Thoughts on Walt
Page 22 of 26
Our Readers on Walt Disney
January 2, 2001
When we began this series we asked or readers to send their thoughts on the life and legacy of Walt Disney. Here's some of what we received:
Lee Suggs (MouseBear)
He still speaks for me and I still speak
for him.
- Walt Disney 1956
If we want to understand Walt Disney perhaps we should look at the life of a certain Mouse. When Mickey first appeared, literally out of a hole in the ground, he had nothing but his imagination and his optimism. At first he was a failure; at least until he taught a steamboat to sing. Even after his first success he never seemed to be able to get ahead; maybe because he never stuck with one thing. He was always trying out some new idea. Finally, everyone decided he was wonderful, and the awards and accolades poured in. But it didn't last, and after awhile everyone decided he had lost his magic. So they went running after ducks, and dogs, and even bunnies. However, Mickey refused to just fade away. He persevered, and the day came when he was King of his own Magic Kingdom, and not long after that King of the World.
People act with good intentions. People
are really okay!
- Walt Disney 1954
Walt Disney believed that if you treated people right that they would be all right. Ray Bradbury said that Walt "liberated men to their better selves". Everything that Disney did celebrated what was and is good about humankind. In a Walt Disney Picture good triumphed over evil and all kinds of people (the poor, those disenfranchised by race, those uneducated or slow, or those who were just different) had a chance to be someone special. Walt believed that if you gave people "something to feel good about" that they would become better people. It would also have the side benefit of making the Walt Disney Company a lot of money. However, I don't think profit was his primary motive. He risked all he had too many times. I think he wanted to, indeed was created to "change the world for good".
Disneyland is a sickening blend of cheap
formulas packaged to sell. It is filled with pathetic throngs whose empty lives allow
them to respond to such fake escape and adventure....
- Julian Halevy, The Nation, June 1958
It was always difficult for Walt to achieve his goals. When he proved the critics wrong about making a success of a animated feature, a theme park, or a nature film; they then switched to accusing him of cheapening American Culture or of duping the masses for profit. Yet, like Mickey, Walt persevered and he proved the critics wrong. His greatest successes came at the end of his life: the firm establishment of the animated feature, the conquering of television, Disneyland, Mary Poppins, Disney synergy, and the concept of EPCOT all occurred in the last ten to fifteen years of Walt's life. The creation of what we now call "Disney Magic" took place when most "experts" had decided that Walt's successes were in the past.
Daddy never missed a father's function
no matter how I discounted it. I'd say 'Oh Daddy, you don't need to come. It's just a
stupid old thing.' But he'd be there on time.
- Diane Disney Miller
Most famous people only seem great and good when we only know what they did in the public arena. How many times have you read a famous person's biography and discovered that a great man neglected his family and was terrible to everyone who worked for him? What I find most impressive about Walt is that the more you find out about him, the more that you find to admire. This is not to say he was a perfect man. By all accounts he could be difficult, moody, and even cruel. However, in general those who knew Walt best loved him the most. His family tells account after account of his commitment to be a good husband and father. This Peter Ellenshaw quote is a typical expression of what it was like to work for Walt:
He'd fill you with fire. I have always tried to understand how he made me feel so good. It was magical really.
There are two kinds of greatness, doing wonderful things, and treating people wonderfully. Walt Disney was perhaps unique in that he possessed both these forms of greatness in equal measure.
When Walt was alive, I used to walk down
Main Street at Disneyland and glance up at his apartment over the Fire Station, hoping to
see his face peeking out of the window. I still do that, even today. His spirit lives on
in that magical place.
- Bobby Burgess, Mouseketeer
There are those who say that Walt's vision has been betrayed. They believe the Walt Disney Company only exists to make money, not magic. I think these people have underestimated the power of what Walt Disney created. Americans, and indeed people from every country and creed, need to believe in Walt's Vision. They need to believe that good will win in the end, that each and every one of them matters in some way. They will demand that the Walt Disney Company fulfills the purpose for which Walt created it. It is only a matter of time. Besides don't you still sense Walt's presence as you soar over California or as the snow falls on Main Street?
Not to mention when that Mouse speaks for him.
Happy Birthday Walt.