Between Books - 3D Disneyland: Like You've Never Seen It Before

 

Do kids use Viewfinder's anymore?  For me, growing up in the Midwest they were one of the few ways I could experience faraway places, like Disneyland!  Maybe I could immerse myself in animals long gone, like dinosaurs!  I loved my Viewfinder, and as an adult I recaptured a little of that magic recently.

3D Disneyland" Like You've Never Seen It Before by David A. Bossert shares the stereoscopic, 3D photography, of Disney animator Ted Kierscey.  The photos in Kierscey's personal collection cover two distinct time periods, 1955 to 1958 and 1980.  Additionally, there are some additional photos from Patrick Swinnea that cover more recent years.  The pages follow a simple pattern.  On the left side, the page is largely intentionally left white with a caption taking a small bit of space towards the bottom left of the page.  The right side is 3D photo centered and taking the majority of the page.  The photos, all of Disneyland, flow geographically from Main Street USA to Tomorrowland, with different eras mixed in with each other.  The book is all about the photos and displaying them for easy reading with the enclosed 3D glasses. 

Let's jump back to childhood.  About once a year, one of the local TV stations would have a older monster 3D movie promotion.  They would hand out 3D glasses through gas stations and spread the joy of 3D.  It may have been the poor definition of my TV, but it never worked.  So I was a little worried these fuzzy pics, pre-glasses, would fail for me.  This fear was not false.  The photos work great!  Yes, I had to ensure enough and proper lightening to get my best experience, but the glasses worked wonderfully.  The older photos may not have been as immersive as the newer ones.  But there are quite a few that I felt drew me in and took me to a place, just like the old Viewfinder.

3D Disneyland" Like You've Never Seen It Before by David A. Bossert showcases the stereoscopic photograph collection of Ted Kierscey.  It is a delight, and took me to a place that I love often in eras that I beyond my ability to travel in time in visit.  The read is all about images, and can be quick and breezy.  But I recommend a slow read, in the morning sun, with coffee so you may enjoy every moment and image!

 

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Between Books - The House of Tomorrow

 

David Bossert gives Disney fans a tour of an attraction that graced Disneyland with Walt Disney’s spirit of innovation for a decade, but that he never experienced. The Monsanto House of the Future ended its run in a Disney park over fifty years ago. But it still is hailed by Disney fans as giving us a snapshot of how Walt Disney may have seen his EPCOT’s role in educating and entertaining.

David A. Bossert in The House of the Future: Walt Disney, MIT, and Monsanto’s Vision of Tomorrow provides a visual history and tour of the extinct Monsanto House of the Future which demonstrated the power of plastics in our near future from 1957 to 1967. Bossert starts by giving readers a history of plastics and the story of how Disney, MIT, and Monsanto came together with the idea to build a showcase home using primarily plastics as a building material and furnishings. This history is followed by a visual tour of the home, using archival pictures that show readers the layout and furnishing of the showcase, complete with renovations that occurred during its decade of existence. The book ends with legacy, with Bossert balancing a discussion of plastics and their impact on the environment, with an overview of the House of the Retro Future Suite down the street from Disneyland at the Howard Johnson Anaheim Hotel.

I never visited the Monsanto House of the Future, it was gone well before I was born. And I think this is probably the closest I can get. The House of the Retro Future Suite is a fantastically designed tribute to the extinct attraction, but it is not a reproduction. The sequence of photos that Bossert provided gave me the sense of a walking tour. His written narration made me feel like I had a researched in-person guide weaving me through the rooms of the home… especially since I don’t know anything about architecture or the chemical composition of plastics. The experience also reminded me of the Imagineering books that give us the behind-the-scenes, story overview, concept art, and images of the final attraction all in one package.

I will say as Disney fans, we have visited Pixie Hollow and debated walls and stones which may have been part of the Monsanto House of the Future. Bossert uses images, his walkthrough, and other experts to attempt to put to rest what of the house remains. This discussion gives us the blueprint to be able to do our fieldwork during future visits to see Tinkerbell.

I’ve never visited the Monsanto House of the Future. With it being extinct for 50 years, there is a chance you haven’t either. David A. Bossert through The House of the Future: Walt Disney, MIT, and Monsanto’s Vision of Tomorrow gives us a path to visit this attraction through the page. It also gave me an experience, I would love to have for other attractions that I can no longer visit. 

 

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Between Books - Claude Coats: Walt Disney’s Imagineer

 

Claude Coats: Walt Disney’s Imagineer-The Making of Disneyland From Toad Hall to the Haunted Mansion and Beyond by David Bossert is an excellent addition to the history of Disney Imagineering.  The text balances images with narratives and gives this legendary Imagineer the chronicle he deserves.

The text offers exactly as titled.  Bossert works through Coats’ career from birth to the completion of one of his most famous projects, The Haunted Mansion.  The book outlines his early career from art student to animation.  Bossert follows with discussions of his transitioning to work on Disneyland, moving beyond design to actually painting backgrounds to get the work done.  The discussion of the Grand Canyon Diorama is one of the most in-depth that I have seen.  Chapters provide details on his collaborations for the fan-beloved Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion.  But along the journey, the book includes interludes on presentations to NASA and painting for the U.S. Air Force.  The text is well-balanced with Coats’ images and text providing historical context to Coats’ work.

The text is really well done overall.  Bossert helps us understand Coats as an artist as he was someone who unlike Marc Davis did not work alone in his office.  But instead would often work outside working on models and collaborating with other artists.  Bossert frames Coats, not as someone who would be adversarial with other artists.  But instead, someone who was a team player, mentor, and project management.  Additionally, the chapter on the Air Force paintings demonstrated Coats as an artist outside of his Disney work and makes it clear that he truly was a respected Califroonaia fine artist.  The biggest gap I see in the books is a lack of discussion after the Haunted Mansion.  It would be interesting to be able to compare the frustrated Marc Davis after the Mansion with Coats and how he navigated being creative as the next generation grew into their own.  

Claude Coats: Walt Disney’s Imagineer-The Making of Disneyland From Toad Hall to the Haunted Mansion and Beyond by David Bossert is a great inclusion to the Between Books bookshelf.  It is well written and illustrated.  And it clearly left me wanting more.  Maybe we needed a two-volume set here! 

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Between Books - Dali and Disney: Destino

Dali and Disney: Destino: The Story, Artwork, and Friendship Behind the Legendary Film by David A. Bossert provides the history behind the famed short "Destino" including the relationship between artists Salvador Dali and Walt Disney before, during, and after the artistic development of the film.  Bossert goes beyond just this artistic pair to discuss the effort to complete the film led by Roy E. Disney which culminated in the short being assembled in 2005.  The book presents as a art of book for the short which includes Bossert's own personal efforts as a producer on the short.  And being a art of style book it is filled with wonderful Dali art and "Destino" concept images from Dali and John Hench. 

Bossert gives the readers what is expected from an art book.  He goes into how Walt Disney came to know Salvador Dali and how Dali came to work for Walt Disney, creating a never made short in "Destino".  And while Disney fans may be thrilled with pictures of Dali riding Disney's home hobby train, it is the Dali background that went above and beyond for me.  Bossert provides Disney fans, assuming we knew much of Disney's history, with a discussion of Dali and his role in surrealism.  This helps one to understand images of watches, Dali and even baseball seen within the film.  The numerous images of both Dali's work and story concept art come together to help one better understand the final images of what is truly a complicated visual short.

One of my favorite discussions of the short's development is the role of John Hench.  This Disney legend worked beside Dali in the development stage.  And the two were in such collaboration that when Hench was asked years later to attribute if he or Dali were the creator of key art pieces, some he could never distinguish authorship for.  

While Bossert does pick up on how Roy E. Disney shepherded the effort to resurrect the never completed short, including using Dali's concept art, test footage and the adapted song, what fascinated me the most was the story of stolen Dali concept art from Disney.  While we today see the Disney Archives as a top notch department, concept art was not as closely protected as it is now.  And an employee stole and sold art completed for "Destino".  Bossert outlines how Disney discovered this theft, how the art was found and Disney's efforts to recover it.  And even the efforts to recover the art can be interesting to the non-art expert 

Dali and Disney: Destino: The Story, Artwork, and Friendship Behind the Legendary Film by David A. Bossert is a visually stunning art book.  It is one that goes beyond restating Disney history, but provides readers with the background needed for Disney fans to better understand Dali.  The text is filled with incredible Dali images both for the short and those key to surrealism.  And most surprising, it provides a somewhat exciting crime thriller as Bossert tells his readers of stolen Dali art.

Between Books - Remembering Roy E. Disney

I will admit, with all my reading on the Eisner Era, one of the personalities that I have become very interested in is Roy E. Disney.  So, seeing that a book about the younger Disney was being released, it was a must own for me.  I really looked forward to reading a book that was focused on him instead of just seeing him as a supporting actor.

Remembering Roy E. Disney: Memories and Photos of a Storied Life by David A. Bossert is an account of Roy E. Disney written by a close colleague and admirer.  Bossert had worked with Disney on several projects and I believe honestly could say they were friends.  Bossert travels through Disney's life topically with chapters on sailing, Shamrock Air (Disney's private plane), Destino, and his late life divorce from Patty Disney and marriage to Leslie Disney.  The chapters are largely narrated by Bossert but also include personal accounts from figures like Stanley Gold and John Lasseter.  The book is also fully packed with personal photos from Disney's life, with nearly every page including an image.

I find this book mixed for me.  So, lets start with those things I did not enjoy.  When you include the forward the bulk of the first 39 pages explain how the book got written.  I understand that Bossert wanted to establish his personal view about Roy E. Disney and wanted to tell the story of publication.  But for a book that is only around 200 pages this was just too much explanation for me.  I wanted to get into the heart of the text, which really does do a good job of showing the relationship between Bossert and Disney.  Additionally, for a book that is very picture focused and with a Disney label some of the pictures are fuzzy.  The picture of Disney on page 38 is especially fuzzy and I have seen independent publishers do better.  It was really not what I expected from a Disney Editions book.  

The good is really the discussion of Bossert's relationship with Disney.  Disney mentored Bossert.  So it is an account of one man's relationship with Disney for the majority of the book and not a historical biography.  The many stories of Disney's genorcity towards others including Bossert really makes one understand what kind of man Disney was.  And since Bossert often worked close with Roy E. Disney, one feels like you are getting an insider's view of Disney.  You feel like you were included in Disney's inner circle.  Bossert clearly admired Roy E. Disney and based on Bossert's accounts you can understand why.  Bossert really paints Disney as a regular down to earth guy who liked Costco hot dogs (one begins to wonder if his father and uncle's culianry choices rubbed off).

A storied life is a theme explored in the book.  Bossert shows Disney at work and discusses how he contributed to the production of animated features early in the Eisner era.  Bossert witnesses and recounts Disney rolling up his sleeves and working arm-in-arm with the story staff, pitching ideas and providing valuable and frank feedback.  As I think about the Marty Sklar comments that Disney was never in story meetings, it becomes clear that Disney was at least for a part of his Disney career.  A good example is Lilo & Stitch, where Disney's feedback saw a reworking of the story.  In the tradition of story, Roy followed his uncle more than his father in this aspect.

Remembering Roy E. Disney brings the reader close to the life of Roy E. Disney.  Author David A. Bossert worked closely with Disney and grew to admire him in these interactions.  As a reader it is hard to not get caught up in the feeling of respect that falls from these pages.