Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando

Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando
Joined together in an extraordinarily close relationship, Walt Disney World and Orlando, Florida, have become the world’s most popular tourist destination. This intriguing book traces the history of the ups and downs of this "marriage" and tells the inside story of Disney’s use and abuse of unparalleled governmental powers. The tale raises important questions about cities and the economic development choices they confront.
Customer Review: Intriguing
What is the politics/relationship between the Disney Co. and the Orlando community? Find out how community leaders in Orlando persuade the Disney Corp. with city projects so that they will thrive their business there. It's interesting how the Disney Corp. was protected from government regulation and more.
Customer Review: Zzzzzzzzz......
I'll admit, I'm only half way through the book. However, to this point, I barely understood what I've been reading. I applaud the author for his obvious intense research, but seriously, how many names can one person possibly remember? There is so much trivial and confusing jargon in here, it's making for a very long 200 page read.


WALT DISNEY: AN AMERICAN ORIGINAL
Customer Review: Disney, A Man and a Mouse
I am very pleased with the poster overall. It is a bit light and fuzzy but that only adds to the era of when the picture was taken. The poster is not signed as in the photo for the review but thats a good thing as it would take away from the art work. I give this item a rating of 5 as it was just what i was looking for in a price range I could afford and in color it beats all expections.
Customer Review: Disney Version?
Bob Thomas gets to the heart of things early: Disney was a greatly talented man whose singular vision lives on in his work. Fair enough. We really do forget that all this, that we call "Disney," was created by a man of extraordinary creative genius. The 60s generation sneered at Disney. Many resented the militarized discipline of the Disneyland work force with their clean-shaved faces, the uniforms and the regimented smiles. Now that the hippies have gone with the wind, we see what is enduring in the culture. Ironically, Disney himself was not a money man, not a finance wizard, not a bean counter. He was in debt most of his creative life, owing millions to the Bank of America. It was TV that saved Disney studios, not Cinderella. Disney cared about quality, cared about product, cared about audience. It is almost quaint to read about such an idealism; it even sounds like a mantra from the 60s. If Disney has become a dirty word, it is because of those who came after the Master himself. The greedy killers of the golden goose weren't interested in Disney's world; they were interested in exploiting it. This biography leaves out much, no doubt, but as hagiography it has its purposes. We see that Disney lived at that moment in America when it was possible to turn suffering into nostalgia. Like many of his generation, the down-home mid-westerner that Disney was put aside memories of mindless drudgery and turned his early childhood into a show, with singing ducks, dancing goats, and happy farmers. Author Thomas makes clear that Disney - like other film moguls like Louis B. Mayer - held a vision of America that had not yet been made anachronistic. But what astonishes most of all is Disney's integrity as a man of the arts. His donations to CALARTS coupled with his wife's gift to Disney Hall in Los Angeles make the Disney name synonymous with creative life.