Favorite Disney Books

The Perfect American, by Peter Stephan Jungk, "is a fictionalized biography of Walt Disney's final months, as narrated by Wilhelm Dantine, an Austrian cartoonist who worked for Disney in the 40s and 50s, illustrating sequences for Sleeping Beauty. It is also the story of Dantine himself, who desperately seeks Disney's recognition at the risk of his own ruin. Peter Stephen Jungk has infused a new energy into the genre of fictionalized biography. Dantine, imbued with a sense of European superiority, first refuses to submit to Disney's rule, but is nevertheless fascinated by the childlike omnipotence of a man who identifies with Mickey Mouse. We discover Walt's delusions of immortality via cryogenic preservation, his tirades alongside his Abraham Lincoln talking robot, his invitation of Nikita Khruschev to Disneyland once he learns that the Soviet Premier wants to visit the park, his utopian visions of his EPCOT project, and his backyard labyrinth of toy trains. Yet, if at first Walt seems to have a magic wand granting him all his wishes, we soon discover that he is as tortured as the man who tells his story. After Disney refuses to acknowledge Dantine's self-professed talent and hard work, he fires the frustrated cartoonist for writing, along with other staff members, an anonymous polemical memorandum regarding Disney's jingoistic politics. Years later, in the late 60s, still deeply wounded by his dismissal, Dantine follows Disney's trail to capture what makes Walt tick. Dantine wants us to grasp what it is like to live and breathe around the man who thought of himself as 'more famous than Santa Claus.' Walt's wife Lillian, his confidante and perhaps his mistress Hazel, his brother Roy, his children Diane and Sharon, his close and ill-treated collaborators, and famous figures such as Peter Ustinov, Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol, and Geraldine Chaplin, all contribute to the novel's animation, its feel for the life of the Disney world. This deeply researched work not only provides interesting interpretations of what made Walt Disney a central figure in American popular culture, but also explores the complex expectations of gifted European immigrants who came to the United States after World War II with preconceived notions of how to achieve the American dream." Click here to read about the author on Wikipedia.

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, by Cory Doctorow, enblurbed: "On the skids in the transhuman future, Jules is a young man barely a century old. He's lived long enough to see the cure for death and the end of scarcity, to learn ten languages and compose three symphonies...and to realize his boyhood dream of taking up residence in Disney World. Disney World! The greatest artistic achievement of the long-ago twentieth century. Now in the keeping of a network of 'ad-hocs' who keep the classic attractions running as they always have, enhanced with only the smallest high-tech touches. Now, though, the 'ad hocs' are under attack. A new group has taken over the Hall of the Presidents, and is replacing its venerable audioanimatronics with new, immersive direct-to-brain interfaces that give guests the illusion of being Washington, Lincoln, and all the others. For Jules, this is an attack on the artistic purity of Disney World itself. Worse: it appears this new group has had Jules killed. This upsets him. (It's only his fourth death and revival, after all.) Now it's war...." Click here to visit the author's web site, where a free e-book version is available.

Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneyland, by David Koenig, promises to show you "Disneyland - as you've never seen it before.... The most famous amusement park in the world - but is it really the Happiest Place on Earth? Find out in Mouse Tales: A Behind-the-Ears Look at Disneyland. The first ever unauthorized backstage peek divulges: What it's like to work at the Magic Kingdom. Take the controls of a steamship or a submarine. Climb inside the skin of your favorite cartoon character. Are all these clean cut, ever-smiling 'cast members' really as innocent as they seem? What's behind the Keep Out signs and security cameras. Explore the underground complexes beneath Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Visit the Matterhorn's secret attic, and the park's private, members-only club. How the park has changed since the death of inspirational founder Walt Disney and the arrival of shrewd Michael Eisner. And what happens when reality invades Fantasyland. Witness the breakdowns and blackouts, riots, fires and fatal accidents. And the lawsuits that follow.... Mouse Tales is the one E-ticket ride you won't want to miss." Click here to read an interview with the author at LaughingPlace.com.