Book of the Mouse Club

"And now it's time to say goodbye to all our company." Courntey and Emily are hanging up their headphones after 120 episodes and over 100 books. In this episode, they reflect on their podcasting experience and turn their author interview questions on themselves to give advice to future podcasters and what they want to do next as they keep moving forward. Thank you to all of the guests, authors, pu...

The Overtakers and Disney Villains are at it again! But the Keepers are parents now, and their kids are as invested in saving the Disney parks as they were in their youth. Is it time to pass the wand to a new generation? Courtney and Emily welcome back Ridley Pearson, author of the Kingdom Keepers, to discuss the final installment in the series, The Inheritance trilogy. In the episode, Ridley talk...

Anything can happen in the woods, such as having Conor and Caroline from the Poor Unfortunate Podcast back on the show! In the episode, Courtney, Conor, Caroline, and Emily go into the woods to journey's end to compare Grimm's Fairytales to Stephan Sondheim's 1987 stage musical and Disney's 2014 film adaptation of Into the Woods. Careful the things you say...there are some hot takes in this episod...

Join your hosts for a kiss goodnight finale to the Disneyland 70th anniversary! Courtney and Emily complete their Celebratory Summer Series commemorating Disneyland's 70th anniversary with "The Happiest Place on Earth: The Incredible Story of Walt Disney's Disneyland" by Don Hahn and Christopher Merritt Foreword by Bob Iger. This coffee table book features over 750 images, documents, and concept a...

A picture is worth a thousand words, and these never before seen photographs of Disneyland on its opening day in 1955 tell a lot of stories. Courtney and Emily continue their Celebratory Summer Series by welcoming back author, Aaron H. Goldberg, to the podcast to talk about his book, "Presenting Disneyland: Forgotten Photographs From Opening Day." Featuring never before seen photographs from a stu...

Disneyland is celebrating its platinum anniversary! This episode introduces the Celebratory Summer Series with a Disneyland theme to commemorate 70 years of the Happiest Place on Earth. Courtney and Emily kick off this three book summer series by meeting some original cast members around Disneyland in David Koenig's book "The 55ers: The Pioneers Who Settled Disneyland". The book memorializes almos...

Welcome Class of 2025 to Kermencement! In honor of Kermit the Frog's commencement speech at his, and your hosts' alma mater, the University of Maryland, Courtney and Emily read Kermit's book, "Before You Leap: A Frog's-Eye View of Life's Greatest Lessons." Kermit has 70 years of wisdom to share with graduates and readers and in honor of the Muppet Anniversary, Kermit published a third edition of h...

You may recognize her from social media: she loves churros, Orange Bird, and telling her followers all about Disney history in the late hours of the night. Danielle Kelly, aka the Dapper Danielle, joins Courtney and Emily to give them a tour around the Magic Kingdom in her new book "I Love Disney's Magic Kingdom 100+ Surprising Facts, Magical Quizzes, Fan-Favorite Trivia, and More about Disney's M...

There's a girl in the castle! Courtney and Emily invite you to be our guest for a latest Fairytale Favorite episode. The tale as old as time, "Beauty and the Beast" by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont, was the inspiration for the 1991 Walt Disney animated film. There are many differences between the 14 page fairytale and the 90 minute film, but there is beauty found within both.  Review Book of t...

Hi-ho the me-ri-o! Courtney and Emily have no strings to hold them down as they celebrate the 85th anniversary of Walt Disney Animation's second motion picture, Pinocchio, by comparing the film to Carlo Collodi's original novel, "The Adventures of Pinocchio: Story of a Puppet." Collodi's episodic adventure takes readers to the puppet show, the not so wondrous meadows, Playland, the bottom of sea…p...

Courtney and Emily are all in this together for this nostalgic discussion of Disney Channel and Ashley Spencer's book, "Disney High: The Untold Story of the Rise and Fall of Disney Channel's Tween Empire." The Disney Channel was falling behind in children's programming in the 1990s until they discovered the tween market and launch millennial defining television programs such as Lizzie McGuire, Tha...

Courtney and Emily welcome back Michael Lyons to the Book of the Mouse Club to discuss his latest book, "Magic Moments: Stories, Lessons and Memories from a Twenty-Year Career at Disney." This book is a perfect selection for the end of the year because it is about reflecting on past experiences and the lessons learned along the way. Michael talks about his two decades of experience at the Walt Dis...

What is one step short of crazy? Passionate. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Disney's 2004 live action film, National Treasure, Courtney and Emily welcome Aubrey and Emily from the National Treasure Hunt Podcast to the show to talk about their book "National Treasure Hunt: One Step Short of Crazy." National Treasure is an action, adventure, fictional heist rooted entirely in real history. Its...

It's not spooky season without the Sanderson Sisters. Courtney and Emily relight the black flame candle to chat with Shannon Carlin about her debut book, "Witches Run Amok: Disney Hocus Pocus the Oral History." Shannon conducted over ninety interviews with the cast and crew to present stories from the making of the film to its legacy. This booooOOOoooK is one that should be added to any Hocus Pocu...

Inbetweeners are the animators who draw the pages in between the lead animators' key frames. The in between doesn't get a lot of attention, but it is essential to move the animation forward. The same concept applies to the "in between era" that connects Walt Disney's passing to the Disney Renaissance. A tumultuous time period which often only gets a few chapters in history and is usually known onl...

And now you are about to see the eighth wonder of the world…the final installment of the Adventureland Attraction Summer Series! Courtney and Emily welcome former Jungle Cruise Skipper, Allie Ring, to discuss "Skipper Stories: True Tales from Disneyland's Jungle Cruise" by David John Marley. This collection of stories allows readers to learn about the iconic attraction outside of its design and pa...

The birds sing words and the flowers croon in this episode all about The Enchanted Tiki Room. In this second installment of the Adventureland Attraction Summer Series, Courtney and Emily interview author Ken Bruce about the enchanting context and early history of the attraction in his book, "Before the Birds Sang Words". Go beyond the origin myth of the mechanical bird Walt picked up in New Orlean...

S.O.S! Courtney and Emily are stranded on the island of New Switzerland. Luckily, there is a terrific treehouse complete with a library where they can read and be safe from the jungle's wild animals. Join your hosts for their first selection of the Adventureland Attraction Summer Series, "The Swiss Family Robinson" by Johann David Wyss, and compare it to the 1960 live action film and iconic treeho...

Many are familiar with Disney's theme parks, cruise ships, resorts, and broader media empire, but did you know Disney tried to build a ski resort in Mineral King, California in the 1960s? Courtney and Emily are joined by authors Greg Glasgow and Kathryn Mayer to discuss how this resort never broke ground despite over a decade of planning. Their book, "Disneyland on the Mountain: Walt, the Environm...

Only one book is appropriate for episode #101 and that is Dodie Smith's 1956 novel, The Hundred and One Dalmatians. Join Courtney and Emily as they compare the original source material to Disney's 1961 animated feature and 1996 live action film.  Follow Our Reading Journey On Social Media! Official Instagram : @BookoftheMouse Courtney: Instagram @greatguthsby and Goodreads Emily: Instagram @emily_...

We got ears, it's time for cheers! Like the Walt Disney Company, Courtney and Emily are celebrating their own hundredth milestone - 100 episodes! During the Book of the Mouse Club 100 celebration, your hosts will recap their reading "wrapped" with data from the 104 books they've read since episode 1 and share reflections and behind the scenes anecdotes about the books along the way. Also hear from...

The Most Magical Place on Earth is sometimes more than meets the eye…so let's meet our magical private eye! When mischievous magical mysteries arise, that is when Miles Mitchell, private eye, takes the case. Courtney and Emily are joined by Aaron Forringer to discuss his collection of short stories, "The Miles Mitchell Mysteries: A Private Eye At A Magical Place". As a private investigator and now...

The Walt Disney Company has been wishing on stars since 1923 and Disney's Wish is a tribute to the 100 years of animation from the studio. Courtney and Emily kick off season 7 with "The Art of Wish" celebrating Disney Animation Studios' 62nd film. Its unique "moving painting" animation pays tribute to the golden age of Disney animation and there are dozens of easter eggs to make you nostalgic for...

The Villains are trying to ruin Christmas! Classic Disney villains are up to their usual dastardly deeds, but the spirit of Christmas cannot be defeated. Courtney and Emily discuss Serna Valentino's picture book "Disney Villains: How the Villains ruined Christmas" in their concluding episode of season 6. Picture books and reading are synonymous with the holiday season and make great gifts for the...

Those zany Szalinskis are at it again! Back on episode #54, your hosts talked with Jeff DiPaoli about the junior novelization of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and now they are back to discuss the sequel, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid. Junior novelizations are a great way to engage young readers with their favorite films. Released in 1992, the novelization was released by Scholastic 7 months before the film...