Saturday, June 23, 2012

W. DISNEY: The Triumph of American Imagination (2007, Neal Gabler, *Audiobook)


Gabler Neal, Walt Disney: The Triumph of American Imagination, London, Vintage, 2007. "This is audible" :) Narrated by Arthur Morey.

Some critics describe Walter Elias Disney as a greedy capitalist, a mercenary butching fairy tales for profit. Intellectuals prefer to see him as a cultural pollutioner manipulating masses into merchandising consumption. "He wasn't an animator. He couldn't draw, not even his own signature" - they say - Always reminding us some sad story about employees working for pennies or how he was an abusive boss bully, a conservative dickhead, an anti semite nazi...!!!
This book is not a simple biography, it's a very well founded defense of the genius that was also a man; the most positive biography on Walt I've ever read (hear really) but not at the risk of losing objectivity: you'll know about his outbursts of wrath (sometimes his cruelty), the fierce oposition to laborist activism ("Commies sons of the bitches" used to said; Walt was a fervent hater of anything he though was communist influenced).
But beyond the shadows of the man's life there are some fine examples of his initiative, risky spirit, obsessive perfectionism, and inventiveness; all of which can be found on this book: Inverting the live-action animation relationship (Alice's Series). Giving Oswald personality. A bet on sound animation (Mickey). Mickey inbetween of Charlie Chaplin - Douglas Fairbanks type of heroe. Donald as an anti-Mickey (a bad-ass duck). Conceiving excellence as a corporate value. Insisting on specialization (extremes - inbetweens); Art classes for animators. Investing on colour. A full length feature cartoon, a perfect movie (Snow White). Colaboration with Lepold Stokowsky. Animation as an art experience: Fantasia. The Studio war output. Controversy about Bambi as reflecting negatively on hunters. Using "quickies" to finance quality on better pictures. The release of Song of the South in a socially unstable country. Failed project with Salvador Dali. Nice anecdotes (They hired real life dwarfs to draw them for Snow White!), some very obscure: Walt's mother died from monoxide poison. Wildlife documentaries with the Disney touch. 1st big studio producing for Television. The creation of a cultural icon: Disneyland...
This book has all of this and much more; a fascinant reflection about Walt Disney overcoming the myths and rumors surrounding his public persona and his own inner shadows: a real triumph to his unlimited imagination.
(by pelida77)





AUDIOBOOK / MP3 / 700 MB (180 MB X 4 parts) / 33hours / Audio: Eng
Narrator Arthur Morey /(Sample) 16.0 KHz / 48.0 Kbps.
4/4 parts (RAR container)
Part1...
Part2...
Part3...
Part4...