A new book about Carl Barks coming soon

[John Pannozzi]

Just read about this at Cartoon Brew:

http://www.upress.state.ms.us/catalog/spring2006/carl_barks_disney.html

[Brundledan]

"Andrae argues that Barks's oeuvre presents a vision strikingly different from the Disney ethos. Barks's central theme is a critique of modernity. His tales offer a mordant satire of Western imperialism and America's obsession with wealth, success, consumerism, and technological mastery, offering one of the few communal, ecological visions in popular culture."

Gag. Not another one of these....

-Dan

[Debbie]

I like Carl Barks' work, but not because it's "a mordant satire of Western imperialism and America's obsession with wealth, success, consumerism, and technological mastery"...Barks had an entertaining way of writing a story, usually complimented with some of the best artwork in funny animal stories. Barks obviously took his work seriously, but not nearly as seriously as Thomas Andrae does. His description of the stories would steer me away from them, if I hadn't read them before. Do books like this help or hinder publishers like Gemstone, who are no doubt trying to get more than academic types to read Disney Comics?

[Jon Cooke]

Gag. Not another one of these....

-Dan

I have to agree... the Barks book does sound pretty boring. :scrooge:

On the other hand, the book about the history of Walt Disney Records that Jerry plugs sounds interesting.


-Jon

[Andrae]

Thank you for reviewing my new book on Carl Barks. But isn't it a bit precipitous to evaluate it without ever seeing it? I wrote the book to appeal both to an academic and non-academic audience. I did an extensive biography of Barks, much in his own words, and related his stories to events happening in his life. i also tried to set his stories in the historical context in which they occurred.

The book uncovers a lot of new information about Barks' work that I think that fans will be interested in. Did you know that "Sherrif of Bullet Valley" was inspired by a Hopalong Cassidy film, "lost in the Andes" was based upon an unproduced Disney cartoon, or that the location of Scrooge's money bin was inspired by a real-life tycoon who lived in the same city as Barks? The book also details Barks' meetings with Walt Disney, and Barks' role in creating the Donald Duck we are familair with today. I hope that you will take a look at the book when it appears. You might be surprised.


Thomas Andrae

[David Gerstein]

I'll second that. I hope everyone gives Thomas' Barks book (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578068584/sr=1-1/qid=1146502394/ref=sr_1_1/102-7200484-5848103?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books) a chance.
Thomas has long been a mentor of mine, and his groundbreaking research and helpful aid helped me uncover some of the rare items and information I presented in Gemstone's Good Housekeeping book (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1888472065/sr=1-1/qid=1146502270/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7200484-5848103?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books). I'm quite looking forward to the Barks analysis and to several other volumes Thomas has in the works (an exciting study of Disney shorts' storyboard art, for instance).

[Duck Dodgers]

I'll second that. I hope everyone gives Thomas' Barks book (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1578068584/sr=1-1/qid=1146502394/ref=sr_1_1/102-7200484-5848103?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books) a chance.
Thomas has long been a mentor of mine, and his groundbreaking research and helpful aid helped me uncover some of the rare items and information I presented in Gemstone's Good Housekeeping book (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1888472065/sr=1-1/qid=1146502270/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7200484-5848103?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=books). I'm quite looking forward to the Barks analysis and to several other volumes Thomas has in the works (an exciting study of Disney shorts' storyboard art, for instance).

Aw, come on..you know the truth, David...Let's YOU write a book about Barks and everyone here will buy it!;)

Of course, you could also highlight his work at Disney and his unfinished projects at the Studio. As well as his non-Disney work. Something like 500-600 pages on Carl Barks would be a great read...if written by a great writer like you. I really enjoyed your style in "Mickey and the Gang"!

[David Gerstein]

Of course, you could also highlight [Barks'] work at Disney and his unfinished projects at the Studio.You'll find a lot of this, too, in Thomas' upcoming storyboard book, Andrea.

And hey... thanks for the kind words about my writing. But you can't convince me that I'd be a better man for this project than Thomas. I grew up reading Thomas' great scholarship in The Carl Barks Library and Mickey Mouse in Color, and I learned much of what I know about Barks from him. I respect his work the same way that, I guess, you respect mine.
Please take my advice— Thomas deserves every bit of the respect you afford me, if not more. Thomas is a person I admired as a youth and am honored to have as a colleague today.

[Robert Hutching]

Personally I'm stoked about the book. Even if it is for "academic types," as someone wrote, aren't most of us on this page more or less academics? Aren't most of us interested in the behind-the-scenes stuff? Why would we be writing on this page if we weren't? Besides which, as David points out, Andrae has been around in the world of Disney; almost surely something he writes will be of value.

[Thad]

The book should be an interesting read. I'm looking forward to it!