The Art of Disney Costuming: Heroes, Villains, and Spaces Between is a new book by Disney Editions, that showcases Disney’s fabled costuming department. For decades, Disney has been creating costumes for movies, live performances, and theme parks and this book takes a deeper look at this art form.

Jennifer Eastwood, senior editor at Disney Editions, had this to say about the book:

“Much has been said and written about the significant work of the artists, animators, performers, composers, designers, and Imagineers who have brought forth the sorcery of Disney, Disney costume designers have never had their work examined with the same focus-until now.”

Authored by Jeff Kurtti and the Staff of the Walt Disney Archives, this book features photographic collections organized by heroes, villains, and “those in between”. For theme park fans, there is a section on costumes created for Disney Parks, which this excerpt talks about:

Since all of Disneyland’s a stage,’ a decades-old employee handbook says, ‘you’ll either work backstage to keep the show going in tip-top shape, or onstage, where your every action is subject to the eyes and ears of others.’…In the 1950s, the idea of viewing Disneyland as a show was unique and revolutionary— but not unexpected from a consummate showman such as Walt Disney…‘Uniforms are for the Army,’ the handbook continues, ‘where things must be, well…uniform. We wear costumes.’

You can read the full description of the book here, and buy it now at Amazon.