Between Books - International Journal of Disney Studies Volume 1 Issue 1

I have long been a supporter of academic research focusing on Disney history and culture. And I have wanted to see that movement spread, allowing interested parties to actively participate. That hope has become real with the International Journal of Disney Studies, as Disney has gone academic!

The opening essay of the volume, “Welcome to the International Journal of Disney Studies” by Robyn Muir and Rebecca Rowe outlines the goals of this new journal. The editorial board in 2022, came to the realization that the academic study of Disney related topics was growing, but there was no one home for the content being developed. This led to the creation of a new journal, the International Journal of Disney Studies which intends to provide an interdisciplinary approach to supporting and publishing Disney related research. The disciplines covered in the first issues include gender studies, history, architecture, politics with the journal itself being able to publish studies from any academic specialty with a Disney tone, opinion pieces and commentaries, book reviews, and other essays of interest to scholars. In this first volume, “Revisiting Disney’s The Living Desert: A documentary or a wildlife fable filmed in a mythical desert?” by Susan E. Swanberg and the “Making history at Disney Springs: Florida’s past as themed tourism” by F. Evan Nooe provides the feeling of a historical survey and topics that Disney fans may find in other publications like the Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual. But essays like “We’re not quite there yet…but we will be’: Identifying shifts in the Walt Disney Company’s LGBTQ+ representation” by Matt Weaver and “Conservatives watch cartoons: The Rise of Disney, the right and cultural criticism in the 1990s” by Alex Pinelli discuss societal trends and issues which are generally not found in the history and culture focused Disney fan press. Overall the studies, commentaries, and book reviews in this first volume eclipse a wide variety of topics, including ones that Disney fan projects may not typically consider, or consider with a level of scrutiny such as peer review that elevates the discussion and the impact of Disney content on society.

Currently, this journal is free online. The journal is bringing peer reviewed scholarship to academics and Disney fans at a low entry cost. Which, in a world where everything seems to cost more and more I believe is great. It's scholarship for everyone, which is great as it makes it easy for students and general readers to access the publication. Additionally, as one looks at the list of contributors and editors, this is truly an international effort. One that I hope to continue to support.

And as one goes down the academic Disney rabbit hole, one will discover this is part of DISNET, The Disney, Culture, and Society Research Network. Along with this new journal, the Network also sponsors academic conferences, supports book launches, fosters writing groups and mentoring, and many other professional academic efforts. It seems that Disney as a scholarly pursuit now has the foundation to claim a professional status.

I read my first article on a tablet. And I hated it! Formatting for me, including spacing and indents, was really off on my interface. For my second article, I jumped to a PDF format for reading and it was a much more friendly experience. The PDFs for me are the best read, and they are also really easy to download in that format.

International Journal of Disney Studies issue 1 provides a forum for academic studies, scholarly commentary and book reviews related to Disney content. The effort is academically driven with a large editorial board supported by scholars from around the globe. The essays found in this volume cover a large number of topics from the history of Disney Springs, to friendship in the Toy Story franchise, to gender representation, and so many more. Most of all, the collection provides a step forward to creating professional academic interdisciplinary studies of the Walt Disney Company and its affiliated topics.  

Between Books - Walt Disney & El Grupo in Latin America

I’m tired! I think Walt Disney may have been tired too!

Walt Disney & El Grupo in Latin America by Theodore Thomas, J.B. Kaufman, and Didier Ghez outlines Walt Disney’s trip to South America in 1941. The book covers the entirety of the nearly 3-month fall expedition, spreading American goodwill as a strategy to win over South American neighbors away from Nazi sympathy. Disney was asked by the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (CIAA) to use his global celebrity to strengthen Western hemisphere ties. The story is told heavily in images with the authors providing narration to the group’s daily doings. The volume does not focus on just Walt Disney but recognizes that El Grupo the 18 Walt Disney employees and family members on the journey, were at times separated into smaller traveling parties or even in the same cities separated to meet with numerous local industries or celebrities. Due to the highly visual nature of the text, it at times feels like a documentary and less than a book.

I’m tired, did I mention that? The goal of the authors is to provide a detailed account of the trip. The trio, therefore, doesn’t provide us a thesis to prove, in fact, the three have other works on El Grupo that have this as a goal. As a reader, you understand this is a very visual book seeking to provide a daily accounting. Hence, I’m tired. It feels like the group, especially Disney, rarely had a chance to rest during this fact-finding and goodwill-building adventure. Even in “downtime” artists like Mary and Lee Blair and Jack Ryman were sketching, painting, and refining ideas for potential future movies Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros. Or perhaps, Jack Cutting may visit a local studio to supervise a movie dubbing into Spanish. The book makes it clear that this group of 18 were constantly in motion. And while early in the trip, they may have spent in the reader's mind “weeks” in Rio, it becomes clear to the reader that on later stays the group seemed to only linger a day or two in a location before moving on again.

Design-wise, I was pulled into the book and it often felt like a visual experience and not a book. That is why I feel tired. This isn’t an era of perfect staged pictures. The spontaneous nature of many of the pictures helps one to feel the emotion and action, like a tired Lillian Disney asleep on a train car one can feel the stuffiness within. The closed eyes and the improperly directed glances remind us this is a different time before everyone had a camera and the time to coordinate numerous shots for the perfect social media image.

My only complaint with the design is some pages have maps on the layout that pictures and text sit upon. These maps have notations to locations on the page design. Sadly at times, I read these like image captions and not part of the page design which took me out of the journey for a bit.

Walt Disney & El Grupo in Latin America by Theodore Thomas, J.B. Kaufman, and Didier Ghez is a book for those who want to go deeper into Disney’s trip to South America in a highly visual way. For those who want to see Disney legends like the Blairs and Frank Thomas working, drawing, and immersing themselves into a culture this offering is for you. The authors help me to understand the kinetic and tiring nature of the trip, even without making this an overt goal. I wondered, can El Grupo just kick back and relax? An answer that seems like no as Frank Thomas was teaching himself Spanish even on the long-trip home.


Quick Note: While you can purchase this text on Amazon. I grabbed mine at Stuart Ng books where I was able to pick up an autographed copy. 

 

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Between Books – Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual 2023

New year, same review?


I feel like I restate the same thoughts whenever I read the latest Hyperion Historical Alliance annual.

Maybe it’s because I feel “excluded” and I don’t like that. I’d like to think I’m pretty serious when it comes to history.

The “2023 Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual” consists of five articles that span decades of Disney history from the early days of animation to the 1900’s in Disney parks. The five articles are:

• “Oswald the Laemmle Rabbit” by Tom Klein

• “Walt Disney and The Life of Hans Christian Anderson” by Didier Ghez

• “Woolie Reitherman Needs to Fly” A Disney Artist Goes to War” by Lucas O. Seastrom

• “1945-1946: Edgar Bergan and Disney’s Story Department” by Didier Ghez

• “Direct from the Islands: The Polynesian Magic of Pete Seanoa” by Nathan Eick

The articles are all written with an academic slant. And they have extensive footnotes with bibliographies showing source material. They definitely as a group are attempting to show the seriousness of Disney history.

For me, the most engaging topics were Oswald and Woolie Reitherman. Klein’s article demonstrated that the creation of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was not fully in the mind of Walt Disney. In many ways, Oswald was a corporate creation, which reminded me of the modern studio and network system where executives, producers, and writers all have claim to pieces of the character. Disney’s additions were critical, providing Oswald with much of his character development and growth. But Klein makes it clearer that the Lucky Rabbit was a corporate rabbit not a Disney one. We might even call Oswald work-for-hire. The Reitherman article dives deep into the artist’s non-animation career as a military and civilian pilot. The article helps remind us of how the Greatest Generation was often more than one thing and career, which should inspire us! But it is also a history that includes World War II, transportation over The Hump into China, and the growth of commercial air travel.

The “2023 Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual” to me has an audience, Disney fans who want serious historical research. They want their passion to be validated as a serious academic pursuit. I also think these fans, like me, would love to support the Hyperion Historical Alliance in their mission. In fact, my proof is the purchase, reading, and review of now four Annuals. I just think that they need to grow the mission. I am someone who has a master’s degree in history. I’d like to think I am taking my history seriously. I am also not currently mining archives for serious historical additions to the knowledge base. But I would like to support those that are doing so. As someone who’s been a member of the Society of Baseball Research, who has a model I think can be used here, I don’t get why this isn’t being democratized. I’ve also been a member of the Society for Military History and American Historical Association, founded in 1884 and very serious, which both have options for non-working historians.

The “2023 Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual” is a collection of five historical articles that span the varying topics in Disney history. Most Disney fans, like I did, will likely find a topic of interest and comparisons to trends today in media. Again, I wish they would open membership up to a more scalable and likely-lasting membership model.

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Between Books - 2021-2022 Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual

I blinked and somehow the third Hyperion Historical Alliance professional journal escaped my notice. And then I saw it on Amazon…at a price that is simply a steal.

The Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual 2021-2022 consists of 5 scholarly articles on different topics in Disney History. “Bianca Majolie In the Story Department” by Didier Ghez delves into Walt Disney classmate Majolie’s time and contributions to story. “Drawn to Disney: La Verne Harding and Fred Moore” by Tom Klein discusses the influence of Disney Legend Moore on animator Harding at a non-Disney studio. “Walt Kelly in the Story Department” by Ghez outlines the contributions of Kelly in story. “Walt Disney Left His (Post)Mark on the World” by Maggie Evenson narrates the history of Disney postage stamps. And “Presidents, the Nixon Tapes, and the Disney Parks” by Bethanee Bemis chronicles presidential visits in the United States parks.

Overall, the Annual is scholarly writing. They are essays that have been researched and documented just like one would expect to find in the Journal of Insert Discipline Here. And that is really the point as the Hyperion Historical Alliance attempts to frame the group as a scholarly endeavor. For me, the most impactful essay was by Klein. The entry helped to flesh out a portion of Moore’s life for me, his exile from the studio. But it was also a strong reminder that due to prejudices, the Disney studio was not all it was meant to be. Harding was a wonderfully talented animator. But as a female professional, she would not be able to enter Disney at the position she had earned. I believe I spent around $3 on this journal. And that essay was well worth the purchase to me.

Of course, my yearly grumble is the lack of democracy among the Hyperion Historical Alliance. They want to be a professional organization taken seriously. So they have done much to close membership and stay labeled as scholars. While other organizations like the Society of Baseball Research (SABR) have sought to crowdsource research and build a community. I honestly would be very willing to pay $30-$40 for a copy of the journal, an online community, meeting discounts, and maybe a webinar or two. I heard Ghez discuss a PowerPoint presentation given to members about project status. And I would have loved to see it discussed. So yeah, there’s my yearly plea to consider opening up membership at a supporter/ally level. Because we Disney fans have some power and we want more Disney history.  I see that Heritage Auctions supported the publication of this latest edition, and I think Disney history fans would support this effort also.  And I would remind everyone that SABR has done an excellent job promoting baseball scholarship to the point I have been associated with history departments that taught baseball history seminars.
 

 

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Between Books - The Making of Walt Disney's Fun and Fancy Free

 

As a fairly busy person, I have never to my remembrance watched Fun and Fancy Free.  Okay, that’s a little bit of a lie.  I remember segments of this 1947 package film as it was taken apart to provide television and school’s shorter segments, specifically Mickey and the Beanstalk.  But it is honestly a film that I do not know a lot about or have a deep experience with.  I mean I likely have an old copy picked up and maybe unwatched from my college years.  So I was excited that the Hyperion Historical Alliance’s first monograph was a blind spot in my Disney knowledge.    

The Making of Walt Disney’s Fun and Fancy Free by J.B. Kaufman is truly the definitive book on this Disney feature.   Kaufman starts his story in 1941 as Walt Disney sought new stories in the midst of global war to justify his expanding studio.  One of the potential stories that Disney tasked to his staff was the development of Sinclair Lewis’ “Bongo” a tale of a circus bear meeting wild bears in the wild.  A story with only three main characters; Bongo the circus bear, Silver Ear a wild female bear and Lump Jaw a male bully bear was going to take a lot of development to create an animated film.  Kaufman highlights the starts and stops in the story including changing development leads, changing studio priorities and story problems which stretched out the development of the film.  For examples, as story personnel changed so did characters, endings and even how Bongo found himself in the forest.  Next Kaufman transitions to Mickey and the Beanstalk, a story that Walt Disney had visited before.  As early as 1938, Disney had considered producing a version of “Jack and the Beanstalk” again as a Mickey Mouse feature which could help put the studio on stronger financial grounds.  This feature was stalled in the World War II studio activities and revived again in 1944, among the projects like “Bongo” that Disney hoped would bring his studio in to the post-war world.  And with the war ended in 1945 and Disney needing to put a feature in theaters, the decision was made to place Bongo and Mickey and the Beanstalk together for one theatrical released feature.  The new fun spirited Fun and Fancy Free was to provide a Disney a more economical feature which already had years of development behind it.  This new film would be promoted heavily with both musical numbers found in the film and with Mickey Mouse’s 20^th anniversary, a year early. After its initial release, the film would separated into smaller segments for further release in other avenues.

Kaufman’s work is solid, informative and entertaining. The Making of Walt Disney’s Fun and Fancy Free is full of images.  The book does not just tell you about the evolution of characters but shows you.  And along with concept art, Kaufman shows us the artists crafting the film’s development.  But my biggest concern about image heavy books is the narrative.  Here, Kaufman does not scrimp on his words giving a strongly researched historical narrative.  For such an image heavy book, the words provide equal value.  The Hyperion Historical Alliance has stated they wish to support image driven books which also have historically strong research.  This first volume definitely meets that goal!  And I as a reader look forward to seeing future volumes. 

In the age of Disney+, Fun and Fancy Free is available at anytime to me.  Though I think I may still have a VHS copy of it…but a streaming channel seems so much easier for searching and starting/stopping.  J.B. Kaufman has given me the excitement to watch it again for the second or third first time in a whole new historical light. 

 

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Between Books – 2020 Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual

 

As someone who has a history degree and been part of history associations, I have some pretty high standards for what content should be from these professional groups.  Then tie in Disney and the contributors who are participating in the Hyperion Historical Alliance, well a fairly high bar is set.  With the “2019Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual”, I found a concern or two.  Would the Alliance’s second annual correct the concerns I had?

In his introduction, Hyperion Historical Alliance President Didier Ghez notes that the first Annual appeared to really focus on production and artists.  And for this volume they attempted to provide a wider array of topics.  I am not sure that they fully hit with this stated goal as five of the six essays are really based on filmed productions and only one theme park based article.  However, I never really noticed the focus on production.  Instead I found myself caught up on an unintentional theme, Disney female pioneers.  Of the six articles, three have a focus on female contributions in Disney history and unearthed to me some unknown interesting Disney figures.  And Ghez’ article on Mickey Mouse productions also adds additional female contributions.  And on a whole I found these articles interesting and engaging. 

The “2020 Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual” consists of six articles.  The first two highlight the contributions of two female creators in the 1930s and 1940s giving an overview of the careers of Betty Smith-Totten and Grace Huntington.  Both articles make it clear these women were trailblazers in numerous areas of their lives and the impact of women at Disney.  “A Preview of Disney’s World” chronicles the Walt Disney World Preview Center, with a focus on staffing and the Center’s impact on promoting the future theme park.  “Wise Dwarfs and Thrifty Pigs” outlines the use of Disney animation to promote Canadian War Bonds during World War II, which really shows the innovative ways Disney reused animation for new purposes.  And finally, “Mickey’s Revivals” discusses the attempts to get Mickey back on the big screen from the 1970s to the recent past. 

One of my complaints of the earlier volume was adapted work that I had seen elsewhere and in multiple forms.  To me these articles were all fresh and new research.  The one that likely worked the least for me was the Mickey article, as it felt like it was the one which could have been written without special access to unpublished documents or interviews.  And it just reminded me that I wish the Hyperion Historical Alliance was less exclusive and a path for those who are interested in Disney history to have more active participation.

And I can guarantee, I will purchase next year’s annual especially after the quality of the articles in the 2020 edition.