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Reviews
How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life by Pat Williams, Jim Denney
mollysmith1313's review against another edition
5.0
I read this in high school and thought it was a fun, informative, and easy read.
emigrimm's review against another edition
5.0
After reading this book, I have so much respect for Walt and I feel like I know and understand him a little bit better.
stijndm's review
2.0
Leuke anecdotes en een interessante blik op het leven van Walt Disney, maar veel herhaling en bij momenten zeer moraliserend waardoor het moeizaam vooruit gaat.
schwarmgiven's review against another edition
3.0
I read this on vacation with the family at Disneyland.
It was a very flattering biography of Mr Disney mostly taken from headlines and interviews with people who knew him--most of them worked FOR him. The premise is that we can all be better business leaders if we understand the 12 core values Mr Disney had--but this does not really work in the narrative format--we get a lot of Walt Mic Drop moments has he gets the last word over and over and over again.
The stuff on Mary Poppins & his frustration dealing with another perfectionist could have used several more pages--we could have removed a lot of the Walt is Dead stories which went on a bit to long. The Disney after Walt stuff was good.
The highlights were likely when Mr Williams breaks down the corporate financing stuff--when Roy and Walt are fighting over trademarks and the like--that is where this book really shines over other biography's of Mr Disney. Also, his take on Plusing the Experience is refreshing and very optimistic. A good reminder of how magically Mr Disney really was.
If I were to summarize the key things what I learned from this book on how to be like Walt, they would be:
1. Don't Smoke
2. Really, don't Smoke it will kill you
3. Get the last word. Every time.
4. Invest in Artists.
5. Be nice to kids
It was a very flattering biography of Mr Disney mostly taken from headlines and interviews with people who knew him--most of them worked FOR him. The premise is that we can all be better business leaders if we understand the 12 core values Mr Disney had--but this does not really work in the narrative format--we get a lot of Walt Mic Drop moments has he gets the last word over and over and over again.
The stuff on Mary Poppins & his frustration dealing with another perfectionist could have used several more pages--we could have removed a lot of the Walt is Dead stories which went on a bit to long. The Disney after Walt stuff was good.
The highlights were likely when Mr Williams breaks down the corporate financing stuff--when Roy and Walt are fighting over trademarks and the like--that is where this book really shines over other biography's of Mr Disney. Also, his take on Plusing the Experience is refreshing and very optimistic. A good reminder of how magically Mr Disney really was.
If I were to summarize the key things what I learned from this book on how to be like Walt, they would be:
1. Don't Smoke
2. Really, don't Smoke it will kill you
3. Get the last word. Every time.
4. Invest in Artists.
5. Be nice to kids
timburbage's review against another edition
4.0
This is a really good biography of Walt Disney. It goes from his childhood, to failing in Kansas City and failing in LA, to creating Walt Disney Studios and Disneyland and the Florida Project. It also delves a lot into the man himself. How he acted around his coworkers, how he acted around his family. There were dozens of people interviewed for the book and you could tell.
Each chapter also had some self help style tips on how to be like walt. Some were very useful, others not so much.
Each chapter also had some self help style tips on how to be like walt. Some were very useful, others not so much.
lizeindisney's review against another edition
5.0
[Paperback] one of the best biographies on Walt I’ve ever read, so in depth! AND there’s 17 lessons that Pat takes from Walt’s life as examples of how you yourself can be like Walt!
charlottelruff's review against another edition
4.0
3 main elements to this book: The history, how to be like Walt and the authors continual links to faith and religion. While I can leave the last element the first two were really interesting. I love exploring the history of TWDC and Walt and this was a thorough walkthrough of the companies early days and Walt’s early life.
stoddawg's review against another edition
5.0
I cannot describe how delightfully happy this book made me. The stories and lessons from Walt’s life are nothing short of profound and inspiring.
natgundie's review against another edition
4.0
Wow, I have more appreciation for Walt Disney and his creations more than ever before. I knew very little about the man himself before reading this book, although I've seen the majority of the films he was personally involved in.
I had little to no awareness of the genius behind Snow White, Fantasia, the Jungle Book, Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, etc. as a little kid (although I loved them). But here's why I am amazed by them now: 1) Walt Disney started his studio in his 20's and broke so many barriers in animation. He pushed for his studio to add sound and color to their cartoons when they were not widely used. With every film, he and his studio continued to develop more technology. 2) Snow White was the very FIRST full length animated film. Many critics predicted it would fail and that people would not like full length cartoon features. 3) His films have stood the test of time due to their quality story telling and production. To think that there are thousands of films made between 1937 (when Snow White premiered) and now, but little children still grow up watching Snow White. 4) This man is bold. A lot of his films (Pinocchio, Fantasia, Sleeping Beauty, etc.) were not profitable while in theatres, and many thought he needed to spend less money on his films. He, however, refused to sacrifice quality, and all of his films proved to be profitable in time.
And how about Disneyland and Walt Disney World? When I visited Walt Disney World a few years ago, I'll be honest I thought it was just another amusement park money sink (except Epcot, LOVED Epcot). I had no idea about the genius behind it! Walt Disney dreamed up the majority of Disneyland by himself and was scheming about it for years before it came to fruition. Drawings were found of his plans for Disneyland from the 1930s, even though it was not completed until 1955. He had a home with a 5 acre lot in California and used his 5 acres to create a train ride, much to his wife's dismay. He was always tinkering with it to perfect it. The design of this train would be later used at Disneyland! He wanted Disneyland to be an escape for people and to be affordable for families. He pushed to keep prices as low as possible when he was alive.
This man would just create the most fantastical things in his head and was so driven that he would will them to come true.
Two of my favorite quotes of his: ""To the youngsters of today, I say believe in the future, the world is getting better. There is still plenty of opportunity. Why, would you believe it, when I was a kid I thought it was already too late for me to make good at anything." "A lot of young people think the future is closed to them, that everything has been done. This is not so. There are still plenty of avenues to be explored.”
He died in 1966. Young people haven't changed--they still think like this. I think like this. This book was a wake up call to dream bigger.
"Today, you hear people talk about 'thinking outside the box.' But Walt would say, 'No! Don't think outside the box!' Once you say that, you've established that there is a box. Walt would refuse to accept the existence of the box."
On top of his career successes, he believed in God and had deep moral values. He was a family man. His daughters noted that he attended all of their performances, dropped them off at school every morning, and ate dinner with them at 7:30pm every night. Walt Disney left this life early at 65 years old and had so many plans for the future when he died in 1966. It's crazy that everything he's created, from his films to his parks, have stood the test of time and are still loved by most people today, more than a half century later.
I had little to no awareness of the genius behind Snow White, Fantasia, the Jungle Book, Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, etc. as a little kid (although I loved them). But here's why I am amazed by them now: 1) Walt Disney started his studio in his 20's and broke so many barriers in animation. He pushed for his studio to add sound and color to their cartoons when they were not widely used. With every film, he and his studio continued to develop more technology. 2) Snow White was the very FIRST full length animated film. Many critics predicted it would fail and that people would not like full length cartoon features. 3) His films have stood the test of time due to their quality story telling and production. To think that there are thousands of films made between 1937 (when Snow White premiered) and now, but little children still grow up watching Snow White. 4) This man is bold. A lot of his films (Pinocchio, Fantasia, Sleeping Beauty, etc.) were not profitable while in theatres, and many thought he needed to spend less money on his films. He, however, refused to sacrifice quality, and all of his films proved to be profitable in time.
And how about Disneyland and Walt Disney World? When I visited Walt Disney World a few years ago, I'll be honest I thought it was just another amusement park money sink (except Epcot, LOVED Epcot). I had no idea about the genius behind it! Walt Disney dreamed up the majority of Disneyland by himself and was scheming about it for years before it came to fruition. Drawings were found of his plans for Disneyland from the 1930s, even though it was not completed until 1955. He had a home with a 5 acre lot in California and used his 5 acres to create a train ride, much to his wife's dismay. He was always tinkering with it to perfect it. The design of this train would be later used at Disneyland! He wanted Disneyland to be an escape for people and to be affordable for families. He pushed to keep prices as low as possible when he was alive.
This man would just create the most fantastical things in his head and was so driven that he would will them to come true.
Two of my favorite quotes of his: ""To the youngsters of today, I say believe in the future, the world is getting better. There is still plenty of opportunity. Why, would you believe it, when I was a kid I thought it was already too late for me to make good at anything." "A lot of young people think the future is closed to them, that everything has been done. This is not so. There are still plenty of avenues to be explored.”
He died in 1966. Young people haven't changed--they still think like this. I think like this. This book was a wake up call to dream bigger.
"Today, you hear people talk about 'thinking outside the box.' But Walt would say, 'No! Don't think outside the box!' Once you say that, you've established that there is a box. Walt would refuse to accept the existence of the box."
On top of his career successes, he believed in God and had deep moral values. He was a family man. His daughters noted that he attended all of their performances, dropped them off at school every morning, and ate dinner with them at 7:30pm every night. Walt Disney left this life early at 65 years old and had so many plans for the future when he died in 1966. It's crazy that everything he's created, from his films to his parks, have stood the test of time and are still loved by most people today, more than a half century later.