The situation at home is looking a lot more stable.

Happy New Year to all of you! Come back tomorrow for the first gift of the year, which will come on a yellow brick road.

Xmas 1933 in Spain. A bit scary...

This DVD has just been released and I will definitely pick it up right away, if only because it contains a never-released-before Disney WWII short, but more importantly because of the 20-minute long short about the making of films at the First Motion Picture Unit, including the animation unit.

This book is clearly not a "must-have" but if you have enjoyed the others in the series you will want to pick it up when it is released in a few weeks.

Do not miss today:

- D23′s From the Archives: Snow White Oddities—Part 1 by Jim Fanning
- D23′s From the Archives: Walt Disney’s In Search of the Castaways by Jim Fanning
- Secrets of the Santa Cartoons by Jim Korkis
- The First Disneyland Christmas Parade by Jim Korkis
- Everybody loves a parade . . . by David Lesjak
- Yoo Hoo! Merry Christmas Mouse Club members! by David Lesjak
- Merry Christmas everyone! by David Lesjak
- Designing Fantasyland – Dragon Lair by Maxime Bogaert
- Creating Disney Magic – California Grill Restaurant by Maxime Bogaert

I love this homage to Tintin by Italian artist Corrado Mastantuono and thought you would too.

Courtesy of Garry Apgar and King Features Syndicate (1939).

Has anyone picked up this new book? Is it any good?

What are the best Disney history books of 2012? This year's list is a long one (which is good news) and includes for the first time a book in Italian (although, had I been aware of it at the time, the book Eccetto Topolino by Fabio Gadducci, Leonardo Gori and Sergio Lama would have been part of my 2011 list).

1. JB Kaufman, The Fairest One of All: The Making of Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs published by Weldon Owen; 2012.

2. Rolly Crump and Jeff Heimbuch, It's Kind of a Cute Story published by Bamboo Forest Publishing; 2012.

3. Bob Gurr, Design: Just for Fun published by Ape Pen Publishing; 2012.

4. Jim Korkis, Who's Afraid of the Song of the South? and Other Forbidden Disney Stories published by Theme Park Press; 2012.

5. David Gerstein (editor): Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: "House Of The Seven Haunts!" and Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: "High Noon at Inferno Gulch" published by Fantagraphics Books; 2012.

6. Daniel Handke and Vanessa Hunt, Poster Art of the Disney Parks published by Disney Editions; 2012.

7. Ron Schneider, From Dreamer to Dreamfinder: A Life and Lessons Learned in 40 Years Behind a Name Tag published by Bamboo Forest Publishing; 2012.

8. Luca Boshi, Leonardo Gori, Andrea Sani, and Alberto Becattini, I Disney Italiani published by NPE; 2012.

I need your help once again: Would anyone have access to the article Fairyland Goes to Hollywood: An Interview with Leigh Harline released in the Pacific Coast Musician magazine from 20 November 1937? If so, could you email me a copy at didier.ghez@gmail.com? Thanks in advance for your help.

Just announced on Amazon...

It's Diane Disney Miller's birthday today and I thought a good way to celebrate would be by releasing the text of this March 1934 article from Motion Picture magazine. Enjoy!

[Walt Presents Cigars

WALT DISNEY, the papa of Mickey and Minnie Mouse and the Three Little Pigs, has just become the papa of a little Disney, his first child. With toy shops featuring his creations, and nursery wallpaper and furniture and cushions and blankets and rugs showing the amazing adventures of his little cartoon folk, it seems only fair that Walt, himself, should have a little girl to share in all the joy he has created for the children of the world.

He was attending a dinner at which he was being awarded a medal for distinguished service to childhood when he suddenly grabbed his coat and dashed out—to the hospital where his wife (the former Lillian Bounds of Lewiston, Idaho) had just given birth to Dianne [sic] Marie Disney. The dinner party was aghast. But when they heard the reason for all the hurry, all was forgiven.]

I was excited to find out this week that my good friend and fellow Disney historian JB Kaufman had just launched his web site.

Unfortunately Roger Broggie Jr. passed away.

If you enjoyed all of Jim Korkis' previous books and articles, you will LOVE Who's Afraid of Song of the South? This is because not only does Jim give us what makes the Korkis brand famous: excellent stories, great research, fun read, unconventional subject matters (and this book is full of those since it deals with various "controversial" Disney projects, aside from the making of Song of the South) but also because Jim benefited this time around from the profesional editing work of publisher Bob McLain who helps make the book even more readable.

I adore Song of the South and had always wanted to read a good in-depth "making of". Jim's very long essay on the subject does the trick beautifully and this is definitely a must-have.

My only regret: I wish Jim would start including a section listing his sources in a more academic way. The bibliography and the notes are usually the sections I check first when reading a Disney history book and I miss those in Jim's books. But this is just me and for most readers this will only be a very small drawback.

My advice: run to get yourself this great Xmas gift.

As you saw, Jim Korkis has releasing not one but two new books this year. I will publish a review of Who's Afraid of Song of the South? later on this week (hopefully), but you should not forget to also pick-up The Revised Vault of Walt.

[The REVISED Vault of Walt is a sleeker version of the previous (and now out-of-print) edition, with some of the original stories removed and sporting a much lower cover price. The omitted stories will be released soon in digital format as The Vault of Walt Sampler. Jim’s new stories include:

§  “Eating Like Walt” answers the question that if we are indeed what we eat, then what recipes created and sustained Walt’s unique genius?

§  “And the Oscar Goes to … Walt Disney” shares the stories-behind-the-stories of some of the many Academy Awards Walt won during his lifetime.

§  “The Carousel of Progress” discusses how the park attraction has changed over the decades but still remains an homage to the vision of Walt Disney.

§  “The Man Who Shot Walt Disney” reveals the photographer behind the iconic pictures of Walt Disney and how they were created.

§  Finally, as a preview of what to expect in Jim’s newest book, Who’s Afraid of the Song of the South, there is a chapter devoted to some of the most commonly asked questions about Disney’s most controversial film, Song of the South.

As before, the book is divided into four sections: stories of Walt Disney’s life, stories of  Disney Films, stories of Disney Theme Parks, and stories of the many other worlds of Disney, ranging from Nikita Khrushchev, Walt’s women, and the mysterious Gray Seal, to how a Looney Tunes legend Chuck Jones went “looney” working for Disney.]

Jim Korkis explains:

[I wrote The Vault of Walt in 2010 because of my deep concern that the unique history of the Disney Company was disappearing with the deaths of those people who actually knew Walt and who first shared many of these wonderful stories with me.

To my surprise, the book was a hit.

But that was two years ago, and since then, I’ve uncovered many, many new Disney stories, and I’ve learned more about the ones I already told. This is my chance to tell a few of those new stories and to elaborate upon some of the old ones.

In 2013, I plan to write an entirely new Vault of Walt. Rather than keep you waiting, and rather than miss out on my chance to bring the original Vault of Walt up-to-date, I decided to do the next best thing and offer this revised edition at a bargain price.

If this is your first experience with The Vault of Walt, there are many treasures to uncover about the worlds of Disney.  If you are an owner of the original edition (perhaps soon collectible curiosity), this book provides five new stories to maintain your interest until the updated edition is released. If you are upset that some stories are missing, the publisher has made them available as a Kindle book entitled The Vault of Walt Sampler.

So, to summarize, there is the original edition of The Vault of Walt, which is going into hibernation; the revised version that you hold in your hand right now with some new stories; and a Kindle “sampler” with the missing stories from the original edition.

That’s my story, and I am sticking to it.]

 

I just discovered this book about Italian Disney comic book artist Giorgio Cavazzano. Unfortunately none of the sellers online seem to be willing to ship it to Spain or to Miami.

Would a reader of the blog living in Italy be able to help me get a copy of it? (I would pay via Paypal, of course)

Do not miss today:

- Walt's 111th by Michael Barrier
- November and December in Disney History by Garry Apgar
- The Song of the South Frequently Asked Questions by Jim Korkis

Our personal belongings arrived in Miami on Friday. Do not be surprised if the blog is silent for a few days this week or next week. This photo shows only a small part of the issue. Multiply this by three or four and you will understand the challenge we are currently facing. The end result will be worth it, though.

This just in from Garry Apgar. Does anyone know where thIs platter ended up?