‘Walt Before Mickey’ is the Life & Times of the Man who Shaped Popular Culture

Thomas Ian Nicholas as Walt Disney in ‘Walt Before Mickey’

Whenever anyone thinks of Walt Disney several things come to mind, the creator of Mickey Mouse and the rest of the Fab Five, an imagination that reached beyond the limits and drove him to success, a father who just wanted to tell stories his daughters would like and the man who turned a television show on ABC into the visited theme park in the world, but who was Walter Elias Disney before all the fame and success? What was he like prior to stepping on that train in downtown Los Angeles?

Writer/producer Armando Gutierrez and Vision Films look to answer that question in the documentary, ‘Walt Before Mickey’ a look back at the life of a man before all the fame and success that changed the world in celebration of his birthday earlier this month.

Based on the book by Tim Susanin and written by Armando Gutierrez and Arthur L. Bernstein, the documentary/reenactment featuring by American Pie‘s Thomas Ian Nicholas, Napoleon Dynamite‘s Jon Heder, Full House‘s Jodie Sweetin, How I Met Your Mother‘s David Henrie who all take part in celebrating Walt Disney and the man who became the magician, believing that dreams come true when you wish upon a star.

“We based the film on Timothy S. Susanin’s brilliant and popular book about Walt’s early years. Our goal was to stay as true to the story as possible, and to embody the essence of the legendary man – and, I believe, we succeeded, with the help of our brilliant cast,” said Gutierrez.

It was always Roy Disney who encouraged young Walt in their early days in Missouri as his father never fully understood the young lad, but that did not detour the young boy’s drive.

Walt Before Mickey is a story about multiple failures that lead to an eventual pay off that never give up American attitude that made him the success he so desired. Nicholas as Disney was an interesting choice. He gave a performance of a hopeful with drive. Heder was a surprising choice for Roy Disney but made it work. Gutierrez takes on the role of Ub Iwerks, the animation genius behind Disney and the most faithful of all who backed him during the leanest of years.

What comes across as a PBS made for tv movie, Walt Before Mickey is a documentary any Disney fan would love to watch.

Walt Before Mickey is now available on DVD and VOD