You know, this really shouldn’t have worked.
I mean, when I first heard about “How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life” (HCI, August 2004), I said to myself: “Now that’s a really dumb idea for a book.” Taking Walt Disney’s lifetime & career and then mining all that material for the makings of a motivational book? Somehow that seemed … Well … sort of silly.
Well, after having actually read “How to Be Like Walt,” now I’m the one who feels sort of silly. For Pat Williams (working with Jim Denney) gets the balance of elements for this book just right. For the bulk of this 400 page volume is perhaps the best researched, most even handed biography of Walt Disney I’ve read in years. Pat doesn’t paint Walt as a saint. Nor does he demonize Disney. No, Williams presents the “Old Mousetro” as he really was. Just a man who had lots of virtues as well as plenty of flaws.
According to the book’s foreword (written by Art Linkletter), in preparation for writing “How to Be Like Walt,” Pat spoke with ” … virtually every living person who knew Walt, including Walt’s family and friends, plus Disney artists, actors, composers, studio executives, Imagineers, secretaries and Disneyland cast members.” Given the incredible amount of detail that you’ll find in this book, I guess I’d have to say that Linkletter’s claim is legit.
I mean, over the past 30 years, I’ve bet that I’ve read every single Walt Disney bio that’s ever been published. But there are stories in “How to Be Like Walt” that I’ve never heard before. Weird little tales like:
- How uncomfortable Walt was in the face of death. The late great Imagineer Herb Ryman recalled how — when he was seated with Disney for Charlie Phillipi’s funeral — Walt fidgeted throughout the entire service, drumming his fingers, etc. Then — when he encountered Milt Kahl and Marc Davis at the back of the chutch at the end of the memorial service — Walt was said to have barked: “Okay, okay. Let’s get back to work.”
That doesn’t make Walt Disney sound like a very nice person to work for, now does it? Well, Williams really tries to create a balanced portrait of the man. So — in addition to these stories of gruff, old, insensitive Walt — you also get stories about what a nice guy Disney could be. Not to mention his elephant-like memory & almost insane attention to detail.
Take — for example — this story that John Matthews (A Disneyland cast member who often appeared as Mickey Mouse) tells in the book:
“Walt had the memory of a politician. I first met him when I was substituting for Paul Castle as Mickey. I was in the backstage area at Disneyland, and I had the Mickey suit on. It was early morning and we were going to do a phoot shoot for a magazine ad. Walt saw me and said ‘You aren’t Paul. Who are you?’ Even with the head on, he could tell I wasn’t the regular Mickey. I said ‘I’m John Matthews.’ And he said ‘Well, John. You’re doing a good job.’
The next time I ran into him, I was in character as Mickey for the ‘Mary Poppins’ premiere at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in 1964. Again, I had the complet suit on, including the Mickey head. Walt came up to me and said ‘Hi, John!’ That was just amazing. He recognized me and remembered my name, even though I was in the Mickey costume.”
With “How to Be Like Walt,” Williams pulls off what few writers (to date) have been able to pull off. He makes Walt Disney human. A real flesh and blood guy. Someone who makes mistakes. But — more importantly — learns from those mistakes, and then goes on to have … Well, I don’t need to tell you folks what an amazing career Walt Disney had.
And — in talking about how Walt learned from the various mistakes that he made over his career and/or the challenges that Disney faced — that’s how Pat is able to work in the motivational sections of the book.
These — like everything else in “How to Be Like Walt” — are incredibly well written. These sections of the manuscript aren’t at all preachy.
But — rather — they’re written with a very common sense, very down to earth approach. Something that (I think) Disney himself would have approved of.
Yeah, this is one of those times when judging a book by its cover really would be a big mistake. Those of you who’d take a pass on reading “How to Be Like Walt” just because you don’t like motivational books would be robbing yourself of the chance to read this really well-put-together, extremely-entertaining Walt Disney biography. A volume that’s just loaded with stories & details that (me personally) I never knew before.
I mean, sure, every good Disneyana fan knows the story about how — on July 17, 1955 — some enterprising soul threw a ladder up next to Disneyland’s back fence and was charging people $5 a head for the opportunity to sneak into the theme park’s big opening day celebration. In my 45 years on this planet, I must have heard this tale dozens of times already.
But Pat Williams — in his retelling of this old saw — manages to make this story new again. For Pat (Who — just like Walt — has an incredibly keen eye for detail) is the only author to ever pin the actual location where this infamous ladder was put up against Disneyland’s fence. Which was out by the Frontierland stables.
That’s important info to know, folks. Particularly if you’re someone like me. Who — come Hell or high water — is determined to be inside Disneyland on July 17, 2005. So that I can take part of that theme park’s official 50th anniversary celebration.
But enough of my nefarious plans for next summer … Given that “How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life” is basically a motivational book, it only stands to reason that I should include a brief, motivational speech as I close out my review.
So let me cut right to the chase here: “How to Be Like Walt” is a great read. Both as a Disney bio as well as a motivational manual. So if you’re looking for something fun to read over the long Labor Day weekend next week, I can think of no better volume to take along. Pick up a copy today, folks. You can thank me later.
And now — if you’ll excuse me — I’ve got to pin down where exactly Disneyland’s pony farm is located. More importantly, I’ve got to find out how much it’s going to cost me to rent a really tall step ladder next summer.
Your thoughts?