Review: Remembering Walt: Favorite Memories of Walt Disney
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| Walt was Victorian
prudish--that whole generation of our family was because that's the era they were from. Roy E. Disney (nephew) |
Another small critique here is that none of the photos are captioned. You have to look at the back page for the info. Sometimes the context on the page is enough to give you an idea of what the photo contains, but not always. Hopefully future editions will correct this oversight.
I first heard about Remembering Walt in the pages of the Disney Magazine. Just the few quotes listed there brought tears to my eyes. When I heard about a book signing at the Disney Gallery in Disneyland, I knew I would be there.
I bought Remembering Walt two hours before the book signing and immediately sat down on the Disney Gallery balcony to consume it. Every page had some quote that plucked a deeply rooted string. It was very difficult to put down, and before I knew it, I was almost done. As I sat and looked out over Walt's creation, his gift to us, I felt very close to him and his ideals.
The last few chapters cover Walt's death, and what he meant to the people he touched. I was more than a little choked up. Somewhat foolishly I choose that moment, with tears still on my cheeks, to get my copy signed. Both authors were understanding of my condition which I count as a good sign for their past and future books.
| He was not a prude. When we
made the mermaids for the Submarine Voyage, they had little boobs, and we said, "Of
course, we'll cover these up with seaweed or something." "No reason to." he
said, "Nothing wrong with that." Harriet Burns (artist) |
The authors are a husband and wife team who met while working for the mouse. Amy Boothe Green has contributed articles to such publications as The Disney Magazine, The Disney Channel Magazine, and Los Angeles Magazine. Howard E. Green is a 23-year veteran of Disney's publicity and marketing machine. He is also the author of the recently released The Tarzan Chronicles, a detailed look at the making of the animated feature Tarzan. In speaking with the duo at the book signing they mentioned they already had enough quotes in hand to do two more volumes if the demand was there. I know I'll be in line to buy the sequels.
One of the complaints about previous books on Walt Disney is how strong their bias is. Walt is either someone to be canonized or despised. Remembering Walt avoids that trap. It's true that everybody quoted has some bias in their vision of him. But taken altogether it is a very balanced look at the man who will no doubt go down in history as the greatest entertainer of this century. Sit down, read it, and perhaps, become as inspired as I am.
Remembering Walt: Hardcover; 224 pages of text and photos Amy Boothe Green, Howard E. Green |
-- Review by John Frost
-- Scan of book cover courtest JustDisney.com