2016 Best Disney Books from ImagiNERDing

2016 Best Disney Books from ImagiNERDing (Including the 2016 ImagiNERDing Book of the Year!)

Check out my 2016 Best Disney Books of the year! Every year, I take a look at all of the Disney-related books that have been published during the calendar year and that I’ve reviewed. I’ve reviewed 56 books in 2016, including many that were released over the previous years (so, many of those don’t count for this award). The best Disney books run the gamut from animation to theme parks to history and from large and small publishers. The books are presented in no particular order!

2016 Best Disney Books: Walt Disney’s Silly Symphonies: a Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merritt and JB Kaufman

The first section of the book is a, history of the Silly Symphonies animated shorts. About 30 pages are dedicated to looking at the cultural effect of the animated shorts as well as how they evolved as the needs of the Disney Studios changed. We’re introduced to a lot of key players who would go on to leave a lasting mark on animation forever. The section dealing with the shorts is incredibly comprehensive—even the price of the negative was included. Merritt and Kaufman provide all of the basic information that you’d expect, usually over a page and a half per animated short. There’s a lot included and the information on the Silly Symphonies truly makes this book an essential purchase and a one-of-a-kind research tool.

2016 Best Disney Books: The Disney Story: Chronicling The Man, The Mouse & The Parks by Aaron H. Goldberg

The Disney Story: Chronicling the Man, the Mouse & the Parks by Aaron H. Goldberg is a book that takes us on a journey through the high marks of Disney history through the eyes of the media. This is a fantastic title for anyone who wants a good overview of Walt and his entertainment empire. The Disney Story isn’t just a book for people who are new to Disney history, but for anyone who is interested in learning more, especially in a non-confrontational and non-academic tone. (Seriously, some Disney history books can be a little overwhelming for the lay person.) Goldberg has also presented the book in two fairly unique ways: he has reprinted articles from media outlets verbatim and he is offering the Disney Story website as a larger repository of articles. Goldberg includes original scans of the articles for further reading at the website.

2016 Best Disney Books: Drinking at Disney: A Tipsy Travel Guide to Walt Disney World’s Bars, Lounges & Glow Cubes by Drunky and Rhiannon

Drinking at Disney? Someone has finally published the book that everyone has been thinking about writing forever! We’re talking about Drinking at Disney by Drunky (seriously, that’s his name) and Rhiannon. It’s a guidebook from Bamboo Forest Publishing that covers every single drinking location at Walt Disney World. It includes full bar menus as well as tips and tricks for your visit. The reason to grab this new book is simply to have an amazing resource for enjoying libations at Walt Disney World. And it’s an astounding reference guide. It’s funny, charming, slightly sadistic and quite sardonic.

2016 Best Disney Books: Maps of the Disney Parks: Charting 60 Years from California to Shanghai

The book is broken down into six major sections that closely follow the operating decades and major developments. The book is large and the publishers took great advantage of the physical size of the book when reproducing the maps. And, of course, that’s what people want to see. Many of the maps take up one entire page and a lot of the artwork actually covers two pages. Remember the Disneyland Fun Maps? You’ll find reproductions of many of them by Sam McKim and, most recently by, Nina Rae Vaughn. They also take a section of the map and blow it up on the following page to give you a better view of the art that went into the map. There’s a lot of concept art, which makes the book different from what most people expected.

2016 Best Disney Books: The ImagiNERDing Book of the Year!

The award for the 2016 ImagiNERDing Book of the Year goes to…

Drinking at Disney by Drunky and Rhiannon!

Congratulations to Bamboo Forest Publishing for creating an informative, funny and extremely entertaining guidebook to Walt Disney World.

What’s your thoughts on the 2016 Best Disney Books?