A Mouse Divided: How Ub Iwerks Became Forgotten, and Walt Disney Became Uncle Walt Hardcover – July 3, 2018

I consider myself somewhat well-informed on matters Disney. In fact, it was while telling my wife about Ub Iwerks' forgotten role in creating Mickey Mouse that this book came to my attention. Turns out I didn't know as much as I thought! Ryan's extensive research, using sources available for the first time, brings the earliest days of the many Disney studios to stunning life. I feel like I could drive down Hyperion Avenue and see the boys at work right now! One drawback: no archival photos and no movie stills (copyright issue) but keeping Google nearby fixes that problem. Also, wonderful Diz-like illustrations of Walt and Ub. The final quarter of the book covers a lot of ground quickly but that's my only grouse.

I wish I had this author as my history teacher growing up, so much honesty and fairness about an American icon. I am glad that this author looked behind the curtain and wrote about what he found. I love Santa clause and a good magic trick, but at some point we must grow up and grasp reality. This book does that on a grand scale. I love Disney as a fairy tale manufacturer but I think telling the truth where history is concerned is important. I can not wait to see what this author has in sore for us readers next.

It’s a fun read, just couple it with other prominent books for maximum context. I had a decent grip on some broad strokes going in and this book punched-up my memory with a genuinely funny tone. Very cool way to dig into early Diz.

The author presents the strengths and personalities of Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks - and how these two men were essential in the rise of the House of Mouse. It provides (I think) a wonderful contrast between the two men - and a decent and engaging picture of their early careers together.

Although written in a witty style, this book features sloppy research, many inaccuracies, bold unsupported statements, and mean-spirited comments about Walt Disney. Even Ub Iwerks deserves better. Very disappointing.

Awful! This book is full of speculation, inaccuracies, bad grammar and terrible jokes. How can a book that incorporates a drinking game into chapter 7 be taken seriously? This is a largely uneven account that meanders worse than an Ub Iwerks cartoon. Apart from a few good quotes from Iwerks, there's nothing much to see here. Leonard Maltin this ain't.

I like this book, it gives a view point that the other history of Mickey wouldn't give. If you want hard cold proof with no negative opinion, this is not the book for you. But if you're willing to listen and get a few factoids and commentary, this is good.This is much like other book on Mario

I’m not normally a Disney person, but this was an entertaining and interesting book, as well as a fast read. For those interested, the author also created a website (amousedivided dot com) with some additional content, most of which seems to be videos. No book is perfect, and this one is no exception, but I found reviews that criticized the author’s poor writing style, editorial errors, and bad jokes to be overstated.I feel the negative reviews that this book received are unfounded and appear to be written by people who dislike anything that conflicts with the carefully curated narrative of Walt Disney maintained by the company that bears his name (please review the other book reviews by the people who gave this book one- or two-star reviews to confirm for yourself). I also didn’t appreciate the disparaging tone that some reviewers took towards Ub Iwerks, who apparently was important enough to Walt Disney that, at one point, Mr. Iwerks owned 20% of Walt’s company.

I was hoping to learn more about the Disney/Iwerks falling out and I suppose I did. Unfortunately the large number of errors throughout the book make me question the accuracy of any of the information presented. It states that the first comic book came out in 1929. False. It states that the Donald Duck wartime cartoon "The New Spirit" was produced in a week. That would have been near impossible given animation techniques at the time. The author can't even get the spelling of Lon Chaney correct. (Spelled Cheney 2x). The lack of a reference notes, photos or an index should also have been a red flag.