The <strong>Perfect American</strong> is a fictionalized biography of Walt Disneys finalmonths as narrated by Wilhelm Dantine an Austrian cartoonist who worked ... » 

The Perfect American is a fictionalized biography of Walt Disneys finalmonths as narrated by Wilhelm Dantine an Austrian cartoonist who worked forDisney in the 40s and 50s illustrating sequences for Sleeping Beauty. It isalso the story of Dantine himself who desperately seeks Disneys recognitionat the risk of his own ruin. Peter Stephen Jungk has infused a new energy intothe genre of fictionalized biography. Dantine imbued with a sense of Europeansuperiority first refuses to submit to Disneys rule but is neverthelessfascinated by the childlike omnipotence of a man who identifies with MickeyMouse. We discover Walts delusions of immortality via cryogenic preservationhis tirades alongside his Abraham Lincoln talking robot his invitation ofNikita Khruschev to Disneyland once he learns that the Soviet Premier wants tovisit the park his utopian visions of his EPCOT project and his backyardlabyrinth of toy trains. Yet if at first Walt seems to have a magic wandgranting him all his wishes we soon discover that he is as tortured as the manwho tells his story. After Disney refuses to acknowledge Dantines selfprofessed talent and hard work he fires the frustrated cartoonist for writingalong with other staff members an anonymous polemical memorandum regardingDisneys jingoistic politics. Years later in the late 60s still deeplywounded by his dismissal Dantine follows Disneys trail to capture what makesWalt tick. Dantine wants us to grasp what it is like to live and breathe aroundthe man who thought of himself as more famous than Santo Claus. Walts wifeLillian his confidante and perhaps his mistress Hazel his brother Roy hischildren Diane andSharon his close and illtreated collaborators and famousfigures such as Peter Ustinov Salvador Dali Andy Warhol and GeraldineChaplin all contribute to the novels animation its feel for the life of theDisney world. This deeply researched work not only provides inte «