Book Review: X. Atencio's Disney Legacy Celebrated in "Xavier 'X' Atencio: The Legacy of an Artist, Imagineer, and Disney Legend"

It’s hard for me to give an unbiased review of Xavier “X” Atencio: The Legacy of an Artist, Imagineer, and Disney Legend. When I was a young Disney fan just starting to attend fan events, X was one of the kindest men I could ever imagine. He was always generous with his time and genuinely interested in the people around him. He was so welcoming that I sometimes wondered if he truly realized he was X. Atencio — the man who gave us pirates that sing and ghosts that socialize.

Given that the book is written by his family, an entirely objective take on his life isn’t what anyone would expect — nor what it should be. At times, the text leans into reminding readers how remarkable he was, though his accomplishments hardly need that framing. They speak loudly enough on their own. What the book does provide, however, is something far more important: an inspirational portrait of a man who rose through the ranks of the Walt Disney Company, continuously taking on fresh creative challenges without ever losing sight of what mattered most: his family.

Unlike some of Disney’s strong-willed creatives, X never seemed burdened by comparison to Walt Disney himself. He didn’t aspire to be Walt, he admired him. X was the ultimate Disney fan, one who recognized Walt’s storytelling genius even if his own artistic skills differed. His admiration for Walt radiates through the stories and notes in the book, but what also shines through is how easily readers come to admire X in return. His life becomes its own lesson in humility and joy: a reminder that you can leave an enormous mark on the world simply by being generous with your imagination.

The book begins with X’s humble beginnings in Colorado and his journey west to study at the Chouinard Art Institute — which would later merge with CalArts. His early years at Walt Disney Studios capture a fascinating postwar era of creative experimentation, when animators could drift between projects and departments with ease. X fit that mold perfectly, contributing to film classics before Walt personally invited him to take on something completely new: Imagineering.

From there, the book lovingly follows X’s leap from animation to theme park storytelling, where his talents found their ideal stage. His fingerprints are everywhere — scripting Pirates of the Caribbean, co-writing its immortal theme song, and later penning “Grim Grinning Ghosts” for The Haunted Mansion. The authors include reproductions of his lyric sheets, attraction notes, and sketches that make the creative process come alive. You can almost hear him humming those familiar tunes as he works.

Across each chapter, Atencio’s approach to storytelling feels guided by a philosophy Walt Disney himself often championed: guests should feel the story, even if they don’t consciously understand how it’s being told. X believed every trip through an attraction should reveal new details — that Disney stories should be layered, alive, and endlessly rewarding. Reading about his creative process feels like glimpsing the very DNA of Disneyland itself.

What’s most touching is the personal tone. Because this book is told through his family’s eyes, it offers more than a career retrospective — it offers the man behind the magic. The pages are filled with memories of his humor, his humility, and his contagious curiosity. Whether he’s joking about his unlikely path to lyric writing (“I just wrote the words — the pirates did the singing!”) or recalling the beautiful chaos of Imagineering, the X that emerges is someone who never stopped exploring, learning, or laughing.

Visually, the book is gorgeous. Rare photos from the Disney archives appear beside candid family snapshots — X at his drawing board, laughing with colleagues, or proudly standing beside the attractions he helped bring to life. For Disney fans, these are treasures: glimpses of the people who turned imagination into reality. For anyone who’s ever created something, they’re reminders that art and joy often grow hand in hand.

By the final pages, Xavier “X” Atencio: The Legacy of an Artist, Imagineer, and Disney Legend feels like stepping off a favorite attraction — that perfect mix of satisfaction, nostalgia, and the quiet urge to go right back through the queue. It’s a loving celebration not only of X’s extraordinary career but of the creative spirit that defines Disney itself.

For anyone who’s ever hummed “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life for Me)” or smiled as the “Grim Grinning Ghosts” come out to socialize, this book isn’t just a biography — it’s a thank-you. A thank-you to a man whose imagination made the parks sing, and whose kindness reminded us that magic doesn’t just live in the attractions. Sometimes, it lives in the people who make them.