I just realized that the DVD of Tyrus has been released! According to the director, Pamela Tom, there are two ways of buying it:

[1) Through PBS.org. The cost on their website is 24.99

2) A less expensive option is $19.99 and can be purchased directly through me. The DVD comes in a cardboard sleeve and is signed. For those purchases, people can Venmo me at: pam88tom@gmail.com and should include their name and mailing address.]

 

Jim Korkis is not just releasing one book, but three this holiday season. I mentioned the other two already. Here is the final one!
 

 Oh no!

Marge Champion, Actress, Dancer and Model for Snow White, Dies at 101

I had the pleasure of interviewing Marge a few years ago. The interview appears in Walt's People - Volume 14.

How I missed the release of this exhibition catalog two years ago is beyond me. I am just glad that I was able to order it yesterday. I can't wait to get it later this week.

 

While this is not technically Disney-related, I know that many of you will love to know that Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol - The Making of the First Animated Christmas Special by Darrell Van Citters is finally back in print.

This book by Graham Allan, Rebecca Cline and Charlie Price is, simply put, unbelievable. At 380 pages, it is massive and contains more than 1,500 photos. It will take you weeks to go through it properly and to admire all of the details (including a few dozen black and white historical photos).

The reaction of my wife when she saw the book on our coffee table was: "Let me go through this page by page." She was blown away, but also totally overwhelmed by the first few pages about Halloween. "This is so fascinating, and there is so much in there, that it will take me at least until Christmas to 'read' this book as it deserves."

In other words: Not for the faint at heart, but definitely a must-have for Disney parks enthusiasts.

I simply can't wait to get a copy of Pierre Lambert's upcoming book. Here is an exclusive preview!

 

 Heads up about another new book by Jim Korkis!

 I am happy to say that the Disney Books Network is finally back online after a few weeks of issues.

I plan to update it later this week.

 A new book I just added to my Amazon wish list.

Do not miss today:

- An interview with Pete Menefee (thanks to Michael Goldberg for the heads up)

 

Jim Korkis' new book has just been released. I will order my own copy today.

I have just received a review copy of The Disney Monorail: Imagineering a Highway in the Sky.

I have yet to read it (although it contains relatively little text) but it is such a visually stunning book, filled to the brim with exciting artwork and photographs, that I can already say that this is a "must-have" and one of the best Disney history books of the year. 

Congratulations to the three authors. This one is a winner!
 

 I just ordered this new book.

The Hyperion Historical Alliance (HHA) has some great news to announce today!

The latest issue of the HHA Annual has finally been released. You can order it at this link on Amazon.

If you like to read very in-depth essays by vetted Disney historians about little know aspects of Disney history, you should not miss this issue of the Annual (nor the previous one). I believe you will love it.

Please spread the word!

Really looking forward to this upcoming French Disney graphic novel...

A new podcast you may want to listen to.

Worth reading today:

 Disney’s many failed attempts to bring Don Quixote to the screen by Jack Yarwood

 

Now that the last volume of the They Drew as They Pleased book series has been released, what am I working on when it comes to Disney history, aside from volumes 25 and 26 of the Walt's People book series?

SHORT TERM

1. 2020 Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual

The new Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual is about to be released in just a few weeks and contains two new essays by yours truly. One about "Grace Huntington in Disney's Story Department" (I am particularly proud of this essay which explores totally uncharted territory) and one about "Mickey Mouse's Revivals (1978 - 2018)."

2. The Origins of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures monograph

This new monograph relies on huge amounts of never-seen-before material including the diaries of cinematographers Al and Elma Milotte, their "lost" autobiography, storyboards of many of the early, unproduced True-Life Adventures and a lot more. It will be the first time ever that this story will be told. The layout of the monograph is now in the process of being approved by Disney, and (depending on how things evolve with COVID), the monograph should be released by the Hyperion Historical Alliance Press at some point next year.

3. 2021 Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual

I have submitted two essays for the 2021 HHA Annual. One about "Bianca Majolie in the Story Department" (I have uncovered huge amounts of new material since I released that chapter about Bianca in They Drew as They Pleased - Volume 1) and one about "Walt Kelly in the Story Department" (including a surprising revelation about the origins of Pogo).

LONGER TERM

4. Walt Disney's Adventures in Music, History and Nature monograph

I have started researching the second volume of the "True-Life Adventures" monograph series. That second volume which will focus on "Beaver Valley" and "The Olympic Elk," but also on two parallel series that Walt was working on at the time: "Adventures in Music" and "Adventures in History".

5. Mickey Mouse on Stage and on Radio in the 1930s monograph (in collaboration with Libby Spatz)

Full of new info and never-seen-before photos of the Fanchon and Marco shows, the Roxy Theater show, the Stadler and Rose shows, the "Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air" radio show, the British "Meet Mickey Mouse!" radio show and a lot more...

6. The Making of Walt Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People monograph (in collaboration with Jim Hollifield)

Complete with an in-depth exploration of Walt Disney's trip to Ireland in 1946. Full of stunning never-seen-before photographs. I am currently awaiting the detailed diaries of one of the storytellers who met Walt in Ireland in 1946. Can't wait to get them in a few weeks and to get the entries translated from Gaelic to English.

7. Two essays for the 2022 HHA Annual

If all goes well, I am planning to research and write two essays for that issue of the Annual. One will be about Walt Disney and Hans Christian Andersen, the other about a proposed collaboration between The Walt Disney Studios and the French animation studio Les Gemeaux in 1946/47.

Of course, all the "longer term" projects are now progressing more slowly than planned due to the impact of the pandemic.

More about all of this soon... 

Pierre Lambert's new book will be released on October 24. Can't wait!!!