The Disney Book


Jim Fanning - 2015
    This classic DK-style book is packed with stunning visuals including concept art, original story sketches, merchandise, a range of movie posters, and collectibles.Explore rarely seen treasures including props, art, early merchandise, and more from Disney's extensive archives and celebrate more than 90 years of Disney storytelling and entertainment with The Disney Book.© 2015 Disney

The Walt Disney World That Never Was: Stories Behind the Amazing Imagineering Dreams That Never Came True


Christopher E. Smith - 2016
    Want to join them? This is your guidebook to the theme park that Disney never built.In this unique, extensively researched book, Christopher Smith discusses the many attractions, shows, and resorts that were planned for Walt Disney World, from opening day to the present day, but that exist only in the minds of Imagineers.You'll find old "favorites" such as Thunder Mesa and Beastly Kingdom, as well as those lost to the pixie dust of time, like Dick Tracy's Crime Stoppers, the Enchanted Snow Palace, and Buffalo Junction. Smith looks at the politics and internal struggles behind the decision to shelve each concept, and imagines what guests might have experienced.Every park at Walt Disney World—Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios—has its hidden cache of "lost" attractions. They're all here, along with the many resort hotels that Disney intended to build, but didn't.Put aside those guidebooks of the Walt Disney World that is, and come to a vacation kingdom that you can visit only if you find the second star to the right and then keep straight on till morning.

101 Things You Never Knew about Disneyland


Kevin Yee - 2005
    Perhaps you've heard that Walt Disney kept an apartment on Main Street? Or that there is a secret, members-only club in New Orleans Square? It's all true... but these are only two of the interesting facts pointed out in "101 Things You Never Knew About Disneyland." Many of the stories here deal with more obscure, yet equally interesting, histories of Disneyland. In fact, the majority of the material comes straight from interviews with the Imagineers who helped to build, maintain, and revitalize Disneyland. The book pays special attention to the inside jokes and hidden references to Disneyland's past, as these samples illustrate: Do you know which play on words pays tribute to a former Mexican restaurant at a certain site? Do you know how Tarzan's Treehouse honors its predecessor in two different ways? Do you know what is so unusual about the decorations atop "It's a Small World"? Do you know why one palm tree in Adventureland is special? Do you know what the sign says at the bottom of Splash Mountain's big drop? Do you know which pumpkin is an homage to a Disneyland official? It's a certainty that you haven't heard all these stories before. Although there are 101 such highlighted stories, each comes with a fuller description and is followed by a second story that is thematically related, so this volume really offers 202 Things you haven't heard about Disneyland before. You will find these facts delightful and unforgettable once you've heard them!

Designing Disney


John Hench - 2003
    His principles of theme park design, character design, and use of color made him a legendary figure, not only for Disney fans but also for students and aficionados of architecture, engineering, and design.Designing Disney reveals the magic behind John's great discoveries and documents his groundbreaking in several key areas: "Design Philosophy" examines the values, attitudes, aesthetics, and logic that went into the original concepts for Disney theme parks. In "The Art of the Show" and "The Art of Color," Hench reveals the essence of what makes the parks work so well. And in "The Art of Character," he lets the reader in on the how and why of the Disney characters' inherent popularity-their timeless human traits, archetypal shape and gestures that suggest these qualities graphically, and their emotional resonance in our lives.

The Thinking Fan's Guide to Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom 2020


Aaron Wallace - 2011
    Wallace provides a lighthearted but scholarly look at each attraction in the Magic Kingdom’s Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, and Main Street, U.S.A., including the parades and fireworks show. Far from being mere “amusements,” these attractions provide a complex, multi-layered narrative that can be experienced and appreciated just like a great novel, play, or film. The book will fascinate Disney buffs with the surprising insights into old favorites while offering newcomers to the Disney magic a much richer experience during their first Disney days. This updated third edition, new for 2020, adds coverage of The Muppets Present... Great Moments in American History, the new Happily Ever After fireworks, and the Trump-era Hall of Presidents. Additionally, Wallace has written brand-new entries for Pirates of the Caribbean and Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, diving much deeper than the previous editions did. Other expanded and revised entries include: Jungle Cruise, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, and Cinderella Castle. The book has been updated from front to back to reflect the very latest at Walt Disney World. The 2020 edition also sports gorgeous new cover art and an all-new layout.

Non Campus Mentis: World History According to College Students


Anders Henriksson - 2001
    Mangled Moments of Western Civilization from Term Papers & Blue Book Exams Did You Know:Cesar was assassinated on the Yikes of March when he is reported to have said, "Me too, Brutus!"Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Truman were known as the "Big Three"Rasputin was a pheasant by birthJudyism had one big God named YahooWestward expansion ended at Custard's Last StandMarie Curie won the Noel Prize for inventing the radiatorThe Civil Rights movement turned the corner with Martin Luther Junior's famous "If I Had a Hammer" speech

Walt Disney's EPCOT Center: Creating the New World of Tomorrow


Richard R. Beard - 1982
    Offers a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of EPCOT, a showcase of urban planning, technological developments, and world cultures

Poster Art of the Disney Parks


Daniel Handke - 2012
    All of the telltale signs are there: the sound of joyful music pipes across the promenade; the smells of popcorn and cookies waft through the air; and the colorful attraction posters depict all the wonderful rides and shows created for Guests by the Imagineers. Poster Art of the Disney Parks is a tribute to those posters, which begin telling the story of each attraction even before Guests have entered the queue area. Disney attraction posters have been an important means of communication since Disneyland began displaying them in 1956. Not only are they eye-catching pieces of artwork that adorn the Parks with flair and style, they are also displayed to build excitement and disseminate information about the newest additions to the Disney landscape. When the first attraction posters made their debut at Disneyland, one such piece of art proclaimed that Guests could have a “true-life adventure” on the Jungle Cruise. And in 2012 at Disney California Adventure, a poster announced the grand opening of Cars Land—the newest thrill-filled destination at the Disneyland Resort. Both of those posters are reproduced within this book, along with posters from every decade in between. As evidenced by the evolution of the attraction posters, art styles and design techniques have certainly changed over the years. These characteristics also differ from continent to continent. Posters from Tokyo Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris exhibit the nuances in presentation that give each Park’s pantheon of posters its signature look. But while artistic interpretations and color palettes may vary from Park to Park and from year to year, the spirit of Disney storytelling is a constant that ties them all together.

The Unauthorized Story of Walt Disney's Haunted Mansion


Jeff Baham - 2010
    Packed with photos, Baham's book contains everything there is to know about the Mansion, with never-before-told stories and comprehensive coverage of the Haunted Mansion's colorful past and its chilling presence at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and other Disney theme parks.The Machine in the GhostsBeginning with the Haunted Mansion's original (but never realized) incarnation as "Bloodmere Manor", Baham pulls back the shroud on the clever effects that haunt the Mansion, including Ken Anderson's plan for a cyclorama-enhanced Headless Horseman, Yale Gracey and Rolly Crump's creative wizardry and "happy accidents", Bob Gurr's Doom Buggies, the technology behind Madame Leota's crystal ball, and the controlled chaos of the Ballroom Scene.You'll learn why X. Atencio's idea for a raven narrator was ditched in favor of the now infamous Ghost Host, whether a screaming man caught in a spider web once dwelt in the Mansion, and how technology exorcised the Hatbox Ghost.Only Ghost Stories, of CourseThere's more to the Mansion than mere mechanics. More than perhaps any other Disney attraction, the Haunted Mansion is powered by story: the scenes and spirits you witness from your Doom Buggy all play roles in the overall narrative of the Mansion, and if you don't know the story, you'll miss out on a lot of the fun, and a few of the scares, too.Baham clues you in about such things as why the Mansion is there, who built it, how it became haunted, and the dastardly deeds done by some of its residents in their corruptible, mortal states.A Taste of What's InsideFrom the comfort of your Doom Buggy you'll read: How Walt's boyhood experience with the haunted Sauer Castle may have inspired Disneyland's Haunted Mansion Insider accounts of the creative clashes between Disney Imagineers over whether the Mansion's haunts should be humorous or horrific An analysis of the ride, scene by scene, with insight into how the effects work, delightfully eerie trivia, and anecdotes from Mansion Imagineers and Cast Members The stories behind some of the Mansion's many denizens, including the Hatbox Ghost, the Knight, the Sea Captain, the Raven, the unhappy couple Constance and George, and the Ghost Host himself Extensive, exclusive commentary by Mansion designer Rolly Crump A summary of the most notable Mansion collectibles released by Disney over the years There's always room for one more, and this time you're it: come experience the Haunted Mansion with the "lights on" and learn its ghostly history, its sinister secrets, and why this Disney attraction continues to happily haunt fans young and old.Cory Doctorow [BoingBoing.net]: Baham is one of the most trusted, established experts on the Haunted Mansion, a trufan’s trufan.Guillermo del Toro [Award-winning film director, co-creator The Strain]: Having delved into Disney lore for decades and having been immersed in the Haunted Mansion world since age 3, I thought I knew pretty much everything there is about my favorite Disneyland ride ever. I was wrong. Prepare to be enchanted, bewildered and mesmerized by this beat-by-beat account of the Haunted Mansion’s creation. A haunted tour that is both scholarly and thrilling. An “E” ticket ride to the darkest, most glorious regions of Disney’s imagination!

The Disneyland Story: The Unofficial Guide to the Evolution of Walt Disney's Dream


Sam Gennawey - 2013
    Despite his successors' battles with the whims of history and their own doubts and egos, Walt’s vision maintained momentum, thrived, and taught future generations how to do it Walt Disney's way.

The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel


Joshua Piven - 2001
    Learn what to do when the tarantula crawls up your leg, the riptide pulls you out to sea, the sandstorms headed your way, or your camel just wont stop. Find out how to pass a bribe, remove leeches, climb out of a well, survive a fall onto subway tracks, catch a fish without a rod, and preserve a severed limb. Hands-on, step-by-step instructions show you how to survive these and dozens of other adventures. An appendix of travel tips, useful phrases, and gestures to avoid will also ensure your safe return. Because you just never know...

Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination


Neal Gabler - 2006
    We see the visionary, whose desire for escape honed an innate sense of what people wanted to see on the screen and, when combined with iron determination and obsessive perfectionism, led him to the reinvention of animation. It was Disney, first with Mickey Mouse and then with his feature films - most notably Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi - who transformed animation from a novelty based on movement to an art form that presented an illusion of life.We see him reimagine the amusement park with Disneyland, prompting critics to coin the word Disneyfication to describe the process by which reality can be modified to fit one's personal desires. At the same time, he provided a new way to connect with American history through his live-action films and purveyed a view of the country so coherent that even today one can speak meaningfully of "Walt Disney's America." We see how the True-Life Adventure nature documentaries he produced helped create the environmental movement by sensitizing the general public to issues of conservation. And we see how he reshaped the entertainment industry by building a synergistic empire that combined film, television, theme parks, music, book publishing, and merchandise in a way that was unprecedented and was later widely imitated.Gabler also reveals a wounded, lonely, and often disappointed man, who, despite worldwide success, was plagued with financial problems much of his life, suffered a nervous breakdown, and at times retreated into pitiable seclusion in his workshop making model trains. Gabler explores accusations that Disney was a red-baiter, an anti-Semite, an embittered alcoholic. But whatever the characterizations of Disney's personal life, he appealed to the nation by demonstrating the power of wish fulfillment and the triumph of the American imagination. Walt Disney showed how one could impose one's will on the world.This is a masterly biography, a revelation of both the work and the man - of both the remarkable accomplishment and the hidden life.

The Art of the Disney Princess


Glen Keane - 2009
    Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Jasmine, Snow White, and Cinderella are newly incarnated in water color, pastel, oil paint, colored pencil, mixed media, and computer graphics pieces that range from the traditional to the unconventional. This artwork has been created especially for this museum-quality book, which is sure to delight art lovers, Disney collectors, and any prince or princess who ever believed that fairytales do come true.

Stuff You Should Know: An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things


Josh Clark - 2020
    They've since amassed a rabid fan base, making "Stuff You Should Know" one of the most popular podcasts in the world. Armed with their inquisitive natures and a passion for sharing, they uncover the weird, fascinating, delightful, or unexpected elements of a wide variety of topics.The pair have now taken their near-boundless "whys" and "hows" from your earbuds to the pages of a book for the first time—featuring a completely new array of subjects that they’ve long wondered about and wanted to explore. Each chapter is further embellished with snappy visual material to allow for rabbit-hole tangents and digressions—including charts, illustrations, sidebars, and footnotes. Follow along as the two dig into the underlying stories of everything from the origin of Murphy beds, to the history of facial hair, to the psychology of being lost.Have you ever wondered about the world around you, and wished to see the magic in everyday things? Come get curious with Stuff You Should Know. With Josh and Chuck as your guide, there’s something interesting about everything (…except maybe jackhammers).

DisneyWar


James B. Stewart - 2005
    So when Roy Disney, chairman of Walt Disney Animation and nephew of founder Walt Disney, abruptly resigned in November 2003 and declared war on chairman and chief executive Michael Eisner, he sent shock waves through the entertainment industry, corporate boardrooms, theme parks, and living rooms around the world—everywhere Disney does business and its products are cherished.Drawing on unprecedented access to both Eisner and Roy Disney, current and former Disney executives and board members, as well as thousands of pages of never-before-seen letters, memos, transcripts, and other documents, James B. Stewart gets to the bottom of mysteries that have enveloped Disney for years: What really caused the rupture with studio chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, a man who once regarded Eisner as a father but who became his fiercest rival? How could Eisner have so misjudged Michael Ovitz, a man who was not only “the most powerful man in Hollywood” but also his friend, whom he appointed as Disney president and immediately wanted to fire? What caused the break between Eisner and Pixar chairman Steve Jobs, and why did Pixar abruptly abandon its partnership with Disney? Why did Eisner so mistrust Roy Disney that he assigned Disney company executives to spy on him? How did Eisner control the Disney board for so long, and what really happened in the fateful board meeting in September 2004, when Eisner played his last cards?DisneyWar is an enthralling tale of one of America’s most powerful media and entertainment companies, the people who control it, and those trying to overthrow them. It tells a story that—in its sudden twists, vivid, larger-than-life characters, and thrilling climax—might itself have been the subject of a Disney classic—except that it’s all true.