The Art of Walt Disney

In the two last books I read, the creativity of Walt Disney was mentioned. In the December issue of Wired (which was a very good issue), there was an article about Walt Disney Imagineering, the division that creates the Disney theme parks, and which seemed to be completely unrestricted as long as Walt Disney lived. Apparently, Walt Disney used to say that “You can’t put a price tag on creativity.” In later years, however, this has changed. A former WDI employee is quoted in the article as saying that today, they start with spreadsheets and try to work magic from there.

I was interested in reading about Walt Disney’s creativity, so I was happy to get my hands on the 1973 edition of The Art of Walt Disney by Christopher Finch. First I thought that it was a Disney endorsed biography, but I googled a little and found Finch to be an art critic focusing on American popular culture.

I have read a few chapters covering Disney’s early years, so there’s not much to write about yet regarding creativity. But one thing interests me, and that is the fact that Disney was a control freak. My impression is that the animators and artists had much of freedom in their work, and therefore were very creative. I hope that the rest of the book will shed some light on this. I’ll have to stop now.