Leonard Maltin Named First Disneyana Fan Club Heritage Award Honoree

Well, the name change may not yet be official, but that hasn’t stopped the Disneyana Fan Club, aka NFFC, from moving forward. A new award honoring individuals outside the Walt Disney Company who have made significant contributions to promoting awareness of, as well as the preservation of, Disney history, will be awarded from the first time in January.

The first recipient of the NFFC—Disneyana Fan Club Heritage Award is Leonard Maltin. In addition to his internationally best selling series of books, Leonard Maltin’s Movie Guide, Mr. Maltin’s other works include, Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons and The Disney Films. Additionally, he wrote the television special, Fantasia: The Creation of a Disney Classic.

Mr. Maltin is also active in the home entertainment field hosting and producing, among other titles, the popular series of Walt Disney Treasures DVDs.

More about the luncheon and Maltin’s contributions below the jump. But don’t forget the December 10-13 Holiday Show and Sale in Orlando in the meantime. Learn more at NFFC.org.

Following the luncheon and awards program Mr. Maltin will autograph one item for each NFFC—Disneyana Fan Club Heritage Award Luncheon guest.

How did what were once the most popular cartoons on earth (the Mickey shorts, for example), come to be seen as a boutique item of limited interest that should only be released in limited edition format? Thanks to Leonard Maltin’s determined advocacy to get the material released at all we now have the Disney Treasures home video series.

Mr. Maltin will discuss, of the cartoons not starring the Fab 5 (the Silly Symphonies and such), how they decided which films to choose? What got left out and why? How much restoration was required?

Most of the Oswald shorts and the Alice cartoons are lost. How did Disney track down those that survive?

How the decision was made to “package” cartoons that are now seen as controversial such as the Der Fuehrer’s Face, and to tell the story of Disney’s WWII cartoons, including the propaganda and training films?

So plan to join us and our remarkable guest and honoree Leonard Maltin for a fascinating program about re-discovering, evaluating, and preserving the earliest and rarest works of Walt Disney Productions.

Tickets for The NFFC—Disneyana Fan Club Heritage Award Luncheon honoring Leonard Maltin on Saturday, January 16, 2010, at 12:00 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Anaheim Resort 12021 Harbor Blvd. Garden Grove, CA, are $55 for NFFC members and $85 for nonmembers.

Mr. Maltin’s autograph session following the luncheon will be strictly limited to luncheon attendees.