The Futuristic Prologues and Lost Promises of Horizons

Horizons? Get over it!

There is a contingent of Disney fans who feel that the traditionalists are too stubbornly stuck in the past and cynical about the company’s current endeavors. Of course, not everybody can mainline pixie dust into their veins and accept every building, roller coaster and meet-and-greet with disinfected joy. I’ve learned that this tug of war is ultimately a pointless battle. But it did get me thinking: Why does the removal of Horizons epitomize our chagrin perhaps more than any other extinct attraction in Walt Disney World?

Looking Back at Tomorrow

As a 10-year-old in 1984, the blue sky was truly the limit. Our society embraced this new age of prosperity (whether actual or imagined) and growth, an escape for our parents from the dark cloud of Vietnam and the tumultuous battles for civil rights. We filled our homes with a new revolution of toys and gadgets. The first generation of video game consoles space invaded our homes and the earliest of personal computers started proliferating on many desktops. Movies were boundlessly hopeful and charming, pointing us towards a prosperous future, even if sometimes wrought with Stormtroopers and Biff Tannen. The music of the day reflected the joy and progress of life, set to futuristic-sounding beats and keyboards and reinventing bubble gum by way of MTV. If you grew up in a good home in a good neighborhood in the 1980s, you could really be insulated from the horrors in life that awaited you. Down the block from the house I lived in for nearly 25 years, I could clearly see the Twin Towers looming over a safe New York City skyline. The images, soundtracks and technologies surrounding us in that era all seemed to be leading us towards a new millennium full of wonder and revolution.

When I first walked into EPCOT Center in 1984, my imagination had a cinematic foundation of Star Wars and Star Trek movies, Transformers cartoons, and even old Jetsons reruns, all forming this stylized idea of the future. EPCOT Center would largely contribute to these fanciful futuristic dreams, through the architecture and technology of Future World and most specifically at the park’s pavilion dedicated to life in the future: Horizons. EPCOT put these limitless dreams within specific and realistic borders. If space battles and time machines were the blatant fiction of the future, at Horizons the future formed itself around the structure that we lived our daily lives in. And it’s unadulterated message about that future? If we can dream it, we can do it.

New Horizons

Horizons catapulted from the Tomorrowland idealism in the Carousel of Progress’s final act, now fully formed with a more progressive view of “tomorrow” and expanding on that concept extensively. Other Future World pavilions like Universe of Energy, World of Motion and The Land had their feet firmly planted in the past and present, while exploring certain technologies that would lead those concepts into the future. But Horizons unabashedly ran into the arms of the future and refused to leave.

The ride was a celebration of a 21^st century life that fully realized all of Future World’s themes and technologies. We observed the city life of our kindly narrators and from there visited friends and family in the desert, sea, and outer space, learning all about trends in agriculture, mariculture, communications, science and other lifestyle topics through the prism of these vastly diverse settings. The storyline that transitioned between the settings was blatantly hopeful and awash in early ‘80s aw-shucks narration, but it was also incredibly fluid and almost hyperactive. Horizons was like Future World’s big epic film compared to other pavilions’ television documentaries. It quite simply wanted to go everywhere in 15 minutes.

Horizons was also an incredible testament to the theme park attraction ideals set forth by Walt Disney himself. The ride technology, dialogue, whimsy and wonder all very much epitomized what Walt and his Imagineers successfully perpetuated in the ‘50s and ‘60s. In the 1980s, much of Walt Disney World’s ride development happened in EPCOT Center so attractions like Horizons, Spaceship Earth and World of Motion were the next generation of Disney dark rides, an evolution from favorites like the Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Carousel of Progress. Eventually, the audio-animatronics-populated dark-ride format would be neglected in favor of hybrid attractions (like Splash Mountain and Muppet*Vision 3D) and abandoned almost entirely with Disney-MGM Studios, which relied heavily on stunt shows and live performances. EPCOT Center was really Walt Disney’s last shining beacon.

As we all know, Horizons never got to see the 21^st century as it was closed in 1999 after many years of uncertain status. Disney had already begun its long march towards refurbishing Future World into a fresh new land to help invigorate attendance. World of Motion gave way to Test Track, Journey Into Imagination was unnecessarily dumbed down, and most other Future World pavilions grew stale due to either neglect, the restraints of corporate sponsorship, and/or the company’s lack of comprehension of the future. Horizons was replaced in the new millennium by Mission: SPACE, a motion simulator thrill ride almost entirely devoid of educational substance. This ride has been infamous in the resulting intense motion sickness and vertigo guests have left with upon their arrival back on Earth.

This was no longer EPCOT Center, this was Epcot, where the future was no longer about the destination but about the whizz-bang ultra-cool journey getting there!

Alas, life certainly imitated the arts as the new millennium has been wrought with economic, climatic, and moral recession. While there have been significant advances in certain technologies, progress in many important areas has been stunted by politics and corporate control. Ultimately the guardians at the gates of health, energy, agriculture, communication and transportation have inhibited their own growth due to political and economic regulations. The best example of this has been our inability to develop viable alternative energy sources while fossil fuel has not only skyrocketed in price but proven to be a more significant detriment to the environment. Also, the most notable advances in agriculture have been the genetic modification of food and factory farming (seen by many as a veritable crime of morality).

The technological advances that have worked are certainly pointing us in the right direction. It’s no longer unrealistic to imagine a world of video communication, portable computing or electric transportation. In many areas, people have rightly chosen to eschew a futuristic aesthetic in honor of classic concepts, such as Victorian homes, classic cars, or reading a print book. But you see a lot of that ‘80s future aesthetic creeping into everything from Apple’s hardware designs to sports car designs to newly-constructed skyscrapers. Still, as far as I understood it, by 2011 we were supposed to have been much further along than just plasma TVs, hybrid cars and iPads. This isn’t quite the future I was promised.

Robert McCall's "The Prologue and The Promise" mural from Horizons

The Prologue and the Promise

It’s ironic that we have to dig into our far flung past to find a truly progressive representation of the future. The past is prologue, they say. It’s just that maybe we have to come to the realization that it’s a prologue of a story that will not end during our own lives. Maybe it’s time to stop putting a definitive number on the future. The 21^st Century! The New Millennium! By now we know you couldn’t take a time machine made out of a DeLorean to 2015 and see flying cars and hoverboards. You probably won’t even find that in 2115.

So maybe Horizons isn’t reflective of the Future we thought would be here by now or even one that’s just around the corner, but it still showed us the endless possibilities of any future and it had the capacity to be updated to reflect those very few real technological advances we’ve actually had in the last 30 years. The short OMNIMAX film could have easily been updated, shifting its focus from the micro-processor and at-the-time overindulgent “computerized view of Earth” to a more relevant and cinematically-enhanced look towards the future beyond right now. While a lot of the visions of the future in the scenes of the ride are still very progressive, it might not have taken much to enhance them with better wardrobe and new tools of the future (i.e. tablets and smartphones). Narration certainly could have been tweaked and segments of the ride could have been updated. Ultimately the ride could have either evolved as a practical view of the future or kept as an entertaining time capsule of EPCOT Center during its 1980s heyday.

But the most important thing was the Horizons could’ve continued to be an embodiment of EPCOT’s core principles. It could have been a stubborn hold-out for a future we all still yearn for, even if the dark passage of time has led many of us to no longer believe in that future. Because there would still be 10-year-olds with an unwritten future emerging from that ride and deciding they want to help change the world, to help get the world to that future.

Instead, now they leave that same space and head right for the bathroom to vomit.

New Fears at The Old Haunt

When I visited the Haunted Mansion on October 4th, I didn't realize I would be one of the last who got to see the infamous tombstones that align the queue outside of the Mansion. When I returned just a few days later, walls were up along the queue blocking the tombstones. By this point, the Twitterverse and Blogosphere were already lit up by mortified souls, with rumors of an "interactive queue" to replace these legendary tombstones. Why tinker with something perfectly in theme with the attraction while also a long-standing tribute to Imagineers?

Sadly it seems in keeping with the odd dichotomy that is the Haunted Mansion in Walt Disney World. The attraction has largely stayed true to its origins, a cornerstone of the Magic Kingdom that continues to delight fans new and old for almost 40 years now. When they've done a refurbishment, like the recent one done a few years ago, it was only to enhance the pre-existing effects. It's not like they integrated Eddie Murphy into the storyline!

However, the tombstone removal points towards a need for unnecessary meddling by the current regime. In the old days, part of the experience in the queue was the fear of the unknown that awaited inside. With the gothic mansion looming overhead, and the sound effects luring guests in, the patience on line only lent itself to the haunted theme. Are we so distracted now that we need to be entertained by some interactive games that have already proven to be mediocre enhancements elsewhere? There used to be interactivity in the Haunted Mansion queues: the cast.

Which brings me to my next, sad point. I can still recall my Dad's delight with how dry and spooky the cast members were when my family visited regularly in the '80s and early '90s and it became a highlight for me. "Please drag your bodies to the dead center of the room," a cast member would exclaim with sinister dryness. Outside, the cast were an extension of the fear of what horrors awaited inside. But this seems to have gone completely by the wayside, replaced by cast members who, while still helpful and professional, seem to have traded in the act for a requisite role as an employee going through the motions. I thought the whole point of calling them "cast" members was to imply that they were part of the experience. The problem is that them seemed more likely part of the cast of Clerks than the Haunted Mansion. I assure you, we're haunted.

This all unfortunately undermines what is still a very vital and brilliant Walt Disney World experience. The Haunted Mansion has been there since Day 1 and as I mentioned earlier, is still very much the same ride as it has always been. You can't say that about Space Mountain or Pirates of the Caribbean or it's a small world. It epitomizes what Walt Disney World has always been to me: an experience that transcends carnival rides and amusement parks. As a child, I was horrified at the prospect of a haunted mansion simply because I only ever knew them to be an attraction who's sole purpose was to scare the living daylights out of its visitors. But as we all know, Marc Davis wouldn't have it that way. As a kid, I got over those initial fears and couldn't wait to revisit the Haunted Mansion. Now that's not to say that it gave me no fear…but it gave me enough delight to overcome those fears.

The Haunted Mansion became one of the most anticipated experiences on my recent trip as it had been a long five years since I enjoyed the attraction. As is requisite for certain rides, I made sure to experience the Haunted Mansion both in the daytime and at night. There isn't a whole lot to say here that hasn't been covered ad infinitum. It is very much still the attraction I have loved for nearly 30 years.

I also found the enhanced effects to be perfectly in spirit (pun intended) with the origins of the attraction. The ride felt sharper and enhanced, as if I had traded up from VHS all the way to Blu Ray. The more significant enhancements were wonderful and increased the supernatural quotient nicely. And Paul Frees, as the Ghost Host, has never sounded better.

Will the Pet Cemetery be replaced by a Dead Princess meet-and-greet?

Recent history has shown that no attraction is completely free from major refurbishment so in some ways we are lucky to have Frees still narrating and the rooms at the Haunted Mansion still telling the same storyline. Certainly in the grand scheme of things, the lack of cast charisma and the queue meddling won't affect the actual ride experience. But they were always a very enjoyable extension of that experience and its frustrating to see these things changed or dumbed down.

Why tinker with something just to tinker? There's a reason why lines still happily form outside the old haunt. The substance of the original ride was so perfect that it never needed changing, from the front gate to the exit. Apparently some foolish mortals felt otherwise.

Fabled Tables: Tales of Food and Wine, Volume 3

Epcot's International Food & Wine Festival offers a lot of marketplaces for countries not often represented even by the most ethnically-diverse areas of America. Whereas at some marketplaces, you can sample foods you may have had elsewhere or simply know of, many of them offer treats people have never heard of. It was fun mixing in the tried and true with the varied and new.

SOUTH AFRICA

While I didn't have the capacity to try any of the food offerings at South Africa, Mrs. Disney Folly thoroughly enjoyed the La Capra Sauvignon Blanc. Perhaps the one she enjoyed the most outside of New Zealand.

SINGAPORE

My wife has an allergy to wheat but was able to swap in Jasmine Rice and Curry for the Singapore Noodle Salad in the Shrimp Cake offering, which was indicative of the type of helpfulness we were accommodated by Disney cast members. The shrimp was perfectly cooked and very tasty. The rice made a perfect complement to the dish.

Singapore's Shrimp Cake with a Jasmine Rice side substitute

AUSTRALIA

The much-hyped Grilled Lamb Chop with Roasted Potato Salad at the Australia marketplace didn't fully live up to my expectations. The lamb had great flavor to it but was more fat than meat (and I say this as a connoisseur of lamb!) Also the potato salad just tasted like someone left roaster potatoes to the cold.

The Lamington dessert dish was a chocolate-covered butter cake. What they don't tell you is that the chocolate is covered with coconut. You'd think this would be advertised as many people are not a fan of shredded coconut. The cake texture was indeed buttery and heavy, but ultimately the cake was undone by the overuse of coconut.

BELGIUM

While it seemed the waffles and the beer were the obvious favorites at the Belgium marketplace (a Food and Wine rookie), I went for a lighter fare in the Steamed Mussels with Roasted Garlic Cream. Mussels are typically prepared in a plainer fashion or with the requisite marinara sauce so I was impressed with the garlic cream preparation. It added a little substance to an otherwise quick and light bite. Smartly, the mussels came with a slice of garlic bread to dip in the leftover sauce.

I also liked the Belgium marketplace layout. The stand was set off from the World Showcase walkway and surrounded by low tables and chairs (not the typical high, standing tables around the lagoon). The area had a lot of space and room to breathe.

FRANCE

France provided one of the absolute foodie highlights for me my entire trip with the Braised Short Ribs in Cabernet with Mashed Potatoes. When I was handed what looked like some sort of cake, I corrected the cast member about my order, which they reiterated the dish in fact was. The short ribs were actually housed inside of the mashed potatoes. The cabernet marinade gave both a deep tasty flavor and the presentation made the dish a joy to eat. It was also quite filling. Even a few weeks later, I can still recall the memory of sitting in a crowded French square enjoying this newfound favorite dish.

Braised Short Ribs in Cabernet with Mashed Potatoes, a Disney Folly favorite!

Pixel Hollow: A spire to great heights...

Being at the parks in the early hours with an October sky overhead created a lot of light and shadow issues with pictures during my recent trip. A lot of buildings and scenery were difficult to photograph at certain angles until later in the day. Unfortunately you had then trade sunlight issues for crowds. One trick I like to do is to get the sun behind an object and utilize it to my advantage as I did here. It's mostly overwrought symbolism but it works for me. The spiritual part of me can look at this and say it's Walt keeping an eye on his World. And the practical part of me can continue to applaud the Imagineers who constructed this beautiful land and all of its wonderful buildings, allowing us to take photographs that can mean so many things to every one of us.

Fabled Tables: Tales of Food and Wine, Volume 2

The Mexico marketplace stands astride the iconic pyramid of the Mexico pavilion.

Epcot's International Food & Wine Festival provides marketplaces for countries who are not only foreign to World Showcase, but those who have had a home at Epcot for years. That said, there are surprising tastes to be found at all. I actually took in the following three countries as a sort of appetizer run before lunch at Via Napoli. One of the best things about this Festival is that while having a taco, pork dumplings and a lettuce wrap before pizza might get me shunned from my Italian family, it was perfectly in keeping with the spirit of the Food & Wine Festival!

MEXICO

There is no shortage of restaurants representing Mexican cuisine at Epcot, with one counter service and two table service restaurants, including one (San Angel Inn) which I dined at during our recent trip. That said, the fare represented at their kiosk at the Food & Wine Festival still offered a nice change of pace from the various aforementioned options.

The Taco de Chilorio was a filling and flavorful taco. A flour tortilla (soft and unwrapped) is filled with slow-cooked, marinated pork topped with an avocado sauce and red onions. Though a tricky dish to navigate whilst parked off the World Showcase walkway without a table, the taco was one of the more surprising items that I sampled during my trip. (And that is coming from an area of America with no shortage of authentic Mexican cuisine!)

My wife and I also shared the Conga Fruit Punch, a non-alcoholic frozen drink containing pineapple and orange flavoring. This drink was a particularly successful refreshment on one of the more hotter days of our trip. As someone who has cut out a lot of artificially-sweetened drinks in his diet, I was particularly impressed with the moderate amount of sweetness in the drink. Definitely a nice departure from the usual beverages and certainly a good respite for those seeking a mixed drink without the alcohol.

Pork dumplings

CHINA

I had originally planned on skipping China as I was mostly intent on sampling more exotic foods at the Festival. That said, I've never been one to pass up a good dumpling. Though, they're calling it by the more trending name, the Pork pot sticker. Though typically an appetizer, two pork dumplings are actually a pretty hearty dish. These were very tasty and an accessible treat for most people.

South Korea's Lettuce Wrap with Roasted Pork and Kimchi Slaw

SOUTH KOREA

South Korea is one of the debuts at this year's Food and Wine Festival. Of course, it was my first Festival so every kiosk was making its debut with me. I can happily report that it is nevertheless a great addition. Having had my fair share of ribs, short or otherwise, I skipped the tempting Barbecue Short Rib and went for the Lettuce Wraps with Roast Pork and Kimchi Slaw. If you are a connoisseur of well-cooked pork, I highly recommend this dish. For the uninitiated, Kimchi is a sort of pickled vegetable slaw. It's an incredibly popular Korean recipe and their most common side-dish. Fret not, while tasty and exotic, it's not a flavor that will turn off those easy scared by far off lands! (Though I do recommend you really try to situation yourself at a table for this dish as it's a tough one to tackle on the go.) This is another hearty and eclectic dish, with a subtle spicy kick.

And that's a Wrap!

Fabled Tables: Tales of Food and Wine, Volume 1

The Food & Wine Festival cake display outside of Wonders of Life.

Disney's Folly visited the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival this year for the first time. The festival celebrated its 15th anniversary with its usual assortment of marketplaces, demonstrations, seminars and other experiences. For me, though, it was an inaugural experience, not only for the festival but for visiting Walt Disney World outside of the summer months. Here is the first volume of my recollections of the festival.

For years, I'd heard what I could only imagine were tall tales of a familiar land in central Florida expanded to include kiosks serving beer, wine and assorted foots, as an accompaniment to pre-existing country pavilions. Epcot's International Food & Wine Festival has been going for 15 years strong but for most of that time, I was largely unaware of the joys contained within.

However, this year I knew that my planned trip to Walt Disney World would coincide with the Festival, something I'd been hoping to do for a few years now. I strategically booked reservations at an Epcot resort, the outstanding Yacht Club Resort, so we could be a mere stroll away from Epcot.

Hype and anticipation soon gave way to shock, and not necessarily the good kind. Arriving at Epcot early Saturday evening, we were met with a weekend crowd significantly sauced on hops, barley and fermented grapes. What have they done to my Epcot?! Awe-struck families galloping through World Showcase were replaced with overdressed hipsters and stumbling bumbling drunks.

Thankfully we realized this was more a byproduct of timing than anything else. Sure, the week would bring its collection of characters, but my wife and I navigated the Festival more adeptly on the weekdays, sampling a fair share of foods and a little bit of wine. (I am not a wine drinker.)

CHILE

We recently visited Costa Rica and had the opportunity to sample amazing shrimp ceviche. The shrimp ceviche dish at the Chile marketplace was tasty, but not quite as good as what I've had before. A little heavy on the onions and not tangy enough. Also, the shrimp was slightly overcooked.

My wife sampled the Concha y Toro Casillero del Diablo Sauvignon Blanc, and enjoyed it. However, she found it a step below some of the other Sauvignon Blanc wines.

Shrimp ceviche from Chile

BRAZIL

Brazil offered an interesting item in its grilled pork skewer with Farofa. Farofa is a toasted manioc flour mixture. The pork skewer is rolled in the flour turning it pale, not unlike the look of poultry when dredged in household white flour. The taste was very diverse, with the Farofa created a dry, crumbly exterior around the juicy, tasty pork inside. One of the more eclectic samplings I had at the Festival.

Brazil's Grilled Pork skewer dredged with Farofa and my camera flash.

Also on tap was the shrimp stew with coconut and lime. The stew had a very tropical flavor, and topped white rice quite well. The shrimp was also cooked effectively. Definitely a dish that would make well as a full meal.

ARGENTINA

Argentina provided one of the most dynamic dishes of my whole trip, the grilled beef skewer with chimichurri sauce and boniato puree. This was clearly a favorite dish among those I spoke with at the Festival and for good reason. The chimichurri sauce has a strong zest to it, in large part due to the seasonings and vinegar used to make the sauce. However it combined well with the beef and boniato puree. (Boniato is a sweet potato, though more related to the white potato than the orange yam.)

Disney's Folio: Two Guys Named Joe

It could be argued that no studio hosts a larger volume of famous personnel than Walt Disney Studios, and that is just talking about the Animation side of things. Sure, Pixar certainly added to that fame with its talented, award-winning and yet affable and ever-present crew. But you could still remove them from the equation and be left with a good number of famous names from the executives all the way down to the artists. This is perhaps best exemplified by Walt's Nine Old Men, distinguished and legendary animators, directors and eventual Imagineers, whose work not only defined the visuals of almost all of Disney's beloved early animated features but also its theme parks.

But the best ideas didn't always come from a Marc Davis or an Andrew Stanton or even Walt himself. John Canemaker's Two Guys Named Joe takes a look at two often-unheralded legends at Disney and Pixar Studios, who were at the core of many of those same aforementioned beloved animated features, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves all the way to WALL-E.

The Two Guys Named Joe are in fact Joe Ranft and Joe Grant. The irony of the title is that these are hardly your ordinary average Joes. Canemaker, a renowned animation historian himself, meticulously details the course of their lives and careers, both of which show that these were two of the most creative minds to ever walk Disney's halls. However, beyond those blue sky imaginations and boundless creativity, Grant and Ranft were divergent personalities, flawed in their own ways and who overcame their share of roadblocks in life and their careers.

Ranft's half of the book is very much a tribute to the art of storytelling and storyboarding. I always knew Ranft was a veritable wizard of storyboarding but I didn't realize his reach was so long and legendary. For a significant period of time, his craft was influencing Disney, Pixar and Tim Burton's Skellington Productions all at the same time. He maintained those relationships to the end, even after he became a full-time Pixar employee. That speaks volumes about the loyalty his colleagues felt towards him and how much his love for the art reciprocated.

Ranft had the unique perspective of having worked at Disney during it's lean, tumultuous pre-Renaissance era, and he was very often the casualty of that era's conflicted leadership. Canemaker and his sources don't pull any punches in describing the frustration at the studio, and specifically in Ranft's career at that point. (Interestingly enough, we later read that Grant had similar creative frustrations during his early years at the studio.)

Reading the sections revolving around the making of Cars makes me think of the movie in a different light. I always understood how much of a labor of love the project was for John Lasseter and respected his work in getting the film made. Whether or not you were a fan of the story or the performances, you certainly couldn't deny the pride and craft of the film. Now learning how much involvement Joe Ranft had makes me think of the film with added poignancy.

Joe Grant and Joe Ranft

Even if you don't know the name Joe Grant, there is no doubt that you know his work. From character design to story development, Grant was a driving creative force behind films such as Dumbo, Fantasia, Pinocchio, and Lady and the Tramp, and would later make key contributions to Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King, among others. Grant was one of Walt's key story guys

At the Character Model Department, Grant worked in a unique position which would garner some criticisms from colleagues. His (and colleague Dick Huemer's) success and certain freedoms they had at the Model Department irked those in Animation, a situation only exacerbated by their resistance to joining the animation strike in 1941. Grant also made some questionable maneuvers that didn't help his cause politically in the company, and with Walt. That said, there has never been a shortage of criticisms of the mood swings of Walt himself, no less his Nine Old Men. In fact, Grant himself had a long-standing feud with Ward Kimball, which the latter held to the bitter end.

As Grant seemed to take on the role of pariah, it might be easy to subscribe to those criticisms of him (however legitimate or illegitimate they may be) but there is no mistaking that the art he pushed for was on another playing level and seemed superior to what the studio was producing at the time. Canemaker shows that Grant was delivering innovative and artistic concepts at a time where Walt's attention was evolving from movies into TV and theme parks. As such, commerce often won out over art.

After Grant departed for greener pastures in 1949, he returned 40 years later right as the Disney Renaissance was lifting off. It's particularly enjoyable to read this familiar yet almost new personality of his in his elder years. A fearless, forward man who never stopped trying to improve a concept, Grant would walk into anybody's office to deliver an idea. I'm almost certain when you're done reading about the latter era of Joe Grant's career, you will admire his pluckiness amidst an atmosphere growing more and more corporate by the minute. Sadly, there aren't many characters like that anymore, in any industry.

Canemaker utilizes a vast collection of interviews, recollections, and quotes to help fill in the stories of his subjects, an especially admirable feat when you consider that Joe Grant's story began over 100 years ago. However, he never gets too heavy-handed in his storytelling, even when discussing Ranft's untimely death or the fountain of boundless youth that Grant seemed to drink from towards the twilight of his life. Canemaker recognizes the poignancy of the stories being told and, like a good historian, lets those stories unfold naturally and unadorned with overplayed sentiment or the syrupy

The book is surprisingly blunt and is certainly not sprinkled with pixie dust. Canemaker utilizes often-uncensored quotes and paints honest portraits of his subjects. This is often quite indicting of the Disney corporate culture as there is much criticism of how it intruded on the art itself. While this is mostly prevalent in the pre-Renaissance era of Disney animation, you'd be surprised at how much even Walt himself seemed to run off-track and missed out on a wealth of inspired ideas. On the other hand, the literal painting (and drawing) is a revelation in this book. Old photographs, storyboards, character designs and illustrations accompany the the words in very vivid detail. And many of these illustrations are not just of Disney characters or stories; many are caricatures of the artists drawn by themselves or of their colleagues. (I particularly enjoyed the extensive representation by John Musker, better known for his Renaissance-era directing.)

In telling the stories of Ranft and Grant, Canemaker has also provided a study on the art of storytelling in animation, whether it be through storyboarding, character designs, or getting to the core of a good story. Going all the way back to Snow White, there have been very few animated features that truly succeeded on every level without some great sense of story. In recent years, we've marveled at Pixar's uncanny storytelling craft while bemoaned Disney's own seeming aversion to it. Perhaps they should make Two Guys Named Joe essential reading among Disney executives!