The Magic Kingdom sheds new light on the cultural icon of "Uncle Walt." Watts digs deeply into Disney's private life, investigating his roles as husband, father, and brother and providing fresh insight into his peculiar psyche-his genuine folksiness and warmth, his domineering treatment of colleagues and friends, his deepest prejudices and passions. Full of colorful sketches of daily life at the Disney Studio and tales about the creation of Disneyland and Disney World, The Magic Kingdom offers a definitive view of one of the most influential Americans of the twentieth century.
A specialist in the cultural and intellectual history of the United States, Steven Watts is Professor Emeritus in History at the University of Missouri.
At any time there are plenty of hard driving personalities striving for success. America is fertile ground for such people to surge to fame and fortune, though of course the great majority do not achieve national recognition, and we all know about starving artists who have remarkable talent but do not break through to the big time. This is because as much as talent is required, so is the good luck to come on the scene when one's passion turns out to be appreciated by those in a position to help both financially and through exposure to others in a position to join in the push for success. Even then what is on offer must find a receptive public.
For Walt Disney, a determination to use his graphic talents, vivid imagination and terrific sense of humor caught fire in the 1930's with the creation of Mickey Mouse. Disney and an artist with the interesting name of Eb Iwerks did the drawing and Walt provided the falsetto voice to bring the little guy to life using the sensational new technology of sound on film. A man bursting with ideas, Disney had already created a character named Oswald the Rabbit only to have it and the artists who worked on it taken right out from under him to his surprise.
From then on he was determined to keep control of his creations and what creations he and his merry band of artists came up with right up to his sudden death in 1966. Not stopping with cartoons as his business savvy brother Roy advised him to do, Walt was overflowing with concepts that would perfectly coincide with the technologies to make them possible, such as the talkies, then TV, then color TV, then the mechanical animations that wowed visitors first at Disneyland and then the crowning achievement of DisneyWorld in Florida. None of this came to be without Disney's intimate involvement in the details. He was a workaholic, never at a loss for ways to delight the American people.
No reader will be able to get through this book without bringing forth fond memories as Steven Watts describes the many things Disney masterminded that have become a part of growing up in America, right down to plot summaries of each movie and TV series. Disney had an uncanny sense of what the public would find entertaining, be it with animated characters taking on personalities that audiences loved or "live action" (with real people) comedies and adventures, not to forget his travelogues and nature stories. His middle initial should have been P for prolific.
Walt Disney had his critics, and Steven Watts allows them their say, but he achieves his goal of showing how Disney not only tapped the culture of the times but enhanced it for those who simply wanted to go out and have a good time without a care in the world. Yes, Disney productions could be formulaic, but at the point where people might grow tired of a well used theme, out would come some breakthrough to start the love affair over again. The man never ran out of steam.
Being born in 1950, I was exposed to his work starting with the movies, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Song of the South though it was not until I was 20 that I made it to Disneyland. Since my family didn't have a TV until 1960, I missed out on the Davey Crockett craze though neighborhood kids exposed me to all the paraphernalia. Disney was not just a Mouseketeer but a marketeer leading the way in merchandising all manner of toys and clothing to support his movie and TV productions. He had the golden touch, but one senses he felt all the merchandise was bringing smiles to buyers, something more important to him than bringing in money in any way possible.
This book was a revelation. As a kid I knew him only from his rather wooden appearances introducing his productions that gave no hint of his ability to jump up and illustrate a cartoon character with his voice and antic body movement in his younger days. Also, he was known to be far to the right politically in the Vietnam War years and that did not endear him to me as a potential draftee. But I must give the man his due.
I grant only 3 stars to this book because for all his productivity I found his life story rather shallow. There's nothing deep in the character of the man that caught my interest. He was exactly what he presented himself to be. He rose from an ordinary home, hired some very talented people, was a hard-driving perfectionist boss, got married to a nice lady that he never cheated on, had nice kids that never gave him trouble, was unpretentious and shared acclaim with his employees, never gave up his dreams, saw money as only useful for funding new ideas and died suddenly while in the middle of producing his Florida masterpiece. So much happens because of the man and yet nothing happens to the man except a political move to the right. His life was the American Dream and it was showcased as such. He was a fierce defender of middle class values. He had no time for the intellect, for modern art, for hippies. He could not understand why the poor lived as they did (and still do). There was no torment, no real difficulties he had to face other than convincing his tightfisted business manager brother to go with his ideas. He pushed hard but things always fell into place. I found myself yawning.
This was an early work for Steven Watts. I was stimulated to read this book because I was very impressed with Watts' biography of Henry Ford, a truly fascinating character, that was written 12 years after the Disney book. If you go for the nature of the person rather than the accomplishments, go with Watts' book on Ford: The People's Tycoon.
I love anything Disney, which was why I decided to read this biography. And at first it was pretty cool talking about Walt Disney and where he came from and his childhood and family. But then they started with chapters about the political undertones of the Three Little Pigs and it just got silly. I couldn't finish it. I would like to pick it up again at a later date and read about the development of the park in California, but that will have to wait.
“The Magic Kingdom” is an in-depth study of Walt Disney the man and the organization he built. Starting with Walt’s early life in Missouri it follows him through his early days in the animation business, through the loss of his first character, Oswald the Rabbit, to the challenges of starting and maintaining his own company.
Disney, the company, was not always the iconic success as it is viewed today. There were hard time brought on by depression, war, labor disputes, changing consumer tastes and a few errors along the way. Through it all, Walt kept his ship afloat in the eddies and currents swirling around him.
Walt Disney, the person, was a devoted family man who, though giving and expecting loyalty in return, could be difficult to work for. My impression from this book is that he was a perfectionist who would tolerate no less from his employees.
Long a Disney fan, I enjoyed this tome on several levels. I like the memories it kindled of movies and programs of yesteryear: Davy Crockett, Texas John Slaughter, Elfego Baca, The Shaggy Dog, etc. I appreciate the introduction to films of which I was unaware, but may want to seek out, such as the World War II ones produced for the government. The behind the scenes looks at the process that produced these classics and the expansion into Disneyland and Walt Disney World provide insights into what made Disney great. Musings into Disney’s role as a reflection and molder of American culture during the life of the man and the company are thought provoking.
Author Steven Watts has crafted a work that, though long is easy to read, informative and entertaining. I recommend it to adults who grew up with Disney, who have enjoyed his films and parks and students of the business of movie making.
This book is more of a biography of the Disney Studios, then it is of Walt Disney. I had to skip ahead a lot cause it was too dull. After chapter 1 the book goes down hill. Some parts about the movies I found interesting, but that's about it. If you want a book about Walt 's life skip this book.
The book tells the story of Walt Disney's life, but the points of emphasis are too big-picture interpretive to be of any use and relevance to my life.
For example, the chapter about losing Oswald to Mintz and later Ub Iwerks to Pat Powers merges the two events together, as if playing the part of a thesis statement on Walt's naivete or early losses. The details about those conversations, the scenes in which Walt negotiated with Mintz and later Powers, the nuances in their communication, and the creation of Mickey are glossed over.
The author spends too much time putting the major events of Walt's life in a historical context, like the Great Depression, World War II, and the various presidential elections and political climate. I don't care what the Three Pigs and the Silly Symphonies symbolized, or what religions thought of his works. I care about what Walt and his colleagues did to produce and market their works to grow their audience, image, brand, and business.
Too much of what went into this prose was the author's interpretation, like a birds-eye view of how historical events influenced and were influenced by Walt Disney. We don't need the history essay.
The Magic Kingdom is a biography of Walt Disney's career. It was so fascinating and such a fun read considering we spent the summer watching old Disney movies and on our special vacation to Disney World. It touches on the negatives as well as the positives to bring an overall balanced look at the genius who truly shaped American culture. I like the person of Walt Disney even more than I did before reading it, warts and all. When I told a former dissertation advisor that I was going to be honeymooning in Disney World, she looked shocked and replied, "But have you read the critical literature?!" Now I can say YES! 😂
This historical Disney biography does a great job of delving both into Walt's life as well as the company. Getting to find some understanding of Walt himself as well as the character of Walt was interesting, and delving into the political undertone of the company's films gave a great historical perspective to the country at the time as well as how the company and Walt operated. Disney is not only an entertainment company, but has reflected as well as shaped people's views throughout the past century.
This book is very dry and boring. There are so many other better biographies of Disney or Disney related books. I had to read this for a class or I would not have finished it.
After reading The Disney Version by Richard Schickel , I thought I'd check out another Walt Disney bio.
This book is an overarching look not only at Disney's life, but also at the company he created. While the material is covered chronologically, there are also thematic elements running through it as well. As others have observed, Walt's creations were reflections of the times: a funny, endearing Mickey Mouse was just the ticket in the Depression, while the full-length fairy tale adaptations appealed to the traditional and familiar during the post-Depression years. After WWII, the live action movies focused on Middle America, evoking both nostalgia and family values. The development of the amusement parks is covered as well - illustrating Walt's desire for control. Unlike his movies, he could keep refining the park; he even declared publicly that it [Disneyland] would never be finished.
I imagine both the passage of time and the access Watts was allowed to the source material provides the main contrast to Schickel's biography; Watts doesn't touch on the psychosocial aspects as much as Schickel did, but is able to go more into the historical details. The strike of the early 40's gets much more attention in Watts' book than in Schickel's - although it's not clear to me if that's due to more to access to materials or to the author's focus. Watts includes an extensive Notes section, as well as a bibliographical essay, which I may use at some point as further reading.
I believe both authors took what they considered to be an honest look at Walt Disney, his life and legacy. Recommended to those interested in how Walter Elias became Disney, and what Disney became to America.
Overall, I think that this book served its purpose very well. It gave both a biography of Walt Disney and a critical analysis of basically all aspects of Disney.
My biggest complaint with this book is that there were sections of it that didn't seem to be necessary. I don't really care about other employees at the Disney Studios, and I definitely don't care enough about them to read large sections of chapters devoted to them. Once I realized that for the most part, these sections didn't really impact the overall book, I skipped them. I also skipped over a lot of the parts where art critics of the 1920s and 1930s analyzed early Mickey Mouse cartoons and other Disney cartoons. I don't really care about the artistic integrity of Mickey Mouse.
I found it interesting to see how Walt Disney's political opinions changed over the years. This is actually something that I've wondered about because I knew that in his later years he was a very conservative Republican, but that his father was a Socialist and in my mind I wasn't sure how that transition happened.
This book is NOT for everyone. I wouldn't even say that it's for every Disney fan. Disney fans who take the movies and theme parks at face value without having any interest in the history of the company will not like this book. People who have an interest in the history of the Disney company, but don't know much about the early years of Disney will struggle, although the author does a decent job of providing a brief synopsis of the more critical Disney films mentioned in the book.
I learned a lot from this book, but it's a very slow read and it's not one that I would read again because I can't afford to devote another month of my life to one book.
I picked this book up hoping for an insightful biography of Walt Disney. That's not exactly what I got, though the blame is on me - the subtitle is "Walt Disney and the American Way of Life," after all. This book blends biography and social commentary, especially in the field of American Studies. It was informative, engaging and very detailed. I believe that this book would be best suited for someone interested in 20th century United States history or entertainment history.
Each chapter is broken up into sections that typically focus on one person, movie or event. These sections are roughly 5-10 pages long, which makes the text easier to digest in multiple sittings. The book puts Disney's life into several different contexts as it unfolds, from the connections that Depression-era audiences made with his early films; the influence that World War II had on not only the type of films that Disney Studios made but on their profitability; the shift in sentiment that occurred in Disney's films with the beginning of the Cold War.
Unfortunately, the book doesn't quite capture the magic that many, including myself, feel about the Disney canon. Still, the book takes an even tone with Disney the man, neither praising nor condemning him - though I believe the book comes down on the slightly positive side of Disney, mostly because it recognizes that Disney was a flawed man. If you are interested in Walt Disney's role in popular culture in the 20th century, or pop culture and American Studies, I definitely recommend this book.
A very detailed account of Walt Disney’s life and beliefs as they relate to his life’s work, although it falls short of truly developing Walt as a person. All of the facts are there, all of the details about employees, creative and business ventures, analysis of films and other works, construction of theme parks, etc. And I believe that the author did his best with the information available – this is no criticism of him. As interested as I was in the subject matter, because of the lack of persona this was a tough read which took me 2 months to get through. I would read it again in the future to better absorb the facts and figures it offers. I love the historical context provided throughout and the very intense research that obviously went into this book. It’s a shame that a person of such stature as Walt Disney was so private as to defy further personal details and yet completely understandable. He wanted to stand on his work and he does – it speaks volumes where he didn’t. In the end my take on this book is that it is as definitive a work on the Walt Disney Company and its founder as we’ll ever get.
I'm torn as what to rate this book, so I went with the middle ground! While I did think it was extremely well researched and well written, the bulk of the book focused on Walt's political motivations and ideologies in his endeavors, which is not what I was expecting or looking for when I picked it up. There were many parts that I found interesting, including detailed portions on several Disney studio artists and others who were integral to the overall success, but ultimately it came back to politics. I don't doubt the legitimacy of any of the author's work, it just wasn't my kind of subject matter.
This is a good book if not a great one. The author tackles Disney in a different way from most authors focusing on the impact of his efforts more than the efforts themselves. He tries and, for the most part, succeeds in producing a balanced view. Any imbalance may just reflect the imbalance of DIsney's impact on different elements of American society. If after a person ides, what we see is predominantly a reflection of their impact, we should by thinking about and discussing Disney for many decades to come.
Offers an interesting analysis of Disney's cartoons, rather than just a straight biography. Though some might disagree with that analysis, Watt's book's great service is to move beyond Disney's cultural influence and study his ideological and political thought in detail. Can often seem overly theoretical, and just as often shallow.
I liked the book for the most part. It was very long with a lot of words though. I like Walt Disney. This book had a lot of information about him. All of the information was very detailed. I also liked that they talked about Disney studios and Disneyland/Disney World. It also talked about his family. I wish that the book was shorter. It felt like it was taking forever to read.
This is a wonderfully written biography of Disney. Unfortunately, it was clouded by other, albeit interesting, facts about other animators and producers also involved in the upcoming of Disneyland/world. Other than it being very long and packed with information, it was very intriguing to learn about Disney and team.
Well, Uncle Walt is my mentor. I read this book a "while" ago when I was writing my specializing thesis and it really became my Bible. Probably one of the most comprehensive biographies of our modern day "Leonardo Da Vinci".
This is the best, most interesting, and most even handed look at Disney's life that is out there. A little slow in some places, but way less so than other bios.
The book uses both chronological as well as themed exploration of Disney. Along the way we learn about key people who were instrumental in realizes Disney's dreams and ideas