My Disney Library: Disney Years: Seen Through a Photographers Lens by Thie and Kilpatrick

Disney Years: Seen Through a Photographer's Lens by Carlene Thie and Mel Kilpatrick. 2002.

This book is a collection of black and white photographs taken by Mel Kilpatrick during the first few years of Disneyland. There are 60 photos that he took while he worked for a local newspaper. The photos are beautiful, but there's nothing monumental. If you love Disneyland, especially the first few years, then you'll love the high-resolution photos.

My Disney Library: Disney Queue Line Survival Guidebook by Kimberly Button

The Disney Queue Line Survival Guidebook by Kimberly Button was released in 2006 and was one of the first titles to address the issue of waiting in the queue. The book offers a short description of the attraction and the estimated time of the ride. The majority of the book is dedicated to trivia questions and scavenger hunts to use during the queue.

My only gripe about the book is that she uses the word queue and line together. Seeing as how the book is almost ten years old, there's no reason to purchase a copy since it hasn't been updated. Unless you're a completist, like me.

That's Not at Disneyland by Dominick Cancilla as ruined by Horatio Q Liar

That's Not at Disneyland by Dominick Cancilla (as ruined by Horatio Q. Liar)

We just got our review copies and I'm really excited about diving into this book. Basically, Horatio Liar took Dominic's scrapbook of his various trips from Disneyland and messed them up a bit.

We reviewed Horatio's book 396 Pure, Unadulterated, Dyed-in-the-Wool, 100% Made-up, Completely Fake Disneyland "Facts" during our Season One Finale of Communicore Weekly (the Greatest Online Show™).

My Disney Library: Disney Creative Arts

This is an interesting book that's related to a program for 10-15 year-olds that Walt Disney World Seminar Productions featured in the late 1970s and early 1980s called the Wonders of Walt Disney World. It was sort of like a day program that kids could participate in that took up several full days. Basically, the kids looked at how art was featured in Walt Disney World.

Disney Creative Arts is a large book that takes you through the creative process--at Disney and throughout the art world--in order to show you how art is everywhere and how you can create art. It was published in 1979 with a reprint in 1984. It's 104 pages.

It's a neat book but the real reason to own it is because there are some pretty cool photos of Walt Disney World that I haven't seen in other places.

Did you ever get to experience the Wonders of Walt Disney World?

My Disney Library: Designing Disney's Theme Parks by Karal Ann Marling

Designing Disney's Theme Parks: The Architecture of Reassurance edited by Karal Ann Marling was released in 1998 and is comprised of seven long-form essays about Disney parks. It's a great read and offers a lot of insight into Disney theme parks and their design.

My Disney Library: Designing Disney by John Hench

Designing Disney: Imagineering and the Art of the Show by John Hench has seen two releases. The purple one (referred to as Hench Purple) was 2003 and the orange version was released four years after his death in 2008.

The purple cover is classic Hench and shows how much power he wielded at Disney. Even in 2003, it wasn't a modern cover and felt dated. After his passing, Disney re-designed the cover to make it more modern, especially with regards to color. There's not much difference between the two editions, text-wise.

When I am asked, "What is your greatest achievement?" I answer, "Disneyland is our greatest achievement. Disneyland was first and set the pattern for others to follow." Disneyland has been an example for many enterprises in the entertainment industry, and its design principles have been embraced by other industries as well. The concept of "themed" environments--places designed so that every element contributes to telling a story--was developed and popularized by Walt Disney. Its influence has been extraordinarily widespread, and can be seen today in many aspects of our daily experience--in shops and shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, museums, airports, offices, even people's homes. --John Hench, p. 1.

My Disney Library: Design: Just for Fun by Bob Gurr

Design: Just for Fun is an amazing retrospective of Bob Gurr's career. It's sort of like Bob  is sharing his own scrapbook with you.

Sadly, like a lot of other Disney-related titles, Design: Just for Fun has skyrocketed in value. But it is an amazing book.

You can read our review, here.

My Disney Library: Dark Side of Disney by Leonard Kinsey

The Dark Side of Disney by Leonard Kinsey completely revolutionized the Disney travel guide. The book also launched one of the most successful Disney-related publishing houses known for high quality and smart publishing.

Check out my review of the first edition of the book, here.

Summer of Yesterday by Gaby Triana

I received a review copy of Summer of Yesterday by Gaby Triana (thanks for the heads up, This Happy Place Blog).

So, why am I reviewing a teen summer romance book?

Glad you asked.

Fort Wilderness and time travel.

Need I say more? I'm only a few chapters into it and it's a good read, so far.

From the blurb:

Thanks to a stupid seizure she had a few months earlier, Haley’s stuck going on vacation with her dad and his new family to Disney’s Fort Wilderness instead of enjoying the last session of summer camp back home with her friends. Fort Wilderness holds lots of childhood memories for her father, but surely nothing for Haley. But then a new seizure triggers something she’s never before experienced—time travel—and she ends up in River Country, the campground’s long-abandoned water park, during its heyday. 

The year? 1982. 

And there—with its amusing fashion, “oldies” music, and primitive technology—she runs into familiar faces: teenage Dad and Mom before they’d even met. Somehow, Haley must find her way back to the twenty-first century before her present-day parents anguish over her disappearance, a difficult feat now that she’s met Jason, one of the park’s summer residents and employees, who takes the strangely dressed stowaway under his wing.

Seizures aside, Haley’s used to controlling her life, and she has no idea how to deal with this dilemma. How can she be falling for a boy whose future she can’t share?

The full review will be coming to Mice Chat and Communicore Weekly (the Greatest Online Show™).

Happy Birthday Disneyland!

A great way to celebrate Disneyland's birthday is to read the wonderful Disneylanders by Kate Abbott.

Jeff and I reviewed the book at Mice Chat and we both loved it. It's a book about a young girl whose life is changing right in the middle of her annual family vacation to Disneyland.

From the review:

One of the nice things about Kate’s style with Disneylanders is that the scenes, like Disneyland, enfold you. You can see (and smell) Disneyland in this book.

Grab your copy today. I guarantee that you're going to love it.

Disney Book Giveaway! Imagineering Field Guide to Disney California Adventure!

Win a copy of the Imagineering Field Guide to Disney California Adventure at Disneyland Resort.

You can get 5 points by heading over to Mice Chat and leaving a comment on the review that we did.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Art of the Wind Rises by Hayao Miyazaki

If you're a fan of Hayao Miyazaki and films by Studio Ghibli, then you'll be very interested in picking up The Art of the Wind Rises.

The film saw limited release in the United States and dues to the timing, there wasn't a lot of attention heaped onto the film. The film is gorgeous and I urge you to seek it out when it's released on Blu-ray. The book is a great addition to your library and if full of pre-production art and text about the creation of the film.

• Check out my review of The Wind Rises at Mice Chat.
• Check out the review of My Neighbor Totoro and Howl's Moving Castle from Jeff and me at Mice Chat.

Films from Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki are particularly stunning and true modern masterpieces. Disney owned the United States theatrical and home video release rights and spent a lot of time, money and effort to provide an amazing English translation and overdub work. My Neighbor Totoro, Spirited Away and Ponyo are usually regarded as the most spectacular, although you can't go wrong with any of the other Blu-ray and DVD releases that Disney had a hand in.

The Art of Disney Frozen by Charles Solomon

I just finished The Art of Frozen (Chronicle Books) by Charles Solomon. It truly was a gorgeous book that shed a lot of light onto the creation of Disney Frozen. If you're a fan of the film, then you need to pick up a copy of the book. A full review is coming to Communicore Weekly and Mice Chat.

Other books by Charles Solomon:

• Enchanted Drawings, The History of Animation by Charles Solomon
• The Art of Toy Story 3 by Charles Solomon
• Tale as Old as Time: The Art and Making of Beauty and the Beauty by Charles Solomon
• The Disney That Never Was: The Stories and Art of Five Decades of Unproduced Animation by Charles Solomon

Inside the Whimsy Works by Jimmy Johnson

I pre-ordered a copy of Inside the Whimsy Works: My Life with Walt Disney Productions by Jimmy Johnson (Edited by Greg Ehrbar and Didier Ghez).

A full review will be coming soon to Communicore Weekly (the Greatest Online Show™) and the Disney Review at Mice Chat.

I'm a huge fan of Mouse Tracks (by Tim Hollis and Ehrbar)  and the Walt's People series (by Didier) but I wasn't sure what to expect from Jimmy Johnson's biography.

The book is based on the diaries that Jimmy kept and gave to the Disney Archives. Greg and Didier did a bit of editing magic on it and present this amazing Disney resource to us. Jimmy had a pretty amazing career and, at times, seemed to be in the right place at the right time. He really pushed the music publishing for Disney and was instrumental in helping to shape the company.

What truly is spectacular about Inside the Whimsy Works is that you get a really good sense for what it was like to work at the Disney Studios, but not in animation. Most of the memoirs that we see deal with animation; very few step outside and look at other areas of the company. We're fortunate that Jimmy's memoir has been released.

I definitely recommend this book as a purchase, even though I'm not more than two-thirds through it. Besides getting a great book about the history of the company, you're helping to support more independent Disney-related research and publishing!

Wonderful World of Customer Service at Disney by J. Jeff Kober

I received a review copy of J. Jeff Kober's book, The Wonderful World if Customer Service at Disney.

I've been reading Jeff's writing at Disney at Work for many years and enjoy his thoughtful articles on customer service inside and outside of Disney. Jeff also shares insightful articles on the business side of Disney with the unique perspective of a former employee with ties to the organization. I've really enjoyed his articles on My Magic+ and the MagicBands.

A full review will be coming soon for Communicore Weekly (the Greatest Online Show™) and The Disney Review at Mice Chat but I wanted to offer a mini-review in the meantime.

There have been many books written about customer service and Disney. In the mid- to late-1990s, Disney was often held up as the leader for customer service across most industries. Jeff offers a unique perspective because he's no longer writing from inside the company but is applying his knowledge from his years with Disney and from his years teaching organizational practices in customer service.

You'll find a lot of the same information from other customer service books that focus on Disney, but Jeff is able to add many personal anecdotes that serve the lessons well. Especially since the anecdotes are all related to Disney theme parks, it's very easy to put yourself in Jeff's shoes and think about your own reactions. Jeff offers many common sense approaches to customer service at all levels in an organization. He also discusses ways to build customer service into your organization before you run into problems or issues.

The Wonderful World of Customer Service at Disney is a great choice for anyone responsible for leading customer service in their organization, no matter what their level. Front line employees and executives will be able to glean the basis for building or restructuring service at their organization.

Kevin Yee Walt Disney World Earbook 2013

Kevin Yee is one of my favorite independent authors and publishers. Walt Disney World Hidden History: Remnants of Former Attractions and Other Tributes is a perennial favorite and should be in every Disney library.

Since 2010, Kevin has been publishing The Unofficial Walt Disney World 'Earbook which looks at the Walt Disney World Resort month-by-month and catalogs the changes and additions.

The 2013 edition has just been released and it is well worth the purchase. A full review is coming soon to Mice Chat and Communicore Weekly.

• Jeff and I review of the 2012 'Earbook
• My review of the 2011 'Earbook
• My review of Walt Disney World Hidden History: Remnants of Former Attractions and Other Tributes

CG Story by Christopher Finch

I received a review copy of the CG Story: Computer Generated Animation and Special Effects by Christopher Finch a few months ago. Due to the backlog of reviews at Mice Chat and Communicore Weekly, this book has been waiting for some attention. A full review is coming soon.

Christopher Finch is well-known for penning the multitude of editions of the Art of Walt Disney, which is truly a definitive work on the career of Walt Disney.

I wondered how Finch would tackle such a huge part of modern film-making. He's been writing about films for years, so he's a natural choice to analyze and write a historical treatise on any aspect of film. It's extremely in-depth and Finch interviewed most of the key players over the past 30 years or so. There are plenty of photos and illustrations, including stills from various films and commercials.

As expected, Pixar is heavily covered, but Finch doesn't shirk a lot of the minor players, either. If I had any complaint about the book, it's that the coverage of television is very limited. Once we hit the 2000s, Finch does spend more time looking at the groundbreaking and award-winning titles.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. If you have an interest in computer animation, then it's a great addition to your collection.