The Disneyland Story

It's been quite awhile since I've picked up a vintage book. When I saw this one on eBay it became a "must-have".

"The Disneyland Story" (1980; paperback; 24 pgs) was most likely a publication given to new hires at Disneyland. It covers most of the basics that you would expect to see in a company publication (What is Disneyland? Behind The Scenes, The First 25 Years, etc.) and contains a large amount of color and black and white photos. Nothing too earth-shattering in the photo selection. It's all stuff we've seen before.

But, tucked in the back of the book is a section on Facts and Figures. Total Disneyland payroll in 1979: $66 million; Total Disneyland Employment in 1979: 7609. Compare that to 1280 people in 1955.  This type of data is pretty much buried by the Disney Company now.

Quick Trip and Castle PCs

I made a very quick trip to the Disneyland Resort to check out Cars Land. It was very hot and very crowded but that didn't slow down my enthusiasm for exploring all the new attractions. Cars Land totally lives up the the hype. It's extremely well done.

I also zipped across the Esplande to grab the new postcard collection available in the Disney Gallery which now has a display on the Art of Disney Castles. The tin contains 10 postcards, but only two different images. Kind of a rip.

Uncle Scrooge Only a Poor Old Man

Fantagraphics is continuing their release of Carl Barks comics. I recently picked up "Uncle Scrooge: Only a Poor Old Man" (hardback; 240 pgs). As a kid, I collected Walt Disney Comics, but I didn't exactly treat them with care. I read them and reread them; drew on the covers, and tossed them around. I still have all my old comics, but it's really nice to be able to read them again in a bright and shiny republished version.

Bunch O' Books

I love it when a whole bunch of Disney books come out at the same time. It's like Christmas in July! I picked up three new books in the last week.

"The Disneyland Encyclopedia: The Unofficial, Unauthorized, and Unprecedented History of Every Land, Attraction, Restaurant, Shop, and Major Event in the Original Magic Kingdom. Updated Second Edition" (paperback; 540 pgs). I'm a sucker for reference books, so picking up the second edition was a no brainer.

"Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: High Noon at Inferno Gulch Vol 3 (hardback: 280 pgs). This is the third volume of reprints of the daily comic strips. Volume four is scheduled for release in October. I really hope this series keeps going and going...

And, finally "Disney Trivia from the Vault" by Disney Archive Legend Dave Smith (paperback: 272). The trivia questions in this book have been culled from various Disney publications throughout the years. Quite often the questions border on just being lame, but every now and then, a gem gets asked.