Walt Disney, from Reader to Storyteller: Essays on the Literary Inspirations - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0786472324 ISBN 13: 9780786472321

Publisher: McFarland & Co, 2014

Synopsis

Walt Disney, best known as a filmmaker, had perhaps a greater skill as a reader. While many would have regarded Felix Salten's Bambi and Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio as too somber for family-oriented films, he saw their possibilities. He appealed to his audience by selecting but then transforming familiar stories. Many of the tales he chose to adapt to film became some of the most read books in America.

Although much published research has addressed his adaptation process--often criticizing his films for being too saccharine or not true to their literary sources--little has been written on him as a reader: what he read, what he liked, his reading experiences and the books that influenced him. This collection of 15 fresh essays and one classic addresses Disney as a reader and shows how his responses to literature fueled his success.

Essays discuss the books he read, the ones he adapted to film and the ways in which he demonstrated his narrative ability. Exploring his literary connections to films, nature documentaries, theme park creations and overall creative vision, the contributors provide insight into Walt Disney's relationships with authors, his animation staff and his audience.

About this title

About the Authors

Kathy Merlock Jackson is a professor of media and communication at Virginia Wesleyan University, where she teaches courses in media studies and children's culture. She is the author of over a hundred articles, chapters, and reviews and has published fifteen books. She is a former editor of The Journal of American Culture and a past president of the Popular Culture Association. She serves on the editorial boards of The Journal of American Culture and The Journal of Popular Culture and is co-chair of the Animals and Popular Culture Area of the Popular Culture Association.

Mark I. West is the former chair of the English department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He has written or edited twenty-five books on children's literature and culture and is a former president of the Children's Literature Association.

Edition details

• Publisher: McFarland & Co
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0786472324
• ISBN 13: 9780786472321
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 236
• Editor: Jackson Kathy Merlock, West Mark I.