Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #402227 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 880 pages

Review
"Mesmerizing . . . there's nothing Mickey Mouse about this terrific biography of Walt Disney (1900-1966), arguably the most influential figure in 20th-century American culture. The research is astonishingly detailed . . . . About this superb biography, one can hardly be temperate. Gabler's only obvious flaw is also his great strength-the sheer amount of detail and material he presents to the reader. But his engaging, unobtrusive prose, his passion for his workaholic subject (whom he regards as both genius and monster), and his steady march through an amazing career all inspire trust and gratitude. Here, then, is the definitive portrait of Walt Disney, the Dream-King."
-Michael Dirda, "Washington Post Book World "(December 3, 2006)
"Illuminating . . . engrossing . . . . Gabler paints a vivid portrait."
-Bruce Handy, "New York Times Book Review "(December 3, 2006)
"A thoughtful, incisive and largely straightforward account of Disney's life and career."
-Michiko Kakutani, "New York Times "(November 14, 2006)
"Masterly . . . . Gabler conveys the limits of Disney's personal life with sympathy and objectivity. He gives a very careful analysis of the labor strike that changed the mood of the studio irrevocably as well as a nuanced discussion of Disney's alleged anti-Semitism. By conveying the odds against which Disney struggled, Gabler makes his triumph all the more impressive."
-Howard Kissel, "New York Daily News" (November 5, 2006)
"Gabler has put forth the kind of protean epic that Theodore Dreiser or John Dos Passos might have written with their all-encompassing vision, if in a less strident gear. It isn't just the immense amount of detail Gabler deploys togive density and shadow to Disney, but the frames he uses to contain such detail that brings this biography perilously close to being its own work of art . . . . His previous books . . . ring with pitch-perfect intuitiveness about popular culture buttressed by scrupulous research and judicious tactics."
-Gene Seymour, "Newsday "(November 5, 2006)
"[A] tremendously researched and eminently readable biography . . . at once vast and intimate, a skillful act of juggling enormous amounts of fact with equal amounts of rumor, myth, gossip, adultation and hype. Gabler sorts through the contradictions and gives us a coherent image of the man . . ."
--"St. Petersburg Times "(November 5, 2006)
"A richly detailed, often poignant, psychological profile of a visionary . . ." --"The Baltimore Sun
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"Neal Gablers' "Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination" is a standout . . . [Gabler's} vision of Disney and of Diseny's vision of America is far more complex and shaded than most other authors', and far more objective and reliable . . . He is a lively, thoughtful writer, easy to stay with over hundreds of pages . . . one of the most readable, enjoyable, and satisfying books of this year." --"Kansas City Star
""A poised and admiring portrait . . . [Gabler offers] rich detail and exhaustive combing of sources." --"Boston Sunday Globe
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"Delightfully addictive"
- John Hartl, "The Seattle Times "(November 3, 2006)
"Revealing . . . Fascinating . . . Fans of compelling biographies and of Disney himself will be thrilled to have this in their collection."
-"Library Journal "(starred review)
"A revelatory portrait of a visionary . . . "Disney "examinesits subject with a balance of insight, awe and empathy."
-Pat H. Broeske, "Bookpage"
"Magnificent . . . an exhaustively researched and beautifully written work that is among the finest biographies I have ever read . . . Speaking of classics, this book is one. It should capture every award worth giving."
-Cal Thomas, "Gwinnett Daily Post"
"Gabler's remarkable biography lends Mickey's creator new dimensions and sets the standard for future biographies."
-"Kirkus Reviews "(starred review)
"[A] formidable achievement . . . Gabler's restless eye invigorates each page."
- "Los Angeles Book Review"
"Gabler has boiled down his years of study brilliantly . . . Walt Disney has been resurrected, not by medics, but by an extremely intrepid author."
-"Entertainment Weekly"
"Masterful . . . his book is not simply a recitation of facts. Rather, it offers clear-headed analysis."
-"USA Today"
"Every period of Disney's life is depicted in exacting detail . . . [Gabler's] portrait is so engrossing that it's hard to picture the entertainment mogul playing with his toy trains and not imagine him building Disneyland in his head."
-"Publisher's Weekly "(starred review)
"We've all been waiting for the perfect book on Walt Disney; it has finally arrived and Neal Gabler's done it. Wonderful!"
--Ray Bradbury

Customer Reviews

There was a profoundly human being behind the "curtain."

Throughout my childhood, films were "magic carpets" which transported me to distant lands, past centuries, and human experiences almost (not quite) too good or too bad to be true. However, I knew that the murders, plane crashes, train wrecks, buildings ablaze, earthquakes, and attacks by Apaches - albeit exciting -- were not "real." One exception: Disney's animated feature films: they touched my young heart in ways and to an extent no other films did.

Decades later, I still vividly recall how upset I was by separations of "children" from their parents (e.g. Dumbo from his mother, Pinocchio from Gepetto) and especially upset when Bambi eagerly awaited the return of his mother from the meadow, and when the seven dwarfs incorrectly assumed (as did I) that Snow White was dead. With all due respect to brilliant musical scores (I saved up from what my paper routes earned to purchase most of the sound track albums) and to the delightful and wholesome humor of characters such as Thumper and the chorus of crows reacting to a flying elephant, there were always darker themes and ominous elements at work in a series of animated feature films.

Now having read Neil Gabler's book which will probably be the definitive biography of Walt Disney, at least for a while, I have a much better understanding of the creative genius who deserves and has received primary credit for the "magic" to be found in so many of the films and to be experienced while visiting the theme parks. I also have a much better understanding of the tormented man whose emotional complexity and ambiguity are reflected in so many of his animated feature films.

There is a scene in another of my favorite films, "The Wizard of Oz," when Toto pulls a curtain back, exposing an obviously embarrassed fraud rather than an authentic wizard. As I worked my way through Gabler's book, I frequently recalled that scene. But there is a significant difference: L. Frank Baum's wizard created no magic whatsoever whereas Walter Elias Disney did in collaboration with hundreds of associates, creating incomparable magic in dozens of feature and documentary films as well as in long-running television programs.

Now a grandfather of ten, I am pleased and reassured that at least the younger ones among them enjoy the Disney "magic" as much as I once did...and still do. Our troubled world seems to need it at least as much today as it did more than 50 years ago when the Great Depression gave way to World War II. Perhaps it needs the Disney magic even more now. In my opinion, that will continue to be Walt Disney's heritage but only so long as the human heart is open to it and is nourished by it.

Penetrating Disney bio (not at all Mickey Mouse)
It's hard to imagine a time when Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse weren't household names, but that day, in fact, did exist, up until the 1920s. That's when animators led by Disney drew Mickey Mouse. In this hefty, thoroughly researched profile, historian Neal Gabler draws a deeply detailed picture of Disney and his business, from his work animating silent-movie shorts in a Kansas City garage through his years of international fame - and troubled finances. Gabler persuasively argues that although Disney classics, such as Snow White and Pinocchio, may be considered relics today, they were revolutionary works of art in their time. This biography's biggest drawback is its intimidating length, but it rewards readers who persevere. We recommend this history to anyone seeking to understand popular culture, and the competing demands of making art and making money.

Dreaming the dream
Written in a fluent, deeply researched and psychologically rich style, I found Gabler's definitive biography of Disney hugely readable. The complex 20th century icon of entertainment remained an enigma to his closest colleagues and even to himself. Gabler sheds light on the twists and turns of his childhood, his early struggle for success and recognition, and his subsequent triumph in the golden age of animation in the 1930s and 40s. Anyone interested in the emergence of animation as an art form will find some of the central chapters - the Cult, Folly, Parnassus, - full of insight. Anyone who like me has watched fireworks erupt to "When you wish upon a star" at Disneyworld and wondered how one man continues to exercise such a strangely hypnotic power over so many psyches will find some of the answers at least in this life-changing account.