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So, how did you feel about the Walt Disney thing on PBS? Don’t hold back. Check out the comments from Fab News day before yesterday – people have been having a really great conversation with almost no personal attacks and very few logical fallacies. Lots of opinions, though, which are completely welcome! Love them, because they usually come from the heart when it comes to Walt.

Here’s Mine

Walt touches our hearts in a way no one else in the history of the human race can ever dream of doing. Perhaps that’s why we are so protective of his memory. We know that he was not the Uncle Walt that is trotted out for PR campaigns. He said so himself. “Walt Disney doesn’t smoke. I smoke. Walt Disney doesn’t drink. I drink.” (paraphrasing from memory here). I really, really like and admire some of the people who appeared in the project. A few, I feel the opposite about, and it seems like they were given free rein. I think that someone should make a documentary about the strike in itself. I would ask you to refer to the splendid Disney History Institute for their take on the program, because I pretty much agree with everything Todd Pierce says over there. Don Hahn, Tom Sito, Floyd Norman, Alice Davis, Bob Gurr, et al, they were all fantastic. But the show omitted so much, and it made Walt look different than he was. They could have told the complete, unvarnished truth and still have gotten their warts-and-all Walt. Instead, Sarah Colt relied on two unreliable sources: Neil Gabler and Ron Suskind, who seemed to be far more focused on projecting their fantasies about Walt on the screen, Suskind even hamming it up for the camera by pretending to BE Walt for a cringe-inducing segment. Suskind’s treatment of Walt especially feels like a betrayal to me because he very publicly credits Disney with being able to get through to his autistic son; Disney “gets through” to many autistic people, including me . Gabler has had to publicly apologize and retract false statements about Walt in the past; perhaps he thought that now that Diane Disney Miller isn’t around to call him on his shenanigans that he could get away with it. Watch it for the rarities and for the stories from the actual Disney historians and the people who knew and worked with Walt, but take the rest with a grain of salt, and hope that Leslie Iwerks gets a wild hair to make a Waltumentary someday. She’d do an amazing job of it. That’s the one I’m waiting for.

What To Draw Upon, Then?

Do you want to learn about what REALLY happened back in the day, in the studio? Sorry, you probably won’t be able to soak it all in during a four-hour television special, and Tom Sito is busy with his day job in charge of USC’s animation department. He tells the most balanced history of The Strike I’ve ever heard. No, you’ll have to pick up a book and read it. They’re heavy. They’re pricey. They smell good.

For Disney history, you can’t do much better than Didier Ghez. The “Walt’s People” series is made up of interviews and will be, as you’ll learn, more, from the people who actually knew and worked with Walt. No second-guessing, play-acting nor psychology. Just memories and experiences from those who were actually there. His newest book is They Drew As They Pleased  ($22 hardcover, Chronicle Books). This volume, the first of six, examines the work of concept artists Albert Hurter, Ferdinand Horvath, Bianca Majolie and Gustaf Tenggren. Majolie was the first woman hired in the story department – yes, in the 1930’s, Meryl.

There’s also an interesting story behind this book: Ghez got hold of animation historian John Canemaker’s notes from New York University. As he was going through them, he learned that one of the artists, Ferdinand Horvath, had left a series of diaries, but they had been sold to a dealer; Canemaker had never been able to find them. A friend helped him find the dealer, even though over 20 years had passed, and Ghez attempted contact, leaving a message on his answering machine. A week later, Ghez found himself speaking to the son of the original dealer, who was very much alive – and he still had the diaries! Soon thereafter, Ghez was the owner of not only the diaries, but also a stack of correspondence between Horvath and his wife…in Hungarian. And the diaries were in German. Fortunately, Didier has friends all over the world, and a few of them were kind enough to translate. The parts that didn’t make the book will be in Ghez’ Walt’s People series in the future. Even if you’re not a hardcore animation buff, this book is a treasure.

Oh, and Pixar’s Pete Docter (Inside/Out) wrote the Foreword!

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A Peek Into the Jungle

We got a peek at the upcoming Jungle Book movie (not to be confused with the upcoming Jungle Cruise movie) this week, and it looks really, really good. Even better, it’s going to sound really, really good, because my number one most very favorite composer in the universe, John Debney, is doing the music for it. Debney has the most solid Disney pedigree imaginable – his dad worked directly with Walt, and he’s done gorgeous work like Phantom Manor and SpectroMagic. And I think the movie’s going to be good too. Really curious about your thoughts on this one folks:

Oh My Kuzco!

On September 21, The El Capitan is doing a one night only special screening at 7PM of The Emperor’s New Groove. It’s part of Oh My Disney’s Throwback Week. (I’m still not completely sure exactly what Oh My Disney is, but I know that it’s fun and that I like it. So there’s that.)

Before the movie, Executive Producer Don Hahn will host a panel of filmmakers including Director Mark Dindal, Producer Randy Fullmer, and Sreenwriter David Reynolds! Plus come early for trivia, DIY’s, a costume contest, and more!”

They are also claiming that there will be spinach puffs there. I do not know whether or not they are joking, so I will be ready for spinach puffs, but I will not be disappointed if there are no spinach puffs.

Mark Your Calendars

Sunday, December 13, will be a day of celebration at Disneyland as we help Disney Legend Dick Van Dyke celebrate 90 years on the planet. Dress in your best Botany 500 jacket or chimney sweep style…more information to come!

, Fab News: Hit and Miss-tory
Eric Scales. Click for Instagram.

 Helping History

On October 3, the Disneyana Fan Club is honoring the late Jim Henson with its Legend award at Jim Henson Studios. His daughter Lisa Henson will be accepting the award on behalf of the family. Part of the event will be a silent auction benefiting The Walt Disney Birthplace, and they’re looking for donations. Muppet related items would be ideal, but any Disney item would be fantastic, too! I know that they would be grateful for anything that would help build the CECCI (The Center for Early Childhood Creativity and Innovation at The Walt Disney Birthplace). Email [email protected] or [email protected]

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Cousin Orville’s the Only One Left

Goodbye, Orville Redenbacher, hello, Pop Secret. Frankly, your microwave popcorn always tasted better to me, and I liked that the host of Mouseterpiece Theater was your spokesman. Says Diamond Foods:

“Diamond Foods also plans to advertise on Disney-owned channels like ABC Family and the Disney Channel. Retail promotions, on-pack sweepstakes and digital content creation are all ways in which Pop Secret popcorn expects to work with Disney.

“We have been looking for an alliance that is in-line with our core brand values and we couldn’t be more delighted to announce this relationship with Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort,” said Burke Raine, Vice President of Marketing, Snacks, at Diamond. “Pop Secret popcorn and Disney both have deep associations with movies and encourage lasting memories shaped by fun family activities.”

As part of the relationship, Disney will begin selling freshly popped Pop Secret popcorn at popcorn carts throughout Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort. The Pop Secret brand will also become the title sponsor of the nightly Fantasmic! Show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort and plans to sponsor movie nights held at many of Disney’s resort hotels.”

So, it’s going a lot deeper than just popcorn stands. It sounds like there will be a ton of fun, carb-laden activities. Is the new sponsorship why we’ve been getting more great Japanese-style popcorn buckets here? Look at this adorable little Flying Mouse! He gets here early October. (Dear Stephen Miller, I still want a Stitch whose jaw swings back for delicious Stitch-head popcorn).

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It’s been a week, hasn’t it? If you have any news to share, books you’ve written, popcorn buckets you’ve designed, or stories about Walt Disney that didn’t take place solely in your head, email me at [email protected] I’ll see you in the parks, at the movies, and in a few other places. Thanks for reading, thanks for commenting and thanks for the monetary support through one-time donations via Square or a monthly pledge via Patreon. If you want to support Fab News and all the other stuff we do, please click on the banners below.

 

Shelly Valladolid
Shelly Valladolid, aka Fab, has been writing about Disney and theme parks for about two decades. She has written for various fan and pop culture sites, Disney Magazine and OCRegister.com and participated in several books, including Passporter's Disneyland and Southern California and Disney World Dreams. She was co-founder and president of the Orlando, Florida chapter of the NFFC (now Disneyana Fan Club). She taught a class on theme park history at a Southern California University. She is creator and co-owner of Jim Hill Media, one of the creators of MousePlanet and was a consultant on MSNBC, The Motley Fool and others about Disney and various media matters. She was a Heel wrestling manager on TV and a voice artist on the radio in Honolulu, HI, where she grew up. She has a blog and a podcast with her daughter, Mission:Breakout Obsessive Alice Hill. She and her husband, MiceChat columnist Noe Valladolid, live in Southern California with Alice.