anyone know the best Walt Disney biography?

**mrp769854** · 05-21-2009, 09:33 PM

I'm not totally sure if there is more than one but any answers would a lot of help =]

**nicks10** · 05-21-2009, 09:36 PM

I really liked this one. It was a really in depth look at Walt's whole life starting before his birth through his legacy today. I would highly recommend it!

**mrp769854** · 05-21-2009, 10:05 PM

that's the one i was looking at thank you very much =]

**tiggerguy** · 05-21-2009, 10:32 PM

Originally Posted by nicks10

I really liked this one. It was a really in depth look at Walt's whole life starting before his birth through his legacy today. I would highly recommend it!

Originally Posted by mrp769854

that's the one i was looking at thank you very much =]

Gabler's is one of the better ones, but is more focused on the business side of Walt. The other good one focuses more on the Walt the man and is written by Bob Thomas called Walt Disney: An American Original

**Jennings** · 05-21-2009, 10:47 PM

Nicks10 has got it right, that's the best I've read. I really enjoyed how much more they went into Elias and Flora's life than other bios.

**tchinkle** · 05-22-2009, 09:46 AM

I listened to this in audiobook. It was very enjoyable and there was a lot of information that I found very interesting. I would recommend reading or listening to this book also!

**disneycrazy1956** · 05-22-2009, 07:22 PM

I prefer the one by Bob Thomas, I've read it more times than I remember. The one by Neal Gabler is more Walt Disney the business man to me. Bob Thomas's gives more about Walt the man and family man.

**Linnette Alissa** · 05-22-2009, 11:21 PM

I agree. Bob Thomas' "Walt Disney: An American Original" is my favorite. It even has cool old pictures in the middle.

Amazon

**disneycrazy1956** · 05-23-2009, 02:32 PM

I forgot about all the great pictures.

I really enjoyed the book, so much so that I have 3 copiesand the paper back is a little ragged.

**tiggerguy** · 05-23-2009, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by disneycrazy1956

I prefer the one by Bob Thomas, I've read it more times than I remember. The one by Neal Gabler is more Walt Disney the business man to me. Bob Thomas's gives more about Walt the man and family man.

This was my take on the two books also (as I said above). I have read that Diane Disney Miller gave Gabler thumbs up on how well he portrayed her dad.

**Tim** · 06-27-2009, 11:45 AM

Originally Posted by mrp769854

I'm not totally sure if there is more than one but any answers would a lot of help =]

I have two: Walt Disney, An American Original & Walt Disney, The triumph Of The American Imagination. Both are excellent but Bob Thomas' book (American Original) is a much more controlled, antiseptic version of Walt's life and Gabler's book delves a bit more into Walt's darker side if you can call it that. Everyone seems to forget that Walt was a man. He worked too much, smoked too much, went bankrupt once, had a terrible temper at times, refused to compliment his workers to their faces, etc. etc. Yet his employees were for the most part fiercely loyal to him to their dying days. He was clearly with faults, who isn't? But his legacy is unmatched. Think about this world if he had never existed? He influenced politics, recreation, the hospitality industry, the movie industry, animation, transportation, recycling, and the list goes on and on. It's mind boggling. Read both, decide for yourself as I'm sure the truth lies somewhere in the middle.