The table of contents of the Summer 2012 issue of the magazine Twenty-Three has just been announced. I was glad to be asked to write an in-depth article about the 20 years of Disneyland Paris, which include quite a few details which I had not been able to reveal in the book From Sketch to Reality. I am really looking forward to reading the articles about Annette Funicello, Brave, and Robert Sherman.

This just in from Jim Korkis:

[That version of Walt looks exactly the way Roy Williams drew Walt in "A Day With Walt" in the Dispatch from Disney's (1943) that was sent to Disney employees in the military.]

This just in from Gunnar Andreassen:

[Up for auction at Heritage, this sketch, see enclosure. From description:

An original sketch is included, in ink and pastels on teal-colored construction paper measuring approximately 10" x 6", showing Walt in "conference" with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. The art is unsigned, but is drawn in the loose style of long-time Disney staffer Roy Williams.]

Russia´s 1968 Little Mermaid



This just in from Sébastien Durand:

[Astonishing how part of this short recalls Kay Nielsen's concept sketches...]

One thing leads to another. A good friend recently sent me some documents related to Disney artist Holling C. Holling, which contained some references to background artist and illustrator Nino Carbe. I decided to research his career and found out that the magazine Ilustration number 34 includes an in-depth article about him and that writer Bhob Stewart had conducted an interview with him. Enjoy!

I will also interview his daughter at some point within the upcoming weeks.

This upcoming book has the potential of being fascinating. Let´s hope it actually is.

Do not miss today:

- HANNIBAL CROSSING THE ALPS ... AT EPCOT CENTER by Paul F. Anderson
- Walt Disney Family Museum preserves icon's legacy by Edward Guthmann (Thanks to Michael Goldberg for the link)
- Prod. UM39 - Orphan's Picnic by Hans Perk
- Hardly A Hoop, Not Yet A Holler by Michael Crawford
- Sub For One… by Michael Crawford
- Dick Tracy Live! by Jim Korkis
- Today’s Video Link by Mark Evanier (Thanks to Jim Korkis for the link)

This great letter just in from Jim Korkis.

Here is a rare Spanish interview with Walt released in the August 5, 1965 issue of La Actualidad Española.

Two highlights:

"Walt: Of course, I am not Spanish. I was born in Chicago. But I love Spain and the Spanish people." [And yet the canard about Walt being born in Mojacar, Spain lives on to this day!]

"And Walt tells us about his latest trip to our country: 'I was on the Costa Brava, in Barcelona, in Madrid, and in Algeciras. From there I took the boat to New York. I arrived in Port Lligat without warning to make a surprise to my great friend Salvador Dalí. You know how it is: if someone is warned about your visit they have to worry about all the things to prepare, so I did not warn him.
"Gala, Dalí's wife, was fishing in a rowing boat. The house was empty and I finally found Dalí among the rocks, spread out under the sun, with his huge whiskers all wet, points down."

A few Spanish "cromos" from the '30s which I bought not too long ago.

Do not miss today:

- Holidayland Pt. 2 by Todd James Pierce
- Today’s Video Link by Mark Evanier (Thanks to Jim Korkis for the link)
- Additional Info by Mark Evanier (Thanks to Jim Korkis for the link)
- The Continuing Saga of the Bob-A-Round and Bob-A-Long Boats

Here are a few early drawings by Ham Luske.

Jim Korkis interviewed recently two of the daughters of Ham Luske (Carol and Peggy) as well as Luske´s son, Jim. Carol and Peggy were kind enough to send me several elements related to their father, which I will post on the blog over the next few weeks.

Michael Barrier sent me the following information about the above photo, which comes from the Luske family:

[Ed Benedict had a print of that photo with full IDs and the date it was taken (July 12, 1943). The occasion was a going-away party for a naval officer who had been working at the studio. These are Ed’s identifications, left to right: Ken Peterson, Captain True, Harry Tytle, Riley Thompson, Lieutenant (?) Newton, Walt, Commander Barry, Mac Stewart, Ken O’Connor.]

Do not miss today:

- Holidayland: The Least Photographed Land in the Park by Todd James Pierce
- Birth of Disney Fandom Part One: The Mouse Club by Jim Korkis
- Birth of Disney Fandom Part Two: The NFFC by Jim Korkis
- Jim Korkis Part 1 & The Mickey Mouse Club
- Jim Korkis Part 2 & The Mickey Mouse Club
- Jim Korkis Part 3 & The Mickey Mouse Club
- Disney’s animation guide by J.J. Sedelmaier (Thanks to Michael Goldberg for the link)

Tomorrow is a holiday in Spain. The blog will be updated again on Monday. Happy Easter and Happy Passover to all of you.

Thanks to the help of Wayne Campbell, I was glad to discover where the Danish Disney office was located before WWII.

Hans Perk also sent me the following note: [The Shell House is famous for it having been the headquarters of the Gestapo in Denmark, and for the bombing raid that destroyed it, while saving most of the Danish prisoners who were held on the upper floors. Sadly a RAF plane fell on a French girls' school during the raid and many girls were killed.]

This just in from Garry Apgar:

[Yesterday I finally had a chance to see "The Artist."

One thing that struck me about the film was how much its star, Jean Dujardin, resembled Walt at about the same age. Dujardin, 39, is a virtual dead ringer for Walt, circa 1940. He doesn't quite have the angular, aquiline nose of Walt, ... but the dark, slicked-down hair, the mustache, the smile, the buoyant personality, the intensity, .... the constant smoking! ... of the character he plays are all almost a perfect match.

A few days ago one of your readers, Jeffery Butler, nominated Dujardin for the starring role in "Walt," the imaginary film depicted on that faux movie poster by Pascal Witaszek, set around 1928, with Ryan Gosling as Disney. Prompted in part by Witaszek's fragmentary vision, and now, especially, by "The Artist," one can readily imagine a compelling but factually faithful bio-pic of Walt's early years along the lines of "The Artist," ... in black and white, perhaps, with the same careful attention to detail, casting, locations and settings. Think of the stylish way Walt dressed, of him staying at the Algonquin Hotel in New York, as he tried to get "Steamboat Willie" off the ground (sharing a room there with Carl Stalling, rinsing their socks out in the same sink), of Walt conferring with Pat Powers in his office in midtown Manhattan, with Jack Alicoate, the editor at "Film Daily," etc. Even the tomfoolery of Walt and his young pals in the Kansas City days, with Laugh-O-gram, and, later on, playing polo with Spencer Tracy and Will Rogers, would be very cinematic, particularly if the jazz-era music on the sound track were as artfully selected and paired with the action as it is in "The Artist" (and in so many of the early Mickey Mouse cartoons).

There ought to be enough drama in the characters Walt came in contact with, the locales he operated in, and the very real challenges he met and surmounted, to allow for a commercially viable cinematic vehicle. Far flimsier stuff has been spun into motion picture hagiography by Hollywood -- telling the story of far less consequential figures in show business or American culture.

Among the many realistic little touches in "The Artist," incidentally, were those old-fashioned two-button light switches like the one seen on the wall in that familiar photo of Walt, circa 1930 (above).]

Once again, here is a book, which is only indirectly related to Disney but which I will pick up when released:

[In 1951, Disney Legend Dick Huemer, on hiatus from the Studio, teamed with acclaimed comic book illustrator Paul Murry to create this sendup of all things Western - The Adventures of Buck O'Rue!

These are the adventures of square-jawed, square-shootin’, hopelessly naïve cowboy Buck O’Rue and his beloved horse Reddish, his nearly equally beloved sweetheart Dorable, and all of the bad men of Mesa Trubil--”The Town without a Country”.

Compiled from multiple sources including original Production Proofs, The Adventures of Buck O'Rue reprints the strip's original run from January 15, 1951 to December 7, 1952. Enriched with biographies for both Dick Huemer and Paul Murry, archival photos, promotional materials, creators’ notebooks and sketches, scripts, The Adventurres of Buck O'Rue includes a foreword by Don Peri, author of Working with Walt.

Dick Huemer's list of credits includes animation for the Max Fleischer Studio (Out of the Inkwell, KoKo the Clown), during the 1920s, and story creation/direction for several of the most famous Disney films, notably Fantasia and Dumbo.

Paul Murry was the most productive American Mickey Mouse comic book artist from the 1950s to the 1970s. His illustrations, with their distinctive style and unforced humor, have been reprinted by the millions throughout the years, and continue to delight readers all over the world.

Restored and edited over several years by Germund von Wowern, professional comics editor, and Richard Huemer, Dick Huemer’s son, The Adventures of Buck O'Rue is a joint venture between U.S. Nutrigenetics and Classic Comics Press.

The Adventures of Buck O'Rue is scheduled for a June 15, 2012 release date.]

Here are several books I will definitely pick up when they are released: Full Steam Ahead!: The Life and Art of Ward Kimball by Amid Amidi and The Art of Wreck-It Ralph by Maggie Malone and Jennifer Lee Monn are directly Disney-related...
While A Mary Blair Treasury of Golden Books by John Canemaker and The Art and Making of Peanuts Animation by Charles Solomon focus on the non-Disney career of former Disney artists (Mary Blair and Bill Melendez).

Do not miss today:

- Walt Disney, a Couple of Cocktails, and the Mark Twain by Todd James Pierce
- Visiting the Walt Disney Family Museum by Michael Barrier
- Birth of Disney Fandom Part One: The Mouse Club by Jim Korkis
- My First Scene on "Roger Rabbit" by Andreas Deja
- Hal Ambro by Andreas Deja
- 10 Lessons Learned from Classic Disney Movies