Walt Disney’s Life In Chapters: A Literary Journey
File under: Homework you want to do…
D23.com has a fun project in process; telling the life story of Walt Disney through excerpts of 23 “must-have” books.
Obviously, the timing helps those would-be Disney shoppers, but I think it’s fun that we have all of these chapters collected for us.
The Life and Times of Walt Disney
“There was little variety or adventure for a boy growing up in the American Midwest in the early years of the twentieth century. . . . For Walt Disney, though, the appeal of exploration was strong,” writes author and Disney historian Jeff Kurtti in his book Travels with Walt Disney. “As much as he loved (and would return to) his solid rural roots of boyhood, Walt heard from his very earliest days the siren call to roam.”
Have you ever decided to rearrange your bookshelf by a new theme? Meaning no disrespect to the time-honored Dewey Decimal Classification system, we sometimes crave a little more narrative flair to the stacking order of our books. So in getting ready for this holiday season, we’ve dusted off (and have gotten in some new!) Disney books that tell essential stories about the life and times of Walt Disney.
These volumes have been well-researched and written by entrainment historians, journalists, filmmakers, Imagineers, archivists, librarians, and Disney Legends spanning the decades—and our friends at Disney Editions have shared excerpts from each one to help paint a portrait of Walt, his company, and the amazing work that came from it.
Across 23 Must-have Books
Photo: https://dtcimedia.disney.com/
This is well-timed for me personally — I have a break and a vacation coming up — but even before then I can pick off quite a few of these collected chapters at lunch here at work.
D23.com instructed:
We’ve broken our collection up into “chapters” for lighter reading. We’ll be releasing a chapter a week from now through December, so sit back and enjoy the show!
Four: Enter the World of Disneyland
A Blank Sheet of Paper
Here’s an excerpt of the first excerpt, as written by Richard Sherman:
I told my wife I wanted to let the boss know how much we loved our day at his park. Walt approached us with a smile, saying, “Hello, Richard. Shouldn’t you be on your way home by now?” I said, “Walt, we just had to thank you for the most wonderful time today. In fact, when the fireworks started and the music was playing and Tinker Bell flew across the sky, I was so overcome with happy emotions that I was crying.” Walt looked me straight in the eye and with a little smile said, “You know, I do that every time. . . . Now drive home carefully.” With a fond wink, Walt headed for his apartment above the fire station.
Star reading!
