cover image Walt Disney: Conversations

Walt Disney: Conversations

Walt Disney, . . Univ. Press of Mississippi, $50 (143pp) ISBN 978-1-57806-713-8

Jackson explores the man behind the Magic Kingdom, evoking Disney's folksy yet driven personality through interviews he gave and speeches he delivered between 1929 and 1966. From a Ladies' Home Journal celebrity profile (entitled "Mr. and Mrs. Disney") to an informative dialogue from the Disney archives, it's clear that Disney's leading quality was persistence. Though Disney was criticized for his films and underpaying employees, this work defends his taste and management style. Most interesting are the contradictory critiques of his work. Told his films are maudlin, Disney responds: "Millions of sentimentalists have taste as schmaltzy as mine." When slammed for the darker elements of his works (the witches, ogres and dragons), he claims all his films illustrate that "[l]ife is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows." Of particular note is Disney's testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, where he named suspected Communists. Aside from a brief intro, Jackson, a communications professor at Virginia Wesleyan College, doesn't put Disney's remarks in context, leaving readers to assemble a full portrait of the man on their own. (Jan.)