Walt's People Volume 1: Talking Disney With The Artists Who Knew Him [Paperback]

Didier Ghez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 21, 2005

The Walt´s People series, edited by Didier Ghez, is a collection of the best interviews ever conducted with Disney artists.

Contributors to the series include noted Disney experts Robin Allan, Paul F. Anderson, Michael Barrier, J.B. Kaufman, Jim Korkis, Mike Lyons and John Province.

Walt´s People - Volume 1 features in-depth interviews with artists Rudy Ising, Dave Hand, Bill Tytla, Ken Anderson, Jack Hannah, John Hench, Marc Davis, Milt Kahl, Harper Goff and Joyce Carlson. These interviews discuss among many other subjects the Disney Studio before Mickey Mouse, the challenges in directing Snow White, the making of Destino with Dali, the process that led to the production of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the frustrations and joys of Marc Davis and Milt Kahl, and the creation of It´s a Small World. It contains hundreds of new stories about the Studio and its artists and should delight even the most serious historians and enthusiasts.

Walt´s People is a notable new source of historical treasures and should give new energy to the world of Disney research!

This book is neither authorized, sponsored nor endorsed by the Walt Disney Company and its subsidiaries. It is an unofficial and unauthorized book. The mention of names and places associated with the Walt Disney Company and its businesses are not intended to infringe on any existing copyrights or trademarks of the Walt Disney Company but are used in context for educational purposes. The opinions and statements expressed in these interviews are solely the opinions and perspectives of the authors and the interviewees and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and policy of the Walt Disney Company and its businesses.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Didier Ghez has conducted Disney research since he was a teenager in the mid '80s. His articles about the parks, animation, and vintage international Disneyana, as well as his many interviews with Disney artists, have appeared in such magazines as Persistence of Vision, Tomart's Disneyana Update, Animation Journal, Animation Magazine, StoryboarD, and Fantasyline. He is the co-author of the art book Disneyland Paris - From Sketch to Reality, runs The Disney History blog (disneybooks.blogspot.com), The Disney Books Network website (www.pizarro.net/didier), and serves as managing editor of the Walt's People series.

Product Details

• Paperback: 270 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris (January 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1413478670
• ISBN-13: 978-1413478679
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #229,394 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #69 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Current Events > Arms Control

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Insight into Walt and the Company, September 30, 2008

By 

A. Osborne - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Walt's People Volume 1: Talking Disney With The Artists Who Knew Him (Paperback)

I've read many books about Walt Disney. What I loved about this one is that the stories come from the people Walt worked with every day. Some of them even go so far back as Kansas City. Some of the interviews go deeper into the production of many of the films, especially the early ones.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for enthusiasts and historians!, May 9, 2008

By 

George H. Taylor, Jr. "biblioadonis from imag... - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Walt's People Volume 1: Talking Disney With The Artists Who Knew Him (Paperback)

Didier Ghez runs two very important sites in the Disney online community: Disney History and the Ultimate Disney Books Network. Didier has been researching Disney animation since his teens and co-authored Disneyland Paris: From Sketch to Realitywith Alain Littaye.

The Walt's People seriesis five volumes with a sixth one on the way. Didier is the editor of the series and has put together some amazing interviews with Disney artists. In some cases, the interviewer is as well-known as the interviewee!

The compilation of interviews that Didier has collected makes this volume so very important to anyone researching Disney. The interviews are not just with animators, but artists that worked with Walt on Disneyland and went on to work on the Walt Disney World project. The stories, recollections and anecdotes are priceless and proffer a view of Walt that you can only get from talking to the people that worked directly with him.

The interviewees include:

* Rudolf Ising
* David Hand
* Bill Tytla
* Ken Anderson
* Jack Hannah
* John Hench (two interviews)
* Marc Davis (two interviews)
* Milt Kahl
* Harper Goff
* Joyce Carlson

The interviewers are equally impressive: J.B. Kaufman, Michael Barrier, George Sherman, Paul F. Andersen, Jim Korkis, Alain Littay, Didier Ghez, John Province, Michael Lyons and Robin Allan.

In the forward, Didier puts forth some important thoughts about the interviews.

...it is important to always keep in mind that no statement from any interview should ever be considered as the absolute truth, as the interviewee might have misremembered the facts, may have seen only part of the project described, or may have his own personal reasons for representing reality in a certain way. Hence the further importance of the various perspectives provided throughout this series.

Didier's work is going to play an important role in the future of research into the Disney Company. Many of the artists were involved in classic Disney animation at a time when credit wasn't clearly given or assigned. It is a chance for the artists to speak for themselves and offer an insight into the Disney Company that we will not likely find elsewhere. You might pass up a book like this if you are a theme park junkie, but reading the stories from artists like Hench, Davis, Carlson and Anderson--that worked on Disneyland and Walt Disney World projects--are wonderful.

Bottom Line: It is hard to place a work like Walt's People in the overall Disney literature--it doesn't focus solely on animation or the theme parks. The interviews collected are amazing and offer insight into Disney, the Studios and the theme parks. The volumes are not for everyone, but the Disney historian, enthusiast and geek will take a lot away from Dider's work. It is a great place to get your Geek on and delve into what it was like to know and work with Walt Disney, Roy Disney and the talented people in the organization.

I can't wait to start the next volume in the series!

www.imaginerding.com

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing, August 8, 2010

By 

Timothy Moen "Tim M." (NY) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Walt's People Volume 1: Talking Disney With The Artists Who Knew Him (Paperback)

If you have any interest in the Disney company's/animation history, this is the book for you. The whole thing was some of the most entertaining reading I've had in a while. Amazing never-before-published interviews with artists, the poster boys who have done a million of them, and also the artists who you never see in any of the Hyperion books. I know that to purchase the whole series is a hefty investment, but it will be worth it. I have found myself re-reading the interviews for inspiration. Looking forward to buying more volumes in the future.