I was conducting some research yesterday about the creation of a logo / mascot named King Mike by Disney artist Hank Porter for the King Radio station, in the context of David Lesjak's upcoming monograph about Hank Porter (that monograph will be a must have).

And that is when I stumbled upon this incredible photograph (c. 1947) of Walt Disney with Frank L. Newman. Yes, this is the same Frank Newman of Newman Laugh-O-Grams, who by then had moved to Seattle and become president of Evergreen Theatres Corporation.

The full story of how Walt and Newman met again via King Radio, will probably be told in David's upcoming monograph.

So, now that the They Drew as They Pleased - The Hidden Art of Disney series is virtually complete, what am I working on Disney-wise (aside from Walt's People and a few editing projects)?

I have just written the first draft of a monograph about The Origins of the True-Life Adventures (1938 - 1948), to be released by Hyperion Historical Alliance Press next year. This is the first volume in a planned series about True-Life Adventures-related matters.

I cannot tell you how excited I am about this project. I feel that I am venturing into an almost virgin field. I am discovering a lot of new information about the making of Bambi, the educational projects that were being developed between 1943 and 1947 (including all the abandoned ones which gave birth to many other Disney projects in the 1940s and 1950s), and the saga of Al and Elma Milotte that resulted in the making of both The Alaskan Eskimo (the first of the "People and Places) and Seal Island (1948).

And, of course, the monograph will be full of never-seen-before illustrations.

Thirty years after starting to conduct research about Disney history, I am finally beginning to feel that I am understanding how things really happened. This is truly exhilarating and I can't wait to share this new-found understanding and those discoveries.

It is hard to believe, but the sixth and final volume of my art book series They Drew as They Pleased - The Hidden Art of Disney is now complete and has been sent to the printer.

I am hoping to see a first physical copy late April or early May, for a release in bookstores around the end of August this year.

My good friend Alain Littaye mentions this new book on his blog this morning. Has any of you read it? Does Val Usle share many anecdotes about his work for Disney?

The new issue of Disney Twenty-Three will be released soon and I am especially looking forward to the article about Inside the Walt Disney Archives: 50 Years of Preserving the Magic, an exhibition of more than 400 treasures opening this March at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California.

I just stumbled upon this interesting Japanese book released last year to celebrate Mickey Mouse's 90th birthday. It seems to be 136-page long and a collection (on the model of The Art of Mickey Mouse) of drawings of Mickey and friends by famous Japanese manga artists. I just ordered a copy on ebay...

It thought that some of you might want to know that it exists.

This just in from my good friend Jim Hollifield:

[Dark Horse Comics recently published a collection of the 1978-1988 Winnie the Pooh newspaper comic strips.

While it's not a complete chronological collection, the book does have several hundred strips from the 10-year run, as well as a short history section crediting the artists who worked on the strip like Sparky Moore. Perhaps the best part, though, is that it prints all three of the Winnie the Pooh featurette newspaper adaptations from the "Treasury of Classic Tales" series. It was disappointing that the book series ended around 1961 with Volume 3, so it was nice that three adaptations from the later years were included in this new publication.]

I am still desperately trying to locate a copy of this very elusive book. If one of you has one for sale, could you contact me at didier.ghez@gmail.com? Thanks in advance!

 Both The Art of Soul and The Art of Onward are now available for pre-order on Amazon.

I am currently studying the early Disney educational projects, in the context of my upcoming monograph about The Origins of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures.  Which is how I stumbled onto this spread released in the July 27, 1943 issue of Look Magazine.

The article mentioned a movie about the electron that the Disney Studio was working on at the time, which intrigued me. I have now established that what the article was referring to is the third part of the Minneapolis-Honeywell training film, which you can discover at this link.

There is a lot more to this story, which eventually led to the making of Our Friend the Atom. More on this next year in the monograph :-)

Would one of you happen to own a copy of this Seal Island lobby card? 

If so, could you please email me at didier.ghez@gmail.com? I need a high resolution scan of it.

Have some of you bought this monograph? If so, would you mind posting a review on Amazon? A million thanks in advance for your help!

I have been enjoying the One Day at Disney documentary on Disney+ and I am now also enjoying the One Day at Disney shorts which are being released weekly on the streaming service.

I received the One Day at Disney coffee-table book too late to review it before the holidays.

It is a beautiful complement to the series and a very enjoyable volume, which I am glad to own. Not in-depth, of course, since it covers so many cast members, but definitely full of good information and photographs about The Walt Disney Company today.

I spent part of the Xmas break editing a long (and fascinating) interview of Imagineer Roger Broggie, which will be released in Walt's People - Volume 25. In that interview, Roger mentions that when he retired he was replaced as the head of MAPO by astronaut Gordon Cooper.

I thought some of you might want to know that last year Cooper released his autobiography, which seems to contain a few pages about his Disney career...

 This is a new Italian art book which I will soon buy on Amazon.it

With the holidays right around the corner, I would like to remind all of you that there are still a few copies available of the newly released monograph by JB Kaufman about The Making of Walt Disney's Fun and Fancy Free.  This is a great hard-cover, full-color, 148-page long, heavily-illustrated (more than 150 illustrations) publication. All of you who are interested in Disney history will love it.

We do not know if this monograph will be re-printed so I would encourage to get your copy now.

(For our European members: The French distributor should have copies available by mid to late January.)

Volume 1 and Volume 2 of Bill Kroyer and Tom Sito's On Animation: The Director's Perspective look like two excellent books that I will definitely have to buy. I wish they were a little cheaper, though...

I just got a copy of the new Art of Frozen II book and it is pure delight. I simply cannot get enough of those beautiful concept sketches and character designs.

It took a little longer than expected but I am glad to announce that Walt's People - Volume 23 has just been released!

Here is the table of contents:

Foreword: Tom Sito
The Letters of Peter Adby
Joe Collura: Sterling Holloway - A Way with Words
Edward Summer: Sterling Holloway
EMC West: Tyrus Wong
Family Circle magazine: Ken Anderson and Woolie Reitherman
Edward Summer: Woolie Reitherman
Christopher Finch and Linda Rosenkrantz: Woolie Reitherman
Michael Barrier: Les Novros, Bill Hurtz, and Paul Julian
Didier Ghez: Rudy Cataldi
Michael Broggie: Bob Harpur
Jack Hannah
Jay Horan: Joe Potter
Didier Ghez: Jeff Burke