Stephen M. Fjellman Books

This book is complete rubbish. It is a scathing indictment of our university system and an argument against tenor. If my son or daughter came home spewing this tripe I would pull them immediately.

I surmise that maybe his [author] darkest day was in 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell. In fact, the only praise I remember in the book was for the Chinese over some clever anti-Western words they used in their showcase film. I think he pines for "agrarian reformers" like Che (wink...wink).

The author is adamantly opposed to optimism (of any kind) and his main criticism of Disney comes from their inability to show history at its worst moments. I think he would be unsatisfied with a dark ride reliving the grimmest moments of US history.

My favorite trick of his is when he uses quotations around words like "free market". I think this is code to demonstrate to his smug friends his disdain for free enterprise and industry. He almost writes/types the words "nuclear family" angrily!

It is sad. He is sad.

Finally, you should never trust someone who writes about pop culture who places an AT-AT on Endor.

Dr Fjellman probably spends at least 3/4 of his space describing attractions and environs at Walt Disney World, and less than 10% of his space offering any real scholarly analysis of the sociological impacts of WDW. It's hardly worth the price for the few pages of critique he offers, but if one is looking for a quasi-professorial description of WDW as it was 15 years ago - and especially of the first incarnation of EPCOT Center, this might be entertaining... or you could just read one of the early editions of "Steve Birnbaum Brings You the Best of Walt Disney World" - one of Fjellman's primary sources. Where I went to college, travel guides were hardly considered valid reference material! For a better study of Walt Disney's influence on American culture, spend your time and money on "The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life" by Steven Watts; "Married to the Mouse" by Richard Folgesong about the relationship of Walt Disney and Company with Orlando, FL, is also an interesting read.

This is not a tell all/behind-the-scenes gossip book. It reads like a business venture case file with some interesting bits of Disney design and innovation thrown in. The author gives equal wonderment to the imagineers' genius as to the company's business decisions.

Also, this book was the catalyst for a to take a side trip to Celebration, Florida after our last Disney vacation in Dec 2001. The book peaked our curiosity to see Walt's real/intended version for a prototype community of the future.

I'm surprised to read that the "scholarly" Fjellman doesn't perpetuate the old chestnut about Walt being cryogenically frozen. As it is, he has his readers believing this ridiculous story about Walt making a series of films to be shown after his death to guide the company after he's gone.

This is a respected author? My God, where are his sources? Hopefully if he comes out with a second edition, he'll correct such glaring errors as these.

I keep hoping that Fjellman will update his seminal book to encompass all that has happened in the last ten years; I'll be the first in line when he does. I wrote my MA thesis at NYU on Disney using Fjellman as a prime source, and have used various chapters from Fjellman's book to teach graduate classes in museum studies, design, and architecture. Students in many fields find a lot to think about, discuss, debate, and apply to their thinking.

Witty, engaging, balanced, factually accurate, yet still with a point of view... a great book all around. Other reviewers who complain about the writing level, or some of the more obscure academic theorizing, are missing the point. For a truly academic piece of literature, it is written in incredibly accessible, engaging, and clear style. Highly recommended.