Disney Dossiers: Files of Character from the Walt Disney Studios [Paperback]

Jeff Kurtti (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: P and up

“Direct” from the extensive files of The Walt Disney Archives inBurbank, California, as “collected” by Archives Director David R. Smith foryour research and enlightenment, here is a one-of-a-kind collection of Disneycharacter reference. In an entertainingand informative format, readers get an insider’s peek intothe careers of Disney’s best-loved animated characters, whether their roles arestarring or supporting. Disney Dossiersbrings together a fascinating collection of information, anecdotes, andillustrations, providing highlights from Disney productions past and presentfor all your “casting” needs. The format, though playful, will also be informativeand sophisticated, geared toward an adult audience with an ample base of Disneyknowledge. The book will be heavily illustrated and beautifully designed.

Jeff Kurtti is the author of more than a dozen books andscores of magazine articles, a writer-director of award-winning documentaries,and a respected public speaker, host, and panel moderator. He is currently theCreative Director of The Walt Disney Family Library (a project of The WaltDisney Family Foundation), and is considered one of the leading authorities onThe Walt Disney Company and its history. 

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Disney Editions (October 16, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423100557
• ISBN-13: 978-1423100553
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,029,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not quite as expected, January 9, 2007

By 

J. Kerr (Culver City, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Disney Dossiers: Files of Character from the Walt Disney Studios (Paperback)

This is where ones expectations can color ones opinion. Although a nicely done book, I thought there'd be more depth into what went into the creation of the character, more background, etc. Instead, this is more like a children's book written for the more adult fan.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nicely illustrated but lacking on info, September 26, 2008

By 

TVDVDFan (So. California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Disney Dossiers: Files of Character from the Walt Disney Studios (Paperback)

Fun book, but book does not live up to the wealth of information in The Encyclopedia of Walt Disney's Animated Characters (which is now out of print). I do like the inclusion of some of the disney posters and early rough sketches of the characters, but I would recommend the Encyclopedia version over this. Would be great to see some of the archival illustrated material from this book in the next edition of the Encyclopedia.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic-looking book marred by so many mistakes, August 25, 2009

By 

Kelly D. Shelley - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Disney Dossiers: Files of Character from the Walt Disney Studios (Paperback)

Disney Dossiers may look like a fantastic book. As given by the title, it presents nicely-designed profiles for the characters who starred in most (but not all) of Disney's animated features. Each of the characters are also fittingly grouped under different categories, such as "Standards" and "Almost Standards" for Mickey and the gang, "Unlikely Heroes" and "Royalty" profiling protagonists mostly from the movies that spawned the "Disney Princess" merchandise line, and "Villains" and "Extra-Evil Villains" for, well, the villains of these movies (though I think a more appropriate title for the latter category would be "Marketable Villains", because it profiles the villains who actually appear in the "Disney Villains" merchandising line).

So why did I give this two stars? Well, frankly, it seems to me that this book was written by someone who didn't do as much research as he should've done. If your favorite Disney character originated in the comic books or TV cartoons, you're out of luck, 'cause they're not profiled here. Of course, considering the way Disney's treating their TV animation division nowadays, that's to be expected (though maybe it would be better if they profiled the TV/comic characters in a second volume). And as I stated earlier, even some of the movies, such as "Robin Hood" and "The Black Cauldron", don't get their characters profiled here (though they are listed in the role call at the end of the book), so that makes it pretty surprising that the book does present profiles for characters from "The Great Mouse Detective" and (gasp!) "Song of the South". But frankly, I see no excuse as to why they left out Pete, Chip 'n Dale, and Uncle Scrooge.

But that's small potatoes compared to the real reason I gave this a low score - the errata. Almost every profile features a mistake of some sort, particularly if it's for a character who starred in a movie that spawned a direct-to-video sequel or a TV series. Among the mistakes I noticed:

* Donald Duck's filmography includes the "DuckTales" movie, which he was not even mentioned in.
* Aladdin's profile claims he has no parents. But wait - didn't "Aladdin and the King of Thieves" reveal that his father is alive?
* Kuzco's profile says he has no significant other. So does that mean Malina doesn't exist?
* Sebastian's filmography forgets to list the "Marsupilami" show (where he starred in his own 7-minute shorts).
* Timon's last name (Berkowitz) and Scar's real name (Taka) are not given.
* All the Tarzan characters' filmographies list the TV series as having the same title as the movie and coming out in 2003. It's actually The Legend of Tarzan, and it came out in 2001.
* Morty and Ferdie were not in "Gulliver Mickey" or "Mickey's House of Villains" like their filmography claims.
* Max's profiles states that he "bears some unknown relationship to the red-headed Goofy, Jr." Huh? I always thought they were the same person!
* Why does Cody's profile list Jake the Kangaroo Rat as his sidekick? They don't even meet till near the end of the movie!
* And some of the characters' voice actors are not listed - Cam Clarke for Simba, J.P. Manoux for Kuzco, Pamela Segall for Baloo, Corey Burton for Mad Hatter, April Winchell for Cruella DeVil, etc.

And as the title says, these are supposed to be the characters' official profiles. So why did the studio let the author make so many mistakes?! Yes, you could say that he decided to just ignore the sequels (with the obvious exception of "The Rescuers Down Under") and TV spin-offs other than listing them in the filmographies. But if that were true, that wouldn't explain why Timon's profile uses his backstory from "The Lion King 1½", or why Ursula's profile actually has a picture of her sister from "The Little Mermaid II" (and yet Ariel's profile doesn't mention poor Melody). Maybe it's a good thing Chip 'n Dale and Pete didn't get profiled here - the author probably would've disregarded the facts about them from "Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers" and "Goof Troop"!

Compare this to the fan-made profiles on the web page Disney's HooZoo, which also profiles characters created for the comics and TV shows. True, that site hasn't been updated since 2001, but at least for the characters it profiled, it remembered the details that this book did not. That's pretty sad when a fan can get more of the facts straight than the company itself can. So, sorry, Jeff Kurttii, but it's hard to recommend your book when even I know more about these characters.