PUBLICATIONS

Among the mission charters of the Hyperion Historical Alliance is the aim to deepen research relationships among scholars, historians, archivists, and other professionals exploring the history of animation, themed spaces, and outdoor entertainment, the historical figure of Walt Disney, and the overall work accomplished at Walt Disney Productions/The Walt Disney Company over the past 100 years (up to but not including the most recent 15 years).

One of the ways the HHA fulfills its mission is through two primary publications that enrich the research database and historical record of Disney history. The goal of these publications is to be as historically accurate as possible, necessitating the thorough checking and rechecking of information sources, as well as the identification of inaccuracies and debunking of widely held urban legends and myths. Both publications are produced in association with Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California, and are available to the general public on Amazon.

HYPERION HISTORICAL ALLIANCE MONOGRAPH SERIES
These are single-topic, hardcover, full-color publications that each feature an in-depth history and overview on one particular subject (typically an esoteric topic that hasn’t received previous historical attention), authored by one or two HHA members, and heavily illustrated with photos and art that, in most cases, has not been previously published.
 

Walt Disney & El Grupo in Latin America
by Ted Thomas, J.B. Kaufman, and Didier Ghez.

 

In August 1941, an unlikely group of travelers left the United States and journeyed to Latin America. The travelers were a group of artists and writers from The Walt Disney Studios, headed by Walt himself, engaged by the U.S. government to conduct a two-month goodwill tour of the region. The party, self-nicknamed “El Grupo,” went far beyond its basic diplomatic mission, gathering a wealth of artistic and musical impressions which would later be used to produce new Disney films with a Latin theme.

In this sumptuously illustrated Monograph, three Disney historians pool decades of their research to reconstruct a detailed day-by-day account of El Grupo’s trip. Drawing extensively upon Disney archival sources as well as the travelers’ first-hand accounts, the authors have supplemented the historical record with hundreds of photos, many from recently discovered private collections. In these pages, El Grupo’s adventure comes to life once again.

 
The Origins of Walt Disney’s True-Life Adventures
by Didier Ghez.

How did Walt Disney, an artist known the world over for his animated cartoons and features, decide, in 1948, to produce the first of the True-Life Adventures, a live-action educational featurette about Alaskan seals? To understand how and why Seal Island was produced, this monograph travels back to 1938 during the making of Bambi, and also unearths some of the abandoned True-Life Adventures.

Relying on new archival research, never-accessed-before correspondence, and the recently rediscovered autobiography and diaries of cinematographers Alfred and Elma Milotte, historian Didier Ghez covers all this and more in this richly illustrated, groundbreaking monograph.


The Making of Walt Disney’s Fun and Fancy Free
by J.B. Kaufman.
The behind-the-scenes story of Walt Disney’s Fun and Fancy Free, a 1947 “package feature” composed of two different stories, Bongo and Mickey and the Beanstalk. Both were originally planned as separate feature-length films in the early 1940s; both were shelved during the war and resumed production in 1946, then combined in a single colorful package with animation by some of the all-time great Disney animators. Here is the full story of the film, profusely illustrated with sketches, paintings, and photos, many never previously published.

HYPERION HISTORICAL ALLIANCE ANNUAL

An annual, multi-author, anthology featuring extensively researched essays written by selected HHA members showcasing various Disney history topics.
The 2023 Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual includes these topics:
  • Woolie Reitherman Needs to Fly: A Disney Artist Goes to Work – Lucas O. Seastrom
  • Oswald the Laemmle Rabbit – Tom Klein
  • Walt Disney and The Life of Hans Christian Anderson – Didier Ghez
  • 1945-46: Edgar Bergen and Disney’s Story Department – Didier Ghez
  • Direct from the Islands: The Polynesian Magic of Pete Seanoa – Nathan Eick
The 2021-22 Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual includes these topics:

  • Bianca Majolie in the Story Department – Didier Ghez

  • Drawn to Disney: La Verne Harding and Fred Moore – Tom Klein

  • Walt Kelly in the Story Department – Didier Ghez

  • Walt Disney Left His (Post)Mark on the World – Maggie Evenson

  • Presidents, the Nixon Tapes, and the Disney Parks – Bethanee Bemis

The 2020 Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual  spotlights these topics:

  • Amazing Grace in Disney’s Story Department – Didier Ghez

  • Disney Animator Betty Smith-Totten: She Wouldn’t Take “No” For An Answer! – Mindy Johnson

  • A Practically Perfect Premiere – Kevin M. Kern

  • A Preview of Disney’s World – Matt Moryc

  • Wise Dwarfs and Thrifty Pigs: The Canadian Bond Trailers, 1941–42 – J.B. Kaufman

  • Mickey’s Revivals (1978–2018) – Didier Ghez

The inaugural 2019 Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual features these six essays:

  • The Best of Bill Garity’s Diary – Didier Ghez

  • Jack Cutting, an Artist Abroad – Jim Hollifield

  • Production Innovations at The Walt Disney Studios in the Mid-1930s – Garry Apgar

  • Ward Kimball and the Making of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – Todd James Pierce

  • The Firehouse Five Plus Two in 1950 – Lucas O. Seastrom

  • The Music Behind The Little Mermaid – David Bossert

The 2019, 2020, 2021-2022 and 2023 HHA Annual are available on Amazon and the the Monograph Series is available at Stuart Ng Books.