It's basically a direct read from Wikipedia

The beginning of the book starts out as basically telling you it's not going to go over how Disney was created. Instead, it is almost a straight up read up many Wikipedia articles in a chronological order based on various hand picked things the author wants to read.

It's incredibly dry and boring. Do yourself a favor, save the money and just have your phone read the various Wiki articles about Disney because it's not much different.

2 people found this helpful

It was good enough to pass the time on a long driv

I got this book to listen to while we were driving 8 hours each way to visit family - and for that use it was perfectly adequate.

Overall, this book is simply a collection of very short selections from various news and historic sources about events, movies, and other things that were significant (mostly) in Disney history. It's coverage is very scatter-shot and not in depth at all. There were actually a few things I didn't know before but not very many. It was good for driving because it didn't require much attention and if I missed something, it didn't affect my ability to follow things later on.

The narrator was mostly okay and had a pleasant-enough voice. There were a few odd pronunciations, but nothing terrible. There was one point where she flubbed a line and restarted and the editor failed to cut that out. I know it's not the reader's fault but it still seems to be a sign of imperfect workmanship.

In conclusion, I'd probably not recommend this book for most people. There are better books on the history of the Disney company and better biographies of Walt Disney and many of the other creators of Disney magic. If you can't find anything better to listen to, though, it's not terrible, just not terribly good.

2 people found this helpful

Nothing New

The book is just okay. Nothing new here. In fact the title is deceiving; it’s only partially about Walt, and nothing about the mouse. It’s content is good, but the writing is at times juvenile and occasionally self-indulgent. It’s a solid “meh.”

Fun Facts, Interesting Structure

Although this book contains interesting fact and details parts can be hard to follow. It follows the time line but will suddenly jump back in time to explaine how we got to this point then continue with no real pause. Going from 1992 to 1983 back to 92 to jump to 95 back to 87 can be a difficult when listening.

Essentially a curation of articles and straight facts about Walt, the movies, and parks

Lots of fantastic information, and is essentially a curation of articles and straight facts about Walt, the movies, and parks. Not much of story, and is read more like someone wrote a long editorial. The narration sounds to computerize, but isn't unbearable.

Very enjoyable

Loved this book. Narrator sounds like the voice from Disney 407 number. Lots of interesting information that I was unaware and provided great discussion points during my last Disney world trip.

Fascinating look at the history of Disney

Great book about the complete history of Disney! The beginning is a little slow with too much emphasis on the technical side of animation, but then it picks up. I learned a lot, like the fact that there once were plans to build an America themed park near D.C.

The narrator is wonderful. Her voice is so soothing. It reminded me of the narrator on the Disney buses.