Showing posts with label Didier Ghez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Didier Ghez. Show all posts

Friday, October 16, 2015

The Mouse Castle Lounge 10-16-2015 - Disney Historian Didier Ghez, 'They Drew as They Pleased'

By Tim Callaway




They Drew as They Pleased
This is becoming a habit--and I’m totally cool with it. Historian Didier Ghez is once again paying a visit to the Lounge—this will be his fourth time. He just can’t get enough of us.

It’s always a pleasure to have Didier on the show and today he’s here to talk about his latest project, They Drew as They Pleased, a book series celebrating the great concept and story artists of Disney’s past.

Before an animator begins to work magic with a character, he or she draws inspiration from the sketches and designs of concept artists. The Disney Studios set the standard for this artistic collaboration beginning in the 1930s, bringing aboard major talents such as Albert Hurter, Ferdinand Horvath, Gustaf Tenggren and Bianca Majolie. Didier’s first volume shines the spotlight on these artists, whose influences can be seen in numerous Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony short cartoons of the era as well as feature films like Snow White and Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and Fantasia.

Didier Ghez
Much of the art Didier has compiled comes from rarely seen private collections or from deep inside the vaults of the Disney Animation Research Library. It’s a genuine treat to be able to see them publicly for the first time. Just as fascinating are the book’s biographical notes, which give a compelling look not only at the talent and temperament of the artists profiled, but also insight into what it was like to work for Walt Disney at the beginning of the studio’s first golden age. I cannot recommend They Drew as They Pleased enough and I cannot wait to see what the future volumes hold.

Here today to talk as he pleases is Didier Ghez, my guest in The Mouse Castle Lounge.

Enjoy!





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Friday, July 17, 2015

The Mouse Castle Lounge 07-17-2015 - Disney Historian Didier Ghez Talks About Disney Legend Eric Larson

By Tim Callaway



Eric Larson was truly one of the greats of Disney animation. He was one of Walt's Nine Old Men and was best known for animating Figaro in Pinocchio, Friend Owl in Bambi and Peg in Lady and the Tramp. He also worked on other classics including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty.

His greatest legacy, however, may be as the teacher and mentor to an entire generation of young animators that joined Disney in the 1970s and '80s. He had a passion for his art and a commitment to uphold the standards established by Walt Disney. Eric's memoir, 50 Years in the Mouse House, is a fascinating and heartfelt testament to that passion.

His book, however, was almost lost forever, and the story of Didier Ghez's search for the missing manuscript is nearly as compelling as Eric Larson's life itself.

Didier edited Eric Larson's original manuscript and combined it with material taken from interviews Larson gave and lectures he presented at the Walt Disney Studios. Didier adds 50 Years in the Mouse House to his impressive output of historical Disney works including all 16 volumes of Walt's People and his upcoming tribute to Disney concept artists, They Drew as They Pleased. Didier Ghez is my guest today in The Mouse Castle Lounge.

Enjoy!

For more Theme Park Press titles, please visit www.ThemeParkPress.com.


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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Inside The Mouse Castle 06-23-2015 - The New Spider-Man, 'Inside Out' Review, Deadmau5 Settlement

By Tim Callaway





Inside Out
After weeks of wild speculation, Marvel and Sony finally announced Tom Holland will be the new Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Jon Watts will direct the next standalone film for the web slinger. We expect that Holland will also appear as Spidey in next year's Captain America: Civil War.

In other movie news, Inside Out couldn't beat Jurassic World at the box office over the weekend, but that didn't stop it from scoring the second biggest opening in Pixar history. I give my review of the Pete Docter-directed film while Anthony and I get in touch with our emotions in this week's episode of Inside The Mouse Castle.
  • Maleficent made over $750 million worldwide last year. So, umm, yeah, there's going to be a sequel. Linda Woolverton is currently penning the script. No confirmation yet whether Angelina Jolie is on board, but come on, why wouldn't she be?
  • Zuri's Sweet Shop has opened at Disney's Animal Kingdom and it's serving poop candy. That's really all you need to know.
Zuri's Sweets Shop at Disney's Animal Kingdom.
  • Also at Animal Kingdom, Starbucks has opened up shop. Meanwhile, down the road at the soon-to-be demolished Walt Disney World Speedway, we've learned that the space is destined to become a parking lot. 
  • Our condolences to the family and friends of JoAnn Dean Killingsworth, who passed away Saturday at the age of 91. The long-time actress and ice skater was an original Disneyland employee in 1955 and the park's first Snow White.
  • Historian Didier Ghez is a good friend of The Mouse Castle and we're very excited about his upcoming book, They Drew as They Pleased: The Hidden Art of Disney's Golden Age. It's the first in a series of books Didier is writing about the great concept artists of the Walt Disney Studios. It will be out on September 8th.
  • Disney and musical artist Deadmau5 have settled their legal differences over Deadmau5's performance headgear, which bears a striking resemblance to a certain cartoon mouse. The terms of the settlement have not been released (and probably won't be), but the two sides are now playing nice.
Enjoy!





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Monday, January 13, 2014

Didier, Meryl and Walt (Oh My!) in the MCL


Diane Disney Miller
In today's Mouse Castle Lounge, we pick up where we left off last week with author/historian Didier Ghez talking about his new book Disney's Grand Tour. Didier is a consummate researcher: curious, inquisitive and relentless in his quest for answers. Disney's Grand Tour grew from a simple question posed to Didier by Walt's daughter Diane Disney Miller. Did Didier have a picture of her father receiving a medal from the League of Nations in 1935? As Didier began searching, more questions were raised about Walt's two-month trip to Europe and more fascinating stories were revealed. By following leads and refusing to give up when a trail went cold, Didier not only unearthed all the details of how Walt and Roy spent their summer vacation, but also how the entire Disney company operated in Europe before World War II. Sometimes you have to dig through a lot of clues before you discover what the prize really is.

Also in the Lounge, I give you my take on the whole Meryl Streep/Walt Disney kerfuffle that erupted last week when Ms. Streep made some ignorant and careless comments perpetuating unfounded urban legends that Walt was racist, sexist and anti-Semitic. The Disney fan and history community was quick to respond with the facts. And while it's unlikely Ms. Streep will ever issue a retraction, it was gratifying to see those in the know circle the wagons in defense of Walt. Here are three of the most carefully researched and eloquently written responses:

Fact-Checking Meryl Streep’s Disney-Bashing Speech by Amid Amidi
In Defense of Walt Disney by The Walt Disney Family Museum
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Monday, January 6, 2014

'Disney's Grand Tour' with Didier Ghez in the MCL



Didier Ghez
Author Didier Ghez was perplexed and fascinated by questions he could not completely answer.

 In 1935, did Walt Disney receive a medal from the League of Nations? Did he meet Italian dictator Benito Mussolini? Rumors and urban legends persisted, but the historical record wasn't clear. 

 And so, Didier started digging. Gradually, he discovered a wealth of information about the pivotal trip Walt and Roy Disney took to Europe two years before the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The result is the compelling new book Disney's Grand Tour.

At the risk revealing spoilers, I won't give away any answers. Suffice it to say what Didier unearthed about this two-month trip is a detailed record of a journey that would influence the Disney Studios for decades to come. 

 Disney's Grand Tour is full of rarely-seen photos and features a meticulous outline of how Walt Disney's company operated in Europe prior to World War II. 

 Didier is my guest today in The Mouse Castle Lounge. In part one of our conversation, he reveals the frustrating but ultimately satisfying process he went through to bring Disney's Grand Tour to life.  Enjoy!

 Download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/themousecastle/TheMouseCastleLounge01-06-2014.mp3

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 For more about Disney's Grand Tour, visit http://themeparkpress.com/books/disneys-grand-tour.

Related: Talking 'Walt's People' with Didier Ghez in 'The Mouse Castle Lounge'

www.themousecastle.com
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Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Talking 'Walt's People' with Didier Ghez in 'The Mouse Castle Lounge'


You have to admire someone who takes on a project he admits will take 20 to 30 years to complete.

Didier Ghez is nine years into that project.

Didier Ghez
In a few weeks, he'll release Volume 13(!) of Walt's People, a collection of in-depth interviews with the men and women who knew, worked with, and were inspired by Walt Disney. Like its 12 predecessors, the contributors to these volumes read like a Who's Who of Disney historians: John Canemaker, Jim Korkis, Michael Barrier, Paul Anderson and many others. Of course, the interview subjects are pretty impressive too: Woolie Reitherman, Floyd Gottfredson, Fess Parker, Virginia Davis and Roy E. Disney, just to name a few.

Walt's People was born from an e-mail conversation Didier had with Jim Korkis in 2004 lamenting the dearth of serious Disney history that was available to researchers and armchair historians. As Didier wrote in Volume 1, "Huge amounts of amazing material was sleeping in working cabinets of serious Disney historians, unavailable to Disney enthusiasts for lack of publishing venues. Some would surface from time to time in a book released by Hyperion, some would see the light of day in a fanzine or on a website, but this seemed to happen less and less often."

And so, Didier got to work, reaching out to his fellow historians to clean out those working cabinets and dust off those under-utilized conversations with the greats of Disney history. Thirteen volumes later, he has amassed an astounding oral history of Disney, told by the animators, directors, artists and Imagineers who were there.

In my conversation with Didier in The Mouse Castle Lounge, we talk about his passion for Disney history and all the work he's put into making Walt's People a reality. We also discuss his upcoming book projects, which include the story of Walt Disney's trip to Europe in 1935 and how it continued to influence the Walt Disney Studios decades later.

We've got nothing but good people--Walt's people--in this week's Mouse Castle Lounge. Enjoy!

For more about Didier Ghez, visit disneybooks.blogspot.com or didierghez.com.

The Mouse Castle Lounge can also be heard on iTunes and Stitcher.

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