The Disney community mourns the loss of beloved Disney historian Jim Korkis.
Korkis, an internationally-respected Disney historian, wrote insightful Disney articles and books throughout his career. He also wrote articles here on AllEars.
Korkis began his writing career at age 15, primarily writing about comics, animation, and Disney, according to a MousePlanet blog post by Korkis. Eventually, Korkis went on to work for Disney in many capacities, including in entertainment and as an instructor at the Disney Institute. He was laid off by Disney in a mass layoff during the recession in 2009.
In 2012, Korkis defined his job as a Disney historian, writing in a MousePlanet blog post,
“A ‘Disney Historian’ is someone who does original research, like interview people, locate material (in the old days, we did some of this by going through newspaper files and trying to read microfilm and microfiche files in libraries), verify material, and organize that material into a coherent structure. Most importantly, a ‘Disney Historian’ takes the raw facts and connects them into a story so that people can better understand the facts.”
Korkis spoke about Walt Disney’s love of steam trains in a Disney Parks Blog post in 2011. He also wrote a collection of books, including titles like Disneyland Historical Highlights and Final Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Conclusion of the First 50 Years.
As a Disney historian, Korkis believed, “You can love the Disney brand but still have concerns about how Disney operates.”
In the Disney community, Korkis was known as an extremely knowledgeable Disney historian and a talented writer. Korkis once said,
“It puts a smile on my face when we come up with questions for an interview of an aging Disney artist or discover a new book or find a forgotten newspaper clipping or picture. I smile even broader when others offer their knowledge about the item.”
Read some of Jim Korkis’ work
Our thoughts are with his family at this time.
Such sad news to hear of the passing of Jim Korkis. I had just finished reading his very interesting article on Splash Mountain in AllEars, when I read of his death.
He knowledge of Disney will be sadly missed
I love Jim’s books & articles & was delighted to meet him in 2014 at the Allears Meet at Old Key West. We chatted for a long time & then Jim gave me his email address so that if I ever wanted to know anything Disney I could get in touch with him. And I did. And he was always so happy to reply & share his knowledge. Whenever my husband opened Allears & there was an article written by him, he would point out that this week the lead article was by “your mate, Jim”. But I always knew as I’d already got there first! Jim is fondly remembered & will be missed.
My favorite part of allearsnet.com were Jim’s articles. Always thorough, always insightful. He will be greatly missed.
So sad! He was always so kind and generous. I met him several times (and later corresponded), at both Adventurers Club events, and also at Epcot’s 30th D23 event. RIP.