New Silly Symphonies book

[Sean Gaffney]

I just got my copy of the book Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A companion to the Classic Cartoon series, by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman. I had happened to search to see if it was available yet last week and saw Indiana University Press was finally selling it. It's an expensive hardcover, $50 with shipping.

It is also worth every penny. It just arrived, so I haven't had a chance to pore through it yet, but even a cursory glance can tell you it's an amazing piece of cartoon scholarship. It's 252 pages, with an intro and detailed filmography.

There are many, many fantastic photos, mostly taken from the cartoons themselves. The filmography goes as far as to say how much each short cost, the length (in feet), its debut date, and what movies it played in front of.

It is, in short, a must for any fan of Disney cartoons. I can't wait to leap into it in detail. :mickey:

[Mac]

I've been after this book for ages. I've been waiting for it to become available on Amazon, but I guess I may have to get it from somewhere else as I'm not sure they're ever going to see it. How much discussion is there of individual cartoons? I understand the bulk of the book is the filmography (which looks really interesting because of all the extra information that's included), but I especially like reading stories about the cartoons. Things like how indvidual shorts developed, abandoned ides, how the cartoons were received by audiences and by Walt himself. Is there much of that in the book?

[Sean Gaffney]

I've read more of the book now. The first 50 pages or so is a very detailed history of the Silly Symphonies, with a lot of very interesting information. They do discuss the cartoons a great deal... Who Killed Cock Robin, for example, gets a lot of space as it was one of the Silly Symphonies that 'broke the mold' they were using at the time.

There's not too many opinions about the cartoons themselves, except when a cartoon is notably fabulous. It's a loving but factual book. There are a few things I was surprised not to see more of (The Golden Touch was not touched upon as much as I thought it would be), but I recommend it to all cartoon fans. The love shown to the subject matter is evident throughout the book.

[FleischerFan]

Ironically, Russell Merritt was a professor of mine back during my college years. Glad to know he's still writing.

Is this book available anyplace else?

[Cartman]

That does sound like an interesting book.

[Mac]

Thanks for answering, Sean. I'm gonna try and get this book as soon as I can.

[AFilmLA]

You can order it now from Indiana University Press (http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=54645), or if you are in Europe, from this Italian book site (http://www.ibs.it/). The original publisher is La Cineteca del Friuli in Italy. Fear not: the book is in English. I've had it since Nov. 9th and found it very well researched, with lots of info. Not a lot of illustrations other than frame grabs, but if you want to know data, like who did what, this sets a high standard for those who write the "compendium works" for the Mickey, Donald etc. series...


--Hans (http://afilmla.blogspot.com/)