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.

 

The long-awaited book about Imagineer Claude Coats by Dave Bossert is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Dave sent me the following yesterday:

[Claude Coats: Walt Disney’s Imagineer—The Making of Disneyland:

From Toad Hall to the Haunted Mansion and Beyond

 

By David A. Bossert

Preface by Alan Coats

Foreword by Tony Baxter

The Old Mill Press

ISBN- 9781735769127, 264 Pages, US$65.00 

Claude Coats: Walt Disney’s Imagineer—The Making of Disneyland: From Toad Hall to the Haunted Mansion and Beyond is the story of artist and designer Claude Coats who, for more than half a century, was one of the most prolific creative talents at The Walt Disney Company and, arguably, the most accomplished.

An unpretentious man of strapping stature, Coats was the artist behind some of the stunning backgrounds produced at the Disney studio during the Golden Age of Animation before being handed-picked by Walt Disney, to start the fabled WED Enterprises—now known as Walt Disney Imagineering. Working side by side with Walt Disney, Claude Coats is considered a significant influence in creating the first theme park, Disneyland, and a new form of creativity called Imagineering. He forever changed the worlds of global entertainment, technology, architecture, and popular culture.

This book explores Coats’ first fifteen-years designing and building some of the most iconic and enduring attractions at Disneyland including Alice in Wonderland, The Submarine Voyage, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion, and so many more. This 264-page book is profusely illustrated with many never-before-seen photographs and artworks.]

A few days ago, I had the pleasure of receiving a copy of The Art of Luca. 

 Chronicle Books did a great job, as always. The volume is full of stunning artwork by great artists like Deanna Marsigliese, Josh Holtsclaw and Tadhiro Uesugi which makes it a delight to stare at.

The subject matter does not attract me, as such, but this is a Pixar production, and the art is so beautiful that I may be pleasantly surprised when I end up watching the movie.

 Here is another new book by Jim Korkis which I will pick up soon.

One more interesting auction coming up this week, this one from Van Eaton Galleries.
 

A few days, I stupidly missed a Japanese auction that featured two great Mickey Mouse books. This one went for way too high a price for me to afford. I was frustrated to miss buying the other one that I had been looking for for months.

Anyway, I thought you would enjoy those images.

 

Kamden Spies just gave me a heads up about this new booklet released by the Walt Disney Family Museum and I immediately ordered it today.
 

 Looking forward to ordering and reading Jim Korkis' new book.

Last part of Mickey Mouse at the 1931 conference of London.

 

Mickey at the 1931 International Conference in London, part 2. One more part to come tomorrow.

 

On Monday, July 20, 1931, a conference of seven powers (Great Britain, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Belgium and Germany) met in London to discuss the economic situation in Germany.

According to the French newspaper "La Liberté," Mickey Mouse was in attendance as an observer :-)

More from this series tomorrow.

 

Scott Claus worked as an assistant animator on many of the Disney features from the 1990s and his memoirs provide an interesting perspective about life and work at the big (and small) animation studios over the past 30 years from the point of view of someone in the trenches. An entertaining read.
 

I am really intrigued by Wolf Burchard's upcoming book, Inspiring Walt Disney: The Animation of French Decorative Arts (note: the above is not the cover).

The blurb on Amazon reads:

[The films created by Walt Disney and Disney Studios represent almost a century of creativity. While they are often discussed as a quintessentially American art form, this captivating account reveals that the inspiration for Disney’s signature aesthetic extends across the Atlantic. Exploring Walt Disney’s personal fascination with French decorative arts and examining the novel use of French motifs in his Studios’ best-loved classics, the publication features 40 works of European design—from furniture to Sèvres and Meissen porcelain—alongside 150 film stills, drawings, and other works on paper from the Walt Disney Animation Studio Library and Walt Disney Archives. The text discusses the French aesthetic influences visible throughout Disney’s theme parks and beloved animated films, including the late Gothic architecture in Cinderella (1950); bejeweled, medieval-style books in Sleeping Beauty (1959); and Rococo-inspired furnishings brought to life in Beauty and the Beast (1991). This book bridges fact and fantasy by drawing remarkable new parallels between Disney’s magical creations and their artistic models.]

I have not read this book yet, but I like Aaron's work and I suspect it will be excellent.