They skipped a lot of things that I expected to be included, and sometimes they did seem to try to find fault without mentioning enough of the mitigating factors, but in my opinion Part 2 makes up for it. Maybe I’ve just been hearing and reading so much negativity from Disney’s own fans lately, but there are portions of Part 2 that very effectively drive home the fact that all of this was Walt’s true passion–his movies and Disneyland, for all the “fakeness” that people keep ascribing to them, were sincere works of love, not just for making money.

Honestly, I didn’t expect to get this impression from a program like this. American Experience programs are usually pretty fair, but I fully expected them, if only subconsciously on their part, to dampen any idealistic notions that the public might have regarding Walt’s sanitized grandfatherly image, but instead this came across fully as genuine, in addition to Walt’s failings, the incredible drive he had, and the adversity he faced–all facets of the same fascinating person. He was made human, but also even larger than life than I’m sure most people ever realized…and more sympathetic despite his failings. That’s what I get from this program, anyway, trying to view it with an open mind despite knowing all of this stuff and more to begin with. In my opinion, except for avoiding all of the negative stuff altogether ;), The Walt Disney Company could not have asked for more in return for their cooperation on the project (provided tons of exclusive source material but had absolutely zero say on the final content and editing). Yes, they wanted this program to be made–they want Walt to be made real again for the public, not just a myth, even of their own making. They want the public to know that he was once and for a long time the little guy–a mouse (albeit a mighty one ;)) with a mouse of a studio that struggled for footing among the giants of the industry for decades. Luckily for them, it was a true story that happens to make for great publicity.

Is there a way you could watch DWTS on Hulu the next day? If you’re on the fence, I think you should watch the doc just because of the rare nature of something like this. As an animation fan, you’ll find it extremely fascinating.