7 Disney History Book Every Disney Fan Needs To Own

Walt Disney once said, “Our heritage and ideals, our code and standards – the things we live by and teach our children – are preserved or diminished by how freely we exchange ideas and feelings.”  History was important to Walt.  And the history of Disney and his amazing creations is important to all of us!

Once you fall in love with Walt, his movies, characters, or theme parks, you want to learn more. These 7 books give you a glimpse into the magical, sometimes tumultuous, history of Walt Disney Studios, Disneyland, or Walt Disney World.

1.  How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life, by Pat Williams and Jim Denney

While many recent biographies of Walt Disney have reveled in the negative, this book takes an honest but positive look at the man behind the myth. For the first time, the book pulls together all the various strands of Disney’s life into one straightforward, easy-to-read tale of imagination, perseverance, and optimism. Far from a preachy or oppressive tome, this book scrapes away the minutiae to capture the true magic of a brilliant maverick.

2.  Walt Disney’s Disneyland, by Chris Nichols

This bountiful visual history draws on Disney’s vast historical collections, private archives, and the golden age of photojournalism to provide unique access to the concept, development, launch, and enjoyment of this sun-drenched oasis of fun and fantasy. Disneyland documents Walt’s earliest inspirations and ideas; the park’s extraordinary feats of design and engineering; its grand opening; each of its immersive “lands” from Main Street, U.S.A., to Tomorrowland; and the park’s evolution through the six decades since it opened.

3.  A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World: Volume 1, by Andrew Kiste and Bob McLain

In A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World, Andrew Kiste not only pulls back the pixie dust curtain on some of the most iconic rides in the Magic Kingdom, but also pulls back the next curtain, revealing the historical and cultural influences that inspired Walt Disney and his Imagineers.

4.  Project Future: The Inside Story Behind the Creation of Disney World, by Chad Denver Emerson

The Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida is one of the world’s most famous vacation destinations. This iconic resort is now located in what once was thousands of acres of swamp and marshland. Through spy-like moves and innovative strategies, Walt Disney and his cadre of creative leaders turned this massive swamp land into today’s Walt Disney World.

5.  Disney War, by James B. Stewart

The dramatic inside story of the downfall of Michael Eisner—Disney Chairman and CEO—and the scandals that drove America’s best-known entertainment company to civil war.

6.  Walt Disney: An American Original (Disney Editions Deluxe), by Bob Thomas

Walt Disney is an American hero–the creator of Mickey Mouse, and a man who changed the face of American culture. After years of research, with the full cooperation of the Disney family and access to private papers and letters, Bob Thomas produced the definitive biography of the man behind the legend–the unschooled cartoonist from Kansas City who went bankrupt on his first movie venture but became the genius who produced unmatched works of animation.

7.  Disney During World War II: How the Walt Disney Studio Contributed to Victory in the War (Disney Editions Deluxe), by John Baxter

Disney During World War II encompasses the full range of material created by the Disney studio during the war, including ground-breaking training and educational films for the military and defense industries, propaganda and war-themed shorts and features, home front poster art, and the stunning military unit insignia that provided those serving the in the armed forces with a morale-boosting reminder of home.

What Disney History Books Would You Suggest?

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