DVDizzy Forum

Is Walt Disney: An American Original the best book to get to learn the truth about Walt's life?

Yes.

I've read it twice cover to cover, and many times I simply just open to a random page in the book and read from there. It's very rare for me to find a book that I can open at a random page and read for 15-20 pages and know what's going on without backtracking. It's a very easy read, very informative and keeps you interested.

Escapay

Well, Thomas' Walt Disney: An American Original is pretty good, and it may be the best place to start. However, I actually prefer The Disney Version by Richard Schickel. Schickel is much more critical than Thomas (this may be due to the fact that Thomas' book is published by Disney. Thomas' book is probably to be considered the official biography).

Schickel's book definitely generates strong feelings, you're either going to love it or hate it. I happen to think that Schickel's books is a facinating read and much more interesting read than Thomas' book.

If you've only got money for one book, I'd probably go for the Thomas book, it's a good read and easy enough to find. But if you do have a little extra money, I'd give the Disney Version a try. By reading both books, you get a very well rounded look at a great American icon.

It's always a little tricky to find an "authoritative" biography on someone like Walt, whose image is so protected by those who own the rights to his name and story, who is so beloved by the reading audience, and who is on the other hand the subject of many people who would delight in smearing his reputation. As a result, you get a lot of biographies that will practically canonize him, while you get others that are published because they purport themselves to be unofficial, dirt-digging, skeleton-exposing, "he's not as great as you think!" editions. In all honesty, it's doubtful that either is an accurate portrayal. It's best not to be eager to believe all good things but also not to be eager to believe all bad things, either.

That said, I haven't read the Thomas biography, which I always hear about, though I have read others.

If you're not quite looking for an exposé, Walt: The Man Behind the Myth (a DVD that also has a book form) is a very well-done and fairly comprehensive look at his life that doesn't entirely shy away from less-than-perfect details. I haven't yet read the book version of this either.

-Aaron

AwallaceUNC wrote:As a result, you get a lot of biographies that will practically canonize him, while you get others that are published because they purport themselves to be unofficial, dirt-digging, skeleton-exposing, "he's not as great as you think!" editions. In all honesty, it's doubtful that either is an accurate portrayal.

Very true.

I've read quite a few.

Although I could agree that Walt Disney: An American Original is a good starting point, I tend to think that it's a bit too "official". The one I would recommend is:

Watts, Steven. The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American way of life. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.

I will give Thomas credit, though, for having written this biography of Walt's brother Roy:

Thomas, Bob. Building a company: Roy O. Disney and the creation of an entertainment empire. New York: Hyperion, 1998.

Recommended.

Lars Vermundsberget wrote:Although I could agree that Walt Disney: An American Original is a good starting point, I tend to think that it's a bit too "official". The one I would recommend is:

Watts, Steven. The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American way of life. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.

I agree. I used both books for my US History II research paper on Walt Disney. I quoted the latter more as it contained more detailed information. But I prefer Thomas's for other reasons said. I guess it's like Harry Potter in that it's a lot like reading a story focusing on a single person's life from his point of view. You're always with Walt in the book and only stray away from him when you get to the end after he dies. But overall, both books are highly recommended.

I am the Doctor wrote:Well, Thomas' Walt Disney: An American Original is pretty good, and it may be the best place to start. However, I actually prefer The Disney Version by Richard Schickel. Schickel is much more critical than Thomas (this may be due to the fact that Thomas' book is published by Disney. Thomas' book is probably to be considered the official biography).

Schickel's book definitely generates strong feelings, you're either going to love it or hate it. I happen to think that Schickel's books is a facinating read and much more interesting read than Thomas' book.

If you've only got money for one book, I'd probably go for the Thomas book, it's a good read and easy enough to find. But if you do have a little extra money, I'd give the Disney Version a try. By reading both books, you get a very well rounded look at a great American icon.

If some of those customer reviews are true, on Amazon then Schikel's book is not for me.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... /ref=nosim

How to be like Walt sounds like a good one, any one here read it?

GhostHost wrote

If some of those customer reviews are true, on Amazon then Schikel's book is not for me.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/ ... /ref=nosim
How to be like Walt sounds like a good one, any one here read it?

Schickel definitely generates strong feelings, you either like The Disney Version or you don't. In many ways, it somewhat reminds me of the reaction the The Disney War, you either liked that book or hated it. I happen to think that Schickel offers a more critical look at Walt Disney than Thomas. That being said, I can understand why someone might want a more straight-forward biography of Walt Disney, and I do think Thomas offers that. I'm not familiar with Watts' book, I might have to check this one out.

Yes, It is a great book. It is my second favorite book ever to read besides Mouse Tales.

Has anybody ever read Marc Eliot's book "Walt Disney - Hollywoods Dark Prince." I found this book quite interesting and unique. It is however extremely biased perhaps in the oposite way that "Walt Disney: An American Original" seems to be. For example many of the 'darker' events in the Walts life are included and many stories (however biased they may or may not be) that are omitted from most other biographies are included. I would strongly recomend this book as although you cannot accept every word printed in it as gosple (as with any book) it does succeed in putting accross a legitimate and 'original' take on Walts life.

P.S. I have read a lot of books about Walt and the Disney Studio because I am writing my University dissertation on how the Second World War effected the Disney Studio. My favourite book however although it is not a biography as such is Richard Shales book "Donald Duck Joins Up". This book covers Disneys every move throughout World War II and is REALLY interesting. The book is out of print but I found it at a library so it is still around to be read.

Yes, I have read "Hollywood's dark prince". It is indeed quite "interesting". But based on the overall impression of several Disney biographies I also believe it's highly speculative - it seems to build some rather questionable stories out of rumours that are hardly mentioned elsewhere. But who knows...

The question of "how the Second World War effected the Disney Studio" is a very interesting one and I guess I wouldn't mind seeing what you come up with.

Hollywood's dark prince is probably just a bunch of made up mumbo jumbo sometimes loosely based on facts. I wouldn't trust a word of a book like that on stuff I don't already know.

Well it seems that whatever biography you choose to read there will be some kind of content cencorship or stretching of the truth. Marc Elliot argues in his book that Bob Thomas's 'AUTHORISED' biography only got that title because he alowed the studio to input on content and presentation.

I decided to read both Elliot's and Thomas's books and then draw upon both of them. They are both very interesting in there own right and whilst Thomas's book is undoubtably the best starting point if you are still interested give Elliot's book a go.