The Walt's People series, edited by Didier Ghez, is a collection of the best interviews ever conducted with Disney artists. Contributors to the series include noted Disney experts Robin Allan, Paul F. Anderson, Michael Barrier, Dave Smith, J.B. Kaufman, Jim Korkis, Mike Lyons, Celbi Pegoraro, John Province, Thorkil B. Rasmussen, Christian Renaut, Wes Sullivan, Klaus Strzyz, and Christian Ziebarth. Walt's People - Volume 3 features in-depth interviews with artists James Algar, Lee Blair, Jack Bradbury, Andreas Deja, Joe Grant, Ben Sharpsteen, Bill Justice, Volus Jones, Ward Kimball, Burny Mattinson, Floyd Norman, Bill Peet, and Tony Strobl. These interviews discuss, among many other subjects, the infamous 1941 strike, the creation of the Donald Duck shorts, the birth of Chip �n Dale, the making of The True Life Adventures, and life at the Studio �after Walt.� It contains hundreds of new stories about the Studio and its artists and should delight even the most serious historians and enthusiasts. Walt's People is a notable new source of historical treasures and should give new energy to the world of Disney research! This book is neither authorized, sponsored nor endorsed by the Walt Disney Company and its subsidiaries. It is an unofficial and unauthorized book. The mention of names and places associated with the Walt Disney Company and its businesses are not intended to infringe on any existing copyrights or trademarks of the Walt Disney Company, but are used in context for educational purposes. The opinions and statements expressed in these interviews are solely the opinions and perspectives of the authors and the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and policy of the Walt Disney Company and its businesses.
Didier Ghez has conducted Disney research since he was a teenager in the mid '80s. His articles about the parks, animation, and vintage international Disneyana, as well as his many interviews with Disney artists, have appeared in such magazines as Persistence of Vision, Tomart's Disneyana Update, Animation Journal, Animation Magazine, StoryboarD, and Fantasyline. He is the co-author of the art book Disneyland Paris - From Sketch to Reality, runs The Disney History Blog (disneybooks.blogspot.com), The Disney Books Network website (www.pizarro.net/didier), and serves as managing editor of the Walt's People series.
By launching the Walt's People series to collect the best Disney interviews ever conducted - uncut and uncensored - Didier hopes to re-animate Disney research.
Key Disney historians have accepted Didier�s invitation to contribute to the project, which gives him access to the source materials they use for their works. Most of those interviews are being published for the first time in their entirety. Along with Robin Allan, Paul F. Anderson, Michael Barrier, Albert Becattini, John Canemaker, John Culhane, Pete Docter, Christopher Finch, J.B. Kaufman, Jim Korkis, Christian Renaut, Linda Rosenkrantz, Dave Smith, and Charles Solomon, Didier is also uncovering new or quasi-unknown material almost daily that he hopes to release in the upcoming volumes of this series.
Didier aims to include in the series as many interviews as possible from artists who worked directly with Walt and thereby provide first-hand knowledge about the history of Disney. He believes this should prove to be a fundamental source of information for future researchers.
For the sake of clarity: the Walt's People project's goal is not to earn money. Every time the cost of publishing one volume is recouped, the money will be reinvested in the publication of the next. Any surplus funds will be shared among the contributors.
Didier aims to publish one volume of Walt's People every nine to twelve months and hopes the series proves to be most informative, even to dedicated Disney historians or enthusiasts.
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