Some 75 years ago, Walt Disney founded his company with a commitment to storytelling excellence. From Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Lion King to the upcoming Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Disney stories enrich our lives with timeless tales and lifelong memories. And nowhere else is the rich tradition of storytelling more uniquely communicated than through books.

In May 2000, Random House Children's Books most happily signed an agreement to become Disney's primary American publishing partner. At that time we had a wonderful opportunity to meet with our Disney colleagues, who showed us the most amazing archives containing just about every copy of every Disney book published anywhere in the world. The archivist was pleased to show us one of his most prized treasures. It was a 1939 edition of Walt Disney's Pinocchio. And guess what was printed on the title page? Random House!

So it is with enormous pride and a sprinkling of pixie dust that I share with you, not our first-ever Disney book published by Random House, but certainly our first full launch of titles as Disney Books for Young Readers. And this June, when Disney launches its Summer 2001 feature Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Random House will be there with bells on--just as we were, once upon a time, with Pinocchio-- with a line of books that will knock your socks off.