Yesterday on Cartoon Brew’s Instagram, we offered a small taste of John Canemaker’s new book The Lost Notebook: Herman Schultheis & the Secrets of Walt Disney’s Movie Magic, which will be released on May 27.

It’s no secret that I’m an unabashed fan of the book, as evidenced by the embarrassingly prominent blurb from me on the book’s back cover. But even though I’d already seen the book’s contents, I was unprepared for the sheer magnificence of the final object when it arrived in the mail yesterday. It’s a humongous tome (12″x12″, 288 pages), with every image reprinted beautifully, and a striking use of silver ink throughout. And then there’s the treasure trove of knowledge contained within both the facsimile of Schultheis’s notebooks and Canemaker’s impeccable research and writing. This book is a great argument for why art books, when done right, still deserve to be printed on paper in this digital age.

The Lost Notebook is available to pre-order on Amazon. It’s not cheap, but if you are an admirer of the artistry and technical innovations of the early Disney features, this book is a must-have.

We’ll have more about the book on Cartoon Brew in the coming weeks.

Amid Amidi

Amid Amidi is Cartoon Brew's Publisher and Editor-at-large.

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