''Walt's Time: From Before to Beyond'' is a 252-page autobiographical, full-color book by

Robert B. Sherman Robert Bernard Sherman (December 19, 1925 – March 6, 2012) was an American songwriter, best known for his work in musical films with his brother, Richard M. Sherman. The Sherman brothers produced more motion picture song scores than any oth ...

and Richard M. Sherman. It was edited by

Disney Imagineers The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Bruce Gordon, David Mumford and Jeff Kurtti and was published in 1998 by Camphor Tree Publishers of

Santa Clarita, California Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-most populous city in Los Angeles County, the 17th-most popul ...

. Bruce Gordon did the book design and layout.

General outline

The book is divided into three major sections.

Section One: "Walt's Time"

The first section, "Walt’s Time", describes the Shermans’ years with

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

starting with their first composition,

Annette Funicello Annette Joanne Funicello (October 22, 1942 – April 8, 2013) was an American actress and singer. She began her professional career at age 12, becoming one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the original ''The Mickey Mouse Club, Mickey Mouse Cl ...

’s " Strummin’ Song", and continuing through 1967's ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' is an 1894 collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...

''.

Section Two: "Al's Time"

The other influential person in their life, their father,

Al Sherman Avrum Sherman (September 7, 1897 – September 16, 1973), pen name Al Sherman, was an American songwriter and composer active during the Tin Pan Alley era in American music history. Some of his most recognizable song titles include " You Gotta B ...

, himself a well-known songwriter in the 1930s and '40s, is covered in the middle section, "Al's Time." This part of the book discusses Al's life from coming to America as a Russian immigrant to becoming a successful songwriter for famous musicians including

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson, ; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-born American singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. Self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," Jolson was one of the United States' most famous and ...

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. The program was known for its light and family-friendly style, and the ...

and

Maurice Chevalier Maurice Auguste Chevalier (; 12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor, and entertainer. He is best known for his signature songs, including " Livin' In The Sunlight", " Valentine", " Louise", " Mimi", and " Thank Heaven f ...

. This section also talks about the Shermans' early days growing up in Beverly Hills, their college years,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

's tour in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and their early, separate careers. The section ends where the first section starts, their first meeting with

Section Three: "Our Time"

The final section of the book, “Our Time,” deals with the Shermans' life after Walt Disney and includes many more Disney projects including ''

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh (also known as Edward Bear, Pooh Bear or simply Pooh) is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by ...

'' and Epcot. This part also includes their many and varied non-Disney projects, including ''

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang ''Chitty Chitty Bang Bang'' is a 1968 children's film, children's Musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Ken Hughes and produced by Albert R. Broccoli. It stars Dick Van Dyke, Sally Ann Howes, Lionel Jeffries, Gert Fröbe, Anna Quayle, ...

'', ''

Snoopy Come Home ''Snoopy Come Home'' is a 1972 American animated musical comedy-drama film directed by Bill Melendez and written by Charles M. Schulz, based on the ''Peanuts'' comic strip. Marking the on-screen debut of Woodstock, who had first appeared in the ...

'' and

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

's ''

Tom Sawyer Thomas "Tom" Sawyer () is the title character of the Mark Twain novel '' The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876). He appears in three other novels by Twain: '' Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884), '' Tom Sawyer Abroad'' (1894), and '' Tom Sawy ...

'': A Musical Adaptation. The section concludes with their work on Disneyland's 1998

New Tomorrowland Tomorrowland may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Tomorrowland (Disney Parks), a theme land at a number of Disney theme parks around the world * Tomorrowland (festival), an annual electronic dance music festival in Boom, Belgium * Tomorro ...

. The book also includes appendices with a song list, video list and some notes on their unpublished material. ''Walt's Time'' also includes a

preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literature, literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a ''foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface o ...

by then Walt Disney Company's vice-chairman

Roy E. Disney Roy Edward Disney Order of St. Gregory the Great, KCSG (January 10, 1930 – December 16, 2009) was an American businessman. He was the longtime senior executive for the Walt Disney Company, which was founded by his uncle, Walt Disney, and his ...

, a foreword by the Vice Chairman of Walt Disney Imagineering

Marty Sklar Martin A. "Marty" Sklar (February 6, 1934 – July 27, 2017) was a scriptwriter and construction developer. He was The Walt Disney Company's international ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering, the subsidiary of the company which designs a ...

, and an introduction by Disney film historian

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...

. Also included are afterwords by each of the three editors as well as a thorough discography and videography.

Publishing details

''Walt's Time'' was published by Camphor Tree Publishers in December 1998 (hardcover, )

References

{{Sherman Brothers Musical Films Works by the Sherman Brothers 1998 non-fiction books Show business memoirs Music autobiographies Books about Disney Books about California