Rating: 
Summary: The most humanizing look at a modern-day media god
Review: This book rarely appears on the recommended reading lists of the countless Disney fan web pages on the Internet, but it really should. Most fans of Walt are uneasy with the notion that he was human, he had feelings and that a real person lived beneath the carefully crafted studio facade. Indeed, the title itself is a testament to the respect that Richard Schickel shows to his subject. While throughout the book, the reader is reminded that the serious arts community never considered Walt Disney to be one of them, Schickel is careful to subtitle the book "The Life, Times, Art and Commerce of Walt Disney". That alone speaks volumes of a man we may never really know enough about.
Rating:
Summary: A Seminal Book for Disney Studies
Review: Although many Disney enthusiasts feel Schickel misrepresented Walt Disney in his book, Shickel's biography is a valuable piece of scholarship nonetheless. Not only does it provide people with a good overview of Walt's life and accomplishments, but the book does not shy away from providing a critical view of the man and his work. Schickel overtly connects Walt Disney the man, Disney the corporation, the entertainment industry, and American society in order to examine how Disney (man and machine) reflect and shape American culture.
It's true, Schickel can be a bit harsh with Walt Disney--his critique isn't as balanced as, for instance, the work of Steven Watts. Placing his work in historical context might help put this in perspective. Schickel took on a serious examination of Disney at a time when Disney was either a) praised as being merely for children (many were well-intentioned fans) or b) ignored or dismissed (usually by critics of "high" art). Schickel took Disney seriously: as a man, an artist, an entrepreneur, and a corporation. And he saw Disney as a major influence and example of then-contemporary America. Treating Disney as worthy of an in-depth critique, more than a brief biography or expose, is a high compliment in its own way. Consider this fair warning. Readers who only want a "feel-good" biography about Walt Disney should not read this book. But Schickel makes a lot of good points about Disney, ones that provide food for thought. Even if you don't agree with Schickel, and I don't always do so, most of his observations are perceptive and worth further consideration. And as a result, Richard Schickel has earned his place in the canon of Disney Studies, a field of study that treats Disney seriously.
Rating: 
Summary: What a load of Dung!
Review: I bought this book thinking it would offer a balanced critique of the Walt Disney Company and its internationally recognized commercial output- instead, I was subjected to 300 pages of personal attacks against Walt Disney (virtually all unfounded and based on what can only be described as intangible conjecture). The author seems to view himself on a quest to destroy the "evil" Disney empire- the only destruction he achieves in this poor cobble of anti-Disney reviews is of his own reputation as an objective author of literary merit. Do not insult your intelligence with the words of an author who so revels in ascribed self-importance!
Rating: 
Summary: This is a critical biography--not a pr piece
Review: I first read this book in 1968. It was a revealing look at why Disney was able to capture the American public and the experiences he had as a child and young man that made him try to control all around him. Disneyland is cited as the ultimate example of Disney control. Since he did not understand the importance of the hotels around the park, others built them. To make up for the mistake he planned his park in central Florida for his total control, including hotels. Disney's films, particularly the nature films, are examples of his attempt to control what was around him. He sent out photographers, poorly paid but with terrific equipment, to film thousands of hours of nature in action. His editors then selected all of the segments in which the animals looked cute or human and created a "nature" film. This was the control of nature. The cartoons are the same. Disney is the character of Mickey Mouse, although he could not draw him. Anyway, there is lots more. After you read the book you will never see Disney work the same way. Still, you can enjoy it as I do, just as a better informed person. I give the book 5 stars--there is nothing better about Disney that I have seen.
Rating: 
Summary: Are you sure this is a biography?
Review: More of a social history of cartoons and the movies and the common man, than that of an unbiased look at Walt Disney.
I felt that the author believed himself above us common Midwest, small town folks, and felt pity on us that we didn't know that we were stupid and liked such low brow things like Mary Poppins, Snow White and Silly Symphonies. I think he equates pop culture with trash. I guess the millions and millions of people around the world that just want decent entertainment, and not some hidden meaning that needs interpretation, are fools. Or is he just jealous?
Rating:
Summary: Best-written critical analysis of Disney and his art
Review: Note the words, critical analysis, because that's what this very thoughtful book provides. Schickel was the first film writer to take Disney seriously enough to craft a seriously-intentioned assessment of his life and work. Many are threatened by this book, because it does not follow the usual course of Disney writing and rhapsodize endlessly about dreams and magic and wonder. And, given the times it was published (the mid-60s) the book has a definite anti-establishment tone that is difficult for some people to identify with, in these self-satisfied times. But the core of the book and its message can't be denied. Walt Disney was not a lovable man. He had flaws, sometimes glaring ones (his handling of the 1940s strike was a low moment for him), and the Disney empire of the 50s and early 60s was indeed sexist, regressive, overly-conservative, and totally out-of-touch with the times. It's easy to forget all that, since we have benefitted from the Eisner approach of the 80s and 90s, which remade the company into a more liberal, self-aware institution. It's difficult to imagine Uncle Walt conceiving a character like Belle, or giving gay employees benefits for their companions. He certainly would never have allowed Touchstone to be formed, whose R-rated films saved the company from bankruptcy. That said, if you truly love the Disney parks and films, you should read this book. It's important to have a balanced view of one's passions, and while you may not agree with everything Schickel says, his fine writing and sense of cultural history will engage and inform you as a reader and as a Disney fan.
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Summary: A TRULY BIZARRE ATTEMPT AT BIOGRAPHY.
Review: Richard Shickel is a very confused man. His book "The Disney Version" is his attempt to totally slam Walt Disney and his audience while he tries to praise his artistic work. This book's primary purpose is basically to show that Walt Disney was this really confused, cynical genius who while bravely delivering artistic masterpieces in the late 1930's he eventually sold his soul to the "devil" (the mainstream American middle class - read "religious, conservative, etc.") and became a cheap purveyor of pop culture junk. The author has failed miserably in his attempt. In truth, Walt Disney was an genius who managed that most unique of marriages: cherishing traditions of yesteryear and upholding the good things in the past while simultaneously blazing a trail into the future with new innovations and technologies and demonstrating that they CAN GO TOGETHER. Walt Disney was not perfect, but his life is far more worthy of celebration than condemnation. It should be pointed out that much of the author's shortcomings in this work stem from his obvious "snobbishness" directed at the American small town and middle class cultures. This reviewers recommendation is that the author take his profits from the book and spend one full year immersing himself in movies like "Polyanna", "Follow Me Boys", "Mary Poppins", and "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" and visiting Disneyland. Maybe he can be cured of this problem.
Rating:
Summary: A TRULY BIZARRE ATTEMPT AT BIOGRAPHY.
Review: Richard Shickel is a very confused man. His book "The Disney Version" is his attempt to totally slam Walt Disney and his audience while he tries to praise his artistic work. This book's primary purpose is basically to show that Walt Disney was this really confused, cynical genius who while bravely delivering artistic masterpieces in the late 1930's he eventually sold his soul to the "devil" (the mainstream American middle class - read "religious, conservative, etc.") and became a cheap purveyor of pop culture junk. The author has failed miserably in his attempt. In truth, Walt Disney was an genius who managed that most unique of marriages: cherishing traditions of yesteryear and upholding the good things in the past while simultaneously blazing a trail into the future with new innovations and technologies and demonstrating that they CAN GO TOGETHER. Walt Disney was not perfect, but his life is far more worthy of celebration than condemnation. It should be pointed out that much of the author's shortcomings in this work stem from his obvious "snobbishness" directed at the American small town and middle class cultures. This reviewers recommendation is that the author take his profits from the book and spend one full year immersing himself in movies like "Polyanna", "Follow Me Boys", "Mary Poppins", and "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" and visiting Disneyland. Maybe he can be cured of this problem.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent read, but how credible is the information?
Review: Schickel does a good research and puts facts down as they are, but he analyzes those facts from his own point of view. He thinks Disney works have manipulated masses who were of an inferior intellect and the company made fortune out of it.
While this may be true, the book could have been more balanced, with an unbiased view, mentioning many favorable things the Company created.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: The book is definitly an in depth coverage of what happened in the early years of the Disney company, but it's definitly more of a history of the company than a biography of Walt.
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