Once Upon a Time: Walt Disney: The Sources of Inspiration for the Disney Studios

by Bruno Girveau

Here Disney fans will discover the fairy tales behind Sleeping Beauty and Snow White; they'll learn that Pinocchio's village was modeled on the medieval city of Rothenburg in Bavaria; that Bambi's forest took its inspiration from fifteenth-century Chinese painting; that Dumbo's bird's-eye views drew on the work of Grant Wood and Thomas Hart Benton. Finally, the book looks at the myriad ways in which Disney's products became source materials for modern and contemporary artists, including Prokofiev and Léopold Stokowski as well as Christian Boltanski, Bertrand Lavier, Peter Saul, and Gary Baseman. A wonderful sourcebook for Disney enthusiasts, this colorful volume offers a unique perspective on the often-overlooked links between highbrow and popular culture

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Film

360 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2007

Reviews

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous selection of art. There's some really cool Disney stuff represented, particularly study models of various characters. The chapter on Destino, the never realized collaboration between Disney and Dali, is certainly worth a look.

[inhonoredglory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've had an interesting time with this book. (Personal rabbit trail coming up. Sorry LOL.) I borrowed it from the library before COVID, thought it was an OK book, but not too interesting. Then it stayed in my house for months while the libraries were closed and I got more interested in my Disney bio. And finally, when I started my art history project in school around September, I realized how valuable and incredible this book is as a resource and inspiration. When the libraries opened and I had to at long last return the book, I rushed to order it (from a UK shop, to avoid Amazon), it came just barely in time for me to finish my project. This book really delves deep into the historical artists, classic master illustrators and painters, who formed the backbone of Walt Disney's vision for the look and art of his films. He toured Europe and took back with him over 300 books for his studio to study and emulate. Walt aimed high in this medium; he aimed for art, and he prepared for it by studying the best of the visual craft, combining and indeed establishing the mythology of Americana with the tradition and mastery of the Old World.

This year, I've become fascinated with the absolute innovation and passion for the art of animation in Walt's early years, and this book just adds another layer of information and scholarly research that I couldn't get anywhere else. I've fallen in love with new artists and come to appreciate the incredible European and Asian influences in the early Disney films (especially that delicious German expressionism!). This book will be a warm and wonderful resource on my shelf, and an awesome reminder of how awesome it has been to study how relevant the Old Masters are to the early innovations in animation under Walt Disney.

[Dennis Lynch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great images, good historical references and analysis, dry and sometimes repetitive text.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of essays where people defend the idea of the work of Walt Disney being included in a museum display. The essays focus on artistic inspiration for Disney's work as well as showing how contemporary art can be influenced by Disney's iconic characters. Mostly pop art. I'm not overly interested in the art movement, so the last two essays didn't hold my interest very well.

The book focuses on work that was worked on while Disney was alive--focusing primarily on Snow White, Fantasia, and Pinocchio, but also including the Jungle Book as well as an entire essay about an unfinished collaboration with Salvador Dali.

At times, it felt like the words and images (which includes lovely reproductions of European paintings, images from old movies, and several stills from Disney cartoons) could have been matched up better, as sometimes the relevant image will appear pages after it is mentioned in the text.

If you're a fan of old Disney cartoons, do check this out. I am probably going to rewatch Fantasia soon.

[Gaia Pulignano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un libro sicuramente interessante su chi ne vuole sapere un po' in più sul "dietro le quinte" disney, sui primi artisti degli studios e sulle influenze dell'arte europea sui film che sono diventati capolavori senza tempo.

[Em · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written to accompany an exhibition shown in Paris and Montreal during 2006-2007. It starts by defending the decision to dedicate a proper art exhibition to Disney, and then goes through the sources that may have influenced artists working for Disney, and Disney himself.

The pictures are beautiful, but it's difficult because they almost never match up exactly with the text. So the text talks about an artist's style or a particular work, but a picture wouldn't be shown until few pages later (if at all), and by then, I'd forgotten what had been said and had to flick back to read it again. A bit frustrating.

It's been so long since I've seen the films referenced (Fantasia, Snow White and Pinocchio being the main ones, but it covers the animated films up until The Jungle Book) that I probably didn't get as much out of it as possible. I most enjoyed the chapter talking about Disney's film with Salvador Dali, Destino.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good review of the sources for the Disney movies.