From Neal Gabler, the definitive portrait of one of the most important figures in twentieth-century American entertainment and cultural history.

Seven years in the making and meticulously researched—Gabler is the first writer to be given complete access to the Disney archives—this is the full story of a man whose work left an ineradicable brand on our culture but whose life has largely been enshrouded in myth.

Gabler shows us the young Walt Disney breaking free of a heartland childhood of discipline and deprivation and making his way to Hollywood. We see the visionary, whose desire for escape honed an innate sense of what people wanted to see on the screen and, when combined with iron determination and obsessive perfectionism, led him to the reinvention of animation. It was Disney, first with Mickey Mouse and then with his feature films—most notably Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi—who transformed animation from a novelty based on movement to an art form that presented an illusion of life.

We see him reimagine the amusement park with Disneyland, prompting critics to coin the word Disneyfication to describe the process by which reality can be modified to fit one’s personal desires. At the same time, he provided a new way to connect with American history through his live-action films and purveyed a view of the country so coherent that even today one can speak meaningfully of “Walt Disney’s America.” We see how the True-Life Adventure nature documentaries he produced helped create the environmental movement by sensitizing the general public to issues of conservation. And we see how he reshaped the entertainment industry by building a synergistic empire that combined film, television, theme parks, music, book publishing, and merchandise in a way that was unprecedented and was later widely imitated.

Gabler also reveals a wounded, lonely, and often disappointed man, who, despite worldwide success, was plagued with financial problems much of his life, suffered a nervous breakdown, and at times retreated into pitiable seclusion in his workshop making model trains. Gabler explores accusations that Disney was a red-baiter, an anti-Semite, an embittered alcoholic. But whatever the characterizations of Disney’s personal life, he appealed to the nation by demonstrating the power of wish fulfillment and the triumph of the American imagination. Walt Disney showed how one could impose one’s will on the world.

This is a masterly biography, a revelation of both the work and the man—of both the remarkable accomplishment and the hidden life

尼尔-加布勒(Neal Gabler)为20世纪美国娱乐和文化史上最重要的人物之一作了权威的描述。

该书历时七年，经过细致的研究，加布勒是第一个被允许完全接触迪斯尼档案的作家，这是一个人的完整故事，他的作品在我们的文化中留下了不可磨灭的烙印，但他的一生在很大程度上被笼罩在神话中。

加布勒向我们展示了年轻的沃尔特-迪斯尼，他挣脱了童年时的约束和匮乏，进入了好莱坞。我们看到了这位有远见的人，他对逃避的渴望磨练了他对人们想在屏幕上看到什么的天生感觉，再加上坚定的决心和执着的完美主义，使他重新创造了动画。是迪斯尼，首先是米老鼠，然后是他的故事片--最引人注目的是《白雪公主》、《木偶奇遇记》、《幻想曲》、《小飞象》和《小鹿斑比》--将动画从基于运动的新奇事物转变为一种呈现生命幻觉的艺术形式。

我们看到他用迪斯尼乐园重新想象了游乐园，促使评论家们创造了 "迪斯尼化 "这个词来描述现实可以被修改以适应个人欲望的过程。同时，他通过他的真人电影提供了一种与美国历史相联系的新方式，并传播了一种对美国的看法，即使在今天，人们也可以有意义地谈论 "华特-迪士尼的美国"。我们看到他制作的《真实生活大冒险》自然纪录片如何通过提高公众对保护问题的敏感度来帮助创建环境运动。我们还看到他如何通过建立一个将电影、电视、主题公园、音乐、图书出版和商品结合在一起的协同效应帝国来重塑娱乐业，这种方式是前所未有的，后来被广泛模仿。

加布勒还揭示了一个受伤的、孤独的、经常失望的人，尽管他取得了世界性的成功，但他一生中大部分时间都被财务问题所困扰，精神崩溃，有时还退回到制作模型火车的工作室中，陷入可怜的隐居状态。加布勒探讨了关于迪斯尼是一个红色诱饵、反犹太主义者、一个愤世嫉俗的酒鬼的指控。但无论对迪斯尼个人生活的描述如何，他通过展示愿望实现的力量和美国想象力的胜利而吸引了全国人民。华特-迪士尼展示了一个人如何将自己的意志强加于世界。

这是一本大师级的传记，揭示了他的作品和他的人--他的非凡成就和不为人知的生活。