Tuesday, January 30, 2007

California (not DCA) Dreamin'




Good news! The scanner has come back to life, so now I can scan some better things you all can actually read clearly. What fun! :P
So today I bring you a 16 year (scary!) old magazine "Storyboard- The Art of Laughter" issue from Oct/Nov 1991. As I said yesterday, I will be posting some articles from this magazine (and others). Today I bring you one written by Van Arsdale France. I was finally able to get my hands on a copy of his book, which this article advertises, and loved it! I had seen it spoken about so many times in the past and I was very curious to see what the big deal was. It ended up being one of those books I actually didn't want to end. Something about the casual way of his writing makes you feel like you could have stepped into all that went on back in 1954-55 when Disneyland was being built and opened. The excitement, the problems, the solutions, the cramped quarters, even coffee with the next door neighbors still in residence. It's not a time that seems to be written about very often, so I ate it up with a spoon!
I can't say the article is all that informative, but it's rare you ever see anything written by France, so I'm posting it for that reason alone.
Though his book goes for scads on Amazon, since it's out of print, I would recommend everyone who is truly interested in the deeper aspects of Disneyland to get it. I am positive that France wouldn't have thought his book could run for that much money 16 years later.
I regret however, I don't have the next issue of this magazine that continues the story. If anyone out there does, could you please hook a girl up with a scan? ;) Does anyone know if these magazines are still in print?

3 comments:

Matterhorn1959 said...

Storyboard is no longer in publication. And I never actually collected them when published as the focus shifted away from Disney (that was the early focus) to more animation in general and on animation art collecting (especially new limited editions stuff) specifically.

Daveland said...

For those interested, this book is available on ebay for a $75 buy-it-now option:
link

Amazon Belle said...

Tink,
I am going away this weekend (2/2- 2/4) but when I return I will look in my "big stack o' stuff" to see if I have what you're looking for. Van France is my hero and one I considered a mentor. I loved his stuff and like you enjoy his humor. I'll be back to post once I find if I have it. Questions for me? mcnabb@usc.edu