Walt's People Volume 1

Walt's People Volume 1: Talking Disney With The Artists Who Knew Him by Didier Ghez. (2005, 272 pages.)

Didier Ghez runs two very important sites in the Disney online community: Disney History and the Ultimate Disney Books Network. Didier has been researching Disney animation since his teens and co-authored Disneyland Paris: From Sketch to Realitywith Alain Littaye.

The Walt's People seriesis five volumes with a sixth one on the way (as of this preview). Didier is the editor of the series and has put together some amazing interviews with Disney artists. In some cases, the interviewer is as well-known as the interviewee!

The compilation of interviews that Didier has collected makes this volume so very important to anyone researching Disney. The interviews are not just with animators, but artists that worked with Walt on Disneyland and went on to work on the Walt Disney World project. The stories, recollections and anecdotes are priceless and proffer a view of Walt that you can only get from talking to the people that worked directly with him.

The interviewees include:

• Rudolf Ising
• David Hand
• Bill Tytla
• Ken Anderson
• Jack Hannah
• John Hench (two interviews)
• Marc Davis (two interviews)
• Milt Kahl
• Harper Goff
• Joyce Carlson

The interviewers are equally impressive: J.B. Kaufman, Michael Barrier, George Sherman, Paul F. Andersen, Jim Korkis, Alain Littay, Didier Ghez, John Province, Michael Lyons and Robin Allan.

In the forward, Didier puts forth some important thoughts about the interviews.

...it is important to always keep in mind that no statement from any interview should ever be considered as the absolute truth, as the interviewee might have misremembered the facts, may have seen only part of the project described, or may have his own personal reasons for representing reality in a certain way. Hence the further importance of the various perspectives provided throughout this series.

Didier's work is going to play an important role in the future of research into the Disney Company. Many of the artists were involved in classic Disney animation at a time when credit wasn't clearly given or assigned. It is a chance for the artists to speak for themselves and offer an insight into the Disney Company that we will not likely find elsewhere. You might pass up a book like this if you are a theme park junkie, but reading the stories from artists like Hench, Davis, Carlson and Anderson--that worked on Disneyland and Walt Disney World projects--are wonderful.

Bottom Line: It is hard to place a work like Walt's People in the overall Disney literature--it doesn't focus solely on animation or the theme parks. The interviews collected are amazing and offer insight into Disney, the Studios and the theme parks. The volumes are not for everyone, but the Disney historian, enthusiast and geek will take a lot away from Dider's work. It is a great place to get your Geek on and delve into what it was like to know and work with Walt Disney, Roy Disney and the talented people in the organization.

I can't wait to start the next volume in the series!

Book Review: Walt's People, vol. 2 by Didier Ghez

Walt's People - Volume 2: Talking Disney with the Artists who Knew Him, edited by Didier Ghez. 375 p., 2006.

Didier Ghez is an author, blogger and prolific Disney researcher. Didier runs the Disney History blog and Disney Books Network site. He is known for his exhaustive interviews that have been featured in various magazines. In addition to editing the Walt's People series, he is the co-author of the amazing book Disneyland Paris - From Sketch to Reality.

I reviewed Volume 1 here.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book. The sheer volume and scope of the interviews will provide fodder for Disney enthusiasts for many years to come. It is easy to look at a book of interviews and pass on it, but this is a title worth owning. You may not read it cover-to-cover (although, I did) but you will find yourself looking for interviews with specific artists--for the observations and anecdotes.

Contributing interviewer (and animation expert) Michael Barrier discusses the importance and the reliability of interviews:

[...] memories tend to be strong and reliable according to how useful they will be to us in the future. And what memories could be more useful to someone working at a studio like Walt Disney's than strong, clear memories of the boss?

Time and again, in interviewing people who worked for Walt Disney, I've been struck by how intently they observed him. They stored up memories, not so that they could tell their grandchildren what is was like to work for a genius, but so they could avoid having that genius slap them down the next time they showed him a storyboard or some rough animation. What they remember about their co-workers might be vague or demonstrably inaccurate, but their memories of Walt have a sharp, clear edge.
--p. 11.

The collected interviews are insightful and fun to read. You will find yourself checking Didier's online index to find specific interviews or subjects.

The interviewers and interviewees:

• JB Kaufman: Friz Freleng
• John Province : Grim Natwick
• Mike Barrier : Frank Tashlin
• Jim Korkis : Ward Kimball
• Mike Barrier : Ward Kimball
• Arn Saba : Floyd Gottfredson
• Robin Allan : Herb Ryman
• Christian Renaut : Frank Thomas
• Wes Sullivan : Dale Oliver
• Robin Allan : Eric Larson
• Thorkil Rasmussen : Eric Larson
• Thorkil Rasmussen : Woolie Reitherman
• Christian Renaut : Richard Rich
• Didier Ghez : Richard Rich
• Mike Lyons : Glen Keane
• Didier Ghez : Glen Keane

The list of artists interviewed is very impressive. The interviews were conducted in the 70s, 80s and 90s with artists from animation and the comics. The list of the interviewees reads like a Who's Who of animation and Disney research; true professionals and artists, in their own right.

Jim Korkis interviewed Ward Kimball in 1996. Korkis asked Kimball about Grizzly Flats and its influence on Walt:

He was planning Disneyland, some sort of attraction for people coming to Hollywood and who never had a chance to see things that would interest them. We had been going around to some of these amusement parks, and he was thinking of these small gauges you've seen. Running that locomotive in my backyard changed his mind. When he got to building Disneyland, the equipment would look full size. He sat in the cab and the whole works changed everything.
--p. 100.

There are little gems scattered throughout the book that offer insight into Walt and the studio. You can imagine what it was like to work on animated films and with the legendary Disney animators throughout every decade of the studio's history.

One caveat: the books are published through Xlibris with a very limited print run. Didier has mentioned that to make the earlier volumes available after they are sold out is cost prohibitive. In other words...get your copies as soon as you can!

Bottom Line: The Walt's People series is an incredibly valuable resource for Disney enthusiasts. The interviewers know their history and the questions asked are relevant and thoughtful. The book will be a welcome addition to your reference shelf and you will find yourself reaching for it for many years to come.

Disneyland Paris - From Sketch to Reality

Disneyland Paris - From Sketch to Reality by Alain Littaye and Didier Ghez. 320 pages. 2002. French and English versions available.

Alain Littaye and Didier Ghez are renowned for their books, blogs and research on the Disney Company. Alain runs Disney and More, a blog that focuses on concept art, theme parks and more! Didier runs The Disney History blog. You can find information about new books, rare photos and links to other great blog posts. Didier is also the author of the acclaimed Walt's People series.

I wish that every Disney theme park had a book like this written about it. The subtitle says it all: From Sketch to Reality. There are thousands of photographs, sketches, concept artwork and aerial photos--more than you can imagine.

If you ever run across a copy of this book--get it!

What makes this book so amazing is the access that the authors were able to procure. I asked Didier about the experience of writing and researching this book.

George: How did you get involved in the writing of Disneyland Paris – From Sketch to Reality?

Didier Ghez: I have been interested in Disney since I was a 7-year old kid and in Disney history since I was a teenager. I had interviewed quite a few Disney artists before I was 20 and had attended quite a few of Disneyland Paris’ press events from 1991 (1 year before the park opened) onwards, writing articles for US magazines like StoryboarD – The Art of Laughter or the NFFC magazine Fantasyline. I am French and had been born in Paris, so as a Disney enthusiast my interest in the park and in the artists who had designed and built it was a given.

In 1997 another Disney fan, Alain Littaye, contacted me to find out if I would be interested in working on a book about the creation of Disneyland Paris. It would be a large, heavily illustrated art book. Alain would do the design of the book, contribute. I would do the many of the photographs and potentially finance the whole project research and write the text. Needless to say I was interested.

It took us no less than 2 years to get the authorizations from Walt Disney Imagineering, Disneyland Paris and Disney Publishing to work on the book. By that time Alain had decided to create a publishing house especially to release the book (Nouveau Millenaire Editions). Getting the authorizations to meet the Imagineers was far from a simple process. At one stage, when we thought that everything was lost, we knew that the only thing that might help us would be for the CEO of Disneyland Paris to step in and push the project. Believe it or not, on a weekend when I was doing some shopping in Paris I came face to face with… the CEO of Disneyland Paris, who recognized me (I had met him only once before) and said he would help. Our lucky star was definitely helping.

Having gotten the authorization to write the book, I was able to travel to Glendale, California in 1999 to meet with the Imagineers. Since we had a limited budget, I could only stay for 10 days. I managed to interview no less than 70 of the artists who had worked on the park in those 10 days, often starting my interviews at 7.00 in the morning and finishing them over dinner at 10.00 in the evening.

The many-hour-long interviews with Eddie Sotto and Tony Baxter remain as the most memorable. The one with Eddie especially so, as the battery of my tape recorder was running out without my realizing it and it took some tremendous efforts to understand Eddie later on when I had to transcribe the tape. His voice was so sped up that you one would have been convinced that I had actually interviewed Chip or Dale.

The year 1999 and the beginning of the year 2000 were spent writing the text of the book over long weekends. It took 2 years for Disney to approve it. Thankfully we were helped by the late Bruce Gordon who guided the revision of the text to fit WDI’s exacting standards.

Believe me: to see the book released after 5 years of hard work was a relief.

The book weighs in at an eye-popping 320 pages. It is complete and utter eye candy with beautiful photographs on every page.

After a basic introduction to the development of the of the park, the authors jump right into Main St., USA and follow each land in succession. Each chapter follows a similar pattern: concept art, development ideas, execution, design and final results. The text is very engaging and supports the photographs; you learn more about the development of attractions and lands. Each of the major attractions (Pirates, Haunted Mansion, etc) is covered in amazing detail. The multitude of concept artwork, construction photos and rare interior shots will astound you.

The real star of the book is the photos. My favorites are the aerial pictures taken of the different lands. It is a rare treat to see a bird's-eye-view of a Disney theme park and this book offers multiple ones for every land. Seeing how the Imagineers layed out the attractions doesn't dispel the magic, but creates a sense of amazement at their talents. Disneyland Paris is the firth Magic Kingdom-style parks that the Imagineers developed, since they were previously known as W.E.D. According to many friends, authors and Disney enthusiasts, Disneyland Paris is the most beautiful of all of the Magic Kingdoms.

George: Are there still copies of the book available?

DG: Strangely the park does not seem to distribute the English version of the book anymore although we know they still have copies of it in their warehouse. Alain has also run out of copies. I do have a few left that I sell to anyone interested. They will probably run out soon.

George: Any other art books in the plans?

DG: Frankly not at this stage. The approval and financing processes were so complex on that book that I am unlikely to tackle another book of that sort within the next few years. Which might not be a bad thing as I need all the time and energy that I have currently available to edit and publish the Walt’s People book series.

George: Thanks Didier

Bottom Line: This is a must-have book--if you can find it. The images are positively breathtaking and marvel-inducing. It has quickly become one of my most cherished books. For many of us, this might be the closest we ever come to seeing a Disney theme park go from figment to reality. I wish that we could get a book like this for each of the Disney parks across the world.