Explore the Captivating Legacy of Walt Disney and the Impact He Had on the American Imagination

JN: The corners of the book were damaged.

Canada on Feb 15, 2022

Divya: What surprises me the most is - how come this biography of unmatchable stature is not in the list of the Best Biographies Ever?

Had no idea of this Biography even a few months ago. By chance I read two other books related to Disney - Bob Iger's "The Ride of a Lifetime" and then "Be Our Guest."

The information I read about the person Walt Disney made me interested to know him more and this I found this very book and ordered in scecptically as it was relatively expensive and also not much known.

But, I'm more than overwhelmed with this stately Biography of a man who change many of my inherent notions about the best of the CEOs ever and moreover about what all someone can achieve from whatever meagre background and adverse situations in life against all odds from all ends in life and livelihood.

Read it. And recommend it to anyone looking for one of the Must Read Biographies Ever!!

India on Nov 29, 2021

J. Amaral: Awesome book. Contain all the insights and details about Walt's life, productions and work. Too much I would say :). Beautiful book to understand the life of this great Visionary that built part of America's culture.

Canada on Feb 01, 2020

Joanna D.: Neal Gabler's biography of Walt Disney, who created so much of American iconic popular culture is really worth reading. And it's a book that grabs you like any good Disney movie and leaves you with images you can't forget. Only in this case, it's not mermaids, princesses or big-eared mice, it's images of America at the very turn of the 20th Century, the birth of film and the birth of, really, popular culture. And Walt Disney, who came from humble Midwestern origins, had the drive and talent to find his passion and transmit that to the masses.

The story starts out with Disney's father, a hard, cheerless man who yet was restless and sought to follow his dreams, albeit unsuccessfully. Time and again, chance and probably his temperament (not a nice guy) would take him close to success and then deliver a stinging blow. His own personality was pretty mean and a less-driven and let's say, optimistic person than Walt Disney would have been crushed. But none of Disney's early hardships (including literally being driven away from school to work a harsh paper route and other gigs for his father, who constantly took his money and kept it "lest you spend it unwisely." The tail end of...

United States on May 12, 2019

Laurie: Having seen the terrific American Experience (PBS) two-parter on Walt Disney's life, I was interested to know more. This biography is very thorough and even handed, not skimming on criticism where it's due. We often forget that Walt Disney was a man before the name came to represent things. What we learn is that Walt Disney came from very little, never made it out of high school, and despite a few amazing successes, struggled to keep his studio alive following movies that failed at the box office. That those same movies are now considered classics that are integral parts of almost every Americans' childhood makes it almost unbelievable that they nearly ran Walt Disney out of the business of animation. All we know is the vast empire that exists today, but it's only because Walt Disney kept pushing forward in his desire to amuse and delight his inner boy in a way that also appealed to the broad need of most of us to have our stunted, immature selves likewise entertained with singing animals and amusement park fantasy lands. Neal Gabler does a great job capturing the boy, the man, the boy-man, and the man-child.

Among fascinating personal details are Walt's distant...

United States on Nov 16, 2017

Henrycat: Gabler's biography of Disney is the best I have read and I have read nearly all of them. The product of huge amounts of research, it is a well balanced and even handed review of the man's life and work. The writing is superb, drawing the reader on as Disney and his staff make ever greater leaps into the unknown in the 20s and 30s. The disappointments of the 40s and early 50s are well documented and Disney's move toward the theme parks is covered with impressive detail. More of the man behind the films emerges from this book than any previous biography I have read, (Leonard Maltin's was previously the best in my view) and although he remains a tantalisingly unfathomable subject, something of his personality emerges via the interviews and documentary evidence. The overall impression one gets from this book is of a man driven in everything he did, eventually stretched to point where, at his dealth aged 65, he'd packed in several normal lifetimes. Most highly reccommended.

United Kingdom on Jun 20, 2012

Nukewales: Vorweg: Das Buch ist umfangreich. Und es ist auch nicht zur Unterhaltung geschrieben. Aber wer einen wirklich tiefen Einblick in das Schaffen Disney bekommen will, ist hier richtig. Als vergleich habe ich noch Schickels "The Disney Version" gelesen. Längst nicht so ausführlich und nicht sehr neutral geschrieben. Gabler schreibt eher wie ein Chronist, im postiven wie im negativen Sinne. Positiv weil sehr genau, der Autor lässt auch langweilige Teile nicht aus. So kann man auch mal genaue Geschäftszahlen nachlesen, oder technische Details. Aber genau diese Detailfülle macht das Buch auch etwas zäh. Ich brauchte die Informationen für eine Diplomarbeit, insofern war dieses Buch für mich ideal.

Also ein Buch für Leser, die sich wirklich in das Thema Disney vertiefen wollen. Wer einfach nur eine kurzweilige Künstler-Bio sucht, sollte diesen Titel vermeiden.

Germany on Apr 21, 2012

Terry R. Blew: Ever since I purchased this book and began eagerly devouring it, I've debated whether I am qualified to write a review for it, or conversely, whether I may be uniquely UN-qualified, and should recuse myself due to bias. You see, my family's mythology is deeply intertwined with that of the late Mr. Disney. I was born in Marceline, MO, Disney's boyhood home, the small Midwestern railroad town which, as I was told growing up and the book clearly relates, formed the foundation for so much of his character, outlook, and artistic vision. The town really is a great slice of small-town American life, even to this day. My parents grew up and got married there, my Father and grandparents are buried there, and I still visit it when I get the chance, which isn't nearly often enough. For those and many other reasons, the Disney mythology deeply resonates with me. But, with as much objectivity as I could muster, I decided to go for it.

I apologize for the long back story, but it's an integral part of my review and is what inspired me to write, so it bore mentioning. Neal Gabler's "Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination" is a fascinating, absorbing, and detail-filled...

United States on Feb 22, 2007