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Donald's nephews help us head back to school again as we feature a colorful activity page from another vintage comic book. Record Your School Growth appeared on the back cover of the 1959 edition of Walt Disney's Huey, Dewey and Louie Back to School. The boys' teachers in this particular issue were Daisy Duck, Clara Cluck, Grandma Duck, Gryro Gearloose and Uncle Scrooge. Other activities included Recess Riddles, School Party Popcorn Box and Daisy's Picture Anagrams. All for just 25 cents.
It is unfortunate that Michael Barrier's book, The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney, has struggled to find its way out of the shadow cast by last year's publication of Neal Gabler's more heralded and Disney Company endorsed Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination.
These important safety tips come courtesy of the 1960 Dell Giant comic Walt Disney's Huey, Dewey and Louie Back to School.
Mary Blair fans take note--the new Disney Press edition of Cinderella has just arrived in book stores. It is an amazing presentation of Blair's conceptual paintings from the classic animated feature film. The story itself is retold by Newbery Award-winning author Cynthia Rylant. Kudos to Disney Press for this wonderful showcase of Blair's unique style and unquestionable talent.
The classic Walt Disney School Bus lunchbox is a pop culture icon to a generation of baby boomers. Some nine million units of this bright yellow metal lithographed schoolyard accessory were produced over a span of twenty years. Aladdin Industries introduced the lunchbox in 1956 at a then somewhat pricey $2.69. An original in good condition can currently fetch into the hundreds of dollars at collectors markets and online auctions.
I have to say I'm a bit embarrassed that I only recently found my way to Lainey Schallock's wonderful blog Miscellainey. Lainey's posted some terrific articles in the very short time her blog has been up and running. Fellow bloggers and Disney compatriots George (aka half of the Disney Geeks) and Jessica (If We Can Dream It . . .) tipped me off to Lainey indirectly via comments and kudos from their respective sites.
I have made countless friends in the online Disney community since starting 2719 Hyperion last fall. But I have been especially fortunate in befriending two such individuals who actually live just down the road here in North Carlina. In a very short time, we have become great friends and brothers in the cause, and I have been terribly, terribly remiss in acknowledging them here at 2719. They shamelessly plug yours truly and this site at every opportunity and are just a couple of all around super guys. 
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It is easily one of the odder licensing marriages that Disney has entered into. For nearly two years, the small and very much out of the mainstream independent publisher SLG has been producing comic books based on four Disney properties--Tron, Gargoyles, Alice in Wonderland and The Haunted Mansion.
As I stated, this is a very odd marriage between SLG and Disney. SLG has always been atypical in their creative sensibilities and they did not at all compromise their very independent nature when approaching the Haunted Mansion property. The dark, cutting edge humor that is prevalent in many of their titles can be seen as a natural fit for tales inspired by the Haunted Mansion. But the very diverse range of eclectic and often extreme artistic styles presented in stark black and white is frequently jarring and ultimately undermines any overall uniformity of storytelling they may be trying to provide involving the Mansion’s underlying mythology. The multi-part story "The Mystery of the Manse," that runs through the first six issues, tells a more serious and well considered story of the Mansion’s master William Gracey and was penned by SLG publisher Dan Vado. But his efforts ultimately suffer due to the multiple artists involved. The renderings of artist Mike Moss in particular, while often dynamic and well-realized, have a manga-inspired style that seems ill-suited both to Vado’s very American Gothic tale and the Mansion’s theme park origins.
But in the final analysis, the Haunted Mansion comics seem more firmly rooted in the decidedly off-center storytelling and loose-form artistry of independent comics creators and publishers, rather than the more mainstream and broader appealing presentations that Disney typically requires from it license holders. It was no doubt a conscious, but still curious decision on the part of SLG to play to its already established niche readership rather than reach for the broader audience that is most definitely out there and hungry for these types of Disney-themed adventures.
One of the most popular posts here at 2719 Hyperion has proven to be about something that is not altogether immediately recognizable as a Disney entity. My article on The Road Ahead, a fifteen minute segment from the 1958 Disneyland episode "Magic Highway U.S.A." was widely linked outside of the Disney online community and recognized by a number of retro-futurism bloggers.
"Speed, safety and comfort will be the keynotes of tomorrow's highways. A multi-colored highway system may enable the motorist to reach his destination by following the correct color strip. The increased speed of tomorrow's automobile will demand that highway signs be larger and more simple to read."
"Dashboard panels featuring built-in safety controls and electronic operating devices are predictions for tomorrow. A teletype panel shows up-to-the-minute traffic bulletins. The recommended safe driving speed is automatically indicated. Our rear view mirror is actually a television picture."
"Airborne emergency units would combine police, fire and ambulance services. Quick removal of disabled vehicles will reduce traffic tie-ups."
"Combining new formulas of concrete with quick-setting ceramic materials, a mobile kiln is supported by the bridge it builds."
"For tunneling through mountains, this atomic reactor applying incredible heat literally melts the hard rock as it makes molehills out of mountains."
On entering the city, the family separates, father to his office, mother and son to the shopping center. These new forms of vehicles will bring about special purpose roadways."
"Office buildings will combine unique parking and elevator services. From his private parking space, father will probably have to walk to his desk."
"These non-stop farm-to-market transports will bring remote agricultural areas to within minutes of metropolitan markets."
Pirates have invaded Disneyland's Tom Sawyer Island recently with the Imagineer-installed Pirate's Lair overlay. But here's a view of the Mark Twain-inspired environment from nearly a half a century ago. This map was featured on the inside front cover of the 1958 comic book Walt Disney's Donald and Mickey in Disneyland on Tom Sawyer Island.
Today was the issue date for the newest set of commemorative Disney themed stamps from United States Postal Service. Magic is the theme in this, the fourth release in The Art of Disney series. It follows prior themes of friendship, celebrations and romance. Here's a great recap from the USPS website of Disney's history with the postal service:
Here's a classic Freeze Frame! from The Little Mermaid, the feature that essentially ushered in Disney's animation renaissance of the early 1990s. Mickey, Donald and Goofy were all on hand for Sebastian's ill fated concert near the beginning of the film. Maybe this is where the trio ended up after their ship went down in the classic 1938 cartoon Boat Builders. An even keener eye will spot a number of mer-people throughout the same undersea audience sporting Mickey Mouse ears.
While the Expedition Everest queue has gained quite the reputation for it extensive and very entertaining queue area, the nearby Kali River Rapids queue is almost as equally dense with details. The attraction tells a very specific story, and much of it is communicated through these paths and switchbacks. This particular scene appears to be the office of the business' proprietor Manesha Gurung.
One of the more interesting and noticeable trends of late in book publishing has been what could be best described as “enhanced books.” The contents of these tomes extend beyond just printed text and pictures to include interactive elements and actual reproductions of materials relevant to the subject matter contained therein.
It’s been a dozen years since the happy anomaly that is Runaway Brain debuted in theaters alongside the now forgotten feature film A Kid in King Arthur’s Court. This cartoon emerged over forty years after the studio produced its last traditional format Mickey Mouse cartoon short, The Simple Things, in 1953. It is a dynamic, hip and fun seven minutes of animation, very much awash in 1990s popular culture, yet still thankfully grounded in the creative sensibilities of the Hyperion Avenue era of Disney production.
Desperately in need of a $1000 windfall, Mickey follows a want ad to the laboratory of simian mad scientist Dr. Frankenollie, whose devious plan is to do a brain swap between the mouse and his monstrous lab assistant Julius. Frankenollie features, albeit briefly, the voice talents of Kelsey Grammer, while Julius is in fact portrayed by Disney career villian Pete, whose peg leg was returned after a fairly extended PC-related sabbatical. Brains are switched, the good doctor is incinerated, and the short plunges into a frantic paced tour de force of action and heroics with a rough and tumble cityscape atmosphere more akin to recent Spiderman flicks than to traditional Mickey Mouse adventures.
But Runaway Brain is not as disconnected from Mickey’s cartoon heritage as one might think. Scratch below it’s video game, surf shop and other contemporary trappings and you have a short produced from very much the same disciplines behind Disney’s earlier short subject cartoons. The brain exchange that takes place between Mickey and Julius is an especially notable achievement in character animation and a credit to Andreas Dejas and his team; it effectively transplants Mickey’s personality into the monstrous Julius, and likewise turns a long standing corporate icon into a raving psychopath. In addition, director Chris Bailey was not afraid to move his non-existent camera around and approach shots from wholly unorthodox angles, as demonstrated by the sequence where a Julius-possessed Mickey scampers up through the laboratory’s pipes and conduits to dramatically emerge before the city skyline. Early Disney animators used similar “camera moving” techniques as far back as the early 1930s.
More than anything, Runaway Brain is a successful creative marriage of the Mouse’s very early and certainly less inhibited black and white efforts with the later Technicolor productions that featured a much more benign Mickey but were rich in style and layered upon lush, detailed backgrounds.
While the occasional pundit has made note of this uncharacteristic approach to Mickey and has even speculated that that is why it has been largely unseen in the years since its release, its darker and wilder dynamic is not unprecedented. Mickey explored similar avenues in early cartoons such as The Haunted House, The Gorilla Mystery and The Mad Doctor, just to name a few. Dr. Frankenollie’s lab is an obvious throwback to Universal’s classic monster films, but no doubt also received some inspiration from Mickey’s similarly styled 1937 cartoon The Worm Turns.
Preschooler moms beware--this is not your standard toddler-friendly Mickey Mouse cartoon. Hence its inclusion on a Disney Treasures DVD rather than in the more inclusive Cartoon Classics line. Modern audiences may be jarred somewhat by its darker, irreverent tone, but most animation buffs would likely view Runaway Brain as a return to Mickey’s earlier, often times impudent, sometimes scary, and definitely more uninhibited, black and white years.
Throughout the history of Disney cartoons, cats have never enjoyed the stature and prominence bestowed upon their canine counterparts. Both Goofy and Pluto became Disney superstars, but no felines were ever able to break out in similar fashion. Figaro, who transitioned from Pinocchio supporting player to Minnie Mouse’s house pet, made a go of it in the early 1940s with three starring shorts, but then just as quickly faded into the archives. It would seem that within the Disney studio, dogs always did have their days.
Milton emerged as a foil for Pluto in the 1950 cartoon Puss-Café. He and his pal Richard see Pluto’s backyard as a veritable smorgasbord of bottled milk, goldfish and songbirds, much to the annoyance of our hammock-napping hero. Milton and Richard were clearly created from a Laurel and Hardy mold, so it was somewhat surprising that when Milton returned the following year in Cold Turkey, his partner in crime was nowhere to be seen.
Milton’s circumstances had changed as well. Instead of being the garbage can dwelling vagabond of Puss-Café, he was now a housemate to Pluto in a household that very much represented the emerging suburbia of the early 1950s. Less rivals and more co-conspirators in mischief and mayhem, the two work together to secure a turkey from the refrigerator, only to have their efforts fall short when baser instincts emerge. Post-war pop culture conventions such as large unit-small screen televisions and studio wrestling (used to great effect with actual black and white footage) humorously provide the means to the pratfalls and gags that effectively showcase the two characters.
Sadly, like many other Disney cartoon stars who emerged during the 1950s twilight of animated short subjects, Milton too saw a potential longer career cut short by the advent of television and the ultimate shuttering of the studio’s shorts department.
