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Magician of the Movies: The Life of Walt Disney
From Marceline to the Magic KingdomAward-winning Associated Press reporter Bob Thomas' original biography of Walt Disney is fast-moving and insightful—the perfect introduction to Walt for readers of all ages.
The stories told in Magician of the Movies unravel the man who fascinates us to this day. Thomas puts us in the wagon with young Walt making the rounds with Doc Sherwood in Marceline, Missouri. He makes us feel Walt's despair at the loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit—and Walt's jubilance not long after with the creation of Mickey Mouse.
We follow Walt to France during World War I, sit alongside him at the premiere of Snow White, and weather with him the dark days of World War II. We watch as orange groves give way to magic and pixie dust. Even if you've heard these stories before, Thomas brings them—and many others—to vivid life, with wit and charm, and deepens your admiration for Walt Disney.
Bob Thomas wrote two biographies of Walt (and one of Walt's brother, Roy), and he counted the Disneys among his many Hollywood friends. Walt himself gave his future biographer a personal tour of Disneyland when the park was still under construction—driving Thomas to the site in a convertible! No other biographer writes of Walt Disney with such authority and authenticity.
COME ON, EVERYBODY, HERE WE GO!
The stories told in Magician of the Movies unravel the man who fascinates us to this day. Thomas puts us in the wagon with young Walt making the rounds with Doc Sherwood in Marceline, Missouri. He makes us feel Walt's despair at the loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit—and Walt's jubilance not long after with the creation of Mickey Mouse.
We follow Walt to France during World War I, sit alongside him at the premiere of Snow White, and weather with him the dark days of World War II. We watch as orange groves give way to magic and pixie dust. Even if you've heard these stories before, Thomas brings them—and many others—to vivid life, with wit and charm, and deepens your admiration for Walt Disney.
Bob Thomas wrote two biographies of Walt (and one of Walt's brother, Roy), and he counted the Disneys among his many Hollywood friends. Walt himself gave his future biographer a personal tour of Disneyland when the park was still under construction—driving Thomas to the site in a convertible! No other biographer writes of Walt Disney with such authority and authenticity.
COME ON, EVERYBODY, HERE WE GO!
184 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 21, 2016
5 people are currently reading
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About the author
Bob Thomas
131 books33 followersRobert Joseph "Bob" Thomas was an American Hollywood film industry biographer and reporter who worked for the Associated Press from 1944.
Born in San Diego, he grew up in Los Angeles, where his father was a film publicist. He attended UCLA. He lived in Encino with his wife, Patricia. They have three daughters. Thomas, aged 92, died on March 14, 2014 at his home.
Thomas made his mark by engaging celebrities in activities that brought out their personalities, whether by measuring their waistline after childbirth (as he did with Betty Grable) or testing just how tall a leading lady needed to be by kissing her himself (as he did with June Haver). Acclaimed as the dean of Hollywood reporters, Bob Thomas wrote about the movie business for the Associated Press since the days when Hollywood was run by the men who founded it: Jack Warner, Darryl F. Zanuck, Harry Cohn and Louis B. Mayer.
During his long history of reporting for the AP, Thomas authored at least 30 books. Many in the film industry credit his 1969 biography of producer Irving G. Thalberg as sparking their interest in pursuing a career behind the scenes. Other Thomas biographies include Joan Crawford, Marlon Brando, David O. Selznick, Walter Winchell, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Howard Hughes, Abbott & Costello, Walt Disney, and a children's book, Walt Disney: Magician of the Movies. - Wikipedia
Born in San Diego, he grew up in Los Angeles, where his father was a film publicist. He attended UCLA. He lived in Encino with his wife, Patricia. They have three daughters. Thomas, aged 92, died on March 14, 2014 at his home.
Thomas made his mark by engaging celebrities in activities that brought out their personalities, whether by measuring their waistline after childbirth (as he did with Betty Grable) or testing just how tall a leading lady needed to be by kissing her himself (as he did with June Haver). Acclaimed as the dean of Hollywood reporters, Bob Thomas wrote about the movie business for the Associated Press since the days when Hollywood was run by the men who founded it: Jack Warner, Darryl F. Zanuck, Harry Cohn and Louis B. Mayer.
During his long history of reporting for the AP, Thomas authored at least 30 books. Many in the film industry credit his 1969 biography of producer Irving G. Thalberg as sparking their interest in pursuing a career behind the scenes. Other Thomas biographies include Joan Crawford, Marlon Brando, David O. Selznick, Walter Winchell, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Howard Hughes, Abbott & Costello, Walt Disney, and a children's book, Walt Disney: Magician of the Movies. - Wikipedia
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June 15, 2024
Because we saw Disney every Sunday night on TV introducing each night's show, we think we know him but there is much to learn from this book that I certainly didn't know. Such as how as a lad he rode to farms with the local doctor while growing up in Missouri and sketched drawings of farm animals by the age of 6 or was at the very introduction of silent movies, to talkies, to color to animation. Fought in WWI. Roy his brother was his "money man", treasurer of all Disney productions and helped Walt concentrate on being such a magician of the silver screen.
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