Originally Posted By CoolDisneyFan Hey I was just reading that post with like 300 replies about how WDW is not following the vision of the man, Walt Disney. Well, I just thought I would highly recommend this book: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Kingdom-Walt-Disney-American/dp/0826213790" target="_blank">http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Ki...26213790</a> It is almost like a text book so at times hard to read, and it focuses more on the starting out of the company with shorts and movies and how it grew from there, but it does hit on the parks too. Mainly it will tell you everything you EVER wanted to know about Walt Disney and his philosophy.
Originally Posted By FenwayGirl CNBC just did a two hour special on Walt Disney...learned a lot that I did not know..
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost It's hard to sort out what Walt was really like by the different books about him. I think he had a gift for instinctively knowing what the public wanted. I doubt, however, that this is how he thought about it. I feel pretty sure that if HE liked something, that's what he did. His gift was that by some weird alignment of the stars, the majority of his opinions were that of the public. I have read some stuff concerning his personality and how he related to his staff of highly talented people that kind of dampens my overall opinion, then I remember that he was a genius at what he did...and was so focused on that, it became impossible for him to see how or what upset people. That said, all one needs to do is look at the entire Orlando area and realize just how much impact one man had on the present world we live in. Amazing, in my mind.
Originally Posted By CoolDisneyFan Goofyer, you should get that book, I get the same impression as you after having read it and I think you are right on. There are times in the book where you almost want to dis-like Walt, but in the end he was a genius, a brilliant person. The book also gives a LOT of credit to Roy who was as much a business genius as Walt was a creative genius.
Originally Posted By A Happy Haunt DD10 did a biography on Walt Disney! I also read the book.. interesting! It was about his childhood up to DL.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost Roy's contribution to overall Disney is often not given the credit he deserves. I think that he, at times, threw obstacles in Walt's way with his justifiable concern over "where the money is coming from", but without Roy, I doubt we would have ever heard about that guy Walt Disney. Walt thought it up and Roy found a way, not always right away, to make it happen. One of the best teams in business.
Originally Posted By JenniBarra >>Roy's contribution to overall Disney is often not given the credit he deserves. I think that he, at times, threw obstacles in Walt's way with his justifiable concern over "where the money is coming from", but without Roy, I doubt we would have ever heard about that guy Walt Disney.<< I think many people believe that their temperaments balanced each other out. Walt was the "idea guy" while Roy was the "money guy." Building a Company is a great book on Roy's contributions to the partnership.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost Well, in all fairness, it's hard to understand him with his jaw frozen shut and all.
Originally Posted By Disneymom443 Walt was very good about putting great people around him. Like his brother and Ub Iwerks. Walt was the idea his men put it all down.
Originally Posted By vbdad55 there have been very few people in the world with 'creative genius' - in the course of history. The real smart ones also surrounded themselves with talent unafraid they would be upstaged.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 When I started working for WDW I worked for a couple of guys that knew Walt and had worked for him at DL. Sometimes my boss would come in and share Walt stories. As a Disney geek I just ate it up. One day I said that Walt seemed like a nice guy. My boss said..."Not really, he could be a real SOB, but he was a genius who always knew what his guests wanted and we would have done anything for him." I think that says a lot.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^I am sure Al Weiss, Meg Crofton and Erin Wallace are just as good as Walt!
Originally Posted By vbdad55 ..."Not really, he could be a real SOB, but he was a genius who always knew what his guests wanted and we would have done anything for him." I think that says a lot ---- the sign of a great manager--- respected buy not loved as a buddy
Originally Posted By standor We should all be happy there was a Walt Disney. He did great things for the entertainment business, and if it wasn't for him, we would not be here on this board.
Originally Posted By danyoung As much as I admire the man (and I've read almost all of the bios on him out there), I don't think I could ever have worked for him. I need a little bit more positive reinforcement than he was ever willing to give. Also I like to get credit for something that I've done, whereas Walt only wanted his name on the company, the movies and cartoons, the parks. He was the type of manager that if he wasn't complaining about your work, then you were doing a good job. And I need to hear the occasional "Attaboy". It's always amazing to me to hear interviews from the people who worked for him. On the one hand they'll talk about how he seemed to embrace an atmosphere of fear, and no one wanted to tick off the boss. But then they all just worshipped him and counted themselves lucky to have worked for such a genius. A very complicated man, and a truly fascinating person to study.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones He was a patriarchal leader who cherished loyalty. When his animators went on strike, he was personally insulted. The best animators in the business and the highest paid animators in the business were telling the boss that he wasn't treating them right. Walt was sent away, Roy resolved the issue and from that point on Walt went through the motions as far as animation was concerned. The experience pushed him to turn his attention to Disneyland.
Originally Posted By Manfried He did not pay as much attention to animation, yet there were lots of successes.
Originally Posted By FriendOfOswald Here's the thing about Walt: some people say he could be a bear to work with at times, and yet...I just got done watching the documentary "The Boys" about Richard and Robert Sherman, the musicians who wrote a ton of music for Disney movies, including Mary Poppins. And when they talked about Walt giving them a place to work within hid studio, they teared up. When they talked about Walt's death, they both nearly cried. Bob Sherman said "I loved him very much." On the Mary Poppins DVD, the lady who played Jane Banks (the little girl) in the movie started crying when she talked about Walt's death. I saw an interview once with Julie Andrews and she got misty-eyed talking about Walt. Annette Funicello broke down during an interview when she talked about him, and said that to this day when she has a problem, she wishes she could talk to her "uncle" Walt. 40 years after the guy dies, and people who knew him still cry. If he was such a bastard as some biographers try to make him out to be, why do people cry?
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost ^^^^That's simple...it is because they understood what made him who he was. The people, mostly young when they were associated with him, easily saw him as a Father figure. He wasn't as volatile with kids. He understood them and allowed for their youth. Grown-ups, on the other hand, had to show him what he wanted to see, and quickly. Because he knew what he wanted, he accepted nothing less and if it took awhile for them to understand, he could probably get pretty angry and frustrated. You will notice that most of the people that you have mentioned were on-screen, listed artists. Everyone knew that Walt didn't write music, so he had no choice but to give the Sherman brothers their proper billing and public recognition. The ones that found him difficult were the artist that were not given individual credit for their massive contributions to the success of Walt Disney. Yes, they would have been nowhere without Walt, but he also would have been nowhere without them. They felt that he should give them credit for their work and he refused. To him they were an extension of himself. He pushed them to a level that they were not aware that they could reach and thus, in after thought, they felt kindness towards him, but still remember how much hell they went through to get there.
