Another interesting graphic novel which was released in France recently...

I just pre-ordered this book, which I should receive when it is released in July. The publisher's website mentions:

[“Growing up in Disneyland” is part biography about Ron’s father, actor Don DeFore, and his own autobiography. Don DeFore earned a star on Hollywood Boulevard and was a household name in the 1950’s and ‘60’s. He co-starred in numerous feature films with many Hollywood legends, TV shows, and on live theater and is best known for “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” in which he played the next-door-neighbor, “Thorny,” and his co-starring role as “Mr. B” in the 1960’s TV series, “Hazel.” The book includes much of Don’s unpublished autobiography, “Hollywood – DeFore ‘n After.”

“Growing up in Disneyland” is a metaphor for Ron DeFore’s life growing up in a celebrity family filled with “Fantasyland” adventures he equates to a “Forest Gump” type life, from meeting the Beatles, Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, and other celebrities as Associate Director of the Steve Allen Show. His nearly 20 careers include a mid-life crisis as the “Flying DJ” at an L.A. discotheque to political positions within the Reagan Presidential Administration to establishing his own company. “Growing up in Disneyland” is also to be taken literally, as Ron spent much of his youth in Disneyland where his father owned Don DeFore’s Silver Banjo Barbecue restaurant in Frontierland. Ron and his brother, Dave, have given presentations to various Disneyland interest groups after which many attendees suggested, “you should write a book.”
“Growing up in Disneyland” will be enjoyed by any age group from baby-boomers that remember Don DeFore’s many beloved acting roles to those that don’t but are curious how life was in “the good-old-days,” especially growing up in a Hollywood celebrity family. Ron has had so many careers and adventures along the way that readers will have much to keep them from putting the book down.]

I like this upcoming book's cover.

Walt's People - Volume 22 has just been released!

I believe it is one of the best volumes in the series. It contains interviews and documents about Ferdinand Horvath, Izzy Klein, Eduardo Solá Franco, Campbell Grant, T. Hee, Ken Anderson, Bill Cottrell, Ken Anderson, Herb Ryman, Andrew B. Beard, Treb Heining, Harriet Burns, Valerie Edwards, Gary Goldman, Tad Stones.

Some of the highlights are: a long autobiographical letter from Ferdinand Horvath, the full Disney-related correspondence of Eduardo Solá Franco, the letters of Campbell Grant, a long interview with Imagineer Harriet Burns, and Gary Goldman's in-depth interview about the Disney Studio in the 1970s.

It is with immense sadness that I learned that Dave Smith passed away earlier today. The 5th volume of They Drew As They Pleased, which will be released in August is dedicated to him and Michael Barrier, the two men without whom Disney history would not exist as a serious field of research.

I first met Dave when I was a teenager, still living in Geneva, Switzerland. I cannot believe that he is gone. I had heard from him by email just 6 weeks ago, when he sent me his comments on the manuscript of Walt's People - Volume 22. This is devastating news.

The new issue of Disney Twenty-Three is about to be released. I am not convinced that it will contain much that will interest me but I will pick it up nevertheless.

David Peake just sent me a heads up about Marty Sklar's last book, which will be released on November 5, 2019, according to the Hachette Book Group website. It will be titled Travels with Figment On the Road in Search of Disney Dreams. Can't wait.

Chronicle Books is about to send They Drew As They Pleased - Volume 5 to the printer. It will be released in August. Here is the cover, revealed for the first time. This volume focuses on two of my favorite Disney concept artists: Ken Anderson and Mel Shaw.

It is with immense sadness that my wife Rita and I just learned today of the passing of Ron Miller. We will always remember fondly his warmth and marvelous sense of humor when we met him a few years back at the Silverado winery in Napa Valley. Our deepest sympathies to the Miller family. This is a very sad day.

This just in from my friend and fellow Disney historian, Ross Care about an interesting new Swiss book (in French) which contains a new Disney-related essay by him:

[ABECEDAIRE STRAVINSKY, Foundation Igor Stravinsky, Editions La Baconniere, Geneva, Switzerland, 2018 - "Sous La Direction de Marie Stravinsky" - A collection of essays on everything Stravinsky, beautifully illustrated. An English edition may be forthcoming.

My article is a discussion of how the Le Sacre score was adapted, rearranged, and slightly cut for Fantasia.]

This just in (note that the text is both in Italian AND English).

I have contributed an in-depth, original essay to this catalog about the various projects (from 1978 to today) to get Mickey back to the silver screen. It covers both the produced and the abandoned projects and is full of new information.

Jose Carioca and Panchito on the cover!? I can't wait to pick up this book!!

Don't forget that Todd James Pierce's fascinating new book about Ward Kimball has now been released.

This just in from Tom Sito via Facebook:

[Yay! I approved my cover design today. My new book will be out in March. It's an animators cookbook. 83 recipes from around the world. Dishes from past masters like Grim Natwick and Chuck Jones, to modern masters like Brenda Chapman and Pete Docter. Drinks, Main Dishes and Deserts. The amazing Robert Lence, storyboard artist and gourmet, helped out with testing recipes.]

I am helping a friend with an extremely exciting project linked to Fun and Fancy Free and in the process I stumbled upon this fun piece of advertising and thought you might enjoy it.

I am still trying to figure out exactly when in the 1940s this meeting took place, but in the meantime I thought you would enjoy seeing this photo of Walt with nuclear scientist Robert Millikan.

Many of the books that I mentioned on this blog recently are now available for pre-order on Amazon:

- The Art of Disney Costuming

- The Queens of Animation

- Magic Journey: My Fantastical Walt Disney Imagineering Career

- Marc Davis in His Own Words: Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks

- The Walt Disney Studios: A Lot to Remember

I just spotted this new book on Amazon. Could definitely be interesting.

I was checking the Hachette Book Group website earlier today and noticed than a larger number of upcoming Disney history books have been added:

- The Art of Disney Costuming by Rebecca Cline, Jeff Kurtti (Disney Editions, September 2019)

- The Disney Afternoon - A Television Renaissance by Jake Friedman (Disney Editions, October 2019)

- Magic Journey - My Fantastical Walt Disney Imagineering Career by Kevin Rafferty (Disney Editions, September 2019)

- The Queens of Animation - The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History by Nathalia Holt (Little, Brown and Company, September 2019)

The upcoming book The Disney Monorail: Imagineering the Highway in the Sky by Jeff Kurtti and Vanessa Hunt sounds intriguing and should be an excellent read.