Disneyland Guide Book 1956

I picked up the 1956 edition of the Complete Guide to Disneyland. In the first two years that Disneyland was open, this is the third, completely different format. The first edition featured concept art work as Disneyland was virtually under construction until opening day and there was no time to include actual photos. There was a second Guide Book, also published in 1955, but this one was basically a collection of photos that were already available as postcards.

With the 1956 Guide Book, Disney would lock-in to a format that they would keep for many years. The Guide Books in the early years weren't jammed packed with information. This edition only comes in at 26 pages. But, what is included are gems for Disney collectors. The Crane Bathroom of Tomorrow, The Flight Circle, and we also get concept art for Rainbow Caverns Mine Train, Tom Sawyer Island and Storybook Land (seen below).

A Pair From Mary Blair

During the 1990s, Disney produced a series of books using artwork from the archives from films that were never made. We got a look at Chanticleer and the Fox, The Steadfast Tin Soldier (which eventually made its way into Fantasia 2000), The Emperor's Nightingale and Jabberwocky.

Now, we get a twist on this idea. Disney has published a new series from familiar films, but using the artwork from a single artist. This time around we get the artistic stylings of Mary Blair. (Disneyland fans may know her as one of the leading designers on it's a small world, and really old Disneyland fans will remember the Mary Blair mural in Tomorrowland). These books are a treat to look at, especially Cinderella, as her vision was often quite different from the finished product.

Watercolor Postcards

During the 1960s, Hallmark produced a series of postcards for Disneyland. (Collectors refer to these as PDLs due to the serial number that appears in the stamp box.) In addition to a nice collection of standard views there was also four watercolor cards.

Above is the entrance to Adventureland. There was also a card depicting the entrance to Frontierland and a nice view of the Flower Carton Main St.

I'm still missing the watercolor card of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Alchemy of Animation

Don Hahn, Producer of Disney films such as Hunchback, Lion King and Beauty and the Beast has penned a book on the process of creating an animated film - The Alchemy of Animation.

The subtitle of the book is "Making an Animated Film in the Modern Era" so the focus is more of the current process rather than during Walt's time.  The book also explores the multiple types of animated films such as hand-drawn, computer generated, puppets/stop-motion and performance capture. Even though the focus is on the current creative process, the past isn't ignored and is often cited in examples.

And, animation fans will love the fact that it's jammed-packed full of color illustrations.

Disneyland Field Guide

Mrs. DisneyCollection got me the following birthday gift - The Imagineering Field Guide to Disneyland. 

Being a west-coaster, and an ardent Disneyland fan, I'm always annoyed when the Florida Parks get a series of books before we do. Both the Hidden Mickey series and the Field Guide series were first published for WDW before we got one.

Anyway, on to the book review. The Field Guides are actually written by the Imagineers. So, we're getting details, from what one would hope to be, the ultimate authority on theme parks. The book is broken into lands, and each land has details on the majority of attractions. For such a tiny book (it measures roughly 4"x 8") it is full of details. I have found myself saying multiple times, "I didn't know that".

My only complaint is that the pictures in the book are rather small. There's a fabulous painting of an early design for Indiana Jones in which the mammoth show building actually houses three attractions. When this picture is shrunk down to two inches, all of the hidden details are lost. But, the great text makes up for the itty-bitty pictures.

Spiral Bound Postcards

My first post of 2009. Happy New Year everyone!

I added a third spiral bound collection of postcards. Judging from the scenes included, I'd peg this as the second one in the series and published sometime between 1955 and 1959. These collections measured in at about 4" x 2.75" and contained 10 different scenes with the Hi-lites collection containing 12 scenes.

The first one (seen below) was actually copyrighted 1955. The third one (Hi-Lites) contains photos of both The Matterhorn and the Submarine Lagoon which would put this one sometime after 1959. All of the scenes depicted in these series can be found produced in standard postcards.