Disney book list

23 Books Every Disney Fan Needs to Read

By D23 Team Chilly weather makes for the perfect excuse for cozying up by the fireplace with a book, or two—or in this case…23! We’ve rounded up 23 recent releases that are perfect for any Disney fan––you could even start your own Disney book club! Can we come? Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia …

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Disney family home in Chicago

Restoring History: Walt Disney’s Birthplace

By Nicole Nalty Earlier this year, D23 took a closer look at the efforts to restore the Disney Family home in Chicago. Roy Oliver, Walter Elias, and Ruth Disney were born (in 1893, 1901, and 1903, respectively) in this very special house before the family moved to Marceline, Missouri in 1906. D23 Gold Members were …

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D23 Member gift item. Mickey Mouse sketch

From the Office of Walt Disney: A Man, A Mouse, and A Mentor

Walt Disney’s hand-drawn greeting to his first mentor is reproduced as one of the 23 treasures “From The Office of Walt Disney” for the 2016 D23 Gold Member Gift. By Stacia Martin Walt Disney was proud to hail from America’s heartland. Even as achievement and fame made him a citizen of the world, he never …

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Fantasia artwork

Wondrous Images from The Walt Disney Film Archives: The Animated Movies 1921–1968

By Courtney Potter “Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can achieve,” said Walt Disney. One of the 20th century’s most prolific—and successful—innovators, Disney created entire worlds through his use of state-of-the-art technology and imaginative storytelling. The animated films created under his tenure (until his passing in 1966) are classics in every sense of …

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Magic Kingdom

King of the World: What it Was Like to Live at Walt Disney World

By Steven Vagnini This story was originally published in the Summer 2010 issue of Disney twenty-three. If you like what you read, become a D23 Gold Member to receive the Disney twenty-three quarterly publication for more fascinating stories about all the worlds of Disney. Imagine living at Walt Disney World years before construction on the …

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WED Enterprises construction hat

How Walt Disney World Found Its Home in Florida

By Steven Vagnini Many have likened this mystery to a James Bond thriller. Or, as Disney Legend Joe Potter put it, “a real Perry Mason.” While the “secret agent” of the mid-1960s land acquisition of parcels that would one day comprise the Walt Disney World Resort may not be the star of a popular film …

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Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color

The Wonderful Things About Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color

By Greg Ehrbar On September 24, 1961, TV viewers watched the fireworks burst over Sleeping Beauty Castle as Tinker Bell pixie-dusted their screens to launch a new kind of Disney anthology series. The show they knew as Disneyland and then Walt Disney Presents had changed from black-and-white to color, moved from ABC to NBC, and …

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The Jungle Book Premiere (1967)

The 1967 Premiere of The Jungle Book was a Swinging, Star-Studded Safari

By Beth Deitchman A “swinging safari that will amuse the young and old.” That was how Disney’s 1967 animated musical, The Jungle Book—the last animated feature to be personally supervised by Walt Disney—was described by Mrs. Reese Hale Taylor, president of the Los Angeles Zoo Association, in a letter inviting friends and zoo supporters to …

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Walt Disney's records

Walt Disney’s Record Collection Revealed

By Greg Ehrbar When the Walt Disney Archives restored Walt’s office at the Walt Disney Studios earlier this year, they placed every available item just as Walt left it 1966 (thanks to Dave Smith’s meticulous documentation). In his private office, on a shelf to what would be Walt’s right, is a selection of vinyl LP …

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Walt and Lillian Disney dancing at Carnation Plaza Gardens

Did You Know? Swinging Stories from Disneyland’s Carnation Plaza Gardens

By Greg Ehrbar Aglow with idyllic charm suggesting the “Shipoopi” bandstand in The Music Man, Carnation Plaza Gardens brought a variety of joyous entertainment to Disneyland park beginning in 1956. We asked Tim O’Day about the beloved location, since he was a Stage Manager there as a young Cast Member, as well as a PR …

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