When Walt Disney decided that he wanted to keep improving animation and make an animated feature, he knew he would have to help his animators get better at more than just animating. They needed to learn about a variety of subjects so that they could harness their full potential. He decided to create a series of lecture classes that included bringing in some of the greatest people in their professions at the time, including Frank Lloyd Wright. Every time I read about these lectures in a Walt Disney biography, I wanted to find out what was in them. “Before Ever After” (affiliate link) gives me that opportunity.

This book is beautifully bound and full of photos from the vintage days of the Disney studios. It features a selection of lectures in their original forms as the animators would have received them. I was happy to have purchased this long before I opened it to read.

Don Hahn and Tracey Miller-Zarneke have combed through the lost lectures of Walt Disney’s studios to bring out the most relevant and most interesting, according to their own assessment. “Before Ever After” provides context for the courses and the way the writers of the book chose the lectures. Obviously, it’s a book that should be in every Disney fan’s collection. However, given the nature of the lectures and the idea behind them, it should also be in the libraries of those who are looking to improve their creativity.

If you want to read more about Disney and creativity, check out “Disneyland Is Creativity” and “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity.” Read more about the Disney Company in “Penguinate! The Disney Company.” Check out other Disney stories at www.penguinate.weebly.com.

This is part of our Disneycember coverage. Doug Walker, the Nostalgia Critic, and Channel Awesome appear to have coined the term “Disneycember.” Come back every day during December and read a new Disney article.