When Magoo Flew Turns Eight
When Magoo Flew Turns Eight
Eight years ago today, “When Magoo Flew: The Rise and Fall of Animation Studio UPA” was published by Wesleyan University Press. The book has since enjoyed a successful run, especially for an academic book with minimal promotion. The book has sold over 2,000 copies in first edition hardcover--an impressive number for a book from a university press. It has also garnered an award as Outstanding Academic Title from “Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries.”
Reviews have been mostly positive. Early praise from animation historians found much to admire. Amid Amidi said, “‘When Magoo Flew’ is everything that one could hope for in a UPA history,” and Leonard Maltin called it a “first-rate piece of film history.” Reviews on the web have been equally strong, with an Amazon.com score of 4.7 out of 5 stars.
When the book was published, UPA’s ninety theatrical short films were not publicly available. But soon after the book made its appearance, all ninety found their way to DVD, in two box sets: “The Jolly Frolics Collection” and “Mr. Magoo: The Theatrical Collection.”
The book is available for purchase through Amazon.
March 9, 2020