Top 5 Nonfiction Disney Books
I have not read all of the books about Disney. There are just far too many to even contemplate being able to do so. However, I have read a great many of them, and these are the ones that left a lasting impression. (Please tell me your favorite nonfiction Disney book in the survey at the bottom of the page.)
5. Neal Gabler’s Walt Disney: the Triumph of the American Imagination – a tome if ever that term should be applied to a book. Gabler provides an insight into Disney based on solid research. It was good enough that I read it and listened to the audio version.
4. Ed Catmull’s Creativity, Inc. – the journey of Pixar and the reveal of its creative processes were well described. The chapter dedicated to Steve Jobs is enough to warrant the purchase of this book. This would be higher up the list, but it is only tangentially related to Disney. (Read my review.)
3. Sam Gennawey’s The Disneyland Story: the Unofficial Guide to the Evolution of Walt Disney’s Dream – this was essential to my schoolwork and higher education. It helped me craft the idea of Disneyland being creativity. It was also a stroll down memory lane as I was able to relive some of my childhood through descriptions of places no longer at Disneyland as well as events I had never been to but have seen many times on TV and recordings of various types.
2. Marty Sklar’s Dream It! Do It! – Hired one month before Disneyland opened, Sklar wrote many of the things that are attributed to Walt Disney himself. He provides help with creativity while telling his own history. He also provides a fascinating look at an era that is quickly turning to legend. (Read: My review, quotes, notes and a list of books Sklar used.)
1. Bob Thomas’ Walt Disney: An American Original – This is still the essential reading for any Walt Disney fan. The biographer was written with the cooperation of the Disney family, and it is considered the definitive volume on Walt Disney.
5. Neal Gabler’s Walt Disney: the Triumph of the American Imagination – a tome if ever that term should be applied to a book. Gabler provides an insight into Disney based on solid research. It was good enough that I read it and listened to the audio version.
4. Ed Catmull’s Creativity, Inc. – the journey of Pixar and the reveal of its creative processes were well described. The chapter dedicated to Steve Jobs is enough to warrant the purchase of this book. This would be higher up the list, but it is only tangentially related to Disney. (Read my review.)
3. Sam Gennawey’s The Disneyland Story: the Unofficial Guide to the Evolution of Walt Disney’s Dream – this was essential to my schoolwork and higher education. It helped me craft the idea of Disneyland being creativity. It was also a stroll down memory lane as I was able to relive some of my childhood through descriptions of places no longer at Disneyland as well as events I had never been to but have seen many times on TV and recordings of various types.
2. Marty Sklar’s Dream It! Do It! – Hired one month before Disneyland opened, Sklar wrote many of the things that are attributed to Walt Disney himself. He provides help with creativity while telling his own history. He also provides a fascinating look at an era that is quickly turning to legend. (Read: My review, quotes, notes and a list of books Sklar used.)
1. Bob Thomas’ Walt Disney: An American Original – This is still the essential reading for any Walt Disney fan. The biographer was written with the cooperation of the Disney family, and it is considered the definitive volume on Walt Disney.