Call Me Walt: Everything You Never Knew About Walt Disney

by Jim Korkis, Bob McLain (Editor), Floyd Norman (Foreword)

In the half century since his death, Walt Disney has picked up a lot of biographical baggage. Fans see him as a saint, critics as a fraud. Was he kindly Uncle Walt, or a racist, rapacious tycoon? Disney historian Jim Korkis puts the rumors to rest. The story of Walt Disney has been told many times. He's been portrayed as an "American original", an "animated man", and a "dark prince." Walt was all of these things, and others besides. Who you get depends on who's telling the story. In Call Me Walt , Korkis lets the story tell itself, through interviews, an examination of media reports, Walt Disney's own words, and a comprehensive analysis of the positives and the negatives, the facets and the flaws, that characterize everyone's life, famous or not. Forget "Uncle Walt." Forget the "Dark Prince of Hollywood." Those are lazy labels for a man who remains fascinating because he can't be relegated to a role. If you think you know Walt Disney, you probably don't.

222 pages, Paperback

Published November 13, 2017

Reviews

[Peter Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Due to the set up of the book, which is divided into topics about Walt Disney, the book repeats itself several times, but this was such an enjoyable read. Walt Disney is often raised up as a saint, but sometimes even a demon, and this book sets out to highlight the truths and bust the myths (That should be a show!!!). Told mainly through interviews and emails from those that knew him, this almost has an intimate feel to it. Walt already had a grandfatherly feel to him, but this book show how human (and sometimes flawed) he was. One of the more interesting chapters was about the urban legends surrounding him: frozen head, Jew-hating Nazi sympathizer, racist, etc. Not only does the author explain the absurdity of these myths, but he presents evidence supporting how ridiculous they truly are. Even those who think they know everything about Walt Disney might be surprised to learn something new from this book.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really helped round out my imaginings of what Walt must have been like as a person by leaving aside the more extraordinay events of his company to focus on his everyday life and often quirky personality traits: his 'fake cough' (and his very real smoker's hacking fits), his generally messy appearance off-camera and penchant for mis-shapen hats, his horrible diet (canned chili, spam and jello) and his odd insecurity about his height (he was 5'10). It also includes lots of details of his devotion to his family in spite of his obvious workaholicism; something that I think helps fill out the depiction in traditional biographies.

It's a charming and easy-to-read series of anecdotes organized by theme (hobbies, diet, health etc) with the last 20% or so devoted to debunking myths about him. I wouldn't recommend it as someone's first book on the topic but if you are into Walt Disney then I think you will enjoy this.

[Charlie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did you want to read twenty pages about how Walt Disney felt about Dogs?

If so, good news--you're the one the book was written for. It's like a Disney biography that only focuses on minutiae. If you're hoping to see the truth about the ridiculous rumors that have spread about Disney, that's just one chapter at the end of the book.

No shade on the author--it's a good book if you're trying to !earn the tiniest facts about what Walt Disney experienced as a paperboy in Missouri--but I'm good without that knowledge.

[David Drayton · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, I liked this book, even red some parts to my daughter. It is written in a way that it sometimes repeats itself, but it is very informative, and honestly, the repetition makes it a book that would be very easy to go back to, to look things back up.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book about Walt Disney. The chapters are divided by subject,Family, Education, etc. Probably one of the most interesting was the Chapter debunking myths about Walt. Due to the format of the book, there was some repetition. But all in all, a very interesting read.

[Nicole Byrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with everything Jim Korkis writes, this was amazing! My recommendation is always if Jim Korkis has written it - buy it and read it! :)

[Greg Chenoweth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best For Us

Another great tome from Jim Korkis on the man and the myth Walt Disney. Well researched and well worth a read.