It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The Walt Disney American Experience PBS documentary is a good profile of a box of contradictions: a wholesome 'family' man and a rabid anti-communist conservative who was one of the heads of the Alliance that made things horrible for people in Hollywood for years (and what a speech he gives to his workers that made them organize *more* to strike in 1941); someone who claimed he wanted things simple and wasn't "literary" while creating one of the great abstract experimental films (Fantasia) and changing an artistic medium through his "fairy tales" and silly symphonies and Disneyland and so on.This is a very fair document of a man who created many of the films that made children around the world cry and laugh and (occasionally, as in part of the forest sequence in Snow White) pee themselves, while also being "hard-driving" while being inspirational for his workers (or those who stuck around).It's chock-a-block of great clips and somewhat obvious but nevertheless enlightening analyses of the "Big Five" first films (Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo, Bambi and Fantasia), and on to things from television like Walt Disneyland TV and the park itself. Here's a man who could do anything and for the better part of his later life got obsessed with trains and led on to making THE amusement park of the world (or as one interviewee calls it "a living animation"). From a portrait like this it's somewhat easy to call him difficult (he likely was), but it's rare to get someone in America who was a genuine entertainer - whether it connected with everyone, as he aimed for whether it was a Donald Duck cartoon or the blades of grass in the park, he had to make it just so - while being so, uh, 'wholesome' (depending on who you talk to of course).He's a wonderful bunch of contradictions, which is something we can relate to even as we're not all "visionaries" and such.

This biographical study of Disney certainly captured the man as a brilliant innovator and dedicated producer of wonderful things. But it was not honest in its treatment of the strikes that almost brought down his studio. It suggested that the strikes were merely the honest reactions to a company that callously underpaid its employees and wanted power over them and that Disney, along with other studio owners blamed their troubles on Communists ("imaginary antagonists"). The viewer is left with the belief that Communists didn't have the slightest influence in Hollywood, when in fact there is significant evidence from Soviet archives (released after the fall of the USSR) that many union leaders (including Herbert Sorrell, who led the strike against Disney) were Party members and that the strikes were financed by the Kremlin. Even if the show's producers didn't accept these claims, it was unconscionable not to even to mention the possibility.

10/10If the world had been blessed with more great visionaries as Walt Disney we would be living in a much kinder and forgiving world, as his world is closest to Utopia. This two-part, four hour documentary focuses on the legacy that Walt Disney left behind for the world to remember the man and his vision. To this day almost 100 years ago since his first animated production in the year 1922, the six (6) minute animated short Little Red Riding Hood was released Walt Disney persevered through all the naysayers and endless string of penny pinching bankers to build his empire and the sheer vastness of his rich colored cinematography decade after decade and with an imagination of what the present (not the future) should include like no other person before him. Disneyland and Disneyworld are just two examples of his vision of Utopia.I especially liked that this documentary provides fair credit towards Walt's older brother Roy O. Disney for helping build the Walt Disney brand and empire to what we know exists today. No doubt Walt was the visionary and driving force behind the Disney's creative and extensive brand but it was Roy who was the reliable older brother who made Walt's dreams come true through shrewd financing and brokering mega million dollar deals with heavy financiers who were hungrier than a pack of wolves to take over the business if it floundered. This film also outlines how during the evolution of labor unions first being formed in the 1940's on the outskirts of the Disney lots, Walt literally escaped the turmoil of bargaining with organized labor as he travelled to far away countries and left the labor resolution issues to his big brother Roy who is credited with resolving the labor unrest which allowed the Disney studios to forge ahead with so many historic and successful feature animated films, and never before seen world class amusement parks.The documentary is well paced and extremely insightful on how Walt's endless drive and high energy began with his own superior artistic talents to draw characters and develop a short animated feature. Walt's fortitude to draw idyllic characters expanded over his early years to the unheard of venture of the very first full feature animated film, the 1937 release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released in 1937, it is as popular today if not more so than it was almost 80 years later when it was first released. Ironically, Walt Disney has won more Academy Awards than any other single person but the most prestigious Academy Award for the Best Picture category had always eluded Walt. The Academy members have always snubbed the art form of animation (as well as comedy themed films) in the elusive Best Picture category. Instead the Academy created specific categories for animated feature films to win their own category of Oscars and thus excluded them from the "Best Picture" category. What the Academy could not take away from Walt Disney and his production company though was his fan base and their loyalty. Walt's expansive fan base has rewarded Walt Disney with billions of satisfied customers around the entire world and with billions of dollars in revenues which have allowed Walt Disney productions to continue producing state of the art films and a host of related Disney themed products that have warmed the hearts of children and parents around the world.I loved the insight this documentary provides on Walt's personal life with his wife and two daughters (one who was adopted) and there is an endless supply of Walt's ear to ear grin which personifies how much he loved what he was building both with his family as well as with his Walt Disney Empire. Sadly the film touches briefly on the distance held between Walt and his father Elias until his father's death at the age of 82. Walt and Roy did purchase their parents a home in North Hollywood California upon their business success with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. After moving in to their beautiful new home Walt's mother Flora complained about their new gas furnace which the repairmen supposedly fixed. Unfortunately Flora died a month after moving in to their new home of asphyxiation caused by the gas furnace fumes at the age of 70. Walt never would discuss the circumstances of his mother's unexpected and unnatural death.Central to the Disney history is the vision and subsequent construction of Disneyland. A good chunk of this worthy documentary is spent with actual footage of the gradual construction of Disneyland with Walt being front row and center throughout the building -phase and the eventual grand opening on July 17, 1955, on a hot and sweltering day after many of the work crews said it would never be ready for the pre-announced day of Disneyland's grand opening. Walt's perseverance again paid off and with the many dignitaries present, television crews and tens of thousands of visitors the grand opening proceeded as originally planned. Near the end of the documentary there is an unknown person who is mentioned as having irritated Walt by stating that if Walt had chosen to run for the presidency of the United States, he would have won. To which Walt retorted, "Why would I want be President of the United States when I am already King of Disneyland?" Thank you Walt and Roy Disney for such an abundance of fine feature family films, documentaries, and not only the epitome of what an Amusement Park (Disneyland, Disneyworld, family resorts, cruise ships and Epcot Center) and family centric vacation should encompass, but what literally billions of happy paying customers have grown up with through the family generations. The Disney legacy can be summed up in two words…FAMILY VALUES.Scores a 10 out of 10

American Experience: Walt Disney (2015)**** (out of 4)This two-part look at the life and career of Walt Disney certainly has some flaws. I will openly admit that but at the same time there's so much great knowledge and footage here that it's almost silly to complain too much about it.The first part of the documentary covers Walt's early days and how he got interested in going into show business. We learn about his earliest animated movies and how he ended up broke before finally getting money with the Alice shorts. From here we learn about various issues that happened with his family and how a little mouse would end up saving his career. From here we see the building of Disney Studios as well as him dreaming of doing feature films.The second portion of the film deals with some of the darker and more controversial moments including various strikes by his workers who felt they were being mistreated. The studio's disappointing box office returns to movies like BAMBI and DUMBO are also discussed but the main focus is Disney Land and how television would help bring Walt's vision to life. We also take a look at some of his latest pictures, which were attacked during a time when people didn't see peace and happiness instead they were seeing shocking images of violence.The biggest problem with this documentary is that its four hour running time simply isn't long enough to fully get into this man. I will admit that I didn't know too much about his personal story so I found this documentary to be full of wonderful knowledge and there's no question that all the footage from his movies as well as the personal movies were terrific. Even more entertaining was seeing Disney Land being built and just looking at the footage makes it a wonder that the vision ending up coming true. The film certainly is extremely long but it's never boring and it's definitely worth seeing.