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Acknowleagments W ALT DISNEY HAS BEEN a presence in my life for as long as I can remember, and writing about him seems like the most natural thing in the world. My boyhood in the rural Midwest in the 1950S and early 1960s was saturated with his creations and productions. Myattendance at a showing of Pinocchio with my great-aunt, an elderly schoolteacher who loved the movies, and one of my younger brothers created a vivid memory ofMonstro the whale gobbling up bad little boys. My fascination with Davy Crockett inspired my father to make me a modified version of the famous coonskin hat, using a squirrel pelt with the tail hanging down the back, and a crude Kentucky long rifle cut silhouette-style out ofa board. For a boy tromping around in the woods, they were good enough. On many late afternoons I was ritually mesmerized by The Mickey Mouse Club, eagerly ingesting the global documentaries and boisterously laughing at cartoons, obediently internalizing Jimmie Dodd's aphorisms, and ogling Annette Funicello for reasons that were compelling yet still rather mysterious. The first color television show I ever saw, with the entire extended family gathered at my grandparents' house for the proud debut ofthis miracle machine, was Walt Disney's Wonderful World ofColor. Even much later, when cultural revolution had inspired in me a bushy beard, shoulder-length hair, threadbare clothes, radical political sloganeering , and rock-and-roll musicianship, a trip to DisneyWorld produced a state of fascination bordering on euphoria. Rather ironically, the attractions, the atmosphere, and the people in this tightly managed amusement park created a magical, sparkling atmosphere for someone distraught over the bitter social divisions, bourgeois stuffiness, and coldhearted power politics of the early 1970S. When I went to raucous showings of Fantasia and Alice in Wonderland with large groups of college friends who had been, shall we say, xii I Acknowledgments suitably prepared for a fantasy experience, my reaction only intensified. Several years later, professional training as a cultural historian led me to a deeper, soberer consideration of this popular entertainer's influence. Walt Disney's curious status in modern America - beloved popular figure and object of intellectual disdain, manipulator of a massive culture-industry machine and reassuring avuncular presence - seemed to cry out for explanation . These personal and public, emotional and intellectual influences have converged to produce this book. It would never have been completed without the help of many people. First of all, the staff of the Walt Disney Archives at the Disney Studio in Burbank, California, has earned my heartfelt thanks. This facility is the mother lode of source material for the student of Disney, and over the course of many, many research trips during the last five years, I received valuable help in numerous ways from David R. Smith, Robert Tieman, Becky Cline, Collette Espino, and Adina Lerner. They graciously responded to my endless requests for materials, patiently answered a flood ofquestions, no matter how naive or uninformed, and provided road maps and directions to a country boy struggling to navigate the Los Angeles freeway system. Dave and Robert also combed through the entire manuscript, correcting factual errors and misspellings and suggesting a variety of revisions and rethinkings. I very much appreciate the entire staff's cooperation and hard work. Even though they "fired" me on numerous occasions for outbursts of orneriness or incompetence, everyone at the Disney Archives has become my valued friend. Many employees of the Disney Studio, both past and present, kindly granted interviews and shared with me their perceptions ofincidents, issues, and personalities in the history of this entertainment enterprise. This group includes the late Bill Cottrell, Marc and Alice Davis, Peter Ellenshaw, John Hench, Ollie Johnston, David Iwerks, Donald Iwerks, Fess Parker, Frank Thomas, and the late Robert Weinstein. Nolie Walsh Fishman talked to me at some length about the personality and career of her ex-husband, Bill Walsh. Van Arsdale France forwarded his memoir ofa long career at Disneyland , along with a couple of notes of encouragement. Among the Disney family, Diane Disney Miller conversed with me at some length on several occasions, although we never quite sat down for a formal interview. She also kindly arranged a meeting with her mother, Lillian Disney, with whom I conducted a delightful interview on a pleasant summer afternoon at the Disney home in Holmby Hills. Roy E. Disney spent a couple ofhours talking with me about his father, Roy 0. Disney, and commenting on a variety of...

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