The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney

Product Information

Samantha Friedman Arkansas Democrat-Gazette “I have always believed, and recently increasingly believe, that Walt Disney was one of the most important entrepreneurs of our time. Time seems to have smoothed over many of Walt's blunders, leaving behind a legacy and an enduring brand. Whilst undeniably entertaining, MAFS crystallises a point about dating and life made by Oliver Burkeman in his book Four Thousand Weeks. Early days Johnny Bravo worked as a Hipster 101 lodestone – smart, cool animation, catchphrases, pastiche, and big moments (remember him going on a date with an anthropomorphic horse) 10. This means that the first chapter, on Disney's youth, is dense with facts, to the brink of the unreadable.

I've read Gabler's definitive biography and the family-commissioned Bob Thomas biography and even though they were both great, I found myself enjoying this one the most. He has also most certainly withstood the test of time – first appearing in the Peanuts comic strip in 1950, debuting on TV in 1965, and most recently appearing in the film It’s the Small Things Charlie Brown 2022. There are plenty of details regarding the company's finances, such as which productions were financial successes or burdens, and some fascinating glimpses into motivations surrounding Disney's ever-evolving professional pursuits, including live action film, TV, and Disneyland. In one particularly devastating passage, he describes Disney's ultimately modest success with audio-animatronics, which Disney had hoped to use as a storytelling device. In the vast universe of superheroes, one name stands out as an emblem of relatability, resilience, and redemptive power: Spider-Man.The low points are not white washed nor magnified and the common misconceptions and charges against Walt (such as whether he was anti-semetic) are refuted. I was fascinated to see this mysterious world laid out as an industrial process—somehow, this makes what we see on the screen even more miraculous. And yet, for the timelessness they enjoy now, several classic Disney films were commercial failures at the time of their releases. Barrier does an excellent job of showing how and why the Disney studio became prominent and explaining the role of Disney himself in the Disney empire.

This is the fascination with the life of Disney and how he made his films and parks and everything else. It was of course, not to be, as neither the technology nor the design of the experience lent itself to storytelling. I really enjoy reading about Walt Disney and the Walt Disney Company and have read 14 Walt Disney biographies alone. Barrier nevertheless follows Disney in his ventures into live action film, nature documentary, and of course theme parks. What it does mean though is that someone who started out without much and made something of himself, genuinely so, whatever you think of him, and then became a, well, Conservative, up-tight, things-should-be-pure-and-innocent-and-oh-look-at-the-silly-doggy-and-mechanical-train-and-birdie is a compelling character for a story that spans decades and involves shaping the popular culture and even consciousness of parts of the public.One example being how many of them over the years mentioned how he was able to get results out of them that they would otherwise not been capable of achieving. Between the two, Barrier is unquestionably more qualified to discuss Walt Disney as he is a leading expert on the man and his films. Am I supposed to hate Disney or dismiss him as a bad person because he was every inch business man, or because he was a Republican or he no longer dined with his wife by the time he was sixty?

One after another, they have been re-released and treasured by children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.When developing Disneyland years later, his wife even worried, "He's always telling us how wealthy we are. Timmy Turner’s amalgam of magic, music and wishes makes him a stellar lead character to allow escapism and day-dreaming. Having said that, it's vital to point out that author Michael Barrier also doesn't turn this into a tabloid biography by dwelling on rumors of some of Walt Disney's faults. Author Michael Barrier manages to weave together various threads and the various parts of Walt's career and show how one interest lead to the next and the next.