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  • © 2012

Disney Stories

Getting to Digital

  • Highlights how technological innovation made Disney’s characters and stories more engaging for audiences
  • Explores how Disney uses contemporary gaming and online environments to create interactive stories
  • Presents an insider’s look at the creation process for their digital games, including The Lion King Animated Story Book, Disney Blast and Toontown
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (16 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages 1-1
  2. An Interview with Roy E. Disney

    1. An Interview with Roy E. Disney

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 1-4
  3. Stories Across Media

    1. Stories Across Media

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 5-13
  4. From Gags to Stories

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15
    2. Early Animation: Gags and Situations

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 17-24
    3. From Gags to Characters

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 25-33
    4. Synchronizing Sound and Character

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 35-44
    5. Drawing and Color: The Language of Realism

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 45-54
    6. Capturing Life in Animated Film

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 55-64
  5. From Watching to Experiencing Across Media

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 65-65
    2. Creating the Disney Master Narrative

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 67-78
    3. Engaging Audiences Across Media

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 79-91
  6. From Interacting to Creating and Sharing

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 93-93
    2. Animated Storybooks and Activity Centers

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 95-101
    3. Going Online: A Personal Theme Park

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 103-110
    4. Development Cycle: Games

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 111-123
    5. Development Cycle: Quality and Feedback

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 125-135
    6. MMORPGs: Player-to-Player Interaction

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 137-150
    7. Virtual Online Worlds: Stories and Engagement

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 151-157
    8. Epilogue

      • Newton Lee, Krystina Madej
      Pages 159-170

About this book

Disney Stories: Getting to Digital explores how Disney, the man and the company, used technological innovation to create characters and stories that engage audiences in many different media, in particular in Video Games and on the Internet.

Drawing on Disney films from the twenties and thirties, as well as the writings of historians, screenwriters and producers, Disney Stories: Getting to Digital explains how new film and animation techniques, many developed by Disney, worked together to evolve character and content development and produce entertaining stories that riveted audiences.

Through an insider’s perspective of Disney’s legendary creation process, the book closely examines how the Disney Company moved its stories into the digital world in the 1990s and the virtual, online communities of the 2000s. By embracing the digital era, Disney led storytelling and technological innovation by granting their audience the unique opportunity to take partin their creation process through their online games, including The Lion King Animated Story Book, Disney Blast and Toontown.

Disney Stories: Getting to Digital is intended for Disney fans and current practitioners looking to study the creation process of one of the most famous animation studios in existence. Professors teaching courses in new media, animation and interactive storytelling will also find this book a valuable asset.

Reviews

An affectionate portrait of how 'the mouse' learned to use the mouse. 

                -- Alan Kay, President, Viewpoints Research Institute

Authors and Affiliations

  • Newton Lee Laboratories, LLC, Tujunga, USA

    Newton Lee

  • , School of Literature, Communications, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA

    Krystina Madej

About the authors

Newton Lee is CEO of Newton Lee Laboratories, president of the Institute for Education, Research, and Scholarships, and founder and co-editor-in-chief of ACM Computers in Entertainment. During a decade of tenure at Disney Online from 1996 to 2006, he led the technical team of the Disney Online Games Group in producing over 100 online games and activities for Disney's websites including Disney.com and Disney’s Blast.

Krystina Madej is Visiting Assistant Professor at the School for Literature, Culture and Communication at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, and Adjunct Professor with the School for Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver. For many years her research interest has been the characteristics of narrative that create meaning, especially those that are shared across print and digital media. Before returning to academia in 1999 she enjoyed a successful career as a communications designer.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access