Thank you so much to Christopher Lucas and the team at Lyons Press for the opportunity to preview Top Disney: 100 Top Ten Lists of the Best of Disney, from the Man to the Mouse and Beyond for review. It was such an interesting read and I learnt so much about the company I love. Top Disney will be released this Friday, April 19, 2019 and will be available as both an eBook and Paperback.
Top Disney is a different take on the average Disney history book as the topics are presented as lists, representing every corner of the Walt Disney Company. The first section begins with the marriage of Walt’s parents in 1888 so there is well over a century of information in this book. That may sound a little daunting, but the unique aspect of the lists actually makes it a fun and easy read. Each list falls into a larger category which can be read separately or together and this set-up allows a reader to pick and choose which topics to explore, though I personally found all of it very interesting and recommend reading the book in its entirety. Some lists have whole paragraphs of information about them and some only a couple of sentences.
An introduction followed by a page of rules for the lists are important to read to fully understand and appreciate the research and interest that went into the book. Top Disney is not necessary filled with lists of personal favourites but focuses on the general consensus of Disney fans. The rules include things like the lists themselves aren’t in a particular order (ie not ordered 1-10), many lists are broken down into the Classic Era (1923 – 1988) and the Modern Era (1989 – 2017), and everything was cross-referenced with Disney A – Z written by Dave Smith. This is exactly what I do for my blog posts as well because Dave Smith’s knowledge was golden!
Top Disney starts off with the Walt Disney Himself category and I have to say that reading the Top Ten Walt Disney Quotes gave me shivers! This section also includes topics such as Greatest Influences on Walt and Most Informative Books about Walt. As mentioned, part of this section talks about Walt’s parents and I learnt that Elias and Flora were next door neighbours who fell in love (awww.) My favourite list is the Important Places to Visit Related to Walt’s Life because these are all places found outside of the theme parks. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of Disneyland, but there are many other places of interest that were essential in Walt’s story.
The next section is lists about the Disney Company and it starts off with Milestones of the Disney Company. I love the list of top Artists/Animators (mostly because it features the Nine Old Men!), but my favourite lists for this section is Disney Legends Who Should Be Better Known and Folks Who Are Overdue For Recognition as Disney Legends. I appreciate the recognition Top Disney gives to those who have worked so hard for the Company but aren’t as well known. I was also very surprised at who is not yet a Disney Legend, especially Ron Miller, Hazel George, and Verna Felton.
Next up is Disney Films and this category makes good use of breaking topics further down, not only into the Classic and Modern Eras or into Animated and Live-Action, but even further into specific genres, production companies, etc. Even the shorts break down into Silly Symphony, Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald Duck. It really gave me a chance dive into learning about the backbone of the Disney Company.
Top Ten Disney Characters is also quite broken down to showcase more characters. Lists includes Animated Leading Ladies (which I appreciate are not just the princesses), Leading Men, Female Villains, Male Villains, etc, and then all live-action characters as well! Actors who Voiced / Played Characters is also included under Disney Characters. One unusual list I like was Disney Trios since grouped characters are usually thought of as couples, villain and sidekick, or best buddies.
Lists about Disney Cast Members differentiates between Actors Finding Homes Through Disney and Actors Blossoming At Disney which I thought was a neat way to divide them. Other lists includes Child Stars and Songwriters / Composers.
The next category is Disney Television / Other Media. I didn’t know that the first Mickey Mouse children’s book was first published in 1930! Other topics includes Live Action TV Series, Animated TV Series, Made-for-TV Movies, and Disney Channel Movies. The Disney TV Theme Songs category was a fun read because immediately most of the songs would pop right into my head.
The last section, Disney Parks and Attractions, is my favourite. This is another category that really breaks everything down: Classic and Modern Era, but also separate lists for E-ticket attractions. Many of the Classic attractions mentioned have such an interesting history such as the Enchanted Tiki Room and the Carousel of Progress. Other topics includes Top Ten Resorts (I’ve stayed at 3!), Restaurants (I’ve dined at 7!), and Imagineers (including Tony Baxter!). I was very excited about the Characters Unique to the Parks list because I’m actually someone who has favourite characters from this category, but neither Captain Rex from Star Tours nor Rover from Carousel of Progress made the list unfortunately.
Overall, something I really enjoyed about Top Disney was that it gives equal time to both the greatest hits and achievements of Disney but then also to the not-quite-as-well-known topics. There are fun facts and history that even a lifelong Disney fan may not know about. Many of the Top Ten books and films listed throughout Top Disney are definitely now on my TBR / TBW! And maybe one day my own little blog will make a Top Ten Disney Websites list!
To end I wanted to create my own Top Ten list and instead of a specific topic, here is my Top Ten List of Favourite Disney Things Ever!
- Indiana Jones Adventure (Favourite Disneyland / Of All Time Attraction)
- Carousel of Progress ( Favourite Walt Disney World Attraction)
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge (Favourite Disney Hotel (that I’ve stayed in))
- Mystic Manor (Favourite International Park Attraction (that I’ve been to))
- The Little Mermaid (Favorite Film)
- “Something There” (Favourite Song)
- The Lion King Score (Favourite Score)
- The Sherman Brothers (Favourite Songwriters)
- Everything Star Wars (Because…Star Wars)
- Walt Disney (Favourite Person)
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