Rolly Crump, Amsterdam, Nook, and Another Review!

Well, it’s been a helluva few weeks! Let’s dive right into it:

First off, I’m extraordinarily proud to announce that I’ll be publishing the autobiography of Disney Legend, Imagineer, and all-around incredible guy Rolly Crump! The title is It’s Kind of a Cute Story, and it’s based on a series of interviews with Rolly, conducted by Jeff Heimbuch of Micechat/Communicore Weekly fame. You can tell that Rolly really trusted Jeff to present the material in the best way possible, which allowed him to open up and tell some pretty amazing stories.

Rolly looks like such a badass here

Obviously, anyone who knows anything about Disney history can understand why I’m totally geeking about about this. Not only is it a huge honor to be working with someone who worked directly with Walt, but I have to say that this book is truly mind-blowing. I came away from my first reading seeing Walt in a different light, and that’s saying a lot considering how many bios I’ve read on him. There’s also a lot of fascinating material about the inner-workings of WED and Disney’s upper-management, as well as plenty of non-Disney stuff from the likes of Knott’s Berry Farm, Circus World, and Wet and Wild.

Look for it in December, from Bamboo Forest Publishing. And don’t forget that Ron “Dreamfinder” Schneider’s book, From Dreamer to Dreamfinder is also being released by Bamboo Forest in July! In fact, if you want the full rundown, visit this list of upcoming Disney-related releases from Imaginerding’s George Taylor (Bamboo Forest is on there twice!!!).

Next up, for those who didn’t know, I was in Amsterdam for the past two weeks. As you might imagine, I got involved in a fair amount of debauchery. Unfortunately, a lot of the more risque places don’t allow pictures or video, and unlike WDW, when you don’t play by the rules you don’t just get thrown out – instead they beat the shit out of you and leave you bleeding in an alley. Despite that, I did get some cool vids and pix (lots of awesome EPCOT-esque architecture in the city, and I also took a trip to de Efteling theme park), so check out the pictures in my Facebook album and keep an eye on my YouTube channel for a few upcoming videos from the trip.

This is what I thought "The Making of Me" would be like. Boy was I disappointed.

In Our Kingdom of Dust news, the book is finally available for the Nook! Click here to get your copy! Apparently Apple recently changed the way their submissions work, but I’ve been assured that it “should appear shortly” on iTunes.

Finally, take a look at Bob McClain’s in-depth review of The Dark Side of Disney. Interesting to get a review that is able to examine the fan reaction to the book, as most of the early reviewers weren’t able to address the uproar and subsequent backlash which slowly but surely built up in the “pixie dust” communities around the web.