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Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney - artist, entrepreneur, innovator, filmmaker, and theme-park impresario - gave birth to a sprawling entertainment enterprise that, in the half-century since his death in 1966, remains a fixture in the culture unlike any other. A titan of the American Century, Walt Disney was also one of its most contradictory figures. A genius who got only as far as the ninth grade, he seemed to be many things other than what he really was. One of Hollywood's most successful men, he played polo on the weekends but otherwise shunned any form of socializing, driving himself home from work each night in his Packard roadster in time to play with his children. At the peak of his career, he was known to millions of Americans as the smiling, avuncular man with the slicked hair, pencil-thin mustache, and gentle voice who introduced the most wholesome show on television every Sunday evening - and to the people who worked for him as a fiery and impatient man who believed the only way to do anything was his way. Walt Disney was, in short, quite a story.
172 pages, Paperback
First published July 4, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
January 28, 2019
"The Mickey audience is made up of parts of people; of that deathless, precious, ageless, absolutely primitive remnant of something in every world-wracked human being which makes us play with children's toys and laugh without self-consciousness at silly things, and sing in bathtubs, and dream and believe that our babies are uniquely beautiful. You know....the Mickey in us."
--- Walt Disney ---
Disney loved to doodle. Unlike many of us, he turned his true passions (doodling, dreaming, riding trains, collecting miniatures, building playhouses for his daughters, making people laugh) into a profitable enterprise. In other words, he really loved his job. Although he worked 24/7, could be a taskmaster to his animators and a perfectionist, and was constantly facing financial stress (including bankruptcy), he loved his business, and more than anything else he wanted to see his enterprise survive him.
He was a trendsetter and was quoted as saying he always wanted to stay 25 years ahead of his competition. He was one of the first to experiment with celluloid animation, which he turned into a small business of producing animated shorts that ran before movie features. He was one of the first to add soundtracks to animation - he hired a staff of Foley artists to imitate the sounds of the steamboat, for example, in Steamboat Willie. He was one of the first to employ Technicolor in animation, for which he won an Oscar. He was one of the first to produce a feature-length animation movie, such as Snow White, for which he was awarded by Shirley Temple an Oscar, along with seven "dwarf" Oscars. In Bambi, he defied the naysayers by including risky scenes of death. The popularity of his animation spread as fans sang along to infectious songs, as when a lowly cricket croons ...when you wish upon a star, it makes no difference who you are.. - for which he received another Oscar.
Disney even added symphony orchestration to an animated musical, Fantasia. He reinvested much of his profits in technology, such as machinery which took layers of animation and combined them to create a 3D effect - way before computers made this task easy. Then there's television, which the movie producers feared would spell the ending to their industry. Not Disney - he embraced the new medium. Disney's non-animated series, Davy Crockett, became an overnight phenomenon, with kids across the country wearing coonskin hats. Then Disney launched the Mickey Mouse Club, in which the MC was not an adult, but the kids themselves.
Of course, we're all aware of Disneyland and Disney World. But what is not known to many is that before Disneyland, most theme parks were kind of seedy, not the type of place you'd let your kids run around alone. Disney revolutionized the theme park industry, by creating a clean, family-friendly environment. Yes, we can all complain about the pricing and other annoyances of big business, but you have to admit, Walt Disney's ability to imagine is possibly his greatest achievement.
This book, although fairly short, is great for an overview. In addition to Disney's work, it also covered his personal life - which I found less interesting.
--- Walt Disney ---
Disney loved to doodle. Unlike many of us, he turned his true passions (doodling, dreaming, riding trains, collecting miniatures, building playhouses for his daughters, making people laugh) into a profitable enterprise. In other words, he really loved his job. Although he worked 24/7, could be a taskmaster to his animators and a perfectionist, and was constantly facing financial stress (including bankruptcy), he loved his business, and more than anything else he wanted to see his enterprise survive him.
He was a trendsetter and was quoted as saying he always wanted to stay 25 years ahead of his competition. He was one of the first to experiment with celluloid animation, which he turned into a small business of producing animated shorts that ran before movie features. He was one of the first to add soundtracks to animation - he hired a staff of Foley artists to imitate the sounds of the steamboat, for example, in Steamboat Willie. He was one of the first to employ Technicolor in animation, for which he won an Oscar. He was one of the first to produce a feature-length animation movie, such as Snow White, for which he was awarded by Shirley Temple an Oscar, along with seven "dwarf" Oscars. In Bambi, he defied the naysayers by including risky scenes of death. The popularity of his animation spread as fans sang along to infectious songs, as when a lowly cricket croons ...when you wish upon a star, it makes no difference who you are.. - for which he received another Oscar.
Disney even added symphony orchestration to an animated musical, Fantasia. He reinvested much of his profits in technology, such as machinery which took layers of animation and combined them to create a 3D effect - way before computers made this task easy. Then there's television, which the movie producers feared would spell the ending to their industry. Not Disney - he embraced the new medium. Disney's non-animated series, Davy Crockett, became an overnight phenomenon, with kids across the country wearing coonskin hats. Then Disney launched the Mickey Mouse Club, in which the MC was not an adult, but the kids themselves.
Of course, we're all aware of Disneyland and Disney World. But what is not known to many is that before Disneyland, most theme parks were kind of seedy, not the type of place you'd let your kids run around alone. Disney revolutionized the theme park industry, by creating a clean, family-friendly environment. Yes, we can all complain about the pricing and other annoyances of big business, but you have to admit, Walt Disney's ability to imagine is possibly his greatest achievement.
This book, although fairly short, is great for an overview. In addition to Disney's work, it also covered his personal life - which I found less interesting.
August 20, 2017
This book reads like a Cliff Notes version of a biography. Yes, it points out all the important parts of his life, but that's it. It just skims the surface on everything.
April 15, 2018
Short and concise Disney bio
I grew up on Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. Mary Poppins is the first movie I remember seeing. Disneyland was, indeed, the happiest place and Magic Kingdom in my youth. But like Steve Jobs, turns out Walt was tyrannical to his employees, and like astronaut Scott Parazynski (The Sky Below), his obsession with his own adventures and work alienated him from his wife. A good read - made even better with links to videos of Disney’s work and other sources.
I grew up on Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. Mary Poppins is the first movie I remember seeing. Disneyland was, indeed, the happiest place and Magic Kingdom in my youth. But like Steve Jobs, turns out Walt was tyrannical to his employees, and like astronaut Scott Parazynski (The Sky Below), his obsession with his own adventures and work alienated him from his wife. A good read - made even better with links to videos of Disney’s work and other sources.
August 1, 2018
Wow
Thank you Rees Quinn for such a beautifully written book. I learned stuff about Walt Disney that I hadn't been aware of. Having been raised on the work of Walt Disney and his team, I was beyond thrilled to read his story. This is one book I recommend for everyone.
Thank you Rees Quinn for such a beautifully written book. I learned stuff about Walt Disney that I hadn't been aware of. Having been raised on the work of Walt Disney and his team, I was beyond thrilled to read his story. This is one book I recommend for everyone.
October 24, 2014
This book was interesting to me and I think that others would like this book very much for two reasons. First, it is a classic story of someone who started out with nothing and made it to the top. Second, anyone who loves Walt Disney stuff will love this because it is the story behind the making of many well known cartoon characters such as Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
In the beginning, Walt had nothing. But in the end he had everything. But to make it there he had to put everything on the line. For instance, when producing Steamboat Willie, Walt was short on funds. “Disney took Steamboat Willie to New York to record the final soundtrack. To pay for the sessions, Roy had had to sell Walt’s car and wire him the funds.” Once released It was an instant hit among the crowds. “Steamboat Willie premiered at the Colony Theater in New York City on November 18, 1928, ahead of a forgettable film called Gang War. The cartoon earned a rave review in Variety, which praised its ingenuity and its clever sound effects and reported, 'Giggles came so fast at the Colony they were stumbling over each other.' It was hard to find a critic who wasn’t impressed. The Weekly Film Review found Willie 'clever,' and The New York Times said it was 'ingenious'"(38). There are many other examples of Walt's perseverance, much like this one.
For anyone who loves a rags to riches story and is fascinated by Walt Disney will like this book. And from Walt's perseverance came Mickey, Minnie, and the rest of the gang. Without him we would be without great animation.
In the beginning, Walt had nothing. But in the end he had everything. But to make it there he had to put everything on the line. For instance, when producing Steamboat Willie, Walt was short on funds. “Disney took Steamboat Willie to New York to record the final soundtrack. To pay for the sessions, Roy had had to sell Walt’s car and wire him the funds.” Once released It was an instant hit among the crowds. “Steamboat Willie premiered at the Colony Theater in New York City on November 18, 1928, ahead of a forgettable film called Gang War. The cartoon earned a rave review in Variety, which praised its ingenuity and its clever sound effects and reported, 'Giggles came so fast at the Colony they were stumbling over each other.' It was hard to find a critic who wasn’t impressed. The Weekly Film Review found Willie 'clever,' and The New York Times said it was 'ingenious'"(38). There are many other examples of Walt's perseverance, much like this one.
For anyone who loves a rags to riches story and is fascinated by Walt Disney will like this book. And from Walt's perseverance came Mickey, Minnie, and the rest of the gang. Without him we would be without great animation.
December 20, 2017
This was an introduction to the life of Walt Disney and seemed to be written for a younger audience. While I gleaned no new information about Walt Disney it put some things I knew in better context. I didn't develop my fascination for all things Mickey until 20 years ago although I had grown up with The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday evenings. For me the end quote in the book sums up, very nicely, what the appeal is. It was part of a 1933 interview of Walt and is as true today as it was then. "The Mickey audience is made up of parts of people; of that deathless, precious, ageless, absolutely primitive remnant of something in every world-wracked human being which makes us play with children's toys and laugh without self-consciousness at silly things, and sing in bathtubs, and dream and believe that our babies are uniquely beautiful. You know...the Mickey in us."
May 6, 2015
Seeing "Saving Mr. Banks," made me want to learn more about the beloved Walt Disney. Tom Hanks certainly portrayed him as a beloved head of the whole Disney conglomerate. I remember his weekly chats with us on "The Wonderful World of Disney." He seemed like everybody's favorite uncle. I wanted to learn more about him. This was a quick, pleasant read, however, I came away not knowing a whole lot more about him than I already knew. I will look for a book that goes a bit more in depth.
May 12, 2015
Interesting
I found it to be an interesting read. It was nice to see he made his fortune from the ground up. He wasn't a kid handed an empire from rich parents and took claim to something he didn't build. He may have been a tyrant at business but it's people's choice to stay at a job or leave. It was his name on the line, if he failed people would've moved on and not worried about him, but those who stayed were a part of something huge thanks to him.
I found it to be an interesting read. It was nice to see he made his fortune from the ground up. He wasn't a kid handed an empire from rich parents and took claim to something he didn't build. He may have been a tyrant at business but it's people's choice to stay at a job or leave. It was his name on the line, if he failed people would've moved on and not worried about him, but those who stayed were a part of something huge thanks to him.
January 29, 2022
I found this book discounted on Amazon via BookBub; this is my honest review.
-Gives a good glimpse of Disney's world, his family, friends, foes and business partners.
-Could have been more depths to it; seems like something for school. Otherwise, why would the whole descriptions of fairy tales be included?
-I absolutely hated the set-up of this book. The author decided to highlight words, names, places, etc. For which purpose would you highlight the words "buck roe"??!! For someone who has hearing as her first sense, this was irritating (I had enough by 33%) and really hard to read.
-From what I understood, Disney was a micro-manager, took everyone's credit and wasn't that great with finances. On the other hand, his wife did not support him in the least; she loved to spend his money but wouldn't cook or clean the house, and resented his awards and fame. Where was she for "Walt’s crowning achievement"?
-It's amazing to think that by just cutting a tail on a character it would help financially. I was also surprised at how much research animators did for the sake of realism.
-I'm pretty sure that when the BOA had its "own representative that had final say over everything the studio produced", they probably didn't know the trade enough to take good decision; it was all about money.
-Editing needs another pass, not too serious: plural vs. possessive, etc.
-Gives a good glimpse of Disney's world, his family, friends, foes and business partners.
-Could have been more depths to it; seems like something for school. Otherwise, why would the whole descriptions of fairy tales be included?
-I absolutely hated the set-up of this book. The author decided to highlight words, names, places, etc. For which purpose would you highlight the words "buck roe"??!! For someone who has hearing as her first sense, this was irritating (I had enough by 33%) and really hard to read.
-From what I understood, Disney was a micro-manager, took everyone's credit and wasn't that great with finances. On the other hand, his wife did not support him in the least; she loved to spend his money but wouldn't cook or clean the house, and resented his awards and fame. Where was she for "Walt’s crowning achievement"?
-It's amazing to think that by just cutting a tail on a character it would help financially. I was also surprised at how much research animators did for the sake of realism.
-I'm pretty sure that when the BOA had its "own representative that had final say over everything the studio produced", they probably didn't know the trade enough to take good decision; it was all about money.
-Editing needs another pass, not too serious: plural vs. possessive, etc.
November 3, 2020
This is a rather superficial biography of Walt Disney, the famous pioneer of animated films, developer of amusement parks and the original creative force that spawned the modern Disney entertainment empire. At less than 200 pages, it reads like a summary of the basic facts that you could get from other more comprehensive biographies, news cuttings and documentaries, and contains very little insight into the man himself. There are also a number of spelling, punctuation and grammatical mistakes that should not appear in a properly edited book. I couldn’t find any information on the author online except that he’s also written a book about Elvis Presley. This Disney book is not listed on the “Best Books About Disney and Disney History” page on Mouse Hacking, a website by a Disney fan couple, or on any other sites on which I could find lists of Disney biographies, although it is available on Amazon and there are a few reviews on specialist book sites and blogs. If you know nothing about Disney, it might be a good start – I knew very little and kind of enjoyed reading it, despite its brevity. The book isn’t bad, but it’s not particularly good, either. I expect a lot more from a biography.
August 15, 2018
I really enjoyed reading the life of Walt Disney. I grew up watching him Sunday nights on Disney movies and cartoons. I was always fascinated with the animations that were developed at the Disney Studion. I never knew the man behind the public image that I grew up with. It was interesting getting a glimpse into the real life of Walt Disney, seeing his goals and the hard and tedious work it took to reach his ultimate goals. He sacrificed a lot to make his dreams come true but every moment of his time and life spent developing and releasing his creations were all he thought about. It read easily and fast.
July 5, 2018
This was a very short, quick read about Walter Disney. It was interesting, and there's nothing earth shattering about it. Disney met with a lot of challenges in getting his movies and movie studio and Disneyland moving. Also, he was friendly, but could be a bit of a tyrant. He was a stickler for doing things absolutely RIGHT and was very hands on....It took me a long time to read because it's on a device that is not readily available, but I was glad I read it. However, it's not a book that grabs or explores in depth. IT's okay, not GREAT!
July 10, 2018
This was really good and thorough until Disney became a success (I hope that wasn’t a spoiler). Then it just speeds through the rest of his life, with little to no detail whatsoever and spends a lot of time describing Disney movies. Not how they’re made or where the ideas came from but the actual plot of the cartoon movies. Very strange.
July 18, 2017
This is an informative and enjoyable short biography of Walt Disney.
August 29, 2017
Good overview of Walt Disney's life and career. No really new details but good.
May 20, 2018
A very readable and engaging biography
Really enjoyed this history of a remarkable and creative man
Well written. I learned alot about the man and what inspired him
Really enjoyed this history of a remarkable and creative man
Well written. I learned alot about the man and what inspired him
May 25, 2018
Nice, short overview of Disney's life and legacy. Fun to read about where he got his story ideas from and some of the details of his struggles and what he went through to finally be successful.
June 7, 2018
Ok
Faithful story of Walt Disney s life...perhaps it is a good enough story by itself but it could use a little more
Faithful story of Walt Disney s life...perhaps it is a good enough story by itself but it could use a little more
June 21, 2018
The beginning especially read more like bullet points than anything. You get a little about his personal life, more about his work life, but since he was a workaholic that's probably appropriate.
October 5, 2018
Get to know then an behind the mouse
Ex element biography oh Walt Disney. A must read if you live everything Disney. Get to know the man and how he built his empire
Ex element biography oh Walt Disney. A must read if you live everything Disney. Get to know the man and how he built his empire
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December 3, 2019test
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2019
It was an interesting read but rather short and with lack of depth. I would have much preferred a longer book with a much more detailed account of Disney’s life. This to me, felt like an overview.
July 7, 2020
Short book
This book reads like an encyclopedia article, sticking to just the facts. Is an okay book. Short and easy to read.
This book reads like an encyclopedia article, sticking to just the facts. Is an okay book. Short and easy to read.
June 15, 2021
Great story of a man of true vision, willing to take great risks to achieve his dream for the benefit of all.
June 21, 2024
This was an ok biography. A few editing errors and a few things I think they got wrong, but not bad overall.
May 20, 2018
A quick read, facts, just the facts, mamm....Interesting, but nothing you didn't already know about Walt. At least it didn't drag you through the Hollywood yuck.
September 7, 2017
Review posted on http://www.momkatreads.com/2017/07/di...
February 9, 2019
I think we all know where this is going here. Disney by Rees Quinn is a biography, brief biography if I am honest, of Walt Disney a man who is relatively well known for popular characters like Snow White, Donald Duck and a mouse called Mickey. If you haven't heard of him, don't worry, it's okay, not many people have.
Disney is meant to be a biography about the late great man Walt Disney and his work ethic, his love life, family life and how his efforts affected the world as a whole, not just peoples lives, but also the film industry which was an interesting read when I finally got to that part.
In brief however, this is a very brief biography, you get little bits and pieces but nothing more than that. If you want to learn more about the man that is Walt Disney, you might be better off either going on YouTube and looking up videos in relation to the man, or checking out longer biographies. It's a decent read, but it gives the bare bones so if you want something light and easy to read, this might be a good shout, but if you want more substance, give it a pass.
February 8, 2017
Now that is a fascinating life! A good prep for our vacation down there!
November 28, 2017
This is a concise account of a fascinating man. He wasn’t the best animator but he was a visionary pioneer. Nobody thought a full length animation film would be successful or that Disneyland would be profitable but he never skimped on quality. Walt began the Disney Brothers company with his older brother Roy and I wonder, at what point, did it become the Walt Disney company? There are some terrible tragedies and Walt was a lifelong smoker and workaholic. He was also a perfectionist. He died too young. This is a quick read but well worth it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews