We’ve come a long way since The Reluctant Dragon. Here’s how Disney’s Phineas and Ferb is made. Except for the rap music, it’s a pretty accurate account.

I’ve been super busy this week, but had to share this image of a Donald Duck brigade from 1930s Serbia. Who were the people under those masks and what were they thinking? The world will never know. More disturbing imagery can be found on the Disney History blog.

Bob Iger, we hardly knew ye. Last Friday, Disney CEO Bob Iger announced that he will step down as chief executive in 2015. Prior to that, Iger will add the title of executive chairman in March 2012, and will remain in that role until June 2016, at which time he will retire from the company at the age of 65. The announcement of his impending departure was a surprise to the business world, but according to the Wall Street Journal’s analysis, the decision to also make him executive chairman “was a sign the board is eager to lock Mr. Iger in for a significant period of time, while also assuring an orderly transition when he departs.”

The paper reports that the top two candidates to replace him in 2015 are Thomas Staggs, who used to be the company’s chief financial officer and now runs the theme park division, and Jay Rasulo, who used to run the theme park division and currently is the company’s chief financial officer. As for Iger, the WSJ suggests that he has “often privately expressed interest in government and politics,” but that “politics isn’t the only option Mr. Iger is considering.”

This is one of the most fascinating stories I’ve encountered in a while. For the past three years, Disney has been running a network of research labs in Zurich, Pittsburgh and Boston under the banner of Disney Research. The locations were chosen so that they could attract the brightest scientists from top institutions like the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon, Harvard and MIT. The facilities operate in addition to the ongoing research being done at Pixar, Disney Feature Animation and Imagineering. There are roughly 200 total people working in Disney Research including 50 senior research scientists. Here’s a look at their Zurich operation.

It’s surprising how little I’ve read about the group considering that Disney Research has a website with extensive details about their activities. I initially learned about them at FX Guide, which published a lengthy piece about Disney Research last week. The article also includes a highly recommended audio interview with Dr. Markus Gross, the director of Disney Research Zurich.

Dr. Markus Gross

Gross credits Disney chief Bob Iger for initiating the push for broader research that wasn’t directly tied to the immediate needs of divisions like animation or theme parks. When Disney purchased Pixar in 2006, Iger took notice of Pixar’s academically-inspired science culture, which contributed and published extensively within the computer graphics community, and he realized that might be a smarter approach for certain areas of the company as opposed to Disney’s traditional across-the-board secretiveness.

Iger’s willingness to embrace the Pixar culture, and technological research in general, appears to be having a transformative effect in all areas of the company. Even Disney Feature Animation now publicly shares its animation research with the community and has open sourced some of its software. The fruits of Disney Research’s work may not be evident for years to come, but Iger’s long-range investment in technology shows that he has a shrewd understanding of running the company. It also appears that he has taken to heart John Lasseter’s oft-repeated maxim, “The art challenges the technology, and the technology inspires the art.”

Also of note, in the FX Guide interview, Gross makes a compelling argument for 3-D, but in terms of auto-stereoscopy, which is 3-D without the need for glasses. He points out the irony that theatrical exhibitors created 3-D as a way of distinguishing themselves from home entertainment, but that in three to five years, we’ll have high quality auto-stereoscopic home displays that will surpass the theatrical experience.

Disney’s announcement this week that they’re converting four older Disney and Pixar films to 3-D makes perfect sense in light of Gross’s interview. The company will clearly see some short-term benefit from theatrical re-releases of these films, but the huge earnings will stem from selling 3-D versions to consumers for auto-stereoscopic home display. In other words, expect to see a lot more 3-D conversions because they’re preparing for something much bigger.

From a Disney Research project: “Tactile Brush: Drawing on Skin with Tactile Grid Display”

Here’s an unique piece of Disneyana. The un-happiest letter on Earth. Collector Philippe Videcoq is currently selling (on eBay) a very rare and unusual item: the original, complete telegram sent by Roy Disney to notify worldwide Disney offices the day after Walt’s death.

This is the original copy forwarded by Disney’s London office to their Paris branch, and received at 4:46pm on December 16, 1966. It starts with: “Please convey the following statement by Roy Disney to all employees and associates – The death of Walt Disney is a loss to all the people of the world” and ends with: “Private family funeral services. No flowers.” It is a very moving homage to Walt and his career and honestly states: “There is no way to replace Walt Disney“.

The sale ends this coming Wednesday. You can read the entire 6-page telegram by clicking each thumbnail below:

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Following up on our recent Song of the South post – here’s the legacy of that film, as far as the latter day Disney Company is concerned:

(Thanks, Rob Turner)

Forget that old PAL video tape or the Japanese laser disc. Someone is offering a 16mm IB Technicolor print of Song of The South on eBay. The bidding starts at $1,499.

We rarely plug specific items being sold on eBay, but the 1946 live action and animation feature is one of the few Disney classics never released on DVD. The seller says it’s an original grey track IB print with colors that will never fade. Technicolor prints in this shape are rare of any film, much less one of the most requested Disney titles of all time.

For more information about this 16mm print, click here. I also recommend joining the Song of the South page on Facebook and checking Song of The South.net for the most comprehensive coverage on the film. Oh, and I’m not bidding on the picture, so let me know if you get it.

UPDATE: Brew commenter Egbert Souse writes in our comments that, “Disney is remastering Song of the South from the original negatives in 4K resolution. It’s not in the immediate pipeline for a Snow White or Bambi level restoration, but they’ll have complete digital files by the end of next year.”

NPR loves The Lion King, but calls the 3D release a “cash grab”.

You know what I think. How about you? Intrigued enough to see a classic Disney hand drawn feature converted to 3-D? If so, share your thoughts with the rest of us in the comments below (Please respect our talkback rule and only post below if you’ve actually seen the 3D version).

UPDATE: The 3D Lion King was number one at the US box office this week.