Disney History
Topic: Neil Gabler's Disney bio

#	Author	Message
1	BeautysBeast Tue 6/12/2007 5:50p	What are some opinions on the book?
2	TongaToast Tue 6/26/2007 8:12a	I'm not quite finished with the book, I bought it for my dad for Christmas and swiped it last time I was home (sorry Dad, I know you haven't read it yet). Lots of detail which is always great, but I think Gabler focuses a little too much on the doom and gloom (maybe to mirror Walt's personal mythology of always being the underdog who triumphs?), but overall a fun summer read. The chronology can be confusing at times, as he will jump a few years around here and there to finish telling one story of the many stories. I have to say that after reading of Walt's disinterest in many of the classic cartoons (Cinderella, Dumbo) bummed me out a bit, I guess I assumed these were held with the same level of personal care as the ones Walt truly cared about (Snow White, Fantasia, etc). I'd definitely recommend this to other fans. And if anyone has recommendations on great books, particularly about the history of the parks, I'd love to hear them.
3	Jim in Merced CA Tue 6/26/2007 10:00a	I wasn't that impressed with the Neal Gabler book. I felt like I'd heard a lot of the stories he recounted about Walt Disney -- and for me, the book spent a lot of time in the early days. My favorite part of the Disney history is from about 1950 on. The creation of Disneyland, The New York World's Fair, the development of Audio-Animatronics, the Olympics in Squaw Valley, The Mineral King project - that stuff.
4	danyoung Tue 6/26/2007 10:26a	I'm really enjoying this read. I've read about every book ever written on Walt, so I have a pretty solid background. Gabler goes into much greater detail on many aspects, and is really fleshing out my knowledge of the man and the company. I'm currently reading about the making of Snow White, so I have a long way to go. But I'm enjoying every page.
5	BeautysBeast Tue 6/26/2007 12:11p	I thoroughly like reading biographies and this was no exception.Most of the personal life of Walt was already known to me but the insights to his creativity and "task mastering"was insightful.The struggles to make snow white is particularly memorable.
6	BeautysBeast Tue 6/26/2007 12:11p	I thoroughly like reading biographies and this was no exception.Most of the personal life of Walt was already known to me but the insights to his creativity and "task mastering"was insightful.The struggles to make snow white is particularly memorable.
7	BeautysBeast Tue 6/26/2007 12:14p	My first duplicate post..ooops my bad...
8	twirlnhurl Tue 6/26/2007 2:08p	I really enjoyed it.
9	karlg Mon 7/2/2007 10:13p	I found the Gabler Biography "good but not great." My biggest fault is that I think he delved into too much speculation without any basis for it. I was left thinking a number of times, "where did that come from?" I thought Mike Barrier's, more recent biography, "Animated Man - A Life of Walt Disney" to be much better. Barrier gives a very even handed biography telling the good and bad of Walt. It is not that Gabler's is bad, it is just that I though that Barriers (published a few months after Gabler's) to be a bit better. Both books are pretty good and better than say Bob Thomas's Authorized (and many would say whitewashed) version.
10	irishfan Tue 7/3/2007 4:43a	I really enjoyed it.

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