In today's interview, I speak with Andrew Stanley Kiste, a campus life director and life long lover of all things Disney. He has written articles and books including Walt Disney and the 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair, and three volumes of A Historical Tour of Walt Disney World. He joins me today to talk about his new book, The Early Life of Walt Disney.

Listen to hear how Walt Disney's father Elias impacted how Walt became the man we know, where Walt learned his storytelling and artistic abilities, and some of the early animated creations before Walt's famous mouse Mickey.

Books mentioned in this episode include:

• The Early Life of Walt Disney by Andrew Stanley Kiste
• The Story of Walt Disney by Diane Disney Miller
• Walt Disney: an American Original by Bob Thomas
• Building a Company: Roy O. Disney and the Creation of an Entertainment Empire by Bob Thomas
• Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler
• Walt Disney's Missouri: The Roots of a Creative Genius by Brian Burnes, Dan Viets, and Robert W. Butle
• Walt in Wonderland The Silent Films of Walt Disney by Russell Merritt and J. B. Kaufman
• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: The Search for the Lost Disney Cartoons by David A. Bossert
• Disney War by James B. Stewart
• The Disney Revolt: The Great Labor War of Animation's Golden Age by Jake S. Friedman
• The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History by Nathalia Holt
• How Walt Disney Changed Animation Forever by Andrew Stanley Kiste (forthcoming in 2025)

Films mentioned in this episode include:

• Cinderella directed by Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske, and Clyde Geronimi
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs directed by David Hand
• Alice in Wonderland directed by Ben Sharpsteen, Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske
• "Der Fuehrer's Face" directed by Jack Kinney
• "The Thrifty Pig" directed by Ford Beebe
• "Alice's Wonderland" directed by Walt Disney
• Oswald the Lucky Rabbit films
• Saving Mr. Banks directed by John Lee Hancock
• Napoleon Dynamite directed by Jared Hess
• Forrest Gump directed by Robert Zemeckis
• Toy Story directed by John Lasseter

Follow Andrew on Facebook (@Andrew Kiste-Author) and check out his website and Amazon Author Page for links to all of his books. Check out his articles in Walt Disney World Magazine.