The Story of Walt Disney

by Diane Disney Miller

Vintage paperback

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2005

About the author

Diane Marie Disney-Miller was the only biological child of Walt Disney and his wife Lillian Bounds Disney. Diane co-founded the Walt Disney Family Museum alongside her family. She was president of the Board of Directors of the Walt Disney Family Foundation.

Reviews

[Stefani · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am of the rare few that didn't grew up watching the Disney channel & movies, going to Disneyland is not on my bucket list either. However, I do find the person of Walt Disney to be a rather fascinating success story. So when I saw the Macedonian translation of this selling of 1 euro, I had to buy it. I read it in a couple of hours, it's informative, but didn't tell me much more than what I already knew. The writing style is literally Diana retelling what her father had told her, which could have done better but I understand she's no acclaimed author.

Overall, I've decided on 3 stars for this.

[Tonk82 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biografía escrita en 1957 por la hija de Walt Disney... o al menos en teoría, ya que al parecer quien la escribió fue Pete Martin (ediciónes recientes llevan una coletilla que indica "Por Diane Disney Miller, tal y como se la contó a Pete Martin").

La narración intenta ser creíble desde el punto de vista de una mujer que narra la historia de su padre. Con constantes frases tipo "Mi padre me dice siempre que..." o "Le pregunté por ello a mi padre y me dijo:", la verdad es que a veces queda todo demasiado impostado, como propio de una narración contada por una niña, cuando en realidad Diane ya tenia 25 años.

Por lo demás, no es mal libro. Cuando se publicó Walt Disney seguía vivo y activo, y es un retrato bastante amable, que a ratos pasa por alto algunas cuestiones. Lo que se refiere a la vida personal de Walt, parece todo bastante creíble y sus anécdotas... fiables. Se echa en falta algo mas de hincapié en su vida familiar, o algunos de sus "puntos negros" como persona (todo el mundo tiene ese tipo de cosas, es ridículo no meterlas en un libro así).

Prácticamente medio libro narra su vida de juventud hasta que montó los estudios Disney y sus personajes Oswald y Mickey Mouse. Retrata bastante bien el tipo de negocio que había en la época en lo que respecta a la animación y sus dificultades, aunque se abstiene de nombrar a la mayor parte de los competidores (ni se menciona a los hermanos Fleischer, que a ratos eran mas populares que él). Se agradece, eso si, la mención de algunos pioneros de la animación: "Mi padre no inventó los dibujos animados", indica.

También se echan de menos muchos nombres de directores, animadores e inventores, que sacaron adelante buena parte de los éxitos del estudio. En general se tiende a adjudicar al propio Walt Disney casi todo. Es una visión que ha ido perdiendo peso conforme ha ido pasando el tiempo, pero supongo que en el 57 formaba parte de lo que Disney era.

En general es una lectura amena. Se acaba teniendo una visión global de la carrera de Disney bastante buena, si bien es bastante parcial y un tanto superficial.

[John Lyman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great to get an inside perspective on this legendary man's life. It does gloss over some serious difficulties he had with his personnel, but seems to be quite comprehensive. The cost of things is interesting to read as compared to what prices are nowadays.

[Jonathon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is based on conversations Walt's daughter Diane had with him. She took notes, and her notes were passed on to Pete Martin to organize into a book. It's the closest thing we will ever get to a personal memoir from Walt, short of some manuscript being found in a closet. As with all personal memoirs, certain events seem to be a little lopsided or embellished. It was none the less an enjoyable read, and I learned things as a Disney fan that I didn't already know. This book is supposedly in the public domain, so you might be able to find it online.

[Carsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Story of Walt Disney by Diane Disney Miller. Written by Disney's granddaughter, this biography has some amazing personal photos. It's also got a great nostalgic sense of Disney's sweetness. I think parts that is the publication date of 1957.

[Huemulin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesante libro de primera mano sobre la historia de Walt Disney.
Si bien el libro lo firma su hija Diane. El que lo escribió fue Pete Martin.
https://www.jaimegalo.tv/diana.htm

[Kristi · Rating 5 out of 5]

You all know I loved this one.

[Rebekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s rare that I learn new things about Walt Disney and his story, but I did from this book. I thoroughly enjoyed this read.

[Nichole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Editing was subpar..

The content is interesting, but the flow and lack of proper editing made it extremely hard to read and finish this book.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the earliest biographies of Walt Disney and , as far as I know, the first one sanctioned by Walt, written in the late 1950s. In spite of the byline, the book wasn’t written by Diane; it was actually written by Canadian journalist Pete Martin, based on a series of interviews with Walt, and was credited to Diane as a way for Walt to give Diane and her husband Ron Miller a source of income. In spite of this bit of subterfuge and the fact that it’s missing the last 10 years of Walt’s life - arguably the pinnacle of his career - it’s still an interesting book!

“The Story of Walt Disney” covers Walt’s life and backstory, from the tale of his ancestors who immigrated to America from Ireland by way of Canada, to Walt’s early life in Chicago, Marceline and Kansas City, and his career prior to the creation of Mickey Mouse. The book then tells the story of the early years of the Walt Disney studios, including the early shorts, the Studio’s progression into feature films, the effect of the Studio strike of 1941, the World War II years, and the beginnings of its posstwar recovery, up to the early years of Disneyland. The book’s full of anecdotes of Walt and his family, particularly his parents and his brother and business partner Roy, and takes a couple of shallow dives into the process of animation and the field’s early history.

The book is a pretty good overall view of Walt’s life; being an official biography, some elements of Walt’s life are downplayed a bit and other facts about Walt and his family (like the fact that Diane’s sister Sharon was adopted) aren’t covered much or at all. But it’s a good introduction to Walt’s personal story; if you’re not that familiar with it, this is a good jumping off point. Once you’ve read the book, if you find yourself wanting to learn more, there are some great biographies out there to flesh out the story a bit. ( Be careful, though - there are a couple of bad biographies of Walt out there, too.) Recommended!

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oddly, there is no original publish date mentioned for the book, not even in Diane Disney's 2005 introduction to this reprint. According to one website, it was 1957. Although it's written as if Walt's daughter is telling the story, she says she did not write it. This isn't in depth, and the other many biographies of Walt Disney are much more detailed and informative. But Diane was involved in this memoir at the time it was written, and there are many interesting bits and anecdotes about her father. The sections about Walt's childhood are interesting and contain a lot of information about Disney Company's participation in the WWII effort. There is some, but not a lot, of commentary about creating and building Disneyland. It seems like there should be more written about that in here since Diane would have been about age 32 when the park opened in 1955. I'd think she would have been infatuated even then with that project if only to be able to tell her kids about it. Happily, she did provide expanded information about that and other things in more recent years prior to her death.

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually read the 1957 first edition. It was great and it was an incredibly surreal experience reading such an old book. It places, it talked about movies to come, such as "The Sword in the Stone", which was later released in 1963.

[Kezza22 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biography by walt's Daughter Diane, it is truely a fantastic read for a Disney fan!

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed. I have a lot of affection for Disney anyway, and learning more just made it better, as Walt comes across as really likable and the story is interesting.

[Julie Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read- it can be a bit wordy, but still an interesting history and wonderful person to read about!

[Henry Sturcke · Rating 3 out of 5]

My notes say that this was published in 1957, but my paperback copy is long-lost. Some material originated as a series of articles in the Saturday Evening Post, coauthored with Pete Martin.

[Jeff Crosby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this in high school for a research paper.