Walt: The Man Behind the Myth

I've always been interested in the man and have read biographies on him but it was another thing to see this wonderful film footage. He always had a camera around so there's tons of actual footage from his very early days and you get to see what a dynamic, charismatic this guy was (not just cozy "Uncle Walt" that we're most familiar w/from the TV show). It's easy to see why his employees were so committed and inspired by him. Being a Disney production (his grandson was one of the producers and Walt's daughter contributed a lot) I feared a "whitewashed" sort of thing but was pleasantly surprised by the well roundedness of it. My boyfriend who had no desire to see it was crying by the end and filled w/ a new found appreciation and even wants to see a movie made about him now. It's important to see because this was an exceptional person who risked everything time and again for his visions. He was a perfectionist w/high standards who literally created his own world (Disneyland)- not some money grubbing CEO that the name "Disney" has come to symbolize.

If you are a fan of Walt Disney, his work, or just of documentaries in general, don't pass this one up. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll wish you could have known him. He is Walt Disney, the man who started an empire with a mouse named Mickey. The film tracks Walt's life from his birth in 1901 until his death in 1966. The film delves into Walt's work life and his personal life; the moments he shared and the moments too personal.

The Man Behind the Myth is the most intimate documentary on Walt, and the most personal, as made with the help of his still living relatives (at the time) and his employees (including some of the original 9 Old Men). You may walk away with a new perspective on Walt, or the Disney company after watching and realizing he was just a man, and not a God.

A perfect PR movie product. Wouldn't bother watching it.

I have always been interested in the story behind great industries, and/or persons who devoted their lives to make the world a better place. This documentary which provides great insight into both Walt Disney's early life before he created "The Wonderful World of Disney" and his latter life when he and his brother Roy (who handled the financing end of the Disney empire) created and then every year grew the Disney brand name to become synonymous with family values and highly entertaining animated and adventure cinema.

I was fully engulfed in learning from this documentary all I could about the history of Walt Disney and the film proved to be worth every minute of film time. Walt passed away at a relatively young age of 65 from lung cancer but his Disney production company was the recipient of 26 Academy Awards, which is a record he holds all by himself.

I laughed, I listened in awe, and I cried in some scenes as Walt's life was not without his own personal tragedies. Although some viewers may see this Disney produced documentary as self promoting the Disney brand, I for one would have loved to have been involved in producing this documentary as in my personal opinion, there are far and few in between who had to overcome so much adversity and with so many financial constraints, but yet Walt persevered and he created an empire with the Walt Disney brand that will eventually go down as one of the most influential companies that denotes family values and a quality of cinema that is unsurpassed by even the big box office CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) films of this century.

My hat is off to this documentary and I thank the producers for providing a well crafted documentary that explains in some detail (without going into the nitty gritty of the financial deals) the life and the family man, Walt Disney, who loved trains.

I give the documentary a perfect 10 out of 10! Thank you Walt for providing myself and my family so many decades of wonderful entertainment. Ms. Shullivan and I also recently visited Disneyland in California and although we are well past our mid life point we had a hoot!

Extraordinary is seriously the only word that can describe this documentary. I watch it again and again and again and I never like it a inch less. Wonderful!