Yes the acting was somewhat played by cardboard actors and actresses who were obviously gathered together rather quickly with little preparation to memorize their lines. As a result it leaves us the viewers with an initial impression that it is a lousy film. Instead, since the film was not just about Walt Disney's growing years and his hungry years as a very young artist I must emphasize it was just as much about his big brother Roy's early life. I suggest you give the story a full view to understand what the director and writer were attempting to portray.
Try and ignore the subtle religious overtones but accept we are witnessing a simpler time in the first quarter of the 1900's and we are viewing the Disney families real life and series of events of the early 1900's. The Disney family was struggling to make a living as were most families in the pre-World War 1 days. Walt was born in 1901 and the Disney families ties as devout Congregationalist Christians is obvious throughout the film. I wanted to learn as much about Walt's early life as possible as his story of his Disney empire is intriguing. As the film focuses on Walt's earliest days moving from his birth place of the big city Chicago to the countryside in Marceline, Missouri and then back to the big city of Kansas City, Missouri, we learn about Walt's families financial struggles which is where we also learn about Walt's never ending positive attitude as a dreamer and with an aptitude for drawing that allows his surrounding world to be his canvas.
If you are wanting to see that magical moment when Walt actually becomes successful with such film classics as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or how he created Mickey Mouse then this film is not for you. Rather, this film focuses on the Disney family unit and the early influence his Aunt Margaret embedded in his heart and mind by bringing him his first tablet and coloring crayons which she always encouraged him with words of how talented Walt was.
Upon reviewing this film as a whole I do get it. No this is not a film of high quality with actors the caliber of Clooney, DeCaprio and/or DeNiro but the essence of a young Congregationalist Christian from Marceline, Missouri who was a caring and loving brother and future employer speaks well of Walt's early upbringing and of the film's ability to portray a young dreamer at the turn of the 20th century who came in to a bleak world and had a vision to make the world a much happier place which allowed people to laugh and cry in a secure and wonderful imagined film after film.
Overall, I liked it even with the cardboard acting and religious overtones because the story is real. That story being the early childhood and working years of a hungry and struggling artist named Walt Disney. I give the film a 6 out of 10 rating.
