Disney and His Worlds [Library Binding]

Alan Bryman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415103754 | ISBN-13: 978-0415103756 | Publication Date: October 6, 1995 | Edition: 1

This work provides an overview of the Disney organization, in particular the theme parks and their significance for contemporary culture. The author examines topics such as Walt Disney's life and how his biography has been constructed, the Disney Company in the years after his death and various writings about the Disney theme parks. He raises issues about the parks such as: whether they are harbingers of postmodernism; the significance of consumption at the parks; and the representation of past and future. The discussion of theme parks links with the presentation of Disney's biography and his organization by showing how central economic and business considerations have been in their development and how the significance of these considerations is typically marginalized in order to place an emphasis on fantasy and magic.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It will be devoured by students." -- David Chaney, University of Durham

About the Author

Alan Bryman is Professor of Social Research at Loughborough University. His most recent books are Analyzing Qualitative Data (1994) and Social Scientists Meet the Media (1994), both from Routledge.

Product Details

• Library Binding: 222 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (October 6, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415103754
• ISBN-13: 978-0415103756
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,933,555 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Overview of Disney Criticism, February 28, 2001

By 

"disneychick" (Main Street, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Disney and His Worlds (Library Binding)

This book is a useful entry point for those wishing to learn more about Walt Disney, the Disney theme parks (mostly Disneyland and Walt Disney World), and the academic criticism of the two. Bryman writes in a straightforward style, although a bit dully at times, that provides a solid foundation and useful biography for these topics. The first part of the book focuses on Walt Disney and Life after Walt, roughly. The second part of the book focuses on the theme parks and the major themes/issues that academics have touched upon. Warning: It is not, however, an in-depth examination of the theme parks, as such, and readers looking for detailed descriptions of the theme parks would be better off looking at Fjellman's Vinyl Leaves for that kind of work.

What is most useful about Bryman's book is his distillation of others' writings. for example, Bryman helpful provides a compilation of those writers who examine the Disney theme parks from a postmodern perspective. This provides the reader with a sort of "for further reading" list and crib notes for those authors' stances on Disney and postmodernism. Other themes and threads Bryman introduces include: Disney and control, families, the cinematic experience, tourism, other theoretical perspectives, etc. In many ways, Bryman's book would be a good introductory textbook on Disney Studies and/or it operates as a bio-bibliography.

This is not to say the book shies from its own critique. With regard to postmodernism, Bryman's perspective is quite clear--he doesn't think it works too well. Overall, Bryman's interest is in examining Disney theme parks from the standpoints of business and tourism. In this, Bryman offers some perspectives on Disney that have, to date, been underdeveloped. Useful are his characterizations of Walt Disney as a charismatic leader and Corporate Disney as a culture. His development of Chris Rojek's (and others) representation of tourism and post-tourism (a development of tourism studies that is more in keeping with postmodernism, and perhaps more accurate to the study of Disney).

The book was well worth its original price, if for no other reason than it provides a wealth of information on other writings on Disney. If you don't mind Bryman's sometimes stilted prose, or lots of summary on others' ideas, or the sense that sometimes Bryman feels obligated to defend Disney from an academic (rather than personal) standpoint, it's a good choice. Speaking from the perspective of an academic who is avidly trying to read as much as possible on Disney, I can truthfully say the book is invaluable. Bryman has done his homework--and my homework, too!