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The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney
Walt Disney (1901-1966) was one of the most significant creative forces of the twentieth century, a man who made a lasting impact on the art of the animated film, the history of American business, and the evolution of twentieth-century American culture. He was both a creative visionary and a dynamic entrepreneur, roles whose demands he often could not reconcile.
In his com...more
In his com...more
Hardcover, 393 pages
Published
April 30th 2007
by University of California Press
(first published 2007)
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Nice (and yes a little nostalgic) to be reminded of the days when Walt Disney was a person more than a brand (although he was a brand too from pretty early on). 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. He didn't write, direct or draw much after the 1920s but everything the studio produced was distilled from his personality. There's a lot of overlap between this book and the Disney cha...more
A fairly good biography... I still think Neal Gabler's version is the definitive Walt bio. What let this one down was the rushing through his last few years of life. Also I found it a little unsettling when big films like sleeping beauty etc were glossed over and suddenly sleeping beauty's castle is being built in disneyland, but why ? It ruined my timeline a little bit when I was reading it. Otherwise quite good .
A well written biography. Like any man, Walt was a complex person, with good and bad traits. The author respects the many facets of Walt's personality; he does not attempt to undermine or unnecessarily praise the man, nor does he seek to align the actions and achievements of Walt with some grand (and unsubstantiated) overarching theme (as other biographers might). There is no agenda here: just an easy to read book, rooted in the facts, about a passionate, driven, and fascinating character.
Michael Barrier took a lot of well known information about Walt Disney and combined it with an equal amount of guessing and opinions - at least he didn't try to hide the fact that he was guessing. The author skipped from one year to another; at times I felt like I was reading random notes rather than a well written biography.
I found this to be an interesting and balance biography of Walt Disney. The author played media critic a bit too much, which bothered me, but in the end I walked away with a clearer picture of a true American success story.
My full review on Epinions.
My full review on Epinions.
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Now that I'm working for his company, I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the man. This was a good, short biography that felt fairly well-balanced to me.
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