#46: Books that Inspired Walt Disney - A Discussion with Jim Korkis

Book of the Mouse Club

Walt Disney once said, "There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on treasure island." Like us, Walt was inspired by books and enjoyed reading. If not, we would not have Disney’s animated Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, or 101 Dalmatians nor live action films Swiss Family Robinson, Pollyanna, or 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Walt learned the power of storytelling from books and brought them to life in his films and theme park. On this episode, hosts Courtney and Emily are joined again by Jim Korkis to talk about the books that inspired Walt Disney to become a master storyteller.

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Jim Korkis resource links:

Theme Park Press Author Page

Amazon Books Page

Cartoon Research Animation Anecdotes webpage

Mouseplanet.com

Some Books Mentioned by Jim in this Episode:

Voices on the Wind: Polynesian Myths and Chants by Katharine Luomala (1955) (That Rolly Crump used as a reference to create the tikis and the legends in the outside garden of the Enchanted Tiki Room and that Brendon Kleya used when he designed Trader Sams at Disneyland and Walt Disney World)

Decorative Art of Victoria’s Era by Frances Lichten (1950) (That Ken Anderson used to design the exterior of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion and Harper Goff used to design the exterior of Disneyland's Main Street City Hall and one surprising image that influenced the exterior of an attraction at WDW.)

Victor Gruen’s The Heart of Our Cities: The Urban Crisis and Cure (1964) that inspired the creation of EPCOT. Walt would carry a copy of this book around with him the last two years of his life.

Leonard Maltin's The Disney Films

Animated Cartoons: How They are Made, Their Origin and Development By EG Lutz from Applewood Books (the reproduced the book recently with the original cover and dust jacket as the 1920 edition)