The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney (Paperback)

~ Michael Barrier (Author) "Walt Disney was angry..." (more)
Key Phrases: three caballeros, story meeting notes, delightful gink, Walt Disney, Snow White, Roy Disney (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was one of the most significant creative forces of the twentieth century, a man who made a lasting impact on the art of the animated film, the history of American business, and the evolution of twentieth-century American culture. He was both a creative visionary and a dynamic entrepreneur, roles whose demands he often could not reconcile.
In his compelling new biography, noted animation historian Michael Barrier avoids the well-traveled paths of previous biographers, who have tended to portray a blemish-free Disney or to indulge in lurid speculation. Instead, he takes the full measure of the man in his many aspects. A consummate storyteller, Barrier describes how Disney transformed himself from Midwestern farm boy to scrambling young businessman to pioneering artist and, finally, to entrepreneur on a grand scale. Barrier describes in absorbing detail how Disney synchronized sound with animation in Steamboat Willie; created in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs sympathetic cartoon characters whose appeal rivaled that of the best live-action performers; grasped television's true potential as an unparalleled promotional device; and--not least--parlayed a backyard railroad into the Disneyland juggernaut.
Based on decades of painstaking research in the Disney studio's archives and dozens of public and private archives in the United States and Europe, The Animated Man offers freshly documented and illuminating accounts of Disney's childhood and young adulthood in rural Missouri and Kansas City. It sheds new light on such crucial episodes in Disney's life as the devastating 1941 strike at his studio, when his ambitions as artist and entrepreneur first came into serious conflict.
Beginning in 1969, two and a half years after Disney's death, Barrier recorded long interviews with more than 150 people who worked alongside Disney, some as early as 1922. Now almost all deceased, only a few were ever interviewed for other books. Barrier juxtaposes Disney's own recollections against the memories of those other players to great effect. What emerges is a portrait of Walt Disney as a flawed but fascinating artist, one whose imaginative leaps allowed him to vault ahead of the competition and produce work that even today commands the attention of audiences worldwide.

From the Inside Flap

"This book is important not just as a biography, but also as a cultural history that provides great insight to one of the best-known creative minds of the twentieth century. Barrier's engaging and highly informative writing style offers excellent perspective on how much changed in the world of animated cartoons during Disney's lifetime, and just how much the Disney studio brought about these changes. The remarkable quantity of first-person accounts, interviews, and other primary evidence is one of the book's most important attributes. This biography chronicles Disney's life while keeping in view the technological and stylistic developments in animation and filmmaking that Disney helped bring about. Barrier's deft navigation of a wide variety of historical streams gives Animated Man a uniquely comprehensive and compelling story about Walt Disney."--Daniel Goldmark, author of Tunes for 'Toons: Music and the Hollywood Cartoon

"Michael Barrier's biography of Walt Disney is impressive, with a remarkable range of interviews. I was fascinated to see this mysterious world laid out as an industrial process--somehow, this makes what we see on the screen even more miraculous."--Kevin Brownlow, Director, Cecil B De Mille: American Epic and Garbo

"The Animated Man is by far the best critical study to date of Walt Disney and his worlds: corporate, personal, ideological, architectural. Michael Barrier's years of discussion with Disney's collaborators and family members make for a richly textured discussion of a figure often dismissed by the scholarly community as a vulgarian of the worst sort. Barrier shows us a tireless innovator, a man of deep feeling, a true American original who has woven himself into the very fabric of modern culture."--Karal Ann Marling, editor, Designing Disney's Theme Parks: The Architecture of Reassurance

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (April 7, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520256190
• ISBN-13: 978-0520256194
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #137,762 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Animated Man: A Triumph for Michael Barrier, May 10, 2007

By	Steve Stuart (Seattle, Washington USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney (Simpson Book in the Humanities) (Hardcover)

If you were thinking of passing by The Animated Man in favor of Neal Gabler's biography of Walt Disney, think again. "...Complete access to the Disney archives..." notwithstanding, Gabler couldn't in many, many cases, figure out just what exactly to do with all the information he was supposedly buried in for five+ years. And as such, the reader comes away at times with more questions than answers about just who Walt Disney was.

This is not the case in Michael Barrier's fine biography of Walt Disney, The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney. Although he may not have had the unfettered access to the Disney archives accorded Neal Gabler, one would hardly be aware of that particular handicap. He was able to utilize a great deal of information housed there, which along with interview after interview makes for a mighty informative read. And since many of the interviews utilized throughout the book date back over 30 years, Barrier was able to talk with many Disney employees who "were there" at or near the start of Walt Disney's impact on the world.

So many of the interviews captured by Barrier provide an insight into what made Walt Disney `tick' that simply don't exist from the materials Gabler was able to unearth. More than once while reading through The Animated Man did I stop to re-read a paragraph as a particular tidbit of information provided an "a-ha" moment, helping to fill in some blanks pertaining to either Walt Disney himself or the legacy he left behind.
Also, Michael Barrier was able to weave his knowledge of animation throughout the text, providing additional insights not available to authors with less refined skills in that area.

In spite of it being half the length of Gabler's tome, I feel most readers will come away feeling more than fulfilled with few asking for more as Barrier's raison d'être of the book is his pinpoint focus on Walt Disney and what really made him tick.

As has been stated many times, and is still true today: the definitive Disney biography has yet (if ever) to be written, but Barrier comes as close as anyone has to date. There are plenty of books about Walt Disney and the Walt Disney Company to keep most of us glued to our reading glasses for some time to come. And one could round out one's knowledge by continuing on to Gabler's bio or even Bob Thomas' and certainly The "E" Ticket fanzine for very insightful and unique interviews with those who worked with Walt (primarily on the parks) - to name but a few. But I strongly feel the best starting point would be to grab a copy of Michael Barrier's biography and be prepared to be wowed.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Biography of Disney yet, May 12, 2007

By	Anispor (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney (Simpson Book in the Humanities) (Hardcover)

This is an extraordinarily good book. After giving up on the Neal Gabler book (too many words and not enough understanding, really, of who the man was), I love the approach of this book. Barrier knows animation inside and out, and he uses his knowledge to give us a picture of a real man and boss who tried to make animation great. The nitty gritty of those details make a real life comprehensible. The immense research is felt even though Barrier doesn't try to impress us with it; the book is a captivating read that propels you along. Highly recommended.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rich account, March 23, 2007

By	Julie Neal "The Complete Walt Disney World" (Sanibel Island, Fla.) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney (Simpson Book in the Humanities) (Hardcover)

This book is so rich with detail! You can picture yourself there when a young Walt is growing up as a farm kid in Marceline, Missouri, or later when he's struggling to make a living.

The endless first-person accounts and interviews really bring Disney's world -- indeed, much of a whole bygone American world -- to life. At times it reads almost like an oral history. It's a great complement to Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination.

The book is not published by the Disney company, and the author is no corporate flack. But he's also no muckraker. You'll come away with a definite opinion of Walt Disney the person, but it's one you'll form yourself.