Between Books - After Disney: Toil, Trouble, and the Transformation of America’s Favorite Media Company

There are a handful of great books that detail the fall of Ron Miller as the CEO of the Walt Disney Company and his replacement by Michael Eisner. These chronicles often include the role of Roy E. Disney in Miller’s removal and his chosen successor. These books often put Eisner front and center. What has really been missing is a book that outlines Miller’s career, the obstacles he sought to overcome, and the state of the Company during his time as CEO. Would it be cliche to say, until now?

After Disney: Toil, Trouble, and the Transformation of America’s Favorite Media Company by Neil O’Brien provides a study of Disney's corporate history through the Miller era. The text focuses heavily on animation and meets one of O’Brien’s stated goals of developing an oral history of Disney animation during this period. O’Brien walks us through the origins of Miller and Roy E. Disney, who were never close despite externally being seen as the faces of the company after the deaths of Walt and Roy O. Roy E. Disney early on leaves the stage as he sought to create new opportunities for himself creatively and in investments. Miller was faced with the challenge of leading a company in transition as the older animators that Disney films were based on aged but saw no one in-house to fill their creative leadership. The company then fostered the creation of a new Character Animation department at CalArts to mentor a new future Disney animation cadre, with members of that first class including legends like Brad Bird, Jerry Rees, and John Musker. The text gives us a case study, as we watch the old guard and new artists interacting in the development of animated features, especially the stalled The Black Cauldron. The book also discusses how Miller led the company and his attempt to evolve the studio, especially around live-action films with the creation of Touchstone Pictures which would allow more hard-hitting storytelling. Finally, the book discusses Roy E. Disney’s move to resign from the Board and leverage his shares to install Eisner and Frank Wells into Disney leadership. The book ends with the author noting the changes that went into effect during the Miller period, especially the training of new animators, which pushed forward an animation renaissance both internally and externally.

I have one minor gripe, the cover gives us the impression that this is a story of MIller vs Roy E. fighting for the soul of Disney. It’s really not, as Disney removed himself for much of this period as an employee. The real focus in this book is on culture and day-to-day under Miller. A more fitting cover to communicate what will occur in the book might have been Gurgi from The Black Cauldron as much of the tension around staffing, leadership, and storytelling are told through the lens of developing this movie It was the “Author’s Note” at the end that even more clarifies this, as O’Brien notes his desire to write an oral history of animation and his interest in the Lloyd Alexander stories. I will raise my hand and admit that I am of an age and fandom to have also been pulled into those books. I also find myself wanting to know more about why the film I wanted to see so badly didn’t work. So the recurring film and its development helped keep me engaged in Miller’s struggle in running a company and legacy left to him by his beloved father-in-law. But the story is not a duel between two businessmen, that I felt the cover provided me.

The discussion about The Black Cauldron is so strong, that I didn’t even mention the rise of Don Bluth’s star at the studio. This just shows that for readers there is not just one engaging story in this volume, but levels of complexity.

This really is a well-written and sourced book. I will argue that it’s also very well-balanced. While I did find a lot to admire about Miller as I read the book, I also felt like O’Brien didn’t attempt to romanticize him. And I personally think Miller, Eisener, and Roy E. are all figures that should be respected as Disney Legends as while they may not have always worked well together, they did all three leave important contributions to the company. They were people, and this is what O’Brien gives us, interesting people ranging from corporate leaders, to directors like Joe Hale, to even struggling animators like Glen Keane who lived through these interesting times of change. This is the type of story that reminds us that change happens, people are part of it, and we are people. 

 
After Disney: Toil, Trouble, and the Transformation of America’s Favorite Media Company by Neil O’Brien is one of my favorite Disney history books of 2025. O’Brien gives us a story about real people, with real feelings as they transition through changes in corporate culture and American storytelling. The use of The Black Cauldron as a story focus, really helped me stay engaged as it’s a movie release that confused me in its failure as someone who loved the Alexander stories as a child. And it allows the author through it’s long development to talk about the changing Disney corporate landscape. And I think best of all, it gives readers a well-balanced picture of Ron Miller who is often a quick note in Disney's corporate leadership history, hidden by the shadow of Walt Disney, Bob Iger, and Eisner. 

 

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Between Books - Origins of Marvel Comics: The 50th Anniversary Edition

1974’s Origins of Marvel Comics has long been on my bucket list of to read. But other books got in the way or I would say it’s nearly 50 years old and going nowhere fast. I can get to it later. Then editor Chris Ryall pushed this classic volume to the top of the list by packaging the Stan Lee classic into a pretty package that reached out to my nostalgia and history-loving heart.

Origins of Marvel Comics: The 50th Anniversary Edition by Stan Lee and edited by Ryall repackages the Lee text for a contemporary reader. Ryall provides readers with the Fireside book including all of Lee’s original commentaries and the art to match the original, for example, a green Hulk seen in the 1974 book and not the gray Hulk from the original comic. The stories found in the book include reprints of the origins of the Fantastic Four, Hulk, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange along with a later issue to show more developed versions of the beloved heroes. Along with the original book are essays that discuss the history and importance of the book. Today’s writers using the light of history also discuss Lee’s original remarks with some looking to provide credit to writers like Jack Kirby, who felt that Lee’s words diminished their efforts. But, this is not a Lee-bashing book with the inclusion of essays from Lee proponents like his brother Larry Leiber. Artist Alex Ross provides the hardcover’s dust jacket with a new homage cover, which he provides a step-by-step process for within the text. As we look back at much of the controversy of the creation of many of these heroes, the new 2024 edition is a very balanced approach, recognizing the efforts of both Lee and his partner artists.

Reading this today, I am really glad I waited and didn’t try to find a secondary market copy of the 1974 or other editions. My assessment of the Marvel creators is that much like Disney corporate history, everything worked best with dual genius leading the way (Walt/Roy or Michael/Frank). I think that the golden age of Marvel creation was pushed forward by Lee and Kirby, Ditko, and other artists. Lee’s original introductions balance this reality, with him calling out the King Jack Kirby and his partnership with the Fantastic Four. But he with Doctor Strange wrote an introduction that was full Marvel publicity machine with Lee highlighting his efforts and framing Ditko’s role as assigned artist not a key voice in the Strange creation. These introductions from Lee give you the two sides found in the Marvel media machine of the 70’s, an all-encompassing Stan Lee with nodes to important artists that made the funny pictures come alive.

The new essays are not going to change everything. For example, the Lieber interview does not fully address the known tension between the brothers. But I do feel like the Lieber discussion does help show how Lieber feels today, as the surviving brother who in many ways is cherishing the memory of a brother who while distant at times was also supportive and brought him into the Marvel family.

Origins of Marvel Comics by Lee was an important cultural moment in the popular acceptance of comic books. Fireside put Marvel stories in a bound book and placed the stories in bookstores. Ray Bradbury wrote a review of the book, included in the text, which demonstrated the important literary moment for comics with this publication. In the book, even Lee calls the comics strips, the more culturally accepted visual media of the time. There were no graphic novels. In fact, this may be one of the first models for a graphic novel. Bookstores were not being kept afloat with large sections fills with graphic novels and anime and all the toys and gear associated with these properties. Fireside with this book made reading a comic acceptable due to the bound nature of the book. This first offering led to other Lee and Fireside offerings in books like Son of Origins of Marvel Comics and Bring on the Bad Guys. And this reader hopes that Ryall is given the chance to repackage some of the other volumes for today. Especially since these hardbacks would look really great side-by-side.

Origins of Marvel Comics: The 50th Anniversary Edition by Stan Lee and edited by Chris Ryall is a must-read for Marvel Comics fans. Even those who have a vintage copy on their shelf, will want to grab the new edition. First, let’s be honest, we are collectors. Second, the new essays and Ross’ art add to the context of the entire project. Finally, for those who have not dipped their two in, this work is an important moment in not just Marvel but now Disney history and you may wish to check it out. Without Lee’s bigger-than-life personality, we would fail to have the Marvel Cinematic Universe and other Marvel stories in so many formats that exist today.  

 

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Between Books - Walt Disney & El Grupo in Latin America

I’m tired! I think Walt Disney may have been tired too!

Walt Disney & El Grupo in Latin America by Theodore Thomas, J.B. Kaufman, and Didier Ghez outlines Walt Disney’s trip to South America in 1941. The book covers the entirety of the nearly 3-month fall expedition, spreading American goodwill as a strategy to win over South American neighbors away from Nazi sympathy. Disney was asked by the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (CIAA) to use his global celebrity to strengthen Western hemisphere ties. The story is told heavily in images with the authors providing narration to the group’s daily doings. The volume does not focus on just Walt Disney but recognizes that El Grupo the 18 Walt Disney employees and family members on the journey, were at times separated into smaller traveling parties or even in the same cities separated to meet with numerous local industries or celebrities. Due to the highly visual nature of the text, it at times feels like a documentary and less than a book.

I’m tired, did I mention that? The goal of the authors is to provide a detailed account of the trip. The trio, therefore, doesn’t provide us a thesis to prove, in fact, the three have other works on El Grupo that have this as a goal. As a reader, you understand this is a very visual book seeking to provide a daily accounting. Hence, I’m tired. It feels like the group, especially Disney, rarely had a chance to rest during this fact-finding and goodwill-building adventure. Even in “downtime” artists like Mary and Lee Blair and Jack Ryman were sketching, painting, and refining ideas for potential future movies Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros. Or perhaps, Jack Cutting may visit a local studio to supervise a movie dubbing into Spanish. The book makes it clear that this group of 18 were constantly in motion. And while early in the trip, they may have spent in the reader's mind “weeks” in Rio, it becomes clear to the reader that on later stays the group seemed to only linger a day or two in a location before moving on again.

Design-wise, I was pulled into the book and it often felt like a visual experience and not a book. That is why I feel tired. This isn’t an era of perfect staged pictures. The spontaneous nature of many of the pictures helps one to feel the emotion and action, like a tired Lillian Disney asleep on a train car one can feel the stuffiness within. The closed eyes and the improperly directed glances remind us this is a different time before everyone had a camera and the time to coordinate numerous shots for the perfect social media image.

My only complaint with the design is some pages have maps on the layout that pictures and text sit upon. These maps have notations to locations on the page design. Sadly at times, I read these like image captions and not part of the page design which took me out of the journey for a bit.

Walt Disney & El Grupo in Latin America by Theodore Thomas, J.B. Kaufman, and Didier Ghez is a book for those who want to go deeper into Disney’s trip to South America in a highly visual way. For those who want to see Disney legends like the Blairs and Frank Thomas working, drawing, and immersing themselves into a culture this offering is for you. The authors help me to understand the kinetic and tiring nature of the trip, even without making this an overt goal. I wondered, can El Grupo just kick back and relax? An answer that seems like no as Frank Thomas was teaching himself Spanish even on the long-trip home.


Quick Note: While you can purchase this text on Amazon. I grabbed mine at Stuart Ng books where I was able to pick up an autographed copy. 

 

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Between Books - Contested Kingdom: Fan Attachment and Corporate Control at Disneyland

 

Congratulations Disney Adults, you’ve caught academia’s attention.

Contested Kingdom: Fan Attachment and Corporate Control at Disneyland by William McCarthy provides two discussions. First, McCarthy explores the sense of place attachment developed by Disney fans at Disneyland. Second, the text provides an examination of three decades of fan social media relationships with the power including power dynamics. As part of this evaluation, McCarthy provides insights into the relationship between fans and the Walt Disney Company. The author completed a longitudinal study of fans and media that ranges from the use of discussion boards to the more current Instagram and YouTube influencers. McCarthy demonstrates that the creation of the Annual Passholder program combined with message boards gave fans who had increased access to the parks additional thoughts of ownership and a platform to share their increasingly strong thoughts of ownership. However, with increasing costs and diminished access, many fans have found themselves disenchanted with Disney corporate and limited access to a place they see as their own. But in the current age, many of the expressed fan thoughts are strongly positive as key social media influencers need to maintain positive messages to gain access to Disney resources for content creation. As a reader, we observe a transformation as online outlets were originally a place to state strongly one’s own opinions to today where many of the loudest voices require Disney support to feed their streams.

I totally understand the need for support to create content, right here on this blog. Not to speak out of school, there once was a publisher I had a fantastic relationship with and numerous review copies. But in my promise to be honest, I had some problems with one of their books, which led to a curt email and the end of a relationship! Could I have been softer in my criticism? Well, no! But honesty came with a cost. I understand in a small way how those in the online space creating content need external support to lower the economic cost of creating. A true rock-and-hard place situation is occurring in these online settings. McCarthy does an excellent job of showing how the increased cost of content creation and access online, and the need to pay for the content, has created a situation where even unintentionally, some of the top Disney and Disneyland content creators have been coopted to the Disney publicity machine. I bet the late Jack Linquist would be proud!

I’ve made some observations in the past about serious academic works and largely Disney history intersecting. This is another example of a serious academic study, with McCarthy completing a survey and interviews while employing an academic model to construct an argument. However, in this case, it’s not history but media studies and sociology taking Disney fandom seriously. This could be intimidating to some, with academic language and models attempting to explain relationships. I at times struggled with how to review this text, do I use a more formal academic tone or slide into more casual language? This is the type of study that will gain the attention of researchers and other academics. However, I would urge those interested in Disney influencers and social media, Disney’s corporate relationships with these media outlets, and those with a general interest in the growth of 21st Century social media to consider this monograph an interesting read.

Contested Kingdom: Fan Attachment and Corporate Control at Disneyland is an academic study of the relationship between fans and the location they feel they just not own but also love. McCarthy demonstrates how fans have come to be attached to the park. McCarthy also details through surveys and interviews the changing relationship between fans and the Walt Disney Company’s views of the park on online platforms. While academic, the main points of the study are accessible to non-technical readers, especially for those who consume Disney social media content as part of their fandom. 

 

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Between Books - Star Wars: Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss

Yeah Star Wars!

It’s the phrase that wakes up my kids in the middle of the night as I scream it at the top of my lungs.

Now, with many recent Star Wars’ books it’s been “sure I guess Star Wars”. The High Republic has given us a bunch of new characters, new places, new villains, new problems, and not really new reasons for me to care. Get off my lawn High Republic! And in the middle of my growing acceptance that the High Republic storylines just won’t end, Star Wars gives me a book with a character that I want to read about!

Star Wars: Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss by Steven Barnes is what I need from Star Wars right now. It’s a fast-based adventure story that uses a character I have seen and can picture, with enough pages to help build out the character even more within the approved canon space. But it also comes with stakes that can be limited to just the book itself, especially since we already know Windu’s final adventure.

In the aftermath of Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, Jedi Master Mace Windu receives an unexpected inheritance from the late Qui-Gon Jinn. Windu must fulfill a favor owed to the late master. Windu travels to the planet Megatos, where Jinn assigns him the task of throwing off planetary control by two competing criminal empires. Megatos is a world ravaged by an environmental disaster but also the sole source of the galaxy’s strongest silk for cables. Windu befriends the innocents of Megatos while also infiltrating the competing crime lords as he pretends to be “The Solver.”

The book really starts out well with it having a clear set up in the days after Jinn’s death, which we saw on screen. Barnes also gives us something we really want as fans, proof that Jinn and Windu were friends! So we have a setting to start the book and a time period that we are familiar with…and a Jedi hero who we know and fans want to see in more action.

From this setup, Barnes can give us the new. We get a new world, new friends, and new creatures. And the fact that we have the familiar as a jumping-off point allows us to share our goodwill with the new characters we want to cheer for even if they are only ever in these pages. And since we have a familiar character, Barnes can give us new canon tied to Windu’s image as the prototype Jedi warrior and his motivations and history with the Jedi. We get several flashbacks to Young Windu that help us understand him and if he is allowing himself some swagger in a purple blade! We also get to see how he can deeply care for others while holding to his Jedi vows. This serves as an interesting contrast to how we observe Anakin Skywalker’s lack of relational balance. Barnes also gives us an interesting new villain in Chulok, a crime lord who has menace and makes us feel like he could be a Jedi killer through their skill and biology!

Yoda has wise things to say about life! It’s exactly what we want from him!

Star Wars: Mace Windu: The Glass Abyss by Steven Barnes is a breath of fresh Star Wars. The story is a straight adventure but still gives us new canonical insight. Barnes provides us planet-wide but not galaxy-impacting stakes! Finally, we best of all get to join a character in an exciting moment and escape our real world for a few hours. 

 

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Cap's Comics - What If ...? Minnie Became Captain Marvel

Regular Giada Perissinotto Cover

Sigh…this is for me not marvelous!

It makes me sad to say it about an all-ages comic, but here we are!

Peach Momoko Cover

“What if…? Minnie Became Captain Marvel” gives us a Disney/Marvel What If tale that seems like a natural. We have the female icon of the Disney Fab Five transformed into Marvel’s most powerful heroine. The story with plot by Steven Behling, who has taken up this adaptation assignment before, script by Luca Barbieri, and art by Giada Perissonota, another returning creator to this line, adapts not Captain Marvel’s origins by a early stories found in 1977’s Ms. Marvel series. The story follows Minnie fresh to a new job as a reporter. Publisher, I think, Scrooge McDuck charges her to discover who is the newest hero saving the city Captain Marvel! Minnie can find nothing, but she also has gaps in her memory. She comes to learn that she is Captain Marvel, spoilers but you read the cover, and recounts her magical origin story. Can Minnie balance her newfound discovery with a new job? 

 

Phil Noto Cover

First, I struggled. I know of Carol Danver’s origins in the old Captain Marvel stories, even before she was a hero. And the past contributions in these comics seem to adapt those stories. No, here we get adaptations of the first issues of the first Ms. Marvel series. That threw me off as the amnesia felt very Thor. But hey, Marvel has been known to reuse a gag, and the summaries I read make it clear that much of the plot can be found in the 70’s pages. But I also found that in those pages we had Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, Kree, A.I.M., and the US Air Force. Those Gerry Conway stories seem to be both fully immersed in the Marvel Universe and the Carol Danvers origin story which is very cosmic…I’ll get back to that point. But the mashing just didn’t work well for me. Scrooge McDuck is really taking the role of J. Jonah Jameson in personality and role. Meanwhile, a new creation, J. Jonah Duck, is taking the role of Robbie Robinson supporting the chief. And yes, Duck does have the distinctive Jameson hair! But I had to view the after matter to confirm his identity as I struggled to find it on the page. I like the idea of Scrooge as Jameson, but I found two versions of J. Jonah on the page confusing. 

 

Skottie Young Cover

Alright, here’s why this really did not work for me. The purpose of this comic is to get more comics readers. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it is clear, that Captain Marvel is a cosmic hero. Also if you read the current Captain Marvel comics, she is all cosmic all the time, with her origin getting even more cosmic recently if possible. But for this story, Minnie Marvel’s origin is magic, using a character that did show up in some later Ms. Marvel issues but also not found in those being adapted. So, if a kid or an adult picked up a Danvers comic today they are going to be really confused by her origin in the regular comics which has nothing to do with what’s found here. I mean, who’s Mar-Vell and why should we care? I get that the team saw a chance to use a Duck that could be translated into a C-level Ms. Marvel villain (as I don’t believe she’s ever been found in an issue labeled Captain Marvel). But do the Ducks never meet aliens that can be used? 

Elena Casagrande Cover

Clearly, I have thought more about this than I should! It’s a comic for kids. But I want “What If…? Minnie Became Captain Marvel” to bring more readers to comics. I just question if this new Danver’s origin will cause confusion as it differs a lot from the big screen and the comic heritage. It just fell flat for me.


But hey, what’s next? “What If…? The Mandalorian and Friends Becasme the Fantastic Four?” I mean What If Mickey and his pals did that! Next month, Disney’s first family becomes Marvel’s first family! And despite this issue, I am here for it!

Between Books - Who is George Lucas?

As I have mentioned before, when I was a kid it was biography that first fostered an interest in history. In that light, I have been disappointed in many Disney-related biographies that I have found for kids. They speak down or try to simplify it too much. They just don’t do what good kids' biographies should do, help create a love of history by crafting a compelling story of a real person.

Who is George Lucas? by Pam Pollack and Meg Belviso and illustrated by Ted Hammond provides an unauthorized biography of the creator of Star Wars. The book tells the story of a young California boy who dreamed of something different than following in his father’s footsteps at the stationary store. As a teen, he became fascinated with cars and car culture. After he graduated, despite the fact he was not a strong student, he went to college and discovered a love of storytelling and filmmaking. Lucas’ student film, Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB caught the attention of Francis Ford Coppola who championed Lucas and helped him turn his student project into his first feature, THX 1138. While his first film was not a success, Lucas’ deal included the right to make a second film which was the hit American Graffiti built on his love of cars. Lucas bartered this success into developing a space movie, Star Wars which became an international success despite numerous doubters including his cast and studio. Lucas would follow up this success with other Star Wars films and the Indiana Jones franchise. Despite his major success, Lucas would find that his success would also take away attention from his family.

I really liked Who is George Lucas? I found that the book did not talk down to kids and was very honest about his path. The authors show us how his success and creative focus did impact his personal life. And the book was one full of challenges, with Lucas having to overcome creative obstacles to tell the story he wanted on the big screen. While the book ends with a marriage and sale of LucasFilm to Disney, even then the book notes that other adventurous await this creative force.

There are a lot of gaps that maybe kids could fill in later. The movies discussed are really his early productions, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones…the franchises that most moviegoers, kids, and Disney fans would be concerned with. A kid could fill in the gaps on projects like Radioland Murders or Howard the Duck in other biographies, but being a shorter biography for kids it’s not comprehensive.

Who is George Lucas? is the type of biography that helps foster a love of history. It is a book that gives a compelling story, of one who creatively worked to overcome challenges and doubts. It is not all success, as it makes it clear that not all progress is without personal cost. I think this is the type of biography that will lead youngsters to read more about history and George Lucas. And it’s likely the first book I would strongly endorse from the “Who Is” and “Where Is” line that I have read. 

 

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