Disney History from the Source

The Walt's People series is an oral history of all things Disney, as told by the artists, animators, designers, engineers, and executives who made it happen, from the 1920s through the present.

Walt’s People: Volume 14 features appearances by Carman Maxwell, Dick Lundy, Phil Klein, Zach Schwartz, Ray Patterson, Marge Champion, Joe Grant, Bob Jones, Bob Baker, Bill Justice, Irvin Graham, Lillian Disney, Carson Van Osten, Bruce Bushman, Bob Mattey, Chris Mueller Jr., Arthur J. Vitarelli, Alice Davis, Lucile Bosché, Admiral Joe Fowler, and Eddie Sotto, plus articles by Vincent Randle and David Culbert, and the Holling C. Holling letters.

Among the hundreds of stories in this volume:

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• MARGE CHAMPION remembers what it was like to dance and model as the live-action reference for Snow White.
• ALICE DAVIS reveals the trials and tribulations of designing clothes for the pirates – and the Redhead – in Pirates of the Caribbean.
• BOB MATTEY explains how he built the animals for the Jungle Cruise, and the many things that went wrong.
• ADMIRAL JOE FOWLER talks about facing down gunboats in 1920s China and buying up land for Walt in Florida.
• EDDIE SOTTO describes fascinating attractions never built, including piranha pits, a new Jungle Cruise based on Apocalypse Now, and an encounter with Maleficent in the Dragon’s Lair.

The entertaining, informative stories in every volume of Walt's People will please both Disney scholars and eager fans alike.

Disney History from the Source

The Walt's People series is an oral history of all things Disney, as told by the artists, animators, designers, engineers, and executives who made it happen, from the 1920s through the present.

Walt’s People: Volume 13 features appearances by Virginia Davis, Reg Massie, George Bakes, Milt Neil, Al Dempster, Joe Grant, Woolie Reitherman, Becky and Carla Fallberg, Jean Erwin, Jules Engel, Fred Kopietz, Donald Duckwall, George Sherman, Floyd Gottfredson, Richard Todd, Roy E. Disney, Norman "Stormy" Palmer, Paul Kenworthy, Hunt and Chris Hibler (about their father, Winston Hibler), Boyd Shaffer, Fess Parker, Dave Spafford, Bob Moore, Blaine Gibson, X Atencio, Don Iwerks, and Tony Baxter, plus articles by John Canemaker and Pete Docter.

Among the hundreds of stories in this volume:

• Pixar's PETE DOCTER, the Oscar-winning director of Up and Monsters, Inc., examines the forgotten career of John Sibley, Disney's "Tenth Old Man", whose animations still dazzle today.
• FESS PARKER relates how a bit part in the classic 1950s giant ant monster movie Them! netted him the role of Disney's Davy Crockett.
• DON IWERKS, son of Walt's first partner Ub Iwerks, chats with Michael Broggie, son of Walt's first Imagineer, Roger Broggie, about their respective careers following in the footsteps of their fathers.
• VIRGINIA DAVIS recalls her role as "Alice" in Walt Disney's Alice Comedies, a series of short films from the early 1920s that predated Mickey Mouse and were equally as important as Mickey in putting Walt on his path to success.

The entertaining, informative stories in every volume of Walt's People will please both Disney scholars and eager fans alike.

Disney History from the Source

The Walt's People series is an oral history of all things Disney, as told by the artists, animators, designers, engineers, and executives who made it happen, from the 1920s through the present.

Walt’s People: Volume 17 features appearances by Lorina Coomber Butler, Leigh Harline, Jim MacDonald, Woolie Reitherman, T. Hee, Jack Hannah, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, Ken Anderson, Dan Doonan, Jack Bruner, Art Stevens, Bill Anderson, Bob McCrea, General Joe Potter, Harper Goff, and Phil Mendez, plus a short autobiography by Bill Wright and an article by Mary Lou Whitman about her job as a color supervisor at the Disney Studio in the late 1930s.

Among the hundreds of stories in this volume:

• FRANK THOMAS AND OLLIE JOHNSTON chat about their long careers at the Disney Studio as two of Walt Disney’s “Nine Old Men”, their lifelong friendship, and the politics and philosophies of animation.
• BILL ANDERSON shoots from the hip with his candid comments about Walt and Roy Disney, Disney artists and animators, and how close the studio came to disbanding Feature Animation after Walt's death.
• GENERAL JOE POTTER shares war stories about the many challenges he overcame during the construction of Walt Disney World.
• HARPER GOFF reflects upon his relationship with Walt, his years as an Imagineer with WED, and his work on such films as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, in a unique book-length narrative.

The entertaining, informative stories in every volume of Walt's People will please both Disney scholars and eager fans alike.

Disney History from the Source

The Walt's People series is an oral history of all things Disney, as told by the artists, animators, designers, engineers, and executives who made it happen, from the 1920s through the present.

Walt’s People: Volume 2 features appearances by Friz Freleng, Grim Natwick, Frank Tashlin, Ward Kimball, Floyd Gottfredson, Herb Ryman, Frank Thomas, Dale Oliver, Eric Larson, Woolie Reitherman, Richard Rich, and Glen Keane.

Among the hundreds of stories in this volume:

• WARD KIMBALL talks Disney trains, how he got hired at Disney, his studio pranks, his drug use, why no major Disney character is a cat, and why Walt wouldn't let him order the beef stew.
• FLOYD GOTTFREDSON discusses in detail his work on the Mickey Mouse comic strip, his cartooning techniques, how the Mickey cartoon character evolved stylistically, and his opinion of Walt Disney.
• ERIC LARSON shares what it was like to work at the Disney studio for over five decades, his efforts to train new animators to replace the old, and his experiences as one of Walt's "Nine Old Men".
• FRANK THOMAS, another of Walt's' Nine Old Men, relates the highlights of his career with Disney, and his lifelong collaboration with fellow Disney animator Ollie Johnston.

The entertaining, informative stories in every volume of Walt's People will please both Disney scholars and eager fans alike.

Disney History from the Source

The Walt's People series is an oral history of all things Disney, as told by the artists, animators, designers, engineers, and executives who made it happen, from the 1920s through the present.

Walt's People: Volume 18 features appearances by Mique Nelson, Katherine Kerwin, Gerry Geronimi, Ward Kimball, Dick Huemer, Ken O'Connor, Janet Martin, Herb Ryman, Don Douglass, Ken Peterson, Kay Wright, Del Connell, Elma Milotte, Bob Gurr, Barbara Palmer, and Hani El-Masri.

Among the hundreds of stories in this volume:

• HANI EL-MASRI recounts his fascinating journey from the streets of Cairo, Egypt, to Disney Imagineering.
• GERRY GERONIMI, perhaps the least-liked person ever to work at the Disney Studio, tells his side of the story about his feud with Ward Kimball, his firing by Walt Disney, and other incidents.
• BOB GURR tells the tale of horror that was Autopia on Disneyland's opening day in 1955.
• ELMA MILOTTE shares her and her husband Al's thrilling exploits across the world as the photographers for Disney's True-Life Adventure series.

The entertaining, informative stories in every volume of Walt's People will please both Disney scholars and eager fans alike.

Disney History from the Source

The Walt's People series is an oral history of all things Disney, as told by the artists, animators, designers, engineers, and executives who made it happen, from the 1920s through the present.

Walt's People: Volume 5 features appearances by Hugh Harman, Nadine Missakian, Ward Kimball, Erwin Verity, James Algar, Winston Hibler, Bill Anderson, Bill Walsh, George Bruns, Buddy Baker, Fess Parker, Walt Stanchfield, Marc Davis, Alice Davis, T. Hee, Maurice Noble, Al Dempster, Walt Peregoy, Floyd Norman, Bill Evans, Jack Bradbury, Lynn Karp, Dave Michener, Vance Gerry, John Musker, and Ron Clements.

• BILL WALSH takes stock of his long career with Disney, starting as a writer for the Mickey Mouse comic strip in 1943 and concluding as a producer for some of Disney's biggest films in the 1960s and early 1970s.
• FESS PARKER draws a bead on his complex relationship with Walt Disney, who was responsible for Parker's fame as Davy Crockett, but also for clipping Parker's career by not letting him take plum roles in non-Disney films.
• ALICE DAVIS recounts her romance with much older Disney artist Marc Davis, her fearless attitude toward Walt, and her work for Disney as a costume designer.
• JOHN MUSKER & RON CLEMENTS engage in a lively dialogue about their start at the Disney studio during a dark time, and how their success with films like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin ushered in a new golden age of Disney animation.

The entertaining, informative stories in every volume of Walt's People will please both Disney scholars and eager fans alike.

Disney History from the Source

The Walt's People series is an oral history of all things Disney, as told by the artists, animators, designers, engineers, and executives who made it happen, from the 1920s through the present.

Walt’s People: Volume 15 features appearances by Robert Cook, Grim Natwick, Clair Weeks, Willis Pyle, Charlene Sundblad (about Helen and Hugh Hennesy), Preston Blair, Lynn Karp, Ward Kimball, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske (remembered by his children), Norman "Stormy" Palmer, Guy Williams Jr., Buddy Van Horn, Suzanne Lloyd, Karl Bacon and Ed Morgan, Bill Martin, Bill Evans, Card Walker, and Mike Peraza, plus an article by Steven Hartley about Cy Young and one about Riley Thomson by Alberto Becattini.

Among the hundreds of stories in this volume:

• BILL EVANS explains how he used his green thumb for decades to design and cultivate the beautiful, diverse displays of plants, trees, and flowers without which Disneyland and Walt Disney World would be just so much concrete.
• BOB COOK provides insight into the little-known world of Disney sound engineer, a role he filled from his first day with the Disney Studio in 1930 through his retirement over forty years later in 1971.
• MIKE PERAZA went to work for Disney during its period of transition from Walt to corporate honchos like Michael Eisner. He recalls what it was like to be an animator in a studio that was changing what it meant to be an animator.

The entertaining, informative stories in every volume of Walt's People will please both Disney scholars and eager fans alike.

Disney History from the Source

The Walt's People series is an oral history of all things Disney, as told by the artists, animators, designers, engineers, and executives who made it happen, from the 1920s through the present.

Walt’s People: Volume 3 features appearances by Ben Sharpsteen, Ward Kimball, Art Babbitt, Joe Grant, Bill Justice, Volus Jones, Bill Peet, Lee Blair, James Algar, Jack Bradbury, Tony Strobl, Floyd Norman, Burny Mattinson, Phil Nibbelink, and Andreas Deja.

Among the hundreds of stories in this volume:

• BEN SHARPSTEEN recalls the politics of the early Disney Studio, how Walt balanced the creative side of the company against management, and why Mickey Mouse wasn't made for the long haul.
• ART BABBITT provides insight into the Disney Studio strike of 1941 that he instigated, a near fistfight with Walt Disney, and how the aftermath of the strike had a profound effect on the remainder of his career.
• BILL PEET takes no prisoners in his shockingly candid diatribe about his political battles at the Disney Studio, and how he found his greatest success after Disney, as a best-selling author.
• FLOYD NORMAN talks about his awestruck first meeting with Walt as a "kid animator", addresses racism at the Disney Studio, and discusses his work on The Jungle Book and other Disney feature films.

The entertaining, informative stories in every volume of Walt's People will please both Disney scholars and eager fans alike.

Disney History from the Source

The Walt's People series is an oral history of all things Disney, as told by the artists, animators, designers, engineers, and executives who made it happen, from the 1920s through the present.

Walt's People: Volume 20 features appearances by Sam Armstrong, Leland "Lee" Payne, Bob Givens, O.B. Johnston, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Hannah, Tom Oreb, Iwao Takamoto, Herb Ryman, and Alfred and Elma Milotte.

Among the hundreds of stories in this volume:

• O.B. JOHNSTON analyzes the Disney Studio's early merchandising efforts, and his own four decades with the company as the head of its character merchandising division, in this book-length memoir.
• WILFRED JACKSON recalls the triumphs and tribulations of his three decades as a director of numerous Disney cartoon and features, including Snow White, in two lengthy interviews with Michael Barrier and Milt Gray.
• HERB RYMAN talks about his early years at MGM, his experience as an art director for the Disney Studio, his transition into Imagineering, and his close friendship with Walt Disney.
• Animation historian Amid Amidi evaluates the career of TOM OREB, a little-known character designer and storyman who worked at the Disney Studio during the 1930s through the 1950s.

The entertaining, informative stories in every volume of Walt's People will please both Disney scholars and eager fans alike.

Disney History from the Source

The Walt's People series is an oral history of all things Disney, as told by the artists, animators, designers, engineers, and executives who made it happen, from the 1920s through the present.

Walt’s People: Volume 16 features appearances by Louis A. Pesmen, Grim Natwick, Gyo Fujikawa, Hicks Lokey, Jack Bradbury, Jack Kinney, Charles August "Nick" Nichols, Milt Kahl, Marc Davis, Bill Tytla, Ken Annakin, Irwin Kostal, Lucille Martin, Woolie Reitherman, Mel Shaw, Claude Coats, William "Sully" Sullivan, George McGinnis, Jack Buckley, and Ted Kierscey, plus an article by William M. Watkins about roller coaster design and excerpts from the November 1940 issue of The Bulletin (a weekly newsletter once published by the Disney studio) about the making of Fantasia.

Among the hundreds of stories in this volume:

• KEN ANNAKIN shares memories of his time spent with Walt Disney in England working on such films as Robin Hood and The Sword and the Rose.
• LUCILLE MARTIN provides unique insight about Walt Disney based on her many years of service as his personal secretary.
• WILLIAM "SULLY" SULLIVAN talks about his four decades with Disney, starting in 1955 on Walt's Jungle Cruise and ending with his retirement as vice-president of Magic Kingdom.
• GEORGE McGINNIS, an Imagineer and industrial designer, explains the nuts and bolts behind such attractions as Space Mountain, Horizons, and the Mark V monorail (which he designed).

The entertaining, informative stories in every volume of Walt's People will please both Disney scholars and eager fans alike.

Disney History from the Source

The Walt's People series is an oral history of all things Disney, as told by the artists, animators, designers, engineers, and executives who made it happen, from the 1920s through the present.

Walt's People: Volume 19 features appearances by Dick Grills, Jack Kinney, Jane Kinney, Don W. Graham, Janet Martin, Lloyd Beebe, Roy E. Disney, Susan Musfelt Hoose, Terry Jo Steinberger, Carol Farris, Art Stevens, Frank Thomas, and Alan Coats.

Among the hundreds of stories in this volume:

• LLOYD BEBEE describes the challenges of filming wild animals in their natural habitats for Disney's True-Life Adventures series.
• JANET MARTIN provides a unique perspective on Disney artists and animators at play, in her series of letters home from the studio's "El Grupo" tour of Central and South America.
• ROY E. DISNEY discusses what it was like to be the "boss' son", first as a kid wandering the halls of the Disney studio, then an assistant director and producer, and finally the vice-chairman of the Disney company.
• ALAN COATS, the son of Disney artist Claude Coats, reflects on growing up in the Disney "family" and his long stint as an Imagineer working on attractions both in Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

The entertaining, informative stories in every volume of Walt's People will please both Disney scholars and eager fans alike.