Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Laaaaast Caaalll for the Disneyland Paris From sketch to reality book !



No, we're not at Main Street Station, and this "laaaast caaaal" is not because the disneyland train is arriving, but more simply, because my Disneyland Paris "From sketch to reality" book is nearly out of stock.

Generally, i avoid to bother you with this beautiful book i did with my friend Didier Ghez, but i realised that i have only ten copies of the updated english edition, and when i will be out of stock i won't be able to get more from the publisher. Worst, no re-printing of the book is scheduled, and these last copies may be the REAL last one!

Even at the park where i was two weeks ago, it was impossible to find a copy of the english edition. When i asked at the Storybook store if they had the english edition, i was told that they were out of stock.

So, if you don't have it yet and don't want to miss this 320 pages and 750 pictures book - including 250 renderings from Walt Disney Imagineering, i'm afraid to say that may be it's now or never...Price of the book is $75 and shipping is only $13 ( 60 euros including shipping for european orders ). You can send the $88 payment with Paypal by introducing the email adress: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr

I will personnaly sign each copy with a special dedication to you or anyone you wish if your purchase of the book is for a gift.

And, of course, thanks to let me know about your order and the shipping adress by sending me an email at the same email adress - or if you have further questions.

As i am the one who designed the book, i'm not really at the good place to send compliments about it, but if you are a reader who already own the book, please leave a comment at the end of the article to let other readers know what you think about it.
Previous comments can be read at the bottom of this page where the article below was previously posted.

So, here is the previous article that will tell - and show - you more about this great book.



A little description of the book, now - See below some pictures of the book pages - click on each of them to see the photo-montage pictures in big size.

The book is really large at 320 pages and with 750 pictures - of which 500 are park and attractions photos and around 250 are renderings from Walt Disney Imagineering(WDI)! The size is 9 x 12 inches, all pages are in color and it's hardbound with a glossy dust jacket. The text (by Disney historian Didier Ghez), was written after more than 75 interviews he conducted with all the Imagineers who created the park. He goes into just about everything you wanted to know about this unique place that many describe as the best "Magic Kingdom" ever created by WDI.

It took Didier and I five years to create the book, but it was worth all the time we spent on it, and the book looks just as good as we had hoped for at the beginning.

The first chapter about Main Street has 52 pages and introduces the reader to the "legend" of Main Street, USA. You'll learn all about the Disneyland Paris Railroad, the unique "Discovery" and "Liberty" Arcades; find out about the architecture, the restaurants (like "Walt's," a tribute to Walt Disney, but also inspired by Club 33 in Anaheim) and the shops; with dozens of photos, renderings, models, and reproduced for the first time here, all the "cities of the future" posters located in "Discovery Arcade."



The second chapter on Frontierland discusses the park's western side with extensive sections about its major attractions, "Big Thunder Mountain" and "Phantom Manor." In fact the book has the longest sections ever put together in a book on all the major attractions. The Pirates of Caribbean section in the Adventureland chapter is 26 pages, Phantom Manor has 16 pages devoted to it, as does Space Mountain, it's a small world, etc. The photo material was so great that we kept adding more pages to the book, which was supposed to have only 240 pages when we started... we ended up with 320 upon completion!



The Frontierland chapter also covers the Mark Twain, the River Rogue Keelboats, Fort Comstock, all the restaurants, the shops and Cottonwood Creek Ranch.and featuring stunning photos of Disneyland Paris from the air by Yann Arthus Bertrand, author of The Earth from Above that make spectacular "double-pages," and allow the reader to discover the park from a whole different angle.



The Adventureland chapter is even more interesting, as many elements of the land exist only in Paris - such as the Bazaar and Aladdin to Africa and the ex-"Explorer's Club." Plus there's a long section about "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril," "Adventure Isle" and "The Swiss Robinson Treehouse" and, of course, "Pirates of Caribbean" the land's major attraction and featuring its amazing Audio-Animatronics! All in all there are 56 full pages about Adventureland, and as in the previous chapters, there are dozens of photos, lots of concept art, and many shots of Imagineers at work. There's even a great bonus here, with the Marc Davis artwork for "Pirates" also included.



56 full pages are also dedicated to Fantasyland. There's an extensive look at Sleeping Beauty Castle, sections on all the dark rides (Snow White, Peter Pan and Pinocchio), as well as a look at "Alice's Curious Labyrinth," the "Mad Hatter's Tea Cups," "Storybookland," and "Casey Jr." There are even 14 pages about "it's a small world" with stunning photos of nearly all the scenes in it. Here the reader can discover a new attraction that exists only at Disneyland Paris, with a great view from above of Alice's Labyrinth.

Discoveryland also gets 52 pages of special treatment, with sections on the Visionarium, the Nautilus, Star Tours, Space Mountain, and everything you wanted to know about the other attractions in this land – Autopia and Orbitron. In fact the Nautilus chapter takes you on a visit with photos of every room of this detailed walk-through and two double page photo spreads, one which makes you feel you're inside Captain Nemo's grand salon, and the other showing you a unique view of Discoveyland featuring the Nautilus and Space Mountain in a kind of "CinemaScope" view.



When the book was released in early 2002, the Walt Disney Studios didn't exist, so you won't see them in the book. But there's still one last chapter about the hotels of the park, and Disney Village too, with the great Buffalo Bill Wild West show that entertains hundreds each evening.

And because every day in a Magic Kingdom should end with a parade and fireworks, we have the Main Street Electrical Parade that close the book, with an Herb Ryman gorgeous painting, see picture on the top of this post.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is simply the best book I have seen about Disney Parks let alone DLRP. When you are missing DLRP and wishing you were there this book is the perfect cure. It really is the next best thing to being there.

Even the most fanatical fan will find interesting facts as this book is the one often referred to by Fans.

Don't let this chance to get the English version slip you by.

Claudia said...

Ok I'm sold - I will Paypal you NOW! I love collecting Disney books and this one looks awesome... Disney is very much a part of our family as my husband (British) and I (Mexican) met while working at WDW in the Int'l Program, got married and now live in the UK. I was also very happy when I found out that our wedding anniversary (12 Apr) is the same date as the opening of DLRP!

I look forward to receiving the book and sitting with our son to look through the pictures as he too is growing up to be quite the Disney fan, even if he is only 4 years old. Thanks!

Alex said...

Indeed. It's the best book of Disneyland Paris ever seen. It's worth very Euro. On it's large format pages you have beautiful pictures and never heard stories. I bought the first edition when it was published. What a pity that there was no possibility to get the new content only.

I hope that there will be a follow up book with many new things oder even a special edition for the WDS.

Cheers
Alex

Anonymous said...

I've got this nice book and it has drawn a lot of attention among our guests too. Best buy!

nojarama said...

It truly is a lovely book & the pictures & artwork are stunning. Hopefully someday I will get a chance to visit this beautiful park in person. Highly recommended!!!

Trigo said...

This is definitely THE book about DLRP. As previous posters said its worth every cent of if(and even more). It´s full of information and very fun trivia,accompanied with very beautifully pictures. Hope that someday the authors take some time to make a second volume with the WDS.

Anonymous said...

Just echoing what everyone else has said this is the BEST book on DLP and one of the books about Disney themeparks period. Do not miss out on this book. I still read through it 2 years later.
Now if only Alain would do a DisneySea from Sketch to Reality (hint hint).

CheriBibi said...

I've got the book and must admit its a great help for my blog and always a delight to consult. Thanks for bringing this to the world of Disney. It's shame only one Kingdom got the attention you gave it.

Praying for your writing many other Disney books...

From one frenchman to another :

Merci Alain !

Anonymous said...

Hey everyone!
I have this book (the french limited edition) and I must say this is a MUST HAVE for all disneyland paris Fans! The book is so detailed and the pictures are beautiful!
X

Anonymous said...

I got this book when it first came out, it's the most thorough and most attractive book about any of the parks.
I wish you two would do a book like this on one of the other parks next.

Anonymous said...

I JUST CAME BACK TO CYPRUS FROM MY SECOND HOLIDAY IN ONE YEAR AT DISNEYLAND PARIS. MY FAMILY LOVES IT THERE AND WE PLAN TO GO AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. THIS BOOK IS AMAZING. THE NUMBER OF PHOTOS IS INCREDIBLE AND WHAT Alain Littaye SAYS IS TRUE. I DIDN'T SEE A SINGLE COPY OF THIS BOOK IN ENGLISH THIS YEAR AND ONLY 3-4 BOOKS LEFT IN FRENCH IN THE STORYBOOK STORE. GET IT OR YOU'LL REGRET IT. I'M GLAD I BOUGHT IT LAST YEAR!

David Caffey said...

I'd like to order a copy but can't seem to find out how to order using PayPal - could someone tell me how/where to order.

Thanks

Anonymous said...

Dear David,
I hope the following is helpful as I copied it from another site:

You can order the book by sending an email at: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr.

Right now the new updated english edition is available. The price is 75$ and the copy will be specially autographed to you!
Shipping is 13$ - 4 weeks delivery - or 33$ by air-mail .
You can pay it directly by Paypal by introducing the email adress up there.