VOLUNTEER NEEDED IN KIEL, GERMANY

When you conduct Disney research, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

A few weeks ago, I had the joy of locating the first issue of a newsletter released by the British Disney office in 1937,1938 and 1939. I also found out that 6 issues had been released in total.

I thought that I would be able to locate the 5 other issues at the British Library but I learned yesterday that they are not there.

I won once, I lost once.

There are very few options remaining to locate those 5 missing issues. One avenue to explore goes through the ZBW institution in Kiel, Germany.

I am therefore looking for a volunteer who would be willing to conduct some research for me there. If you are in or near Kiel, could you please drop me a line at didier.ghez@gmail.com ?

I just received a copy of Ron Clements' new book. It is massive, and there is no doubt in my mind: this is, hands-down, the best Disney history book of 2026. Go get it, mow, if you have not done so already. 

 At long last the Disney Books Network has been updated. 45 released books added!!

 

I just learned that this book is about to be released thanks to a post by my friend Sebastien Durand and I am very much looking forward to reading it.

Around 1935, the British chocolate company George Payne & Co. issued a series of 25 cards titled Mickey Mouse Pleasure Cruise.

I would love to get high-resolution scans of as many of them as possible for a book I am currently working on.

If you happen to own some of them (or know collectors who do), could you please email me at Didier.ghez@gmail.com ?

To give you a sense of the exciting Disney history discoveries that can be made when one digs really deep and why I am so eager to find volunteers in London...

A few days ago, one of my many volunteers in New York stumbled upon the first issue of Mickey's News, a newsletter that Disney's European representative, George Kamen, began sending to British licensees in November 1937. I only have one full issue for now and -- among other things -- I am trying to locate the others which are likely to really "move the needle" from a historical standpoint.

This is fun!

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.