Jim On Film
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Fun with Disney

I have been known, by those who know me well, to go overboard a little in my various interests. Face it, it’s easy to do with Disney. There’s so much fun stuff you can buy to indulge yourself.

But alas, creative person that I am, over the years, I have not been content to wait for new things; I have also found ways of putting my creativity to use in inventing.

Disney Binders
If you’re like me, you may like to print out your favorite Jim on Film columns (or for that matter, any other LaughingPlace.com columns and news) for future reference. I also cut out newspaper articles, magazine articles, and other Internet sources, but when I started doing this, I realized that I needed a way to organize them.

A handy way of organizing anything is with a binder. But why stick with boring old plain blue or green or white binders when you can make your own Disney binders? First of all, you need a binder with a clear covering, one where you can insert pictures into the covers. These pictures can be taken from several sources. My favorite is to use the pictures from the Disney Days desk calendars, which I have saved over the years. Though sometimes in need of color correction, the ink and paper quality with these desk calendars is always very high. Other sources I’ve used have been regular Disney wall calendars ($1 clearance bins are the best) as well as advertisements that come packaged inside Disney videos and DVDs. Sometimes at Disney stores, there are advertisements made available, and when in New York, there are always brochures easily available from all the Disney Broadway shows.

A next step is to decide a general design or theme. My favorite design is to take pictures from the Disney Days calendars. In an average-sized binder, sixteen pictures will fit, divided into four columns. Typically, I organize them in order of the year released. This leaves a column in the middle that is not large enough for pictures. I then type out information to put in this place. Each binder I’ve created always includes a list of the Disney animated features from Feature Animation. For the other side, I’ve used favorite quotes, original release dates, and other information.

Then, it’s a good idea to create a backing so that you can tape the whole thing together. My preference is for black colored paper, and I use a quality brand of colored paper (some kinds can look faded).

For my Disney binders, I often leave the binding plain, but if that is not your choice, you can easily clip and tape together pictures to insert into the slot.