Walt Disney

The Triumph of the American Imagination

By: Neal Gabler

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Length: 33 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

ONE OF THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER'S 100 GREATEST FILM BOOKS OF ALL TIME • The definitive portrait of one of the most important cultural figures in American history: Walt Disney.

Walt Disney was a true visionary whose desire for escape, iron determination, and obsessive perfectionism transformed animation from a novelty to an art form, first with Mickey Mouse and then with his feature films–most notably Snow White, Fantasia, and Bambi. In his superb biography, Neal Gabler shows us how, over the course of two decades, Disney revolutionized the entertainment industry. In a way that was unprecedented and later widely imitated, he built a synergistic empire that combined film, television, theme parks, music, book publishing, and merchandise. Walt Disney is a revelation of both the work and the man–of both the remarkable accomplishment and the hidden life.

Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography and USA Today Biography of the Year

©2006 Neal Gabler (P)2006 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

2007, L.A. Times Book Prize (Biography), Short-listed

"Thorough...[and] engrossing." (Publishers Weekly)

"A balanced treatment of the man and his achievements, realistically assessing Disney's considerable impact and offering insight into the hidden, restless soul who constantly challenged himself." (Booklist)

"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)

Walt Disney

A very in depth biography, of the beginning of animation to the passion he had for Disney World. Enjoyed the last quarter of the book, more so than the rest.

Great book, the most comprehensive one out there.

Great book and great reading voice. The life story is comprehensive. A definitive biography on the guy. The reader had a calm "normal" voice as well.

Whether things are odd or things are quaint

The man Walt Disney must have been something else.
At the end of the day this book does not let you Know him. One thing is for certain. One does not know what one does not know.

Thank you for the Life Lessons and Legacy

One dreamer to another sincerely,

Chris

what an incredible story.

great narration. super interesting and inspiring. As a fan of Disney this is a must read. I just finished I might read again for a second time

Great book!

Overall, a really good book that details the life of Walter Elias Disney is great detail. The only hangup is the performance delivered by the voiceover. He's extremely bland and monotone in his delivery. The storyline itself is exciting but the Voiceover performance bored me and I fell asleep a few times.

If you want to know about all about Walt Disney

The narrative can be a little droning at times and sometimes the narrator miss pronounces words. However it is a good detailing of Walt Disney's life. We learn about the bad as well as the good. if you are a Disney-ofile, you'll appreciate this audio.

An amazing Human being!!

Such an American Icon/Hero!! Such an inspiration. So glad I decided to listen to this book.

the best biography you could hope for

if your fan of Walt Disney, and want to learn more about the man behind the Persona created for the company, this is the book you need to read. I've heard the story of Walt Disney and his life several times through several different mediums, but this is a whole other level. I was struck by the detail that went in to the early years of his life before the mouse as well as how every life event and production he was involved in is detailed in the appropriate manner. Many of the stories in this book I had heard before, but had never had them tied together in such an interesting way. It's not just the details, it's the context as well. I can't imagine it better biography being written about this man.

Not as in depth in creative. More a business narrative.

As a fan of imagineering and a member of the creative arts community I had hoped for more insight into processes and creativity. Instead this book feels like an accounting journal constantly going over financing and loans and cost of production. I feel like Bank of America got as much mention as Mickey Mouse.

A Relatively Balanced Look at an American Icon

Out of all the biographical works on Walt Disney that I have read, this is certainly one of the most balanced perspectives. Most biographers paint Walt as either a saint of unimpeachable moral character or as a secret villain with a dubious nature. The truth of the matter was that he was neither of these. He was simply a human being who just so happened to become one of the greatest public figures in American entertainment history. And for the most part, Neal Gabler presents this reality excellently by providing the perspectives of both sides on the matter. He includes the opinions of both Walt Disney’s defenders and his detractors without fearing to mention even the most extreme points on either side of the argument. He oftentimes presents the facts as openly as he can and then lets his audience decide their position. He also reminds his audience of the simple truth that Walt Disney was not some superhuman individual, but a person like any you or me and was thus prone to the same failures and successes that accompany all of mankind.

In addition, for the most part, he refrains from substantiating either side too much in order to remain relatively objective in his accounts. However, there are a few issues upon which I felt Mr. Gabler threw off some of his objective perspectives in order to make a point. For instance, Gabler’s philosophy of Walt Disney trying to control reality and everything in it (to the point of what Gabler paints as Walt’s obsession), while certainly a reasonable conclusion from Disney’s life, is often presented as the penultimate view of any account on the man’s actions. To me, it sometimes seemed as if Gabler picked out what points and events support this view (both positive and negative), and focused on them to the detriment of others. It seems like all points Gabler discovered in his research had to fit into this philosophy or they would be relegated to the sidelines. And while it’s perhaps a valid assumption on Gabler’s part, I believe it is still a posthumous explanation of a life created to find more meaning in disparate events and is therefore sometimes bias where it might not otherwise be. Perhaps I’ve just seen too many biographies that were written at a point where the subject became more of an “icon” than a person in the eyes of the public, and am therefore over-sensitive to the practice of mythologizing these figures. Perhaps I’m reading too much into it and seeing biases where there are none. I freely admit that this is my opinion based on personal preference from past reading experience. It certainly did not detract from the overall experience and I absolutely enjoyed the book from beginning to end! I just thought it would be worth mentioning for people with similar experiences to me in the non-fiction genre.

At the end of the day, I understand that Neal Gabler needed a through-line in which to ground the story of Walt’s life and connect it’s various episodes with a common thread. In that case, it is definitely an addition I am perfectly fine with accepting.

My nitpicking aside, this is a well-presented, and well-researched biography of an extraordinary man that (like any account of a person’s life), has its mix of mundane and fantastical elements...Although in the remarkable case of Walt Disney, the latter often outweighs the former, and this book might prove more exciting than most! The narration is also quite well produced and enjoyable to listen to, unlike some of the incredibly dull productions other narrators tend to make in the area of non-fiction.

Overall this was an excellent and informative read on a man who, in many respects, arguably defined the nature of American popular culture and who founded one of the most recognizable brands in entertainment history.