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By Michael - February 2nd, 2012
Courtesy of John Donaldson come these sketches by Herb Ryman; they are preliminary studies for EPCOT’s Italy pavilion. While they are merely sketches, they do convey a Rymanesque sense of atmosphere and – of course – hint at a cast of interesting characters in the foreground.
The landmarks depicted do differ somewhat from [...]
By Michael - February 1st, 2012
Disneyland’s long history is full of oddities that might amaze those of us who missed the park’s first few decades, or who were never able to visit until later years. A lot of those “lost” mid-century novelties were located in Tomorrowland, which underwent several major overhauls in its early years and was home to [...]
By Michael - January 20th, 2012
When I was a kid, there was nothing cooler than the crossover. Characters from different fictional universes appearing together was always ratings gold as far as I was concerned. GI Joe meeting up with Transformers? Proto-geek paradise. Daffy Duck playing piano alongside Donald? Exquisite. Any fellow nerd who has ever salivated over the idea [...]
By Michael - January 19th, 2012
Over at the Walt Disney Family Museum’s blog Storyboard – which you should be reading regularly by now – I’ve written an article about the Disney studio’s contributions to the VIII Winter Olympic Games in 1960. It’s an interesting and rarely-told part of Disney lore, and an overlooked step in Walt’s progression from [...]
By Michael - January 16th, 2012
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Four Decades of Magic

Essays about the first forty years of Walt Disney World, including two pieces by yours truly. Available in print and for Kindle.
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