Between Books - The Disney Interviews: Volume I

 

 

The Walt’s People series has really created a gold standard for interview/oral history volumes on our Disney bookshelves.  These books create a benchmark that even experienced authors and interviews may struggle to maintain.  So, while the idea of an experienced interviewer moving audio interviews into a text format may seem like a no-brainer, sadly it can still go wrong. 

The Disney Interviews: Volume I by Lou Mongello transcribes interviews from the popular WDW Radio podcast into book format.  Each chapter consists of a brief introduction by the author about the context of the interview and some thoughts about the event.  The bulk of the chapter is a transcription of the interview.  Those included are a wide range of Disney celebrities including the well-known Julie Andrews, Alice Davis, Marty Sklar, and Richard Sherman.  But it also includes figures like Al Konetzni and Ralph Kent that may not be on every Disney fan’s radar.

This volume shows how difficult it can be to create a book, even when you have strong material.  In short, this book needs an editor desperately.  There are numerous text errors that create both reading discomfort and factual errors.  It makes one wonder if a simple transcription program was used to move the words into text, and then perhaps not carefully reviewed.  There are numerous grammatical errors.  But factual errors also frequent the book.  I was wondering who Dick Nunez was as he seemed to have had an impact on Tom Nabbe’s career.  I eventually figured out it was Dick Nunis.  But I was taken out of my experience as I pieced this puzzle together.  There are even factual errors in the introductions.  For example, in the Al Konetzni interview readers are directed to the full podcast episode 511, which is the Bill Sullivan interview. 

The Mongello interviews are comforting to hear.  They may be fancentric, but they really are like sitting down with an old friend when you hear them.  I really was looking forward to revisiting these interviews in a new way.  Sadly, instead I found The Disney Interviews: Volume I to be distracting and periodically frustrating to read.  I borrowed a Kindle edition and would really like to see this material edited and updated to provide what should be a fine reading experience. 

 

 

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Dreamin' Disney - Googlin'

Betweenland is often cold, wet, dark, and too white as everything is covered with ice and snow.  Seriously, you can sled on a frozen towel in Betweenland.

Then it becomes brown and mucky and too wet.  For awhile it is pristine and green.  But shortly after Betweenland becomes so hot that you have to eat your ice cream so fast you always get a ice cream headache.  Yeah, living in Betweenland can be rough sometimes!

But there is a place where the weather is perfect.  There is a place where there is just enough snow and sun and everyday is just right.  Of course, I am referring to one of my favorite all time Disney rides, Soarin’ Over California.  Every time I queue up and carefully observe my flight attendant Patrick and his instructions, I know I am going to a place where everything is going to be beautiful with the perfect soundtrack for the moment. 

But alas I can’t duplicate this perfection at home.  Well, until now.  Glen Whelan, a Disney enthusiast familiar to fans of WDW Radio, has created Googlin’.  Googlin’ uses the soundtrack and video from the ride and images from Google Earth to provide riders in Betweenland a Soarin’ experience.   Visually, it's not a crisp HD presentation, but it is a fun diversion on a Betweenland afternoon.  But then I also insist on blowing up the video and trying to dip my toes through the river on the screen.   

Thanks to Googlin’, Glen has given us one more way to escape Betweenland and tour a California more prefect than our reality.