The Walt Disney Company honors its 100th anniversary in 2023, and as part of the festivities, The Official Walt Disney Quote Book showcases insights from Walt Disney himself, along with rare Disney photographs.
What is The Official Walt Disney Quote Book about?
Walt Disney once said, “There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates' loot on Treasure Island and at the bottom of the Spanish Main…” Never has this been truer than within these pages.
This collection of quotations from the co-founder of The Walt Disney Company ranges from the well-known to the obscure, but all are assured to entertain, enlighten, and inspire. His words have been gleaned from publications, productions, and interviews over the breadth of his amazing career. Some are simple nuggets of homespun wisdom, while others are statements of knowledge gained while he crafted the enchanting films, televisions shows, and unparalleled experiences that are so beloved by audiences the world over.
An official account of the Man behind the Mouse – in his own words
The Official Walt Disney Quote Book is not just an assortment of random quotes thrown into book format. It is a thoughtful and organized time capsule of Walt Disney’s very own words categorized by chapter. This book is for anyone eager to learn more about a man who had such an incredible, positive impact on his own time and on the future yet to be.
The book is compiled by Walt Disney Archives which puts it leagues above any other resource for legitimate Walt Disney quotations, especially any that you might find scouring the internet (and wonder if Walt ever did really say that). The compilation shares the inner workings of a driven, yet humble and hardworking visionary – from films and animation to success and failure, to animals and nature to health, wellness and family, this book is a relatively comprehensive collection of Walt’s words on numerous wide-ranging topics.
Something about the book’s presentation in black and white gives it a nostalgic, history book feel, and yet much of its contents speak to the future. This was Walt in a nutshell – always looking ahead – and this book provides an intimate experience with the man who is now a legend and so fondly remembered by families generations over.
There are so many great quotes, but here are ten of my favorites, including some lesser known quotes that I had never come across before:
- “Caution there must be, of course, along with venturesome courage…”
- “I’ve never believed in doing sequels. I didn’t want to waste the time I have doing a sequel; I’d rather be using that time doing something new and different. It does back to when they wanted me to do more pigs.”
- “Women are the best judges of anything we turn out. Their taste is very important. They are the theater-goers, they are the ones who drag the men in. If the women like it, to heck with the men.”
- “If I can’t find a theme, I can’t make a film any else will feel. I can’t laugh at intellectual humor. I’m just corny enough to like to have a story hit me over the heart.”
- “I think of a newborn baby’s mind as a blank book. During the first years of his life much will be written on the pages. The quality of the writing, whatever it be, will affect his life profoundly. Let us multiply that single mind by millions. What is written on that enormity of youthful minds will alter the course of the world. This is how history is determined. It is self-evident to anybody who studies that history of human races.”
- “It has always been my hope that our fairy tale films will result in a desire of viewers to read again the fine old original tales and enchanting myths on the home bookshelf or school library. Our motion picture productions are designed to augment them, not to supplant them.”
- “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”
- “Why be a governor or a senator when you can be king of Disneyland.”
- “Why worry? If you’ve done the very best you can, worrying won’t make it any better. I worry about many things, but not about water over the dam.”
- “I just want to leave you with this thought, that it’s just been a sort of dress rehearsal and that we’re just getting started. So if any of you start to rest on your laurels, I mean just forget it, because… we are just getting started.”
The Official Walt Disney Quote Book was released on March 7, 2023.