Walt’s People: Volume 28 features appearances by about Mike Bagnall, Richard Berryman, Ray Bradbury, Bill Cottrell, Roy E. Disney, John Drury, Nick England, Don Escen, Al Eugster, Leigh Harline, Dan Haskett, John Hench, Grace Hurt, Brandon Kleyla, Rich Kullen, Fred MacMurray, Mel Powell, Woolie Reiterman, Jim Sarno, John Tobin, and Ray Watson.
In Groningen, I met with Jan-Willem de Vries. I had both the Dutch and English versions of his biography of Disney comic artist Daan Jippes and loved it.
What I did not know is that Jan-Willem has also written quite a few artbooks about the history of the Dutch animation and comic studio Toonder. Those are not Disney-related but they are so beautiful and so impressive that I have to show some of them here.
If you speak Dutch (or are willing to read those heavily-illustrated books using Google Translate) those books are well-worth buying if you can find copies. I cannot say enough good things about them.
I just realized that, as far as I know, no in-depth research has been conducted about the animated sequences that the Disney Studios produced for Frank Capra's "Why We Fight" series.
I suspect that some relevant material might be preserved in the Frank Capra Archives at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut and I wonder if one of you would be willing to go there to conduct some research under my guidance.
If so, could you please email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com?
[James (“Jim”) Patrick Korkis was born August 15, 1950, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He passed away at the age of 72 of stage four colon on July 28, 2023. He is survived by his two brothers Michael and Chris. Jim was divorced and had no children.
When
he was five years old his family moved to Glendale, California where Jim grew
up attending Edison Elementary School (where one of the teachers was Mrs.
Disney, the wife of Walt’s older brother Herbert), Roosevelt Junior High,
Hoover High, Glendale Junior College and Occidental College where he graduated
with a Bachelor’s degree and Master’s Degree with a major in English and a
minor in Theater Arts. After graduation he spent two decades teaching English
and Drama at Huntington Middle School in San Marino, California. Jim helped pay
his way through college by working at the Los Angeles Zoo as a driver and tour
guide.
Jim
was known as a comics historian writing a column of comics trivia for Amazing
Heroes as well as articles for Comic Book Marketplace, Comics
Artist and more. He was a vendor at the San Diego ComicCon for several years
with the company he co-owned, Korkis and Cawley's Cartoon and Comic Company. He
wrote introductions of over three dozen Malibu Graphics collections of vintage
comic strips and comic books.
Jim
was known as an animation historian who wrote long-running columns for Animation
Magazine, Animato!, Animania, Comic Journal, and more.
For the last ten years he wrote a weekly column for www.cartoonresearch.com.
With writing partner John Cawley he co-wrote four books about animation like Cartoon
Confidential.
In
California, Jim also pursued a career in theater. He appeared in over 100
theatrical productions, starting with Glendale Center Theater. He directed over
100 stage performances. He did some occasional voice over work.
With
his brothers, Jim appeared at The Gong Show, The Dating Game and Family Feud. By
himself he appeared on Camouflage (where he won a Cadillac) and the pilot
Origins. He appeared on Entertainment Tonight as a Disney historian.
With
his brother Mike, Jim developed a comedy magic act as part of a show he wrote
and directed at Six Flags Magic Mountain Lucky Louies Roaring ‘20s Revue. They
performed at the Variety Arts Theater, Johnathan Clubs, J.C. Penny and more.
Jim was a performer in Pelican’s Corner at Magic Mountain and helped design the
Halloween Haunted Mountain promotion.
In
1995 he moved to Orlando, Florida to take care of his ailing mom and dad. Jim
became identified as a Disney historian and worked as a performer (Merlin in
the Sword in the Stone ceremony and Prospector Pat in Frontierland), an
animation instructor at The Disney Institute, Guest Relations at Epcot, tour instructor
with Disney Adult Discoveries, and coordinator with The Disney Learning Center.
He was brought as a special consultant for Disney Cruise Line, Disney Vacation
Club, Imagineering and Animation (where he taught different classes for
interns) among other departments.
Disney
laid off Jim in 2009 along with thousands of others. Jim started writing books
about all things Disney and ended up producing over three dozen books. He was a
popular guest on podcasts.
Yesterday, I stumbled upon this paragraph in a report from a Mr. Alan Cranston to a Mr. Elmer Davis. At the time Cranston was chief,foreign language division, Office of War Information. He later became a senator.
I wonder what happened of this project and if Cranston interacted even more with the Disney Studios. I suspect he did.
To find out, one would have to dig into Cartons 3 and 4 (Subseries 1.3 -- Office of War Information 1942-1944) in the Alan Cranston Papers, 1914-1993 (BANC MSS 88/214 c) which are preserved at The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley.
Would one of you be willing to volunteer to do so? If so, could you please email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com?
This book is pure joy as it present 100 never-seen-color photos of Disneyland on Opening Day, complete with a selection of articles written around the time of the Opening.
This is a must-have for all of us fans of early Disneyland history.
I cannot thank Aaron enough for putting this marvelous volume together.
[I am a historian currently researching the life and work of filmmaker and teacher Alexander Mackendrick. After a twenty-year career as a director, Mackendrick became founding dean of the film school at the newly founded California Institute of the Arts, as created by Walt Disney and constructed after his death (the campus in Valencia opened to students in 1971). Given its importance as an art school, it is surprising that until now, there has never been any serious historical research done on the early years of CalArts. Two manuscripts are near completion: one is about Mackendrick's teaching career, another is a history of the early years of CalArts, which digs into the formation of the place, when Walt was still alive and very involved. Over the past decade I have rummaged through many archives and interviewed hundreds of people who were students or who taught at the Institute ca.1970 - 1980. Much new material has emerged about Walt's school. I wonder if during their own research anyone has come across any mention of CalArts or encountered material and documentation that I might not have seen. If so, I would be in your debt if you were to get in touch. Please email me at pauljcronin@gmail.com or call me in New York (646) 757 0793. My website, which details my work of the past two decades, is here: www.stickingplace.com. Specific mention of my Mackendrick project, including a book I published in 2004, is here: www.alexandermackendrick.com.]
Please follow this link for more details and information about how you can help.
I am finally planning to go back and the first movie my wife and I will catch is Elemental. I loved the clip I saw at D23 Expo last year and sense that this will be a winner.
I just received The Art of Elemental, released by Chronicle Books, and that beautiful volume confirmed my first impression.
I am really looking forward to this!
This is the Walt Disney quote book that I had been forward to: extremely well-researched by the staff of the Walt Disney Archives and complete with a precise list of the sources where the quotes come from (which for me is the best part of this publication).
Way to go to Disney Editions for releasing this important volume.
We all know about Walt Disney and El Grupo's trip to Latin America in 1941. But did you know that Walt and / or some of his artists went back to Latin America (especially to Mexico) in 1942 and 1943?
JB Kaufman, Ted Thomas and I are slowly starting to dig deeper into those later trips, and for this we need a volunteer in Mexico City, to help conduct some in-person research at the Hemeroteca Nacional and at the Archivo General de la Nacion, where we know that great photos and documents about the 1942 trip are preserved.
If you are based in Mexico City and willing to help, could you please email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com?
- JB Kaufman, Worlds to Conquer: The Art & Making of Walt Disney's Fantasia (Weldon Owen, 2023).
- Dave Bossert, Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Visual Companion (Disney Editions, 2023).
- Emily Zemler, Disney Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: Beyond Halloween Town: The Story, the Characters, and the Legacy (Epic Ink, 2023).
- Disney: Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (Canterbury Classics, 2023).
- Greg Glasgow and Kathryn Mayer, Disneyland on the Mountain: Walt, the Environmentalists, and the Ski Resort That Never Was (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2023).
- Jim Fanning and Andreas Deja, Drawing 100 Years of Disney Wonder (Walter Foster Publishing, 2023).
- - Simon Beecroft, Disney Museum: Celebrate 100 Years of Wonder! (Studio Press, 2023).
A note from Jim Korkis' brother:
[Jim Korkis wanted to let you know that he is in Osceola Regional hospital in Kissimmee, Florida. He’s been there a couple of days testing and looks like he’ll have open heart surgery in the next couple of days.
A separate issue he said is that is internet has been out since Dec. 16th due to a technical issue. He asked if you would get the word out so people know he’s safe and keep him in thoughts and prayers.]
Over the past three years, jazz historian Hal Smith, myself and Lucas Seastrom (who is a Disney historian, a specialist of the Firehouse Five Plus Two and a jazz historian) have been working on getting the book into print. Lucas served as the principal editor on this project and, thanks to BearManor Media, the book has now been released, just in time for the holidays!!!
It contains a great article by my friend and fellow Disney historian Ross Care: a discussion of how the Le Sacre score was adapted, rearranged, and slightly cut for Fantasia.
Two of my favorite oddball items are these two Mickey Mouse drawings attributed to Tom Wood for the unreleased Red Book magazine spread Mickey Mouse on Inflation.
