If you’ve never laid eyes on Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia, I’ll understand you most likely don’t know what you’re missing.  So, I’m here today to set you straight.  You’re missing a lot!  This absolute treasure written by THE Dave Smith (founder and former chief archivist at the Walt Disney Archives) will delight you with every turn of the page. It’s a must-have resource for every Disney-loving family.

Let me explain:

The book is simply a gigantic index of all things Disney.  Don’t let that simplicity or its size (760 pages in my edition before the bibliography) put you off.  Don’t worry about the lack of pictures (there are a few, mostly black and white) – I’m telling you, this book is absolutely wonderful.  One glance within its plentiful pages will uncover Disney memories you didn’t even know you had!  It’s true.  Before I give you a couple of examples, let me point out a couple of super cool things.  Page 441: a list of the 120 Mickey Mouse cartoons!  Pages 3-7: a list of Disney’s 86 Academy Awards (as of 2005 in my edition).  Movies, rides and attractions, voice actors, comic books, characters – you name it, it’s all here.

What’s fun for me is to peruse the pages and, as I mentioned, find things I remember from early childhood and realize that I didn’t even know these were Disney memories.  For example:  My dad brought home a Siamese cat once and I lobbied to name him Lambert because I had seen a cartoon about a lion named Lambert who slept in the same position as our new pet.  Looking through Disney A to Z and I find (page 387)…”Lambert, the Sheepish Lion (film) Special cartoon; released on February 8, 1952.  Directed by Jack Hannah.  A stork delivers a lion cub to a flock of sheep by mistake, which eventually proves fortuitous for the sheep when Lambert grows up to realize his power and uses it to protect the sheep from a wolf.  Nominated for an Academy Award.”  See?  Happy childhood memory and I didn’t even know it was a Disney memory!  Oh, and Lambert was the best cat EVER!  Could open doors and neat stuff like that.

One last example for you “mature” readers like me.  Listen up kids.  Way back when I was in school (to which I walked five miles uphill, both directions) – right after dinosaurs went extinct, there was a very special treat for our class from time to time.  The teacher would roll out the film projector and unroll the movie screen – this was cause for much happiness and celebration!  We would get to watch a movie in class!!!  Usually, it was at least semi-educational, but always better than listening to whatever the teacher would have had to say that day.  Film reels in place, the projector running (oh, the quick tempo of that film rolling through the projector was such a joyous sound) and wonderful stories like Johnny Tremain – Yep, found him on page 363 – if you ever get a chance to see this 1957 gem set during the Revolutionary War, do not pass it up.  Or Paul Bunyan (1958), who provided an important lesson on American folk-lore, I’m sure, but Babe the Blue Ox stole the show.  Paul’s on page 523 and Babe on 48.

Okay – you get it now, right?  This book is beyond awesome!  Need one?  Check it out at Amazon right here.

Do you have Dave Smith’s book?  What’s your favorite Disney resource?