Review--Disney Movie Posters by Kevin Luperchio

Anyone who has ever seen a Disney movie knows that the iconic images are beautifully conveyed via the magnificent posters. The tone of the movie and the full range of emotions we experience in seeing the film are often captured in a single poster. After having seen and experienced a wonderful Disney motion picture, the mere sight of the poster can bring back the feelings of having taken the journey by watiching the film. Disney Movie Posters is a tribute to those posters, which tell the story both before and after we see the movie.

Disney Movie Posters have been an important part of the motion picture process since Disney began making motion pictures. Not only are they eye-catching pieces of artwork, they are also designed to entice the movie-going audience. From Steamboat Willie, to Frozen and countless movies in between, Disney Movie Posters have been an important part of the films themselves. Disney shorts, animated movies, live action movies and Pixar movies can be remembered and honored by the posters that so efficently capture the magic of the film.

Since I was between reads at the moment, I decided to do a quick read of Disney Movie Posters: From Steamboat Willie to Inside Out by Kevin Luperchio. This was basically what it sounds like, a look at some of the more iconic movie posters from the start of Disney up through Inside Out. Since this book was published in 2015 that was the latest movie it went up to.

It was a pretty intriguing read. There were chapters dividing the eras of Disney and then a brief intro on said era and what animation was like at that time.

To start, I didn't realize that there was such a big team--usually of ten people--who would work on a movie poster. They wanted a brief image to capture and covey the story line for whatever movie was being promoted.

Another interesting tidbit I learned was of the triptych posters, which is when there are three separate movie posters for one movie and when pushed together, they form a huge picture! Disney first did this with Pearl Harbor, then Oz, and the latest one was Alice in Wonderland. 

I liked learning about the different Disney eras. The movies I grew up on were mostly The Second Golden Age which started with The Little Mermaid. I of course watched movies from the previous era, but "my" era will be that second coming of the golden age! Lol.

I really enjoyed seeing the different Teaser posters that were made for some movies. And the fact that some of the animated classics had a poster market for children and one marketed for adults. I thought that was rather ingenious of Disney to do. I can even vaguely remember seeing the different posters for Beauty and the Beast when it was in theaters. 

I was also amazed at how many times a poster was revamped for each re-release it went through. It was mind boggling! And to think, I had a special Disney coin that had the second version of Sleeping Beauty's poster! I always thought that that was the original one!

I guess one thing I was bummed about was how this book didn't literally have ALL the posters from Steamboat Willie up to Inside Out. I know, it would be impossible to have them all in here, yet, I was kind of hoping for that. Another thing that bugged me a bit was how some of the posters fell out of chronological order. I get that the posters were just thrown in their certain "era" and were in some sort of order, but I don't know. I guess I thought it would be more organized.

All in all, this was a fun, quick little read since it's mostly filled with posters. It's definitely worthy of what I like to call the "coffee table books." It's worth a look if you're a Disney fan and have enjoyed seeing the techniques of Disney change from era to era.


Overall Rating 4/5 stars