Disney Commitment

Reading again "The Animated Man", by M Barrier, I come to the conclusion that it is Disney's best biography, so far. To begin with, Barrier contextualizes Disney's break down perfectly, emphasizing the gigantic change Walt had to brace at the time: "This was the time when his role in the studio changed decisively. His distress probably arouse from that circumstance, and it may have been building for years..." ..." After so many years of animating and then directing- and before that, years of other kinds of jobs that required working with his hands, and before that, years of manual labor, all the way back to his newspaper delivery days- Disney now had to persuade himself of the legitimacy of purely mental work", remarks Barrier.

This is a gigantic existential change; Disney had to re invent himself anew, to a point of almost becoming another person, and if he remained himself still, it is because Walt Disney's essence was the power of self- reinvention; it was creativity itself. With no education, ready made thoughts or any type of crutch to help, he had to face the enormity of standing at the most intimidating threshold: that of creating an art form... And creating it through words and guidance.

It makes one think of the courage and integrity Disney had to assume responsibility; to commit.