Those who have watched the headlines of the business section will not be disappointed in DisneyWar. Even lovely, tear-filled moments are not without point. Or maybe it's perspiration.īut this is James R. Goofy wishes he could get his paw over to wipe the tears that have welled in his eyes. She leans in and plants a kiss on Goofy's nose.įlashbulbs are going off. The shyness melts away, her eyes widen in delight, and her face glows. Then, for a moment, Goofy gets a clear look at the little girl's face. Or rather, the eyes of the author while inside a Goofy suit at Disneyland: The young girl looks a little wary, but Goofy extends his arm, and she slips in next to him. And, in this case, the heart of the story comes through Goofy's eyes. The larger second half of the prologue intersperses the heart of the story with all that corporate steel. Disney pull 'his red 1999 Ferrari in the parking lot of the Bodega Wine Bar in Pasadena.' The first half of the prologue is all hard edges and real business. In DisneyWar's prologue, for instance, we see Roy E. He understands the importance of pacing and of structure. Stewart, however, knows how to arrange his facts in order to compel his reader.

Only the latter is necessary to write a comprehensive non-fiction book. Stewart, a former page one editor of The Wall Street Journal and the author of seven books including Den of Thieves - about 1980s insider trading - and Bloodsport - arguably the book on the whole Clinton Whitewater business - is a strong storyteller as well as a first rate journalist.

At 572 pages, this is not a book to curl up with in bed. With access to many key players in the story - including family members, current and former executives and even the often unavailable key players Michael Eisner and Roy Disney - Stewart draws us closer than we've ever been - perhaps closer than we ever wanted to be - to the not so happy behind-the-scenes story of the happiest place on Earth.ĭisneyWar is epic in both scope and actual weight. It's a world of familial battles and corporate manipulations as cold as any to be found on Wall Street. The world Stewart writes about is not nuanced by the cartoon colors most of us think of when we hear the name. This Disney - the one most of us think about - is not the subject of Pulitzer Prize-winning author James R. In short, you think about the gentle world that Walt built.

And movies with such seriously soft centers, it makes your teeth ache just to think about them. You think about a lot of things when you hear the name 'Disney.' You think, for instance, about white-gloved mice with outsized heads and a perpetual smile.

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