been updated.

Wonderful news to start the day! Walt's People--Volume 31 has just been released.

As the back cover mentions:

[In this volume, animator IZZY KLEIN shares memories of story artist and Big Mouseketeer, Roy Williams, and of a prank Williams played on his colleague, Ed Penner, on a hot summer day

Actor KEVIN CORCORAN explains how, during the filming of the movie, Swiss Family Robinson, an elephant stood on his head.

Historian BOB THOMAS discusses the making of The Rescuers with sixteen Disney artists and gets candid answers from both the "old guard" and the "new blood.'

And cinematographers ERNST and JEAN HEINIGER take us to the Japan of the 1950s during the filming of two episodes of Disney's "People and Places" series Japan and Ama Girls

All this and much more...]

And here is the table of contents:

[Bob Thomas: Dorothy and Glenn Puder

The Letters of Izzy Klein

Michael Barrier: Paul Satterfield

Paul Sorokowski: Don Lusk

Ken Anderson Remembers Milt Kahl

Dave Mason: Eleanor McConville

Michael Mallory: Kathryn Beaumont

Robin Allan: Kathryn Beaumont

EMC West: Ilene Woods

Jérémie Noyer: Mary Costa

Michael Singer: Kevin Corcoran

Toshio Oka: Ernst Heiniger

Ernst Heiniger: Death is Often Closer Than You Think

Jean Heiniger: Japan as I Remember

Ernst Heiniger: A Flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo

Ernst Heiniger: A Shinto Wedding

Ernst Heiniger: The Family of Fishermen from Inatori, Japan

Jean Heiniger: A Year in the Grand Canyon

Ernst Heiniger: The Last Flight of an Owl

Ernst Heiniger: An Intimate Report on Walt Disney—Man and Genius

A Decade with Disneyland by Ed Ettinger

Bob Thomas: Andy Gaskill

Bob Thomas: Dick Sebast

Bob Thomas: Bill Cottrell

Bob Thomas: Ollie Johnston

Bob Thomas: Frank Thomas

Bob Thomas: Art Stevens

Bob Thomas: John Pomeroy

Bob Thomas: Jack Buckley

Bob Thomas: James Coleman

Bob Thomas: Cliff Nordberg

Bob Thomas: Ron Clements

Bob Thomas: Bob McCrea

Bob Thomas: Dale Baer

Bob Thomas: Don Bluth

Bob Thomas: Woolie Reitherman, Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, and Larry Clemmons

Jim Korkis: Joe Ranft

Michael Broggie: Buzz Price

Bob Thomas: Buzz Price]

Two months ago I forgot to mention the release of this beautiful new art book by Chronicle Books about the color scripts of Pixar (complete with a foreword by the late Ralph Eggleston). 

If you own The Color of Pixar, you will know exactly what to expect. It is a small book full of stunning color scripts. A true delight for the connaisseurs. 

 Fun new release which can be purchased at this link.

VOLUNTEER NEEDED NEAR BASEL, SWITZERLAND

The papers of composer Igor Stravinsky are located at the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basel, Switzerland.

Unfortunately the Paul Sacher Stiftung is not allowed to send copies of what the collection contains. One needs to visit in person.

The collection contains a lot of material related to Stravinzky and Disney which could be of tremendous interest when one studies the making of Fantasia, its planned sequel and the plans to adapt Renard the Fox to the screen.

If you live near Basel and are willing to help conduct some research at the Paul Sacher Stiftung, could you please email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com?

You are likely to help unearth some fascinating new material!

The new Disney Twenty-Three magazine is out and it contains two great articles worth pointing out: A four-page one about JB Kaufman's new book about Fantasia and another four-page one by Steven Vagnini and Kevin Kern titled "Dear Aunt Jessie" which features some marvelous historical material that was brand-new to me.

One more great Disney book coming up, this one from my friend Don Ballard.

You can pre-order it at this link and it will ship  mid-January.

 One more book I am looking forward to.

 Spectacular Disney auction coning up soon.

 I am very much looking forward to this book, which can be pre-ordered at this link.

Quick reminder: Pierre Lambert's stunning new book about The Aristocats has been released and can be ordered on Amazon.fr

Hear! Hear! I am so proud of this one and the amazing work by the Hyperion Historical Alliance team.

You can order it at this link.

Don't forget to pick up Todd James Pierce's great new book!

 Tom Sito's autobiography! This will be good.

I have not been to the cinema in quite a while (I am not proud of this) and yet I definitely plan to go watch Zootopia 2 on the big screen when it is released later this month.

I am a huge fan of Zootopia, which I consider to be one of the very best Disney movies of the 21st century, and I just wrote a whole chapter about that first movie for an upcoming Taschen book. Which makes me even more curious to discover the new characters and neighborhoods that the artists created for Zootopia 2.

The Art of Zootopia 2 book by Chronicle Books is so gorgeous and full of compelling visual development artwork that it raises my anticipation to yet another level.

Sanjay Patel used to work for Pixar and wrote and directed the beautiful short Sanjay's Super Team.

His new book, Mahabharata: Designs of Dharma may not be a Disney publication, but it is so beautiful, so massive and makes for such a great gift for the holidays that I have to mention its release on this blog.

One of the two important epics of Hinduism along with the Ramayana, the Mahabharata is a complex story which is splendidly adapted and illustrated by Patel in this 400+ art book.

Way to go Mr. Patel. That you from all of us for this absolute masterpiece!

I just became aware last week of this excellent new book released by Theme Park Press (under new management) and immediately picked up a copy.

Tim Foster's book about "it's a small world" has just been released. Like Tim Foster's previous books it is an excellent entry point to this aspect of Disney history for casual Disney enthusiasts.

I particularly enjoyed the portraits of the artists in the style of Mary Blair :-)

I just received one of the books that I was most looking forward to: Worlds to Conquer: The Art & Making of Walt Disney's Fantasia by JB Kaufman. 

I was not disappointed. In fact, I am blown away, as expected. The research that JB conducted is in-depth and all-encompassing, which is no surprise, and I discovered many photos from the making of the movie that I had never seen before.

Of course, the sections that I most enjoyed are the ones entitled "The Cutting Room Floor" about the elements that did not make it into the movie.

Way to go JB. Once more this one is a "must-have."

Three wonderful Disney-related comic books / graphic novels released this year:

Disney Epic Mickey: The Comics Collection

Uncle Scrooge And The Infinity Dime Gallery Edition

Marvel & Disney: What If...?