The Art of Walt Disney by Christopher Finch

This is the book, "The Art of Walt Disney" by Christopher Finch. The other part of the title reads: "From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdoms". This book has been published several times over the years, and has become signifcantly thicker, especially since Disney went through its rebirth in 1984 and has become an entertainment powerhouse. The copy of the book that I have here was published in 1995. The first edition of this book was published in 1973. This book shows the history of Walt Disney and his company. It includes black and white and color photographs of Disney animated and live action films, as well as the theme parks. When this book was published in 1995, the publisher claimed that this was "the only complete, illustrated history of the Walt Disney Company".

Walt Disney World Spectro Magic CD

This is the soundtrack from the fantastic parade at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, "Spectro Magic". This parade is unique to Walt Disney World, and features thousands of sparkling lights, some of your favorite Disney characters, and some interesting looking creatures. It also features wonderful Disney music, along with the Spectro Magic theme music throughout. This parade is hosted by Jiminy Cricket from Walt Disney's "Pinocchio".

Disneyland 50th Anniversary Pin Case featuring Tinkerbell

This is a Disneyland 50th Anniversary pin case, which was sold at the park during its 50th anniversary. It features the Disneyland Marquee and one of my favorite gals, Tinkerbell. On the other side of the case is a Disneyland Mouse Ears logo with a 50 in the center. Disney theme parks are always full of pin collectors, and they periodically have to purchase pin cases to store their pins (some of us have to replace them more often than others). This case kind of looks like a purse, since it doesn't have a shoulder strap like other pin cases that I've had, so it's kind of a girly case.

Disneyland Forever CD

This is one of my ten "Disneyland Forever" CD's. It was made at Disneyland a few years ago. For a time (more than a year, I believe), Disneyland had a machine that you could choose the audio soundtracks of select shows and attractions (past and present). When I discovered this machine, I decided right there on the spot to make 10 of them, and I paid almost $200 that day. I was very excited to get those soundtracks. Since then, I've had one stolen (someone broke into my car- it was full of music from the "Pirates of the Caribbean" attraction at Disneyland). The fact that you could make your own CD, name your CD and that it had the date that your CD was created made the "Disneyland Forever" kiosk one of my favorite things at Disneyland. They eventually took away all those old tracks and replaced them with a kiosk that allowed you to buy full (but old) albums of your choosing- like an old Annette Funicello album, for example, but you cannot pick and choose which tracks you want, like you could with Disneyland Forever. Too bad.

The Art of Disney - Imagination U.S. Postage Stamps

This is "The Art of Disney - Imagination" U.S. Postage Stamps. There are 4 different stamps in this series. One stamp features Mickey Mouse as Steamboat Willie. Another stamp features Pongo and Rolly from the "One Hundred and One Dalmations" feature film. Another stamp features Mowgli and Balloo from "The Jungle Book". Finally, the last stamp has Princess Aurora with the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merriweather, from the Disney classic, "Sleeping Beauty". Each stamp has the value of 42 cents, which is the current letter rate for postage in the United States. I bought this sheet of stamps today at the post office. I didn't know that these stamps had come out; I was mailing a letter and just went up to the counter just to make chit chat with the clerk. I asked if there were any new stamps. When she pulled these out, I had to buy them!

Euro Disney United Colors of Benetton Shirt from France

This is my Euro Disney United Colors of Benetton Shirt that I bought at Euro Disneyland back in 1993. It's a really cool shirt, and I like it a lot, but I've only worn it like twice- that's why it looks brand new. It was an expensive shirt, even though back in '93 there was a good exchange rate between the French Franc and the U. S. Dollar. As you may know, Euro Disneyland's name was changed to Disneyland Paris a few years ago to reflect the French aspect of the park.

EPCOT's Illuminations CD

This is the CD for the show Illuminations: Reflections of Earth at EPCOT. If you have ever been to EPCOT and seen this show, you will know that it is one of the best shows produced by Disney anywhere. It's a show that will culminate your visit to EPCOT in the best way. Also featured on this CD is the music from the "Tapestry of Nations" parade that used to be at EPCOT. The music from the "Tapestry of Nations" is now played after the "Illuminations" show concludes at the World Showcase at EPCOT. While you walk around the World Showcase to exit EPCOT, you can hear this wonderful music. I always take my time exiting, so that I can enjoy the music and the ambience of EPCOT at its close.

Pillow Featuring Concept Art for Walt Disney's Cinderella

This is a photo of a pillow that I bought from Disneyshopping.com 2 years ago, as a gift to myself. I also bought one of these for my Mother as a Christmas gift. It features concept art by Mary Blair for Walt Disney's classic film, "Cinderella", and depicts the Fairy Godmother turning the pumpkin into a coach. Mary Blair was an amazing artist, and her work influenced the look of many classic Disney films, including "Saludos Amigos", "The Three Caballeros", "Peter Pan", "Alice in Wonderland", and many others. She also heavily influenced the design of the facade of Walt Disney's "It's A Small World" building at Disneyland, and much of the look inside that attraction as well. She was well-dressed, and seemed like a really cool lady.

The All New Mickey Mouse Club Original Cast TV Album (from 1977)

This is Disneyaland Records' "The All New Mickey Mouse Club" Original Cast TV Album. This Mickey Mouse Club, which probably is not known to any of today's 20-year-olds, made its debut in 1977 after Disney had syndicated the original "Mickey Mouse Club" from the 1950's for about 2 years. I was in 7th grade when this new show came on TV for the first time, and, I must admit, I was jealous that I hadn't been able to "try out" for this new Mickey Mouse Club, which, it seemed at the time, had already been filmed by the time I heard that there was going to be a new Mickey Mouse Club. Looking back on it, though (with the help of You Tube), I think that this version of the Mickey Mouse Club was much more inferior to the original 1950's version. Why do I say so? Well, the kids in the MMC of the 50's really were talented and more genuine-acting than this 1977 bunch. They also had the benefit of Walt Disney himself being alive to call a few shots, and Disney had all kinds of talented writers, directors and producers working on that show (which was, at one time, one of the most popular shows on television).



Sure, the new Mouseketeers could sing, dance, and do what they were told, but it just seemed to me that everything they did on the show was a musical number reminiscent of the kinds of dopey CBS Specials that used to come on TV in the '70's. These kids didn't exhibit any of the natural innocence or charm of Walt's Mouseketeers, in my opinion. Those costumes definitely were indicative of the times- Mouseketeers in leisure suits, with wide collars and bell bottoms. The kids seemed too crazy and fake, too. Look at their mouths hanging open on the cover here. Am I still bitter about not being a Mouseketeer? Maybe. I did see them perform at Disneyland at the Space Mountain Stage that used to exist back then, though.

Disneyland Junior Ticket Book Cover

This is a Disneyland Ticket Book Cover for Juniors (age 12 thru 17). This is the back view of the ticket book, which included Admission and 15 Tickets to Disneyland (1-A, 2-B's, 3-C's, 4-D's, 5-E's), plus admission to "Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln". Ticket books such as this were eliminated by Disneyland in 1985, when all Disneyland admission tickets included unlimited use of all attractions.

Disneyland Guide Summer 1972 presented by INA

This is the Disneyland Guide for Summer 1972, presented by Insurance Company of North America. This was the guide that Disneyland gave to guests when they bought their tickets at the Ticket Booths. The guide would describe each attraction, and tell you what kind of ticket was needed- "A", "B", "C", "D" or "E" Tickets. The newest attraction in this book was "The Country Bear Jamboree". This guide also listed the food and refreshments, and shops and stores.

Disneyland 50th Cheshire Cat in Teacup Pin

This is a pin featuring the Cheshire Cat from Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" inside the golden teacup from the Disneyland attraction, "The Mad Tea Party", which was one of the original rides when Disneyland opened. To commemorate its 50th anniversary, one golden ride vehicle was placed inside each attraction at Disneyland that opened on the same day the Park did (July 17, 1955).

Walt Disney Pictures "Return to Oz"

This is Walt Disney Pictures' "Return To Oz", a second adventure for Dorothy, based on L. Frank Baum's "Oz" books. Pictured is the VHS box for the movie, which I bought at an NFFC Disneyana Convention about 2 years ago. In this movie "sequel" to "The Wizard of Oz", Dorothy again finds herself going back to Oz, and gets into some pretty scary moments. Dorothy is played by Fairuza Balk. I had never seen this film until about 3 weeks ago, and it's pretty interesting and scary. It's not a musical like the old MGM movie, though, and it's not trying to pretend to be the MGM movie, either. My cousin told me that it was kind of unsettling compared to the MGM version, and she was definitely right.

Walt Disney Treasures: Disneyland USA

This is a CD set of Walt Disney Treasures: "Disneyland USA". This is a must-have disk for hardcore fans of Disneyland and Walt Disney. This set was issued in limited edition (although, it's a very large edition). There's 2 discs in this set, each with 2 programs. First is "The Disneyland Story", which was on Walt Disney's television show, "Disneyland" back in 1954. In this show, Walt Disney introduces the public to his idea of Disneyland, and reveals that it will open in 1 year. Next on the disc is "Dateline Disneyland", which was the live recording of events that took place at Disneyland on opening day on July 17, 1955, and was seen live on television all over the United States. On the second disc is "Disneyland After Dark", where Walt takes us to Disneyland to see some special live entertainment throughout the Park. Finally on disc two is the "Disneyland Tenth Anniversary Show".

The Disney Films by Leonard Maltin (3rd Edition)

This is the book, "The Disney Films", by Leonard Maltin. This is the third edition of the book. It covers the Disney animated feature films, from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" to "Pocahontas". It also gives "a comprehensive look at all of Disney's classic films, with discussions of every feature-length movie as well as surveys of the cartoon shorts and TV shows". This third edition was published in 1995, which was the year that "Pocahontas" was released in theaters. This book is a must-have book for anyone who wants to be an authority on Disney, with information about all the films that were made when Walt Disney was alive, and a lot more that were produced after his death. I still haven't watched all of the old classic non-animated Disney films yet, but I've seen most of them. This book is good for thinking of what new films to rent from Netflix or to purchase from Disney Movie Club. In this book, Leonard Maltin reviews all the feature films made by Walt Disney Productions that were produced by Walt Disney himself. He also talks about some of the films that were made since Walt's death. However, Maltin reviews at length all of the films that were made or were in production during Walt's lifetime.

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Comic Book 1961

This is "Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse", published by Dell Publishing, Inc. This is issue number 80, from Oct.-Nov., 1961. Notice the cool artwork of Mickey Mouse and Pluto on the cover. My uncle used to read these comics when he was a kid. When I was a kid, I collected them from him and put them in protective bags for safekeeping.

1938 Framed Print of Dopey from "Snow White"

This is a framed print of Dopey from the movie, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". This was given to me by my Grandmother when I was about 20 years old, along with the rest of the set, which includes all of the dwarfs and Snow White herself. According to Disney's Director of Archives, Dave Smith, the set was made by licensee Artisto, Inc., in 1938-1939. Artisto was only licensed to to produce these during that one-year period, and these framed pictures were all that they were licensed to produce. These framed pictures were sold for 10 cents each back in 1938. I suspect that they are worth a lot more now. The frame is of wood, and the print looks like watercolor on canvas.

Postage Stamps: The Art of Disney- Magic

This is "The Art of Disney - Magic" sheet of U.S. Postage Stamps, released by the U.S. Postal Service late last year. I was sending some tax returns at the Post Office in October when I noticed the clerk had these new stamps. There are 4 different styles of stamps on the sheet, and 20 stamps total on the sheet. These stamps are beautiful and frameable. They also make for stylish postage! Featured on the stamps are: Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer's Apprentice; Tinkerbell and Peter Pan; Dumbo and Timothy Mouse; and, finally, the Genie and Aladdin (all from classic Disney feature films). There will soon be more Disney-themed postage stamps coming to the Post Office, so watch out!