Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily To Speak at Disneyana Fan Club July 2011 Convention!

Popular Disney artists Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily will again be featured speakers at our July 2011 Convention in Garden Grove, California!

Kevin Kidney and Jody Daily are designers, writers, product creators, sculptors, animators, illustrators and bloggers. Their unique Southern California design partnership – Kevin & Jody Co. – specializes in "art varieties of all sorts". They most recently art directed a brand new parade for Disneyland called Soundsational, which just opened in the Anaheim, California park. For over 25 years Kevin and Jody have contributed designs to theme park shows and attractions, from Fantasmic! to the Pixar Play Parade. However, among Disney fans, they are best known for their highly-detailed collectibles and artwork celebrating the nostalgic past and graphic design of the Disney theme parks. Outside of Disney, both artists are avidly involved in the arts and culture, creating designs and graphics for the performing arts, concerts, museums, and radio. Their love for history has led them into the world of historic preservation and restoration around Southern California.

Disney Historian Don Peri To Speak at Disneyana Fan Club's July 2011 Convention

Don Peri is a Disney historian, author of "Working with Walt: Interviews with Disney Artists"; "Working with Disney: Interviews with Animators, Producers, and Artists"; and co-author of "Walt Disney's First Lady of Imagineering, Harriet Burns". He has consulted for the Walt Disney Family Foundation, lectured on Disney history at Pixar Animation Studios, the Walt Disney Animation Studios, the Walt Disney Company's Consumer Products Division, Walt Disney Imagineering, the Walt Disney Family Museum, the Disneyland Alumni Club, the National Fantasy Fan Club, and other venues; and appeared in the documentary Walt: The Man Behind the Myth. Don lives in Davis, California, with his wife, two daughters, and dog.

Olszewski Star Wars Products at Disney's Hollywood Studios' Star Wars Weekends

Olszewski Studios is pleased to announce several new Olszewski art products will be available for the first time at the Disney's Star Wars Weekends held at Walt Disney World May 20 - June 12, 2011. These products were commissioned by The Disney Company and will be available for purchase during The Star Wars Weekends which is part of an annual special event at the Hollywood Studios Theme Park in Orlando, FL. The event celebrates legendary Star Wars Saga and the animated television series, The Clone Wars. For more information about this Disney event, click here.

Experiential Designer, Mixed-Media Producer and Conceptualist Eddie Sotto to speak at Disneyana Fan Club's July 2011 DisneyanaMania Convention

Eddie Sotto is an American experiential designer, mixed-media producer, and conceptualist. He is president of the Los Angeles design firm, SottoStudios (link), which specializes in development of products, brands, and places in atypical, imaginative ways. Sotto has been described "by popular consensus in Hollywood...(as) the most creative person on the planet." (1)

Career
Growing up in Southern California, Sotto was fascinated by Disneyland and built a 1/200 scale model of the park based on plans he obtained from WED Enterprises. At 19, he acted upon a suggestion to pursue his modelmaking and storyboarding talents, and was hired as Assistant Project Director at Knott's Berry Farm, where he designed the Soapbox Racer attraction, as well as contributing to elements of Camp Snoopy

In 1983, Sotto moved to a position as Show Designer for Hollywood-based Landmark Entertainment Group. (2) During his tenure, he designed and developed themed attractions for Universal Studios and Six Flags, (Baltimore's "Laboratory of Scientific Wonders") designs for Mattel Toys, and art direction for a music video.

Disney
"Scientific Wonders" caught the attention of Tony Baxter, VP of design at Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI), who hired Sotto as Show Producer/Designer for Main Street USA at Euro Disneyland. His Disney mentors included veteran Imagineers Herbert Ryman (link) and John Hench (link). The eventual Senior VP of Concept design, Sotto spent 13 years with WDI, involved in early development of the Indiana Jones Adventure, and directing the master planning of Tokyo Disneyland for 3 years. It was his proposal to include a hotel in Euro Disneyland that led to accommodations becoming integral to Disney Parks. (3)

His "think tank,'" Concept Development Studio, applied principles of Imagineering outside the theme park setting, culminating in such projects as the Mission: Space attraction at EPCOT; the "Media as Architecture" facade of ABC's Times Square Studios; the $90m "Pooh's Hunny Hunt" ride at Tokyo Disneyland; and design of the futuristic Encounter Restaurant in the Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport.

After Disney
- 1999: Executive VP of Creative Affairs, Digital Entertainment Network. DEN created "original youth culture programming and e-commerce opportunities...for Generation Y consumers." (4) Clients included Ford, Dell, Blockbuster, Pepsi. (5)

- 2000: Chief Creative Officer, Progress City. Its mission was to explore the convergence of the Internet, architecture, and wireless devices.(6) Projects included "media sculptures" for Hollywood's Kodak Theatre and convergence solutions for clients such as Paramount Studios, NASA, and The Walt Disney Company.

SottoStudios
Founded in 2004, SottoStudios' mandate is stated as "seeing the impossible as a beautiful puzzle, and then bringing in the right combination of people to crack the code."(7) Its slate of clients has featured:

- Applying "experiential design" to the Las Vegas Penske/Wynn - Ferrari/Maserati dealership.
- Designing a James Bond-inspired Aston Martin showroom for Los Angeles' Galpin /Aston Martin dealership (link)
- Producing television series for VH1 networks (8)
- Creating a news format utilizing the Google search engine for Current TV.

Other projects have included building a film history-themed pop-up store for Turner Classic Movies; and partnering with chef John Sedlar at Los Angeles' Rivera (link), contributing architectural, thematic, and design elements extending to intricate custom tequila bottles. SottoStudios also accepts residential commissions, which have been described as "very exclusive...some even more themed than Disney." (9)

Internationally Respected Disney Historian Jim Korkis To Speak at Disneyana Fan Club July 2011 Convention

Jim Korkis is an internationally respected Disney Historian who has written hundreds of articles about all things Disney for over three decades. He is also an award winning teacher, professional actor and magician and author of several books and countless magazine articles.

He recently wrote the 450 page book "The Vault of Walt" featuring nearly forty "lost" stories about Walt Disney, the Disney theme parks, the Disney animated and live action films and some miscelleanous forgotten tales from the worlds of Disney. The book includes an introduction by Diane Disney Miller.

Growing up in Glendale, California, Jim got the opportunity to meet and interview Disney animators, Imagineers and others who worked with Walt Disney. As a teenager, he started writing for local newspapers, fanzines and magazines about Disney history. As an adult, he relocated to Orlando, Florida where he was employed in a variety of roles for Walt Disney World including Merlin the magician in Fantasyland, animation instructor for the Disney Institute as well as for interns at Disney Feature Animation Florida, co-ordinator with Epcot's College and International Program students as well as a writer and researcher for Disney Design Group, Imagineering, Yellow Shoes Marketing, Disney University, Disney Vacation Club, WDW Travel Club, Disney Cruise Line and more on a variety of projects.

For years, he has written a weekly column on Disney history every Wednesday for www.mouseplanet.com.

Subscribe to our Chapters Showcase Blog!

Want to know what's going on with individual Disneyana Fan Club Chapters across the U.S., Canada and the World? You now can, with our Chapters Showcase Blog, designed so that individual Chapters can make announcements and share information about what's going on with their Chapter. All Chapters that are not currently participating are invited to join in the sharing! Please send an email to David Ransom, at: webmaster@disneyanafanclub.org if you are the webmaster or publicity person for your club, and would like to contribute!

Congratulations to Bill Farmer For Daytime Emmy Nomination!

Disneyana Fan Club would like to congratulate our friend, Bill Farmer, who has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program! Go, Bill!

Special Event Luncheon with Garner Holt To Be Held on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 from 10AM til 2PM

The Disneyana Fan Club is proud to present our first special event luncheon with an industry leader, Garner Holt. All proceeds from this very special event will go to Ryman Arts.
Garner Holt is President and owner of Garner Holt Productions, Inc, a leader in the themed entertainment industry

At age 12, a visit to the “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln” show at Disneyland forever changed Garner’s life. Witnessing the animatronic president rise from his chair and deliver an inspirational speech, Garner realized that he wanted to create for himself the things he saw at Disneyland.

After more than three decades of business, Garner Holt Productions, Inc. is the internationally recognized leader in the design and manufacture of animatronic figures, show and ride systems, show action equipment, special effects, and sets and scenery. Under Mr. Holt’s creative direction, the company has built over 2,000 animatronic characters, from songbirds to dragons, and giant horses to jelly fish. Clients include such prestigious names as The Walt Disney Company, for whom he has created animatronic figures for many beloved rides and attractions.

Now, for the first time you will have an opportunity to meet Garner in person at the actual facility where he brings to life many of his magnificent creations. This intimate experience will be limited to only 40 guests. Hear how Garner began his illustrious career and learn more about the magic he’s embarking on today. Share lunch with Garner and his talented creative team, including former Disney Imagineers and other themed entertainment industry veterans.

DATE: Tuesday, July 12, 2011

TIME: 10:00am – 2:00pm (Luncheon served at 12:00, hosted by Garner Holt)

TICKET PRICE: $59.00 per person, all inclusive. Limited to 40 attendees.

*Please note: No video or photography will be allowed within the facility.

To get the Registration Form for this Event, please visit the "Events" page, at www.disneyanafanclub.org.