WALT BEFORE MICKEY [2015 / 2016] [Blu-ray] [USA Release]
The True Story of a Boy Whose Dreams Built a Kingdom!
Based on the acclaimed novel “WALT BEFORE MICKEY,” follows the legendary Walt Disney [Thomas Ian Nicholas] through his early life and career, when his obsessive ambition as an artist led to the creation of the animation company Laugh-O-Gram, to the formation of his “Dream Team,” including legendary animator Ubw Iwerks [Armando Gutierrez], brother Roy Disney [Jon Heder], aunt Charlotte Disney [Jodie Sweetin] and animator Rudy Ising [David Henrie]. Together, they overcome a series of obstacles to create the iconic character Mickey Mouse, putting Disney on the map and into the history books.
FILM FACT: The majority of the filming took place in DeLand and Orlando, Florida. In an interview with the Kansas City Star, director Khoa Le talked about the challenges of the project, having been hired at the last minute to direct and having little familiarity with Disney himself. director Khoa Le mentioned, '"I came from a short film background, indie stuff, so I knew how to work efficiently, “and "I'm an editor, too, so I was shooting to edit. For most scenes the actors got only two takes. I had to go back to my grassroots of guerrilla filmmaking." The song "Just a Wish" was written and recorded especially for the film. It appears at the end of the film and over the credits, sung by Julie Zorrilla, American Idol finalist and written by Andrew Capra, Rob Graves and Jeremy Rubolino. It was released as an iTunes and digital single on the 12th August, 2015.
Cast: Thomas Ian Nicholas, Jon Heder, Armando Gutierrez, David Henrie, Jodie Sweetin, Taylor Gray, Kate Katzman, Conor Dubin, Hunter Gomez, Timothy Neil Williams, Ayla Kell, Arthur L. Bernstein, Frank Licari, Flora Bonfanti, Natasha Sherritt, Sheena Colette, Owen Teague, Haley Swindal, Bucky Dent, Randy Molnar, Nicolas D'Amico, Justin Bowen, Tamela D'Amico, Lance Tafelski, Donn Lamkin, Brian Brightman, Lee Broda, Noah Forgione, Beatrice Taveras, Demitri Vardoulias, Maralee Thompson, Jordan Werner, Evan Huit, Briana Colman, Charles Harrelson, Alex Higgins, Tom Rooney, Richard S. Bernstein, Karla Hael Bernstein, Guy Morgan, J.C. Roy, Alexander Leaty, Michael Rubino, Annette Capo Gutierrez, Ray Negron, Grace Flatscher, Gus Bilirakis, Alex Morales, Samantha Wooley, Olivia Moeschet, Vicco Von Buelow, Daniel Wachs, Christopher Dosen, Bret Jones, Jesline Capo, Steven Yeung, Kate Zaccaro, Ryan Finnegan, Joe Valente, Nancy Barber (uncredited), Carlos Armando Bernstein (uncredited), Tara Dane (uncredited), Harriet Divine (uncredited), Jeremy Palko (uncredited), John Sanders (uncredited), Jamie Suraci (uncredited), Shauna Ward (uncredited) and Helene Wren (uncredited)
Director: Khoa Le
Producers: Adam Falkoff, Armando Gutierrez, Armando Gutierrez Sr., Arthur L. Bernstein, Ben Everard, Ben McConley, Carmella Casinelli, Christian Vogeler, Christopher Dosen, Devon Nelson, Frank Licari, Jeff Rice, Jim Nichols, Jonathan Deckter, Khoa Le, Max C. Nunziata, Michele Alexanne Packer, Nicolas Chartier, Peter K. Scaturro, Richard S. Bernstein, Robert Spiegel, Scott Katzman, Tommy Regalado and Tony Rey Jr.
Screenplay: Timothy Susanin (based on the book), Diane Disney Miller (foreword), Armando Gutierrez (written), Arthur L. Bernstein (written) and Frank Licari (additional writing)
Composer: Jeremy Rubolino
Cinematography: Ian A. Dudley (Director of Photography)
Image Resolution: 1080p
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (Anamorphic)
Audio: English: 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio
Subtitles: None
Running Time: 107 minutes
Region: All Regions
Number of discs: 1
Studio: VISION FILMS
Andrew’s Blu-ray Review: ‘WALT BEFORE MICKEY’ [2015] is an HBO level biopic of Walt Disney, which makes it better than ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ film, but still not the definitive Walt Disney film. Despite the rough edges, I think it offers a worthwhile perspective on the hard times Walt Disney faced before he became the ubiquitous Hollywood name he remains long after his passing.
With a prologue of his childhood, ‘WALT BEFORE MICKEY’ mainly follows young Walt Disney [Thomas Ian Nicholas] as he struggles to get work in animation. He creates his own animation company, but it doesn’t pay the bills. At some points he’s even on the streets, and even with his brother Roy Disney [John Heder] help, the future of Walt Disney Animation would seem uncertain if it weren’t a true story.
The downside is this is a very on the nose series of events. The dialogue says exactly what is happening in every scene. Walt Disney’s father didn’t like him talking to the animals and especially drawing then on the barn walls, because his father thought it was impractical. Walt Disney doesn’t think in terms of profit, and he is definitely not good at the business side of the animation film business. What made me angry is that reviewers of this film said the dialogue can be slightly clunky and old fashioned, well I definitely respect Thomas Ian Nicholas and the rest of the supporting cast for showing us what people in America would talk like in that period and again I found quite enjoyable and not at all cringe worthy.
On the plus side is that ‘WALT BEFORE MICKEY’ details the cold hard business reality of a legend that other biopics might romanticise. A scene with a street mouse is a tad too precious, but the scenes of trying to hold a business together with unreliable funds felt very relatable to me, on both sides. I’ve been the boss trying to make things happen, and I’ve more often been the employee hearing a lot of promises.
The hard times are desperate and could have just as easily been another story of an artist dying on the street. The most poignant scenes are when Walt Disney learns about things like copyright and corporate ownership, things that artists still face today. Do you take a salary now or invest in your work? In this age of the YouTube star and Twitter influencer, it’s important to remember there was a time when betting on yourself was a controversial move. If you’ll notice, Walt Disney keeps a strict hold on their intellectual property now.
Thomas Ian Nicholas channels Walt Disney’s childlike wonder and unflappable optimism, even when it’s a detriment to survival of the fittest. The film falters again when it tries to cram Walt Disney’s personal life into the business story. Walt Disney learning the nuts and bolts of producing animation in a sustainable model and protecting his intellectual property from the financiers are the meat of the story. It’s essentially a film about art vs. commerce, and Walt Disney would eventually excel at both and triumph adversity.
‘WALT BEFORE MICKEY’ is a really excellent and decent film and should be enjoyable enough to view even if you are not a massive Walt Disney fan, and you cannot deny the impact the name has had on this world since “It all started with a Mouse.” But what really annoyed me of the many negative reviews I have read about this film, which is not what I experienced viewing this film, as I found it a very enjoyable experience and especially the highs and lows of what Walt Disney was trying to achieve in his lifetime.
As we get to the end credits, just before that, we get some important information about the real people who got involved and helped with the start of the Walt Disney organisation, to what it is today and here is what you see appears and is as follows:
WALT DISNEY: After the global success of Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney went on to win 26 Academy Awards® including one for creating the first ever feature animated film, ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” However, Walt Disney always stated, “It all started with a mouse.”
ROY DISNEY: Roy Disney stayed by Walt Disney’s side as chairman of the Walt Disney Company until 1971 and is considered one of the greatest corporate leaders in entertaining history.
LILLIAN DISNEY: Lillian and Walt Disney had two daughters and were happily married for 40 years. In 1978, Lillian Disney donated $50 million dollars to create the Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles, California.
UB IWERKS: After Ub Iwerks helped to co-create Mickey Mouse, Ub Iwerks went on to win an Academy Award® in 1960 and is considered the greatest animator in history. Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney stayed friends their entire life.
FRED HARMAN: Although Fred Harman never had his own studio, he went on to create the popular “Red Ryder” comic. Fred Harman and Walt Disney communicated with each other from time to time.
FRIZ FRELENG: After leaving Charles Mintz, Friz Freleng went on to become a Director for Warner Brothers, helping to create Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam and Speedy Gonzales.
HUGH HARMAN and RUDY ISING: Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising started their own production company and created Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid and later joined Friz Freleng at Warner Brothers to produce the “Looney Tunes.”
CHARLES MINTZ: Charles Mintz never had a success as great as Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse. Charles Mintz would bump into Walt Disney from time to time, and Walt Disney never held a grudge.
WALT BEFORE MICKEY MUSIC TRACK LIST
JUST A WISH (Written By Jeremy Rubolino, Andrew Capra and Rob Graves) [Performed by Julie Zorrilla]
HECTOR THE HERO (Instrumental) (Written by James Scott Skinner)
Blu-ray Image Quality – VISION FILMS has presented us a totally awesome and stunning 1080p reference image for this wonderful film about the life and times of early Walt Disney. It is equally enhanced with an aspect ratio 2.39:1 Anamorphic). I can honestly say that this is among one of the best image presentation I have ever seen. There are no moments where the image becomes anything less than jaw-droopingly good. The detail and sharpness are both perfect, as is the use of the wonderful colour in many of the daylight scenes. The black levels are done really well and with no grain at all, and there were no instances of shimmering or pixilation. This has got to be one of the best transfers I have ever seen in a very long time and definitely a great effort by the people at VISION FILMS and definitely gets a high five star rating from me.
Blu-ray Audio Quality – VISION FILMS with this Blu-ray disc you only get a standard 2.0 Dolby Digital Stereo Audio and despite this, it is of course mainly dialogue driven, which is really excellent, very stable, and you hear all of the actors speak very clearly and precise. Also the composed music by Jeremy Rubolino is very well positioned in the film, especially at the right appropriate moment in the film, especially with scenes of the emotional kind when Walt Disney is really down on his luck and is desperate to acquire some funds for his project and when the mood in the film is light and enjoyable when Walt Disney is doing great and reflects what you see in the film so very well. So overall there are no serious audio dropouts or distortions to report in this review. It definitely gets a five star audio presentation.
Blu-ray Special Features and Extras: Sadly, VISION FILMS did not feel like supplying any extras or even a Theatrical Trailer, whereas other Blu-ray Reviews I have read says there was a Theatrical Trailer added, well obviously they were NOT reviewing the same Blu-ray disc as I have.
Finally, ‘WALT BEFORE MICKEY’ is the true story of a boy whose dreams built a kingdom. The legendary Walt Disney had a tumultuous childhood, yet he was determined to overcome obstacles in his path, before the creation of his first iconic character: Mickey Mouse. ‘WALT BEFORE MICKEY’ informs us that few visionaries are as fascinating as Walt Disney. Many of us have grown up with the Wonderful World of Disney. This is the story based on a book by Timothy Susanin, which tells the early story of Walt Disney that led him to become the famous animator that he was. Walt Disney spent his early years in Kansas, and his father was hard on him because of his deep love of drawing. When Walt Disney grew up, his brother Roy Disney became his business partner and stuck with him through the tough times. Others in the business tried to steal his work and ideas, but Walt Disney came to his senses and stopped them by becoming the sole owner of the animation he designed. The film's only tension seems to be about money and how Walt Disney's lack of it dropped a few of his early endeavours. If there is one thing Walt Disney wanted above all else, it was to entertain. ‘WALT BEFORE MICKEY’ is the inspiring and insightful story of a great man who realized his dreams because he always finished what he started and did his work to the best of his ability. Highly Recommended!
Andrew C. Miller – Your Ultimate No.1 Film Aficionado
Le Cinema Paradiso
United Kingdom
