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Vita Di Walt Disney. Uomo, Sognatore E Genio (2007)

by Michael Barrier(Favorite Author)

3.64 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

888961384X (ISBN13: 9788889613849)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Tunué

review 1: The book itself gives a great account on Walt's life, with loads of interviews and quotes from people who knew him, personally or not. Mostly not emitting any judgements, but letting facts and others' words tell the story, you read through these discovering the man, and always relearning who he is as his personality is changing over the years. It's a long and exciting adventure about somebody very famous who actually isn't well known from the public, except surface stories.I don't know if we can call Walt Disney an example of entrepreneurship. It's kind of the same than Steve Jobs, highly successful goes with highly controversial, it seems.Still, it's worth reading about the man for his willpower and his taste for new things. He was always moving forward, innovating, and e... morexperimenting. He wanted to create new things, and to bring amusements and fun to the masses. He clearly didn't seem to have the healthiest life ever, or has not always been the nicest person to have as your boss. Tough struggles with his employees in the 40s, omnipresent when the studio was young and totally absent the last years of his life... In any case the balance was never quite stricken, and he remained a man respected but also feared.But he was a doer, and was not afraid to go against public opinion and try new concepts. And very resolute, with all the hassles he went through at the beginning. Betrayal from colleagues, from associates, from clients. A man able to focus and go where he wants, whatever is happening. That suits the man very well!
review 2: As a child who grew up visiting Disney World, and recently returned from one of many trips to Disneyland with my kids, I wanted to learn more about the man behind it all. I have heard several different stories about Walt Disney (some very harsh), and as such, I found this easily readable, but very detailed, biography an entertaining read.There are many revelations to be had, and I'll try not to spoil them for the reader. This is the story of a man who grew up in a small Missouri town and worked non-stop from childhood until his final days to become one of the most well-know figures in all of history. From beginning to end, Walt took extreme financial risks in pursuit of his many visions. You would think a man who scraped by in literal poverty during the Great Depression to build an entertainment empire would secure that hard-won fortune, but he risked it again and again on new ventures. When developing Disneyland years later, his wife even worried, "He's always telling us how wealthy we are...we haven't got anything."We tend to view Walt Disney as the brains behind Mickey Mouse, the man with the golden touch whose animation features are forever etched in history as untouchable classics for all generations. One after another, they have been re-released and treasured by children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And yet, for the timelessness they enjoy now, several classic Disney films were commercial failures at the time of their releases. In fact, many were still considered to be disappointments by the man himself years later. The book focuses a great deal on the making of films themselves, but I enjoyed watching the man transition his attention from films to trains and ultimately to the theme parks that still draw our children back time and again. People marvel at how well they are run and how perfect everything seems to be synced. That was always Disney's intention, but it wasn't even close to that at the beginning. Like many projects he worked on, critics doubted the idea of Disneyland, and they were certainly right when it opened. What they missed on, however, was Walt's philosophy that the park was a work in progress- never finished. He never even got to see his Pirates of the Caribbean completed. The poor assumptions made during the planning were corrected by spending plenty of time joining guests on the rides and walking through the park. He not only picked up trash himself, but he adapted the park to how people wanted to use it, not how he thought they should use it. There are good lessons in this for working through problematic and occasionally haphazard conditions to achieve a desired goal.Disney magic is a strange entity in and of itself. To some, he had little involvement in many of the later projects under his growing enterprise, while others marveled that somehow he still managed to touch everything. The man could dream, but not every decision was a good one. For example, his vision for Epcot Center was problematic and was immediately scrapped after his death. Only the name survived. I wonder what Walt would say today about the accolades bestowed upon animated films that he was initially embarrassed to release and he considered failures. Time seems to have smoothed over many of Walt's blunders, leaving behind a legacy and an enduring brand. This is a testament to his incredible vision and his focus on the arts that appealed to people's emotions, and I thought of Steve Jobs again and again while reading this book. Take for example, the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride, one of my favorites I had taken many times as a child. Kids now have likely never even heard of Jules Verne's classic book or seen the live-action Disney movie. Yet, they all line up today to take the same ride I did- in its current incarnation as Finding Nemo. Just like the "Hidden Mickeys" placed all throughout the park that you may spot or miss, the famous fish himself is a secret gem keeping the spirit of that original Disneyland attraction intact. In a wink to the past, the Captain of the Nautilus in 20,000 Leagues is none other than Captain Nemo. That is the magic of Disney. less

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