disney spin

Today I finished Spinning Disney's World, by Charles Ridgway. I had really wanted to like this book for many reasons on many levels, but it was so hard. First, it's written by a person who on the pages just seems like a nice old man. A grandfatherly type of person. Second, it's Disney, there's so much opportunity for magic. Third, it's about PR, what I do.

It pretty much failed across the board. I often found Ridgway's turn of phrase a bit offensive toward woman, those less attractive, different cultures, technology. Perhaps that was part of the grandfatherliness of his personality, but I didn't find it endearing. The stories, while chronological, jumped all over the place and didn't create a yarn, as much as spilling facts and celebrity names into paragraphs.

The Disney magic was there. The ideas behind the parks and their realization reminded me of my childhood visits to Disney World. Ridgway started his work at Disney the year I was born. But in a way, his everything is magical at Disney, and there was never a dysfunctional team moment, makes it all a bit of fantasyland.

When it came to PR, I didn't find it all that informative. If anything there was too much waxing nostalgic for the good old days when journalists were given front row seats, people used manual typewriters and women were secretaries.

My sense is that if Ridgway hadn't been at a global brand like Disney for 40+ years, the book would never have gotten published.