Title: Ink and Paint: The Women of Walt Disney's Animation
Author: Mindy Johnson
Genre: Non-Fiction, History, Art
About the Book...
Few names in animation history have had as much of an impact as that of Disney and a large part of this incredible history includes the ladies of the Ink and Paint department. Breaking it down by decade, Mindy Johnson explores the role that these woman had at the Disney Studios during each period, the shifts that occurred as the studio grew and changed with the times, and concludes each chapter with a section about other studios achievements or setbacks during that time and a section talking about Walt's family life.
What I Think...
This book was well written and clearly well-researched. Johnson doesn't try to impose her own opinions or asides as to why something happened, but presents the information in a very factual way and that includes quotations from those who worked in Ink and Paint. I really liked that at the end of each chapter Johnson included what was going on at other studios during the time, which offered a comparative look at where the industry was as a whole. Additionally, the end of each chapter included an update as to what was going on in the Disney family and
I did feel the book slowed by the time it reached the 1960's (although, in all fairness, that's about three-quarters of the way through) and became far less interesting, primarily due to the changes that occurred in technology.
It is coffee table size and has glossy pages, which is great for the multitude of images and photographs included, although this comes with the downside of it being too difficult to read in bed.
To Sum it All Up...
A very through look at the fascinating history of Disney's Ink and Paint Department from the start of the studio up to present. ♥️
Courtesy of stress and a lengthy cold, I took a mini blog vacation last month. Hopefully I'll have some sewing projects to share by the end of this month, along with a few other things.
Meanwhile, here's a photo of my Aztec lily, which is a shy bloomer in comparison to the other two plants that dominate the space where it's planted.
♥️ ♥️ ♥️
Title: The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick
Author: Mallory O'Meara
Genre: Non-Fiction
About the Book...
Among the most recognizable of the classic movie monsters is the Creature from 1954's The Creature from the Black Lagoon, but what most people don't realize or choose to contest is that it's creator was a woman named Milicent Patrick. With little to start with, Mallory O'Meara set out on a personal journey to learn more about Patrick and the incredible part this largely forgotten woman played in Hollywood history.
What I Think...
This book is what I'd refer to as casual non-fiction, meaning that it's more like someone telling their friend about something with the book taking the reader on the journey of the research process and then sharing the discoveries. I tend not to care for this sort of book, though I get that in this case this style is in part due to the personal importance to O'Meara, who is a screenwriter and producer of monster movies, of Patrick's role in designing the Creature and overall the importance of Patrick being a woman in a male dominated career setting.
With that in mind, I did thoroughly enjoy the portions that were written in a more traditional sense and especially loved reading about the making of The Creature from the Black Lagoon and the tours Patrick went on to promote it. Not knowing much about the people behind the scenes, I also liked reading about what her job entailed and found learning about her personal life to be interesting, though sad.
While it's clear that O'Meara did her research and does present the reader with a great deal about Patrick, the primary downsides were all the personal asides. I found the tangents about present day sexism in Hollywood to be rather distracting from the overall text and along with most of the footnotes, which were almost entirely personal commentary.
To Sum it All Up...
An interesting look at Milicent Patrick's life and the heyday of Hollywood horror movies, but with a lot of additional commentary that I felt detracted from the overall focus on Milicent Patrick and O'Meara's quest to learn about who she was. ♥️
Title: Giraffes on Horseback Salad
Authors: Salvador Dalí adapted by Josh Frank with Tim Heidecker
Illustrator: Manuella Pertega
Genre: Graphic Novel, Film History, Fiction, and Non-Fiction (bits and pieces of each)
About the Book...
In the 1930's, Surrealist Salvador Dalí and actor Harpo Marx met in Paris striking up a friendship that would ultimately inspire Dalí to write a Surrealist script staring Harpo and including his brothers. In 1937, this script was presented to Louis B. Mayer of MGM Pictures by Dalí and Harpo, but was not well revived and was left to history.
It was this script that Josh Frank set out to track down and present in the form of a graphic novel, presenting several "Shorts" and a "Newsreel" that trace its history, the "Feature Presentation" which is a love story between a man named Jimmy and the Woman Surreal, and an "Exhibition" that follows showing pages from Dalí's notebooks and concept art for the creation of this book.
What I Think...
I don't generally read graphic novels, so I can't really compare this to anything and considering its basis I'm not sure I would be able to anyway because the story is so unique.
I really loved the breakdown of the book and that the table of contents was referred to a Program with each section being, as described above, a part of a moviegoer's experience in the 1930's.
As expected, the story is all over the place encompassing classic Marx Brothers' humor, mostly from Groucho and Chico, and then having dreamlike and sometimes near nightmarish quality as far as the rest of the story is concerned. Interestingly, Harpo who is "cast" as Jimmy has dialogue throughout the "film," which I was having a hard time imagining, since the automatic thing that comes to mind with him lack of talking and a lot of honking.
The artwork is incredibly surreal and in some cases is overwhelming, but it really captures the nature of the story. Parts of it are in monotone, whereas other portions, usually those involving the Woman Surreal, are brightly colored adding to the zany nature of what's occurring.
To Sum it All Up...
A truly bizarre and absurd book, as expected in that Dali's script is the source for it and that it was written with the Marx Brothers in mind, that is not for everyone, but that is well worth the read if you're interested in surrealism, Dali, or the Marx Brothers. ♥️
