The Kindle version is now available on Amazon.

 

This just in from Gunnar Andreassen:

 

[Enclosed is a great poster with Musse Pigg (Mickey Mouse), made in connection with the Childrens Days in September 1937 - and a boat race in Stockholm.  I found a small version of it on the web, but with the help of Lasse Emanuelsson - who bought the last copy of the exhibition catalog with this poster they had at the Royal Library in Stockholm, I got a high resolution version.

 

Musse is standing on top of Stadshuset (The Town Hall) in Stockholm.  See also photo of the building.]

A few days ago, Mark Sonntag posted the above photo on the Disney History Insitute Facebook page. He was trying to find out where Walt was that day.

A short while later David Lesjak and Brett Jeffries working closely together, established that the photo had been taken at the University of Southern California and that the man on Walt's right is Rufus Bernhard von KleinSmid, President of USC at the time. We know that Walt got his honorary Masters of the Arts degree at USC on June 4, 1938.

What I realized by researching that date is that he attended another important event that same day...

At 18.00, he arrived at the infamous Lake Norconian party, "Walt's Field Day", that he had organized to celebrate the completion of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Update on ongoing projects

So, now that Disney's Grand Tour, Inside the Whimsy Works, and Life in the Mouse House have been released, what am working on at the moment?

The manuscript of Walt's People - Volume 14 is complete and we should expect a release around May at the latest. (The above caricatures were created by John Musker for the cover.)

I am hard at work on Walt's People - Volume 15 and most of the chapters have already gone through the first round of edits.

Joe Campana and I are working on Eric Larson's long-thought-lost autobiography (and on Eric's notes about animation). We are putting them in shape for release later this year or early in 2015.

I am also in the very early stages of research on "Disney and Space," a book which is probably about two or three years away at least.

Finally, I am working on two other fun projects, one with Joe and one on my own. The one with Joe is focused on one of the "holy grails" of Disney history. Too early yet to reveal what it is. It will probably take us three or four years to complete. The other project, if it happens, will be a collection of five visually stunning books. More on this later this year, hopefully.

In other words, things are busy and fun at the moment.

Life in the Mouse House, the memoir of Golden Age Disney story artist Homer Brightman is now available on Amazon.

Homer Brightman was one of the members of Disney's Story Department from 1935 to 1950, right in the middle of the Golden Age of Disney animation.

During those fifteen years, he was often teamed up with other legendary story artist, Harry Reeves and was instrumental in developing dozens of storyboards for some of the most famous Disney shorts, many of them featuring Donald and Pluto. Among the classic shorts tackled by Brightman, we find Alpine Climbers, The Fox Hunt, Clock Cleaners, Beach Picnic, The Fire Chief, and Lend a Paw.  Homer also worked on several of the features, including Snow White, Pinocchio, Bambi, Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros, Make Mine Music, Fun and Fancy Free, Melody Time, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, and Cinderella.

Being part of the Story Department, Homer was at the very heart of the Disney Studio and worked with some of its stars, including Ted Sears, Dave Hand, Perce Pearce, Roy Williams, Carl Barks, Ham Luske, and Frenchy de Trémaudan.

After Disney, Brightman joined UPA, MGM, and Walter Lantz. He passed away in 1988.

Here is the introduction I wrote for the book:

[Most of the talented artists who knew and worked with Walt Disney are gone. Those who have never or seldom been interviewed took their precious memories to the grave.

Or did they?

Thankfully, for Disney History addicts like myself, there are still hidden autobiographies and memoirs to be unearthed: from the legendary 1938 – 1948 diaries of animator Ward Kimball, to the not-yet-released autobiography of concept artist Mel Shaw, Animator of Horseback, or the recently discovered notes of Eric Larson for his book 50 Years in the Mouse House. Needless to say, those documents are extremely rare and of uppermost value to Disney historians and Disney enthusiasts alike. So when I found traces of a memoir written by a story artist of Disney’s Golden Age, in the archives of Disney historian Michael Barrier, I knew that I had hit “pay dirt.” The story artists worked closest to Walt than any of the other artists and they were at the center of the Studio’s creative process. The ‘30s were the most exciting creative period at the Studio. And Homer Brightman despite having collaborated to dozens of shorts and quite a few features, was one of the lesser known artists of that era. I knew that the book would be fascinating and enlightening.

After tracking down Homer’s daughters, Pamela Etzler and Connie Heller-Zeiger, and after reading the book, I was glad to confirm that its contents are indeed exhilarating from a Disney history standpoint.

There are dozens and dozens of stories in this volume which are either brand new or shed new light on what we already knew: hilarious memories of fellow story artists Harry Reeves, Perce Pearce, Roy Williams, Webb Smith and many others; new information about the career of animator Frenchy de Trémaudan; new details about the events of the 1941 Studio strike; and, almost at every page, new elements that help us “connect the dots” when it comes to artists and events. In other words, I learned something exciting and fun in each chapter.

But there is also a darker side to Homer Brightman’s memoir. One can feel that his fifteen years at the Studio were not a happy time professionally and emotionally. The man we discover is one who while at the Disney Studio suffered due to internal politics, constant fear of losing his job, and artistic frustrations. This unhappiness leads to a very dark portrait of Walt. We all know that Walt was not a saint and could be a harsh taskmaster. Many of Homer's colleagues, however, had a very different point of view on Walt as a boss and as a human being. Many of those positive perspectives are shared in the pages of the book series Walt's People.

In other words, as it always is when reading an autobiography, it is important to keep in mind that Homer Brightman’s perspective is subjective. His point of view is nonetheless a very important one, his story fascinating, and his prose is so clear that his book, from day one, was a delight to read.

When he completed his book in 1986, Homer decided to hide the names of his co-workers behind pseudonyms. Homer’s daughters, Pam and Connie felt that the body of the book had to be released exactly as Homer had left it with the only addition of a few endnotes to clarify a few facts and the rare faulty memories. Thankfully both also realized that the book takes another dimension when one knows who are the artists hidden behind the pseudonyms. I am therefore enclosing below a list of the names of the individuals we believe we identified, thanks to notes left by Brightman as well as some additional research completed while working on this manuscript. I strongly encourage you to make reference to this list while reading Homer’s memoir.

Life in the Mouse House is an enlightening adventure, which for Homer ironically started on a grey morning of February 1935…]

This just in from Gunnar Andreassen:

[As you probably know Walt Disney only visited Sweden once.  A couple of days ago I found a Swedish newsreel from 1959 - that you might not have seen - about his visit to Sweden in connection with a film that was shot partly there: Hans Brinker or The Silver Skates.
He came to Stockholm, was received at the airport by a young girl with flowers and the director of the film and among others the chief of RKO there. He held a press conference at the balcony of his hotel.   He also visited the "Filmtown" and met with Ingmar Bergman - the famous Swedish director.

See 02.52 into this newsreel.

You might have read what Joakim Gunnarsson posted about this event on his blog a couple of years ago (two postings).]

 

I learned recently that in 1945, before the end of WWII, a group of French journalists visited the US. Among the places they toured, was the Walt Disney Studio where they had a chance to meet Walt. One of the journalists was none other than Jean-Paul Sartre, who would won the Nobel Price of Litterature in 1964 and, along with Albert Camus, became one if the two most famous French writers of the second half of the XXth century.

I would love to find out the exact date of this historical meeting. Sartre was not at all famous at the time, so no one at the Studio probably realized that two of the World's greats had just met.

Coming soon...

Since today marks the released by Theme Park Press of Lonnie Burr's autobiography, The Accidental Mouseketeer, I decided to interview Theme Park Press' owner, Bob McLain to learn a little more about the book.


Didier Ghez: How much of The Disney Mouseketeer is actually linked to Disney?

Bob McLain: There are two long chapters focused specifically on the Mickey Mouse Club and on various Disney events involving the Mouseketeers from the 1950s through the present. In addition, most of the other chapters have sections about Lonnie's involvement with Disney and Disney notables like Roy E. Disney, Bill Justice, Roy Williams, Michael Eisner, and others.

DG: The book was previously released by Bear Manor Media. How much new content does this book contain and how much of it is related to Disney.

BM: Lonnie added an entirely chapter, most of it about Disney, that brings the story up to date. He also revised and updated most of the other chapters. The Theme Park Press edition of the book has a new cover, professional editing, and a cover price $10 less than the original.

DG: What are the key surprises we can expect?

BM: They wouldn't be surprises if I told you! But I'll give you some teasers: Lonnie goes into detail about backstage antics on the set of The Mickey Mouse Club; his teen relationship with Annette Funicello; his fistfight with another Mouseketeer; his recollection of parties at Roy Williams' house; his post-Mouseketeer dealings with Disney, and his opinion of how Disney treats the stars which made the company so much money and which gave Walt the income he needed to complete Disneyland; and lots more.
Lonnie also explains why he was an "accidental" Mouseketeer, and how he never would have put on his ears without some very powerful (and likely illegal, today) persuasion by a Disney executive.

DG: Any other things you would like to mention about this book?

BM: Lonnie Burr was much, much more than a Mouseketeer, and since this book is his life story, quite a bit of it is about what Lonnie did before the Mouseketeers (as a child actor in 1940s and early 1950s Hollywood) and after the Mouseketeers, when his career in film and on stage truly blossomed. He has stories about working with celebrities like Elvis, Steven Spielberg, Roy Rogers, Billy Crystal, the Lone Ranger, and dozens of others.
Lonnie is never sentimental, and his recollections are unflinchingly honest. Although once a child star, with millions of fans, Lonnie had to deal - sometimes badly - with what happens when the clubhouse closes and the Disney contract ends.

 A few more Swedish cards from the '30s.

This just in from Gunnar Andreassen:

[Yesterday I found a Swedish Musse Pigg card on Ebay, that were new to me, issued by the Alifa Company. Some information below, found on the net:

"The most famous collectible images/cards are undoubtedly ALFA pictures/cards, released by the Alifa Company. The pictures came with when you bought the tablet case "Alfa-lozenge". According to the box's front was lozenges "tasty, refreshing," which many questioned ....

The first Alfa images were found in the '30s. There were both sportsmen as well as Mickey Mouse and hilarious animals that one could collect."

On one of the cards you see Musse Pigg shaking hands with Sven Hedin.

Sven Anders Hedin  (born February 19, 1865, Stockholm, Sweden—died November 26, 1952, Stockholm), Swedish explorer who led through Central Asia a series of expeditions that resulted in important archaeological and geographical findings.  However, he had some nazi sympathies.

Quote from a Swedish Internet forum:

"Extremely scarce cards that show how Mickey travel around the world. Coolest / strangest are probably pictures where Mickey posing together with Stalin and Hitler."

By the same seller I found 11 other cards, already sold, but none of them with Hitler or Stalin.  The only other famous person on one of them was Lindbergh.]

Do not miss In Defense of Walt - Walt Disney and Anti-Semitism by Todd James Pierce. A "must-read" if there was one!

I just found this document recently on HowardLowery.com It contains a story by Jack Kinney which I had never read before. Enjoy!

Two books I will definitely pick up when they are released later this year are:

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 6: "Lost In Lands Long Ago" and Disney During World War II: How the Walt Disney Studio Contributed to Victory in the War by John Baxter. The later should be a great read, while we await Paul F. Anderson's definitive history of Disney during WWII.

As we prepare for the release of the Tomorrowland movie by Brad Bird, here are a few books that you may want to check-out to get a better understanding of the history of the 1964-1965 World's Fair and what it actually looked like. All of this is in addition to the famous issue of the magazine Persistence of Vision in which Paul F. Anderson gives the definite story of Disney at the Fair.

Above: Tomorrow-Land: The 1964-65 World's Fair and the Transformation of America by Joseph Tirella

Below:  The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair (color pictures) by Bill Cotter and Bill Young

And also:

The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair (Black and white pictures) by Bill Cotter and Bill Young and The 1964-1965 New York World's Fair: Creation and Legacy by Bill Cotter and Bill Young.

From Russia, released in 1941! This is almost an exact copy of the same game released in France by Jouets Vera a few years earlier.