Disney comics archive

Cord Wiljes cord at wiljes.de
Tue Apr 12 04:37:20 CEST 2005


I wonder if there is a central archive in which all negatives of Disney
comics are stored: 

Original art is (to my knowledge) given back to the creators after it
has been photographed. The negatives should be stored in a safe place
somewhere. Where is it located? Somewhere at Disney? Who may look into
its inventory?

Is each foreign licensee obligated to deliver a negative of comics they
had created for them?

Are color films also archived or just the b/w linwork? And are the texts
and foreign translations also archived?

How was it possible to get the comics by Carl Barks in such excellent
shape we see them in today? Comics from other publishers (like Marvel)
which were created at the same time seem to be far less lucky. Have all
Disney comics been stored as negatives? Or was restoration from the
printed comics necessary? If yes: Who did it?

And have negatives of Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse and Al Taliaferro's
Donald Duck strips also survived? 

And how about comics in the digital age: Are they stored as digital
files on digital storage media (CDs, tapes, harddisks) today? Are there
additional negatives for security against data loss?

Why do I consider these questions important?

1) I want to know how faithful modern reproductions can be to the
original comics.
2) I would like to be sure Disney comics from the past and present will
survive for future generations of readers, collectors and scholars.

Any information on this topic would be very welcome! 

Cord




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