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Mouse Tales: A Behind-The-Ears Look at Disneyland |
Author: David Koenig
Published: 1995-07 |
List price: $15.95
Our price: $10.85
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As of: November 23rd, 2008 03:48:15 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Mouse Tales - The rear end of Disneyland
Mouse Tales by David Koenig is a well-researched look at the reality behind the mask or illusion created by Walt Disney. It's a look at the park made by a man for his family to enjoy, and how it was taken over by a corporation interested in selling product to the masses. But besides this ugly story, there's moments of light that shine through, although David does degenerate into the darkest moments of Disney's history. He spends a lot of time rehashing employee stories about management and Disneyland guests that can be disturbing. Perhaps David's biggest revelation is that Disneyland's response to medical emergencies is poor, very poor. It's still bad, and Disneyland needs to rewrite its policy. Should you read this book? If you're curious about Disney's real history, I'd say yes.
 book was somewhat interesting but too negative
The author took a very negative approach to reviewing Disney. A bit like the National Enquirer.
Laundry List of Unattributed Anecdotes
I thought that this book might make amusing reading, and for the first few pages I was entertained. After awhile though, reading hundreds of one-and-two sentence anecdotes becomes rather dull. Worse yet, about 95% of the anecdotes have no attribution. Are the statements true? The result of wishful thinking? Who knows? I skimmed the last half of the book because I just could not deal any longer reading laundry list after laundry list after laundry list.
The writing style was peculiarly adolescent, and where actual paragraphs appeared, they were hardly engaging. The narrator's voice, as it were, was dull, non-analytic, and repititious. We are also told, ad nauseum, that the workers at Disneyland are almost uniformly young, fun-loving, totally dedicated- I think we get that idea after the 15th time being told that. The author also came across as a backdoor Disneyland booster, naughtily displaying Disney's foibles with a wink and a grin: despite the little problems that may arise from time to time, Disneyland is really a fun, safe place we can all enjoy. Hey! You! Yes you! Why not plan a vacation there now?
*sigh* Hardly the juicy expose I had hoped for. Buy the cheapest used copy available if you feel you must.
 Fascinating stories!
I really, really enjoyed this book! I loved reading about the development of the park, and the various changes that happened over time. The stories about the antics of the staff were hilarious! This is a great behind-the-scenes book.
Mildly amusing, but not very satisfying or well written
The author has created a collection of Disney tidbits which is gossipy and frothy, but unfortunately it is poorly written and most of the stories are so undeveloped that the chapters often read like flat lists of factoids. In the end the book made me wish for a more satisfying and quality read.
This book is a compilation of probably thousands of hours of interviews with current and former Disneyland employees and probably thousands of hours of researching news archives. From that alone the book is impressive, but unfortunately the author doesn't really know what to do with his source material. Most of the chapters meander through a list of literally hundreds of story snippets related to some vague topic (crime, employees, law suits, etc.) and while chock full of content, none of the chapters really has any flow or payoff. It is as if he were desperate to stick in every single anecdote he was told, no matter how inconsequential or unlikely. As a matter of fact, some of the "facts" seems more like urban legends that have gradually been rewritten over the decades by the overactive memories of former employees, and their inclusion casts a doubtful light on the entire book.
When the author tries to draw deeper conclusions, they often come off as ham-handed and tacked on. For example, at the end of the chapter on lawsuits he makes a summary statement to the effect of, "People will do anything to make a buck, even at Disneyland." This statement comes after a chapter full of examples of bad behavior on both customers' and Disneyland's sides. To suddenly paint every one of the plaintiffs as money-grubbing opportunists is glib at best, dishonest at worst.
One final criticism is that the book is very out-of-date and is overdue for a new edition.
The book has a few good stories, including the chance to find out more about Club 33 and the real story behind the Carousel of Progress death, but I would suggest finding a library copy instead of shelling out money for your own copy. I was going to pass this book on to my nephews and niece before a summer visit to Disneyland, but I don't feel it will be worth their time to read, so I'm just going to donate it to a flea market instead.
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