Sam Gennawey
Autor de The Disneyland Story: The Unofficial Guide to the Evolution of Walt Disney's Dream
Obras de Sam Gennawey
Obras relacionadas
Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never Knew You Never Knew (2015) — Prólogo — 22 copias
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Conocimiento común
- Fecha de nacimiento
- 20th Century
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- male
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- USA
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Universal versus Disney : the unofficial guide to… por Sam Gennawey
I think this is a very interesting book, it details the history of Universal Studios Hollywood from the past to the present.
This book looks at what was to be EPCOT (the city, not the theme park) and Disneyland through the lens of urban design. I think it glossed over a lot of the possible negatives of privately-owned public land. What happens to a city when the corporation that runs it gets bought out, or when the corporation is experiencing lowering share prices?
One aspect of this book that I really didn't like was the author alternating between going into way too much detail about some aspects of urban design and almost no detail in other aspects. I frequently didn't know what the author was talking about when he explained different urban design concepts.
Finally, and this is a small detail that probably most people will totally gloss over, but round runways are total garbage bullshit that only non-pilots would ever think is a good idea. They're horrible ideas.… (más)
One aspect of this book that I really didn't like was the author alternating between going into way too much detail about some aspects of urban design and almost no detail in other aspects. I frequently didn't know what the author was talking about when he explained different urban design concepts.
Finally, and this is a small detail that probably most people will totally gloss over, but round runways are total garbage bullshit that only non-pilots would ever think is a good idea. They're horrible ideas.… (más)
This book caught my eye when I was looking for guide books for our Walt Disney World trip and since I've long had a fascination with amusement park history, I decided to read it. The story documents the origins of Disneyland in California from Walt Disney's fascination with model trains and miniature villages and the desire to give something for fans of Disney films to do when they requested to visit the studios in Burbank. It eventually grew to be the theme park built in an orange grove near the then remote town of Anaheim. Disney's monomaniacal commitment to building and then tinkering with Disneyland over the last 15 years of his life makes one wonder how he found time to work on the studio's film and television project. This is doubly true since he was bringing a lot of the talent from the studios to work on Disneyland, becoming the first imagineers. For all the artifice of Disneyland it is fascinating how many real things - from train engines to architectural details - were salvaged to build the park.
The book is basically in two parts. The 1950s and 1960s are more intricately covered with the focus on Disney's dream and the projects completed and started in his lifetime. From the 1970s to the present, the book is more of a listing of annual changes to the park, and the sense that Disneyland is getting neglected due to the company's focus on new parks in Florida, Japan, France, and China. The Michael Eisner era seems to be wrapped up in red tape and bad ideas as the company continually fails to expand Disneyland and the initial disappointment of the Disney California Adventure when it finally opens in 2001. This period is also marked by the Disney company seemingly doing everything in their power to avoid ever paying any taxes to the city of Anaheim. Nevertheless, while the book is rightly critical it also celebrates the imagination that went into creating and changing Disneyland and the joyous role it plays in American culture.
Favorite Passages:
The book is basically in two parts. The 1950s and 1960s are more intricately covered with the focus on Disney's dream and the projects completed and started in his lifetime. From the 1970s to the present, the book is more of a listing of annual changes to the park, and the sense that Disneyland is getting neglected due to the company's focus on new parks in Florida, Japan, France, and China. The Michael Eisner era seems to be wrapped up in red tape and bad ideas as the company continually fails to expand Disneyland and the initial disappointment of the Disney California Adventure when it finally opens in 2001. This period is also marked by the Disney company seemingly doing everything in their power to avoid ever paying any taxes to the city of Anaheim. Nevertheless, while the book is rightly critical it also celebrates the imagination that went into creating and changing Disneyland and the joyous role it plays in American culture.
Favorite Passages:
Disney archivist Dave Smith said, “Disneyland’s true appeal, we admit now, is to adults. Children don’t need it. Their imaginations are enough. For them, Disneyland is only another kind of reality, somewhat less marvelous than their own fantasies.”… (más)
According to architect Robert A. M. Stern, “Ironically, Main Street and the very way the theme parks are designed would probably be, much to Walt Disney’s surprise, the actual genius of American Urbanism captured at a time when it had no value to most people, certainly in the architecture and planning profession.”
According to Crump, when he started working on the project, Ken Anderson took him aside and said, “Now you guys remember that when you’re designing anything for Disneyland, you’re the gods! You tell them what you want, and you make sure that they do it your way no matter what!” Then Crump met with Walt, who told him, “You gotta remember that there are electricians, there are plumbers, there’s air conditioning … you’ve got to work around that … they’re just as important as you are.”
At lunch with Walt one day, Ray Bradbury asked, “Walt, why don’t you hire me to come in and help you with ideas to rebuild Tomorrowland?” Walt replied, “Ray, it’s no use … you’re a genius and I’m a genius … after two weeks we’d kill each other!” Bradbury was flattered, “That’s the nicest turndown I’ve ever had, having Walt Disney call me a genius.”
Ray Bradbury recalled a time when Walt told him “Nothing has to die.” He wrote, “Walt was right. Nothing has to die. Just rebuild it. Steamboat America, lost? Carve a river bottom, flood it, and send your Mark Twain paddle wheel down the riverway. Victorian train travel, gone? Nail up a rococo scrimshaw station, steam in the 19th-century locomotive, carry passengers from Civil War territories through African jungles into AD 2000.” Disneyland was a way to live forever.
Going in, I knew this book was slightly misnamed. That is, it has very little to do with any real feud between Universal and Disney. Don't get me wrong, the conflict between the two theme park giants plays a role in the book (as it did in parts of their development.) But, because Universal never really tried to be Disney, the conflict is not a center stage attraction – just part of the beat the goes on as Universal develops from a place where people could watch movies being made to an incredibly successful theme park.
So, don't go in expecting a blow-by-blow description of an only sometimes consequential battle. Instead, go in knowing that you are going to get Sam Gennawey doing what he does best – telling a very readable and well-researched story about how Universal Studios grew to what we know it to be today.
Gennawey has done a very good job of outlining all aspects of the development. He has outlined how the studio actually got started in the first place, and then goes on to show how a small profit center grew. He also lets us in on how the various ownerships of the studio impacted that growth (usually not for the better) and spells out the core individuals who shepherded their vision through those rough times.
This is a perfect book for anyone who considers themselves even a casual theme park/amusement park fan. It is not so detailed that the reader gets bogged down in mindless minutia, but it does provide a wealth of information that I would bet most readers do not know. And, because of that, it is a perfect book for even the most hard core fan.
Of course, it helps that there has been so little written about Universal's development – it makes it easier to ferret out the unferretted facts. However, that is also the reason this book is so important. By bringing most of this information together for the first time, Gennawey has provided a great resource. But, ultimately, what he has done is use that information to tell a fascinating story – one that really has not been shared sufficiently.… (más)
So, don't go in expecting a blow-by-blow description of an only sometimes consequential battle. Instead, go in knowing that you are going to get Sam Gennawey doing what he does best – telling a very readable and well-researched story about how Universal Studios grew to what we know it to be today.
Gennawey has done a very good job of outlining all aspects of the development. He has outlined how the studio actually got started in the first place, and then goes on to show how a small profit center grew. He also lets us in on how the various ownerships of the studio impacted that growth (usually not for the better) and spells out the core individuals who shepherded their vision through those rough times.
This is a perfect book for anyone who considers themselves even a casual theme park/amusement park fan. It is not so detailed that the reader gets bogged down in mindless minutia, but it does provide a wealth of information that I would bet most readers do not know. And, because of that, it is a perfect book for even the most hard core fan.
Of course, it helps that there has been so little written about Universal's development – it makes it easier to ferret out the unferretted facts. However, that is also the reason this book is so important. By bringing most of this information together for the first time, Gennawey has provided a great resource. But, ultimately, what he has done is use that information to tell a fascinating story – one that really has not been shared sufficiently.… (más)
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