It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.
– Walt Disney –
Introduction
If you are a Disney fan or a booklover – like me – I am sure you already heard of The Walt Disney Film Archives – The Animated Movies 1921-1968 edited by Taschen, which is the first of a series of books about the Disney universe that Taschen is gonna release over the next month/ years. Or maybe you already spotted it at your local book store? Thanks to its radiant red cover – which I totally love – it’s hard to miss!
But how does a book, that claims to tell you everything important about more than 40 years of Disney animation history, look like? The answer is: it’s HUGE!
If you follow my Disney journey on Instagram, you’ll probably know that I do have a lot of Disney books and quite some of them are beautiful and very heavy – just real coffee table books, right?
When I first heard about Taschen’s new book series I always thought that it would be similar to those books I already have. Turns out that The Walt Disney Film Archives – The Animated Movies 1921-1968 is not like any other Disney book I ever saw – it is way bigger and has much more content.
A little digression: Although I do have quite a book collection, my wishlist never gets shorter. Fascinating right? Well, before ordering or buying a new book, the little angel on my right shoulder says: “No, don’t! You’ve got so many book already, you probably should read all of them first before buying new stuff!” which sounds quite reasonable. But the next second, the little devil on my left shoulder answers: “Oh what a beautiful book, it’s so different from all other books you have, you totally need it! I can already picture you with this one, chilling on the sofa while drinking a cup of tea. Lovely!”.
Of course usually I give in to the desire of having the book and press “order” – already depicting me and the book on the sofa.
Well, with The Walt Disney Film Archives – The Animated Movies 1921-1968, that scene is not likely to happen. The book is simply too heavy and big to hold while reading (except your fulltime job is doing push ups all day long I guess).
So, what can you expect when opening this bible? Let’s have a look!
The book
The first thing I noticed when I first opened this book, is the great paper quality. We get very thick and non-slippery pages, which have a nice premium touch. I know that a lot of people don’t mind about the kind of paper used, but when it comes to such a huge and expensive book, paper quality is even more important to me than it usually is. Given the size of the pages you have to turn, Taschen didn’t really have the choice here, because some low-cost standard paper would crease the very moment you turn the page, which would simply destroy the premium character of this book.
Flippling to the next page, we arrive at the table of contents, which is really well done. The chapters are not just presented in the usual list, but every Disney movie that is covered within the book is presented by using a film still from the movie itself.
The table of contents is followed by a short but very interesting foreword by Disney legend John Lasseter (who is working on Toy Story 4 right now) and introduction written by author and German film historian Daniel Kolthenschulte.
The book itself is a chronological series of every major animated Disney production of Disney’s golden years with an own elaborate chapter for every single movie. What I absolutely love is the fact that every essay is introduced with a beautiful double page, a huge film still on the left side, and a magnificent golden page with all the key facts about the movie and the original movie poster on the right side (title, year, synopsis, release dates, artists, crew…).
But that’s just the beginning, cause this stunning golden page is followed by another double page with a pretty picture out of the movie, revealing the original title of the animated feature film, and seven other gorgeous film stills. After seeig those pages you really catch fire and you’ll have no choice but to read the whole chapter. #anticipation
The book basically complies a series of essays written by different authors, which is great. You will get the feeling of changig perspectives whenever you start a new chapter. We tend do speak of a certain Disney style, like “wow, that’s just so Disney”- but we often forget that every Disney production has its own style, design and artistic vibe. This is not just thanks to all the different ideas and personalities of the Disney artists, but also because Walt Disney himself was constantly searching for something new and different that hasn’t been done before. Therefore, I feel like Taschen made a great choice in working with so many talented authors, such as Charles Solomon, J. B. Kaufman, Russell Merritt and Didier Ghez. I am sure that every Disney book fan will know some of them.
Like I already said, you’ll find every animated Disney movie pruduced between 1921 and 1968 in this book, which of course includes great classics like Snow White, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio or the Jungle Book but also less known productions like Song of the South, Make Mine Music and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.
The essays themself just brim over with fascinating details and leave us with nothing left to be desired: the history of the Walt Disney Studios, how the idea for the movie came to life, the process and challenges of the production, the artists, the artistic style, animation, background art, concept art, storyboards, music and more.
What I also love about this book are all the quotes from Walt Disney and the people who worked with him. It really feels like you are part of the production, which is just great!
Oh, by the way: the book is in english, but you can also order it with a seperate booklet in german, french or spanish (in which you’ll find a translation of every essay of the book).
Résumé
I know that not only this huge book itself, but also its price (about 150 EUR) might seem heavy, but I have to tell you that you really do get a lot for the money you pay! I would even dare to say that it’s not that expensive, considering its size, magnificent content, quality of binding, paper and printing.
The Walt Disney Film Archives – The Animated Movies 1921-1968 is not simply a book, it’s way more than that! If there was something like a Disney bible, I guess this would be it. With more than 1.500 illustrations, stunning cel setups from the most beautiful Disney scenes and rare photos of the Disney studio photographers, this opus is a true must have for any serious Disney fan, even if that means saving money over a few months. Trust me, it’s worth it!
Also I have to admit that I just can’t wait to read and reread all the chapters, while waiting for the next release of this very promising series of Disney art books (coming soon: Disneyland and Mickey Mouse!).
Thank you for all the magic, Mister Disney!
Thank you Taschen, for capturing this magic in that masterpiece of a book!
And thank YOU, for stopping by to read my book review!
Where to get it?
Title: The Walt Disney Film Archives – The Animated Movies 1921-1968
Editor: Daniel Kothenschulte
Publisher: TASCHEN
Year: 2016
Price: 150 Eur
ISBN: 978-3-8365-5291-2 (english version)
Hardcover, half-linen, 620 pages, comes in a cardboard box with carry handle
You can get your copy at your local book store (if they don’t have it, they can order it via its title or the ISBN number). Otherwise you can also order it online at Taschen or on Amazon.
If money is an issue, you can also try to find a used copy on ebay for example.
Taschen provided me with a copy of the book to facilitate this review.