Review: Walt's Time: From Before to Beyond
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Opinions
Before reading this book I was familiar with some of the Sherman Brother’s work, but knew very little about their lives, their non-Disney work or their lesser known Disney projects. After reading Walt's Time, I feel like I’ve known them all my life. What's more, I feel like I know what it's like to work for Walt Disney as well. The Shermans say there were two men that influenced their life, Walt Disney and their father, Al Sherman. As has been told by other contemporaries of Walt Disney, the Shermans say that Walt was not one to heap praise. If the Sherman’s played a song for Walt and his response was “that’ll do”, they knew they did their job. But despite the lack of praise, the joy they had working for Walt Disney is evident in the book.

The love and admiration they have for these two men is prominent in Walt's Time. What’s also interesting is how the love they have for their families - especially their wives (Joyce is Robert’s wife and Ursula is Richard’s wife) - comes through just as strongly.

The love and passion they have for their work is also very apparent. The Shermans have written hundreds of songs sung by various types of characters - birds, dolls, cuddly bears, chimney sweeps - yet their continued enthusiasm and passion for songwriting and the craft of songwriting is also felt through their writing. In fact, some of the last few pages are spent "bragging" about their children and a very nice touch is each wife writes a sidebar about her husband.

Walt’s Time is incredibly easy to read. The scrapbook style allows you to skip right to the films and stories that interest you the most and go back and catch up on the rest later. Even the chronology of the book - starting with Walt’s Time, going back to the beginning then skipping to the end - indicates it’s not necessary to read it front to back. There are numerous behind-the-scenes pictures, early song sheets, animator’s drawings and everything else you might expect to collect working at the Disney Studios for all those years.The stories told about the making of the films extends far beyond the songs to casting, filming and the rest.

Highly Recommended
If you’re a fan of the Sherman Brother’s music, there’s no question you should own this book. If you’re a fan of Walt Disney and the history of the Disney Company, you’ll probably want to own it as well. The title “Walt’s Time” is very appropriate as Walt pictures and stories fill many of its pages. Weighing in at 250 pages and filled to the brim with literally hundreds of color photographs and drawings, I believe even Walt Disney himself would give a "that’ll do” to this wonderful piece of history.

-- Posted May 4, 2000
-- Review by Doobie Moseley