Disney Historians Didier Ghez and JB Kaufman to Sign Autographs at D23 Expo

Disney historians Didier Ghez and JB Kaufman will both be present at D23 Expo from Friday to Sunday at the Hyperion Historical Alliance-Ryman Arts booth (210E) to autograph their books and monographs.

  • Didier Ghez's new hard-cover, fully-illustrated monograph, The Origins of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures will be released exclusively at the Expo.
  • Due to supply chain issues, only 75 advance copies will be available during the Expo. If you want to get your copy before November / December this will be the only place to do so.
  • Ghez provided descriptions of the monograph’s five chapters:
    • “The first chapter deals with the genesis of the True-Life Adventures: the research trip to Maine in 1938 during the making of Bambi. (It includes never-seen-before photographs of the trip and a first-person account of it!)“
    • “The second chapter focuses on Disney's educational projects during WWII (in a lot more detail than what we knew until now).“
    • “The third chapter covers Al and Elma Milotte's one-year-long trip to Alaska and quotes from their correspondence and recently rediscovered autobiography.”
    • “The fourth chapter gives information about the roads not taken: the early shelved True-Life Adventures.”
    • “Finally, the fifth chapter tells the story of the making of the first of the True-Life Adventures: ‘Seal Island.’”
  • At the HHA booth guests will also be able to get copies of:
    • J.B. Kaufman's monograph about "The Making of Walt Disney's Fun and Fancy Free" (only 40 copies remain)
    • Previous issues of the "Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual" journal
    • Copies of the newly-released "2021/2022 Hyperion Historical Alliance Annual"

What they’re saying:

  • Disney historian Didier Ghez: "I am very, very proud of the new monograph and consider its content to be quite revolutionary. It is the very first time this story is being told; most of the sources I used had never been accessed before (that includes the papers of artist Holling C. Holling, the lost autobiography of Al and Elma Milotte and much more); and most of the 100+ illustrations are seen in book form for the very first time.”