Walt before Mickey: Disneys Early Years, 1919-1928

For ten years before the creation of Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney struggled with, failed at, and eventually mastered the art and business of animation.
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In Walt before Mickey: Disney's Early Years, , Timothy Susanin creates a portrait of the artist from age seventeen to the cusp of his international renown. Using company documents, private correspondence between Walt and his brother Roy, contemporary newspaper accounts, and new interviews with Disney's associates, Susanin traces Disney's path. The author shows Disney to be a complicated, resourceful man, especially during his early career.

Walt before Mickey , a critical biography of a man at a crucial juncture, provides the -missing decade- that started Walt Disney's career and gave him the skills to become a name known worldwide. Paperback , pages. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Walt Before Mickey , please sign up.

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This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Aug 31, Morris rated it liked it Shelves: This review is of a complimentary copy provided through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The research is thorough, and it shows. As a historian, and a huge Disney nerd, the facts presented are a treasure trove. Almost all of the information is rare, the sources are solid and well-documented, and it brings This review is of a complimentary copy provided through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Almost all of the information is rare, the sources are solid and well-documented, and it brings a feeling of closeness to Disney himself. On the other hand, there is almost too much information. Every single person he met has a painstaking account of their looks and history. Not that those things are not important, but it slows it down and takes away from what is important. More than once I found my mind wandering during these descriptions, and it really is a shame that it mars what is otherwise an exceptional account of a great man. Feb 06, Rob Conner rated it really liked it Shelves: This book was pretty straightforward with what I was expecting it to be.

I've also read a historical collection of stories by Jim Korkis on Walt Disney.

Walt Before Mickey: Disney's Early Years, by Timothy S Susanin

So most of this was not information I was learning for the first time. What this book did that I really appreciated This book was pretty straightforward with what I was expecting it to be. What this book did that I really appreciated was take it's time to describe the story of Walt and the people he surrounded himself with. I really liked the effort Susanin put into giving a small backstory to every benefactor, every animator and every person Walt interacted with in this ten year span.

I had a vague idea of who they were and how they fit into Walt's narrative. But I never could really tell them apart or tell you much about them. Susanin's book changed that for me.

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He was able to slowly describe these people in more than just a throw away sentence or two. Because his focus is only on these first ten years of Walt's life in Animation and drawing, he can dedicate the time to these people's backstory that I was sorely lacking. That is the one thing that stood out about this book and that I will really appreciate.

I felt that this book did a very good job of sticking to the ancillary people in Walt's life. Not only does this book do it in the main narrative, but Susanin dedicated a whole 30 page Epilogue to detailing what happened to every one of these people after they left Walt's life. What a wonderful addition that was at the end. Really my only criticisms of this book come from outside of the written material and is no fault or appears to be no fault of Timothy Susanin himself.

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My first critique is really minor and focuses on the artwork for this book and the movie "adaptation". It market's itself like it will focus on Walt's childhood as it portrays a little kid looking up at a cloud in the shape of Mickey, as if to say Walt always knew Mickey would exist one day even when he was a ten year old in Marceline Missouri. In reality, Mickey wasn't even an idea for Walt until his train ride back to L. It is really misleading to readers who may expect both stories of Walt's Childhood, which is not discussed as this book really starts at the end of WW1 with Walt as an 18 year old, or may expect the "creation" moment to have some point in Walt's childhood like a pet mouse or a friend named "Mickey".

Both I think set unreal expectations and are disappointing to those who may not know what to expect when picking up this book for the first time. My major complaint is really with the movie adaptation of this book, which does so much to paint a rose-colored narrative of Walt and his animators, that it comes off as a Hallmark Channel or Lifetime Movie.

This book is a strict Historical narrative and does not paint a negative or positive light on any of the people it mentions, however the whimsical adaptation of this book takes many liberties including trying to shoehorn in one of those "Childhood Mickey" moments I mentioned earlier with the addition of a pet mouse for Walt when he was in Kansas City something the book never mentions happening as if to imply this pet mouse was what kept Walt going and inspired him to create Mickey.

Overall I think the book is great though. I think casual readers will enjoy it as much as Disney fans will.

I don't recommend anyone waste their time with the movie adaptation or spend too much time allowing the cover art to influence your expectations on this book. It is a wonderful book in it's own right and honestly was a lot better than I expected it to be I had watched the movie first and had low expectations as a result. This book deserves a hallowed place on any Disney shelf! Jun 16, Ashby Dodd rated it it was ok Shelves: Walt before Mickey , a critical biography of a man at a crucial juncture, provides the "missing decade" that started Walt Disney's career and gave him the skills to become a name known worldwide.

From the preface by Diane Disney Miller: Tim [Susanin] has done an amazing job of chronicling the lives of the people in that period who affected Dad's life. His research brought out the fact that some of Dad's early benefactors were his neighbors on Bellefontaine, people who had seen him grow up and were aware of his industrious nature.

Walt Before Mickey: Disney's Early Years, 1919-1928

Dad, it appears, was never shy about asking for a loan. But he was diligent about repaying it. He ends with the loss of Oswald the Rabbit and the creation of Mickey Mouse. Dad's telegram to Roy as he, with my mother, were about to depart New York for home was 'Leaving tonight stopping over KC arrive home Sunday morning seven thirty don't worry everything OK will give details when arrive--Walt. Walt, Roy, and Iwerks exit the theatre in celebration, Walt spotting the mouse from the Laugh-O-Gram Studio, reminding him of how far he has come.

Insertions during the end credits detail the success Walt, Roy, Iwerks, and the other animators would go on to have in their own careers. The majority of the filming took place in DeLand and Orlando, Florida. In an interview with the Kansas City Star , director Khoa Le talked about the challenges of the project, having been hired at the last minute to direct and having little familiarity with Disney himself. He mentioned, '"I came from a short film background, indie stuff, so I knew how to work efficiently," Le said. For most scenes the actors got only two takes.

I had to go back to my grassroots of guerrilla filmmaking. The song "Just a Wish" was written and recorded especially for the film. It was released as an iTunes and digital single August 12, Cameron Meier of the Orlando Weekly gave the film one out of five stars, praising the filmmakers' intentions, but criticized the production's rather low budget and execution, remarking, ' Common Sense Media gave the film two stars, remarking that, 'Few visionaries are as fascinating as Walt Disney, so it's particularly frustrating that this drama is so uninspired.


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It seems more like an adaptation of a student's book report than a compelling look at one of the most influential men of the 20th century. Let's face it, most or none of us have our own billion dollar companies but the fact that Walt and his animators struggled financially and failed to have others believe in their dream, is something we can all relate to. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Walt Before Mickey Theatrical release poster. Bernstein as Frank L. Barber as Flora Call Disney. Retrieved May 12,