The Revised Vault of Walt: Unofficial Disney Stories Never Told

The Vault of Walt #1

by Jim Korkis, Bob McLain (Editor), Diane Disney Miller (Foreword)

In 2010, Jim Korkis wrote his best-selling book The Vault of Walt. Now Jim has returned to the Vault, and in this revised edition of his classic book, you'll find your favorite tales plus five brand-new stories, including:


The perilous four-month stint of famed Warner Bros. animator Chuck Jones at the Disney Studios. Why two women you've never heard of were among Walt's most important influences. Walt's admiration for and brief collaboration with legendary artist Salvador Dali. Walt and Lillian Disney's raucous 30th wedding anniversary celebration in Frontierland. How Walt's early infatuation with polo led to an injury that plagued him for the rest of his life. The story of Cinderella's Golden Carrousel and the Disney craftswoman who tended it for decades. Walt's fondness for chili and cold weenies, with authentic recipes to create his favorite dishes. And over twenty more!

With a foreword by Walt's daughter Diane Disney Miller, The Revised Vault of Walt is your chance to roam the nooks and crannies of Disney culture in the capable hands of Disney historian, master storyteller, and former Cast Member Jim Korkis. As Diane Disney Miller herself writes, Jim's stories are ..".authentic, so true to my dad's spirit, so unprejudiced and non-judgmental, that I ... could see the twinkle in dad's eye, hear his laugh."

The Revised Vault of Walt consists of four parts, each with seven memorable tales about Walt, Disney films, Disney theme parks, and the many other worlds of Disney. In addition, there's a bonus section about Disney's controversial film Song of the South to herald Jim's new book, Who's Afraid of the Song of the South? And Other Forbidden Disney Stories, also from Theme Park Press and now available on Amazon.

Note to readers of the old edition: The Revised Vault of Walt omits several of Jim's stories and replaces them with new tales. The book has been professionally copy edited and features a brand-new layout - not to mention a much lower price. But please do remember that most of the content here was also present in the old edition.

Jim Korkis is the best-selling author of Vault of Walt, and has been researching and writing about Disney for over three decades. The Disney Company itself uses his expertise for special projects. Korkis resides in Orlando, Florida.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, Travel, Pop Culture, Biography Memoir, Film

264 pages, Paperback

First published September 14, 2010

Reviews

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, this is indeed a book entirely about semi-random bits of relatively obscure Disney history, specifically relating to Walt himself. The well-read Disneyphile has probably encountered bits and pieces of this information, but not in quite so much depth. And yes, you will need to be quite a Disneyphile to even make it through the book. The one thing that I found slightly annoying is that Korkis tended to repeat information too much. So he might include a lengthy quote from a first hand source, and then repeat what that source said a page later. At the end of the book, there's a short section focused on the movie Song of the South. I'm saving up my thoughts on his take until after I've read his longer treatment in Who's Afraid of the Song of the South?, but it really doesn't look like we're going to see eye to eye there.

[Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

aside from the figure of Walt Disney himself, there's no theme to tie the short stories together. The author dances between short biographical snippets to short stories tied to the park and then back to Walt's personal life. But treated as easy-to-digest biographical nuggets, each story is well researched and addressed with a respectful sterility. Part of the motivation for publishing these stories out of all the possible content to select from is these facts and folks are under researched and under appreciated in the Disney fandom. I had never heard his name before, but Korkis appears to be deeply entrenched in Disney history, and has a great deal of primary source material to draw on. For example, one of my favorite stories followed the famous Disneyland Carousel, and its history from construction/assembly to modern modifications. For many decades there was one woman in charge of painting and refurbishing the horses, and from her Korkis collected a substantial collection of information about this little micro-history. I'm looking forward to Korkis' other works, and feel better prepared for my annual pilgrimage to Anaheim after taking in this lovely dose of Disney history.

[Becky Ginther · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge Disney fan, and I think this book can probably only be appreciated by other Disney fans. It is basically a collection of (true) short stories about little known facts and tales involving Walt Disney and the Disney company. The book is divided into four sections: Walt's Life, the Disney Movies, the theme parks, and then basically a miscellaneous section.

Even as a hardcore fan, some of the stories were just so obscure that I found them difficult to relate to. The writing style was pretty dry, so that didn't really help to make them more appealing. I believe the author had interviewed a number of people to put this book together, so some of the information is coming from different sources - and unfortunately, you can tell. There are times when the editing is pretty poor. Things are repeated in a chapter almost word for word, or something is told that would have fit much better earlier on or later on in the chapter. It could have been better organized, and someone with more skill at telling an interesting story could have made the book a lot more interesting (I don't know if a storyteller like Walt would be pleased!).

On the plus side, many of the stories are relatable and interesting. Behind the scenes info on some of our favorite movies or theme park attractions were particularly successful. The first part, about Walt's life, was probably the most interesting. Some of my favorites included "The Miniature Worlds of Walt," "Gospel according to Walt," "Walt's 30th Wedding Anniversary," "Snow White Christmas Premiere," "The Alice in Wonderland that never was," "Cinderella's Golden Carrousel," "Sleeping Beauty Castle Walt Through," and "Khrushchev and Disneyland."

Another nice thing is that you don't have the read the book straight through (and in fact, the author recommends that you don't), so you can jump around and just read the stories that interest you.

Overall, I recommend any serious Disney fans - you know, the ones that watch the movies over and over again, visit the theme parks on a regular basis, wear their Mickey Mouse t-shirts all the time, etc. - definitely check it out. Even if you're a casual fan, if you have the chance to look through it you should, but I wouldn't seek it out.

[Bobby Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the kind of book you can read a chapter of, put it down, then pick it up again four months later without having to worry about forgetting anything. It’s full of deep cut fun facts and is maybe for black diamond level Disney nerds only. One deep cut fun fact for example is that the train station featured in the Two Brothers segment of the American Adventure at EPCOT is the same train station from “So Dear to My Heart,” and Walt gifted the whole train station for Ward Kimball to keep at his house. As a black diamond level Disney nerd I found the words just flowed off the page directly into my Epcup which I gulped down voraciously.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I consider myself to be a huge Disney fan, but I think that this is a book for life-long Disney fans who have visited the parks many times, read other Disney history books and are familiar with the productions that Walt himself was involved in, as well as possibly older Disney fans. There were a lot of references in the book that were either too obscure or too historical for me to relate to personally. I think most diehard Disney fans would find at least some sections of the book interesting, and I believe that a lot of the stories can't be found elsewhere, so the fan that has read a lot of other Disney books is likely to find this one particularly interesting.

I didn't find the author's writing style to be particularly engaging and never felt lost in the book. It was a struggle to get through certain chapters, particularly in section two (Disney Film Stories) which I found quite dry and was unable to relate to due to being unfamiliar with many of the movies discussed. One of the advantages of the book's structure is that it is possible to skip through the book and miss chapters, as each chapter is completely separate.

There were a lot of stories in the book I did enjoy though, particularly in sections one (The Walt Stories) and four (The Other Worlds of Disney Stories). As this is the first Disney book I've read I feel like I know a lot more about Walt Disney himself now. I also enjoyed the Disneyland trivia, as I have visited the park before and was able to relate to those stories.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've read all the main books and biographies, but you're still searching for more in-depth perspectives into the life of Walt Disney, look no farther(at least, for now)at "The Vault of Walt."
This book by Disney Historian Jim Korkis is divided up into four categories: Walt Stories, Film Stories, Park Stories and Miscellaneous Stories. I personally enjoyed reading and gleaned more information from the first section entirely devoted to Walt's personality and character. We tend to raise him up as a god, completely without faults and just by reading or watching official Disney propaganda this shows to be true. This book is by no means slanderous or rumor-filled, it just sheds more light on Walt's views on morality, society and patriotism.
I liked other bits and pieces of this book, but truly I'd already known the basic story in most topics. (Like I knew more in the animation department, while the live action film info was new to me.) It claims to have "Disney Stories Never Told", but really it should say "Disney Stories Never Told in Such Great Detail." I applaud Korkis for devoting an "uncensored" book to such stories that haven't been given appropriate recognition by the Company.

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jim Korkis shares an incredible amount of information in this modestly sized book. It reads as a book of short stories, categorized into 4 sections: Walt Disney himself, Movies/TV, the Parks, and everything else. Not every story is specifically about Walt Disney, the man, but they are all interesting stories that relate to Disney's involvement in everything his company did during his lifetime, and how that has bled into what the company has done since. To be fair, though, the book doesn't advertise itself as a Disney biography, but rather as uncovering Disney history that most people wouldn't otherwise know.

Many of the stories had minute details that would be omitted from more comprehensive biographies about Walt's life or the books on the Disney company and its rich heritage. Here they work because of the format of the book. I found this a fascinating book to read, and I discovered many new tidbits of Disney trivia that I'd not heard before. Some of my favorite stories were Tom Sawyer Island and Cinderella's Golden Carousel, which both shared the process behind putting together these iconic attractions.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book started off seeming like a biography about Walt Disney with new information. Thankfully I find biographies interesting. Then it went into unknown facts and info about movies he produced and his theme parks and other ventures. Unfortunately there were a lot of older movies and rides referenced that I hadn't even heard of. I grew up watching The Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday night as a kid so this surprised me. This may be a book more for an older fan of Disney. (I'm in my 40's so you get the picture.) I even scanned a couple sections because I had no idea what/who he was talking about. One interesting Fact: He hired Aldous Huxley to write up a live action version of Alice in Wonderland. The write up is included. Interesting to see what it might have been! Other than that I was somewhat disappointed overall.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a little redundant. I didn't realize it was a bunch of articles, as I had hoped it was more of a story of a young park and designer and sorts. So far Korkis does some great work (with actual references from early articles in the 30s and such) reiterating tales from the long long ago, sort of a campfire storyteller "Did I ever tell you about the time Walt Disney . . ."
It's not a slog really--and fortunately I only bought the Kindle version so it's not going to clutter up my ridiculously large Disney shelf already. Should be able to get through it this weekend--but it's not a race right?
Final tally I learned some things and heard some stories I would have never gotten to hear. Overall a good read on the minutiae of the Disney Company in the early days.

[Jenni · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read. Though I have to say as someone who has never read anything else about walt Disney or Disney in general the book felt like it was for people with a lot of prior Disney knowledge. I kept thinking about how my teachers always told me to write things as if my audience knows nothing about what I'm talking about. This was definitely not written that way. There were times he referred to something that he never explained. I'm assuming this is because those are things that people who read a lot about Disney history and walt Disney would naturally be familiar with. So go into this book knowing its more like supplemental reading. The are many amusing antidotes and the book was written in a very easy to read style. so overall I enjoyed reading it.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

NOTE: I forgot to do a review on this book due to being away from the site for a few months.

This author seems to deliver up a lot of great information of Disney lore. He does his research really well and he's not doing it to demonize Walt Disney or the company. He does it to point out the most well-kept secrets of the Disney legacy. The secrets range from Walt's childhood, Disneyland, and of course, the classic films.

There were some parts that I wanted to skim (mainly the Disneyland segment), but I kept on and it just made me want to read more. I would definitely recommend this to Disney historians or film buffs in general.

[Kristyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you know the Walt Disney once collaborated with Salvador Dali to make a film? Or that he had a fascination with miniatures that almost compelled him to make a miniature world in Disneyland? If you didn't, then this is the book for you. Broken up into articles, the Vault of Walt brings a number of unknown or uncommon tidbits of Disney lore out into the open. Everything from Walt's own history, to the Disney films, and even the little-known facts and secrets of the parks themselves are included, and the formatting of the book makes it easy to jump right in.

[W. Frazier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written as a collection of stand-alone stories, this book carries tidbits of Disney trivia and Disney charm. The stories cover the Disney parks, Disney movies, and Walt’s life. Also included are celebrity interactions. Each account is delivered in a report-type telling, so information-packed. In all, it’s a heavier read if attempted front to back, so may be more suited to a coffee-table-book approach where you savor chapters at random.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. I don't find the person of Walt Disney to be all that interesting, but I did enjoy the stories about the history of several of the park's rides. There seems to be a fair amount of repetition at a few points in the book. Would probably be a great read for those truly into Walt Disney, the person and the company. However, I wouldn't recommend it for others.

[Ashlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little dry, but I would give a book about the inside of Walt's refrigerator five stars. I think most die hard Disney fans will know the outlines of quite a few of these "untold stories," but details! Details are fun!

[Jdetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories and information in this book are often interesting and little heard. Unfortunately, I find the writing itself to be lacking. Not only is it full of typos, it's simply repetitive and lacking any sort of polish. Good information, bad presentation.

[j_ay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really any interesting stories herein, and the writing is beyond poor; redundancies, repetitions double-verbiage, etc etc...all rather shocking.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable collection of stories for Walt admirers and Disney fans.

[David Sutton · Rating 5 out of 5]

MUST READ resource for every fan of Disney or amateur Disney historian! This book used to be available through Amazon Kindle, but I am concerned that after the death of Jim Korkis his books might no longer be available. We can be grateful that he recorded a collection of unique stories and antidotes, but it would be tragic to loose this incredible resource. I have cited it numerous times in research for my own Disney articles publised on www.DavidWindsorSutton.com and in the Chinese 科学Fans magazine. One particularly uniqe chapter from this book is a unique glimpse into the faith of Walt Disney. If you are able to find this book it will be a Disney fan's treat! Try to learn from it, share the knowledge, and preserve this unique take on Disney history.

[Becky Ginther · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few months ago I wrote a review of the book The Vault of Walt, by Jim Korkis. Since that time I was lucky enough to get a copy of the revised Vault of Walt, and I would love to share that review with you now.

For the most part the revised version of this book is similar to the original. The major differences are that the new version has some stories that have been added, and others that were removed. Of those that have remained in both editions, I noticed very few changes and I believe that for the most part they remain the same. Because I’ve reviewed much of the old material previously, in this post I thought I’d give you my thoughts on some of the new sections.

Overall the new book is excellent, just like the old one. The stories have been narrowed down to the best ones, and they are well written and chock full of information. Jim Korkis is a great storyteller, and one that has some very unique information and insights into the Disney company. If you’re looking for fun Disney stories or information that you almost certainly haven’t heard before, this is where you’ll find them.

There are five new stories in this book: Eating Like Walt, And the Oscar Goes to… Walt Disney, The Carousel of Progress, The Man Who Shot Walt Disney, and Song of the South Frequently Asked Questions.

The first, ‘Eating Like Walt,’ is a rather unique chapter. It starts out by describing what his favorite foods were and what he liked to eat. It turns out that he was a fan of homestyle foods, and a bit of a picky eater at that! It’s an interesting chapter, but what makes it really original is the fact that it also includes some recipes based on Walt’s favorites. These have been gathered from various sources and are presented here so you can try to make some of Walt’s favorites at home.

‘And the Oscar Goes to… Walt Disney’ does have some good information in it, but for me it was probably the weakest of the new chapters. It describes many of the Oscars that Walt received, as well as times he was a presenter or received a special award. The small anecdotes in here are cute, though the chapter ends up feeling more like a “list” than stories at times.

My favorite of all the new sections was ‘The Carousel of Progress.’ This is what I wish every story in this book was like. It’s something that I know a bit about and can relate to, but it’s not something so obscure that I don’t have any context for it. The Carousel of Progress has been through many changes since it was started, and this chapter details how it has been grown and adjusted throughout the years.

Another new section was ‘The Man Who Shot Walt Disney.’ I didn’t love the title of this story, as I felt it was a little too sensationalist and just trying to get attention, but the actual content (it’s really about a photographer) was interesting. This man worked for Disneyland photography for a number of years, and the chapter details some of the famous and unique shots he captured and how he “rigged” some of those photos, as well as some personal stories of his interactions with Walt. As someone interested in photography I really enjoyed this new chapter.

Finally, the back of the book has ‘Song of the South Frequently Asked Questions.’ Many Disney fans are intrigued by this film that is almost impossible to get a hold of. Despite the fact that the movie hasn’t been released in the US in decades, it remains a prevalent part of the Disney culture thanks to the extremely popular Splash Mountain ride. I loved reading some of the basics on Song of the South, and this FAQ made me excited to read Korkis’s new book, Who’s Afraid of the Song of the South?

The stories that were removed from the original were “Santa Walt,” “Walt and DeMolay,” “Return to Marceline 1956,” “Song of the South Premiere,” “Toby Tyler,” “Lt. Robin Crusoe U.S.N.,” “Blackbeard’s Ghost,” “The Story of Storybook Land,” “Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk Through,” “Epcot Fountain,” “Captain EO,” “Mickey Mouse Theater of the Air,” “Golden Oak Ranch,” and “Disney Goes to Macy’s”. To be honest, I don’t think the book is missing much by removing those stories. For one thing, it makes the novel slimmer, more portable, and more easily handled. I brought the revised version to read on my flight to Disney World and it was the perfect size for travel. Most of the stories that were removed were the ones that I found a bit too obscure last time, so I definitely think their removal improves the book and makes it more manageable and interesting. The only story I really enjoyed from the original that didn’t appear here was “Sleeping Beauty Castle Walk Through.”

Although most of the duplicate stories are the same, I did re-read them. As someone who was on her way to Disney World, I found the story about the carousel particularly interesting upon reading it the second time, and made sure to check out some of the details while I was down there. It’s those sorts of things that make this a really worthwhile book.

At the end of the day, I would recommend the revised Vault of Walt for two types of people: those that never read the original should definitely check it out, and those that read the original and loved it. If you read the original version and liked it but didn’t love it, I don’t believe the revised version adds so much more that it would be worth it to you. All in all I feel that the revised Vault of Walt is definitely an improvement over the first one, and something all Disney fans should read if you haven’t read any of these stories already!

[Scott Ladewig · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of interesting and often less well-known Disney anecdotes, The Vault of Walt is a great read for any fans of Disney history. The stories are relatively short and easily consumed in small bites. It took me a while to work my way through this one, simply because I used it as filler in between other books. Since I bought this book, Korkis has come out with several more, so I will definitely be acquiring the rest and dipping into them from time to time to see what other hidden Disney treasures he brings to the light of day.

[Mme Forte · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is by far the worst written book I have ever encountered.
You would think Walt Disney would be an interesting personality. That may be true. But I was so bogged down by the lousy punctuation, typos (live-action FLIMS, you know?), incorrect grammar and syntax, redundancies, and clunky sentences that I have no way of knowing.
DON'T BOTHER. These stories have to be available in other works by better writers.

[Lorenzo Schwanz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Título em português confunde sobre o conteúdo. Certo seria: Curiosidades sobre a Disney. O conteúdo varia em 4 blocos: sobre a pessoa Walt Disney, sobre os filmes da Disney, sobre os parques e outras curiosidades.

Navega no mediano, sem criar expectativas e esperar muito, o livro satisfaz

[Peter Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great stories about Walt and the company he started. It was, at times, a bit repetitive within the stories. A comment would be made by the author that would be repeated in an interview or two on the next page.

[Gavin Wilson-Roseveare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had a considerable amount of new information for me, and I liked the format of having several short stories covered by a chapter each. Korkis does seem to hold a treasure trove of knowledge on Disney.

[Darby Okamoto · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book!!!!!

Jim Korkis has always incorporated my 2 favorites reading subjects...Disney and History and although I am a big Disney fan, I always learn something new when I read one of his books. A definite E ticket book for true Disney fans.

[Kyle Kowalski · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Revised Vault of Walt by Jim Korkis was in a word, exquisite. It is hard to put this book down once you've started reading it. if I had to rate this book on a scale of one to ten it would definitely be a ten, it is simply amazing.The content of his book was different than normal biographies because instead of being a timeline of the events in Walt’s life each chapter was about something different. For example,chapter seven in the book is about what kind of food Walt enjoyed eating while chapter two was about how he played polo. I was drawn to this book because I have always admired Walt Disney for his imagination and how he used it to bring joy to so many people around the world.
This book is structured in a way that lends itself nicely to the biography genre. First of all everything is explained in very deep detail which is to be expected when the author of the book is a Disney Historian. But along with in depth descriptions of Walt’s life Jim Korkis included a vast amount of quotes from Walt Disney himself, Disney animators, Diane Disney Miller, along with newspaper and magazine articles. Here’s an example of this from Movie Mirror Magazine is 1938 discussing “Snow White Island”:
Snow White Island: Maybe you think that the dwarf’s cottage, their mine, the mountain climbed by the wicked queen, and all those strange scenes you saw in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs exist only on paper, just so many colored lines drawn by a cartoonist. Actually all these things existed to be touched, felt, and photographed by some half a million people who visited The Island during the four months ‘ run of the movie at Carthay Circle in Los Angeles.
Since so much interest was aroused by traveler to the dwarf’s country, we delved into the matter and came up with some pertinent information. The island is a park, surrounded by a road, which is owned by the Native Sons and Daughters of California. It is almost 900 feet long, and on this was built the land of seven dwarfs. It cost nearly $10,000 to erect, and bills for lighting and watchmen(there were four) ran $6,500.
You could see the mountain, the wishing well, the fantastic forest- all real life and twice as exciting. The first day it was finished, a guard counted 1,010 cars circling the display in one hour. That was just a starter.
The gnomes were first made of plaster, but inquisitive kids, poking Dopey to see if he'd talk, forced Disney to remake them all in more enduring concrete. Souvenir hunters were a constant menace, one fellow stealing a bat out of a tree and flying off with it before the guard could catch him.
Thousands of requests came in offering to buy sections; all were refused. when the movie ended its run at Carthay Circle, the entire forest, the mountain, the cottage-all disappeared to be stored away. In three days, like magic, green grass covered the park and the Island once more dozed in the sun, as if Snow White and her crew had never been. (p. 87-88)
Quotes like this are why I like this book so much they give so much detail and insight into the imagination and the world of Disney. It also inspires me to follow my dreams and work for Disney as an imagineer.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Disney things and is interested in the man behind it all. Or anyone who enjoys reading biographies in general, but I have to admit if you aren't a die hard Disney fan like I am this book may be a bit too in depth for the casual fan.

[kylajaclyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I try in vain to find the real person under those that have been swallowed by their celebrity... Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, and, yes, Walt Disney. Some might argue that while he was alive Walt didn't hit the astronomical level of fame that befell Michael and Britney (and, of course, it was a much different time period). In fact, I've always thought of Walt as very human. This book was a step backwards, then, as I feel Jim Korkis buried Walt further in the vault instead of unmasking some of his hidden layers. No, this book is not a biography of Walt Disney, nor are most of the stories strictly about Walt. However, Walt is present in all of them, but at a great remove. By this I mean that the Walt of this book was highly sanitized and scrubbed. In addition, I was frustrated by Diane Disney Miller's (Walt's daughter) comments more often than not. On the one hand, I feel bad that she was never known for much more than being Walt's daughter. On the other, I feel like even she had to sign some form growing up saying she would never speak poorly of her father. "He loved women," she passionately tells Korkis. "He wasn't an anti-Semite," she protests. In fact, this book is so much of what Walt wasn't that it's hard to imagine what Walt was (other than a temperamental boss, which I already knew). I love Walt Disney, or I always supposed I did (Meryl Streep's comments upon the release of Saving Mr. Banks made me step back a little, and I don't even like Meryl Streep all that much). Perhaps what I love the most, and what others love the most, was Walt's insane creativity that never stopped (not even, apparently, on his deathbed).

As for the actual stories in this book where Walt isn't quoted or mentioned, they are okay. I had to summon the interest to finish it. I have part two, and more of the stories in that one interest me, so I'm hoping it's easier to get through. As with all small publishing companies and those who self-publish, there are numerous typos here, found mostly in the beginning. For the record, a period always goes INSIDE of the quotation marks! That typo was made several times, and it drove me crazy. Anyway, I appreciate what Korkis was trying to do with this book, but a lot of the stories weren't particularly interesting to me. In other words, these aren't stories that were aching to see the light of day. I wish Korkis was a little less afraid of the real Disney. His view made me think of the two conflicting views Julian Lennon and Sean Lennon hold of their dad. Sean barely knew him, and thus he idolizes what he did know of him (however much he may not admit it). Julian knew his dad for a lot longer period of time, and he gives a foreword in his mom Cynthia's book that states, basically, that his view of John Lennon is less than rose-colored. But John Lennon is one of the more massively famous people we have that still feels real, not because he was martyred, but because he himself admitted that he was an asshole. Walt didn't need to go that far, but the very nature of his company remains whitewashing things that are less than agreeable. I still own several Walt bios I have yet to read, and I hope a more clearer picture of the man that was Walt Disney emerges there. I remain confident that it is possible to like someone but still admit to their flaws in print. That is, admit to their flaws and genuinely mean it.

[Gabs · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have two opposing viewpoints on this: 1. This book was not all that enjoyable to read and 2. this book documents important Disney history, and therefore it is not "bad" per se.

That being said, it is in desperate need of a good edit. The passages honestly read like scholastic essays, in part because a lot of information gets repeated, but in a way that's rephrased, which gives off the vibe of trying to meet a word count. (I'm sure that's not the case, but that's how it felt.) The repetitiveness initially was just information from a previous story being repeated (e.g. Walt's miniature cabin) but it turned into information being repeated three paragraphs down from where it was initially stated.

Personal enjoyment-wise, I most enjoyed the Parks stories, since that's my main niche. And there are definitely some tidbits in here that are interesting regardless of the writing style. For example, the "Cinderella horse" on the carousel, which Disney itself acknowledges in some official guides, is actually some weird urban legend that never got corrected. It's just a random horse. However, there is an official Mary Poppins horse. And I'm always happy to read about the history of Carousel of Progress, because that ride fascinates me. I would say I did know a decent amount of the Parks stories already, but to be fair, I listen to a podcast that Jim Korkis is on fairly frequently-so I probably heard the stories directly from him, or from someone who had previously read his work.

I am not saying the information in here is uninteresting, because I enjoy Jim Korkis when he tells these stories in other mediums. However, the writing is such a slog at times that I could not get into it. Purely for historical documentation, though, I can appreciate the book, which is why it gets an extra star.

[Benn Allen · Rating 2 out of 5]

When one of the blurbs to your book mentions words like "uncensored" and "unauthorized", you're implying that the work in question will contains things in it that the subject (Walt Disney and the Disney Corporation) would rather you not know. However, when one of the surviving daughters of your subject reads and makes suggestions to your articles, you kinda have to figure that maybe a little bit of censoring has occurred. If only so as to not offend Mrs. Miller and insure your book does get published.

The fact is, The Revised Vault of Walt is a series of articles, many of which were original posted on Jim Korkis' (the author) blog. Korkis is clearly a Disney fan and it shows throughout each and every article in the book. Korkis is reluctant to say anything negative about Disney or anything created by Uncle Walt. And when he does, he is quick to rationalize or excuse it.

The book is divided into four sections, the weakest section is the first one devoted to Walt Disney himself. Many of these articles - particularly the one detailing Walt's food preferences - is trivially trivial. (I ended up skipping the various recipes in the article. Don't care. Won't be cooking them.) The sections on the various films and the Disney parks are better, but still a mixed bag, as is the final miscellaneous section of the book.

Ultimately, this is a book, that if you're a Die-Hard, Love-It-All, Disney fan, this book should interest you more than the casual (or even non-Disney fan). But I have to deduct points for the cover blurb dishonesty. Using weighted words like "unauthorized" and "uncensored" and producing a book that is a love letter to all things Disney is a bit of deception and won't win any love from me.