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.
 

This book is likely to be very interesting. I just ordered my copy.
 

Can't wait to read this book when it is released later this year!
 

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. 

I really wanted to buy those Swedish bottle labels from the 1930s but I lost the auction this weekend. I had never seen them before and I have a feeling some of you will enjoy discovering them.

SWEDISH DISNEY HISTORIAN NEEDED

In 2013, Are Myklebust and Jan Stale Engaas wrote a great book about the history of Disney in Norway (which they updated a few years later). That same year Jukka Vesterinen released a similar book about Disney in Finland.

The question is: who will do the same in Denmark and especially in Sweden? 

The history of Disney in Sweden in the 1930s is particularly rich, with one of the best Mickey Mouse magazines (Musse Pigg Tidningen) released in that country.

Are there any Swedish Disney historians or early-Disneyana collectors reading this? If so, could you please email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com? I have some ideas about how to approach the research, but you need to be based in Sweden (ideally in Stockholm) to get access to the proper resources.