The Disney Experience

Wonder design perspective

Lately it's hard to believe in myself. To be honest I can't interpret what that even means. Those social networks take up loads of our time. We always seem to feel an urge to dabble in other peoples affairs. But hey it's not cheating if those people consent to share such information, am I right?

Anyways I was on a network like so and came upon a quote about Walt Disney. Before I share this quote visualize this, and please don't haunt me down and murder me in my sleep or something else vulgar. for creating such a dreary, horrible, cold image. And yet, the question remains:

What would the world be like, without Disney and his characters? Without his spirit? His glee? His stories? His lands? Physical and unphysical? His fantasy?

It's funny, everyone knows at least one story. I went away this summer for a dance intensive and my roommate was Japanese. The intensive was in Chicago but she flew in for five weeks and spoke little to no English. We walked seven or so blocks to and from the dance studio every morning. We lived on Wabash and walked up State Street, a large shopping area. A store we passed and eventually went into was a Disney store. Her and her three Disney gals spent the most money and had the most fun in that store. They already had clothes and shoes Disney-based. It's a big deal in Japan. One girl planned on going to Disney prior to the intensive, before returning to Japan. Everyone knows Disney.

Is it because he's a great legend or that his stories are so original and like no other? He opens the child in everyone, even my metal-hard grandpa. His ideas became real in the animations and animations real in his theme parks. The parks are literally the land in which his brain has accumulated. But! now we take his ideas and brutally create "modern" versions and kill his spirit in the absolute inhumanely way possible. Teenagers are not heart-felt Mickey Mouse and Disney princess equivalents! But that's another story.

In saying this I don't understand people who don't know all the stories or have not seem all his movies hundreds of times, like I have. DID YOU NOT HAVE A CHILDHOOD I MEAN REALLY??? WHERE YOU RAISED IN A SHACK? But that's another story.

Back to the point at hand: this quote was an alarming fact about Disney's life and his experiences hitherto Mickey Mouse and all the other wonderful characters. In my mental state right now, it's been hard for me to cope with myself and make time for my desires. I wonder how I can believe in myself so that I can succeed in what I want to succeed in. I try hard to make time for what it is that interests me and still excel in the original plan. It's hard. So believing in myself is a hard trait to gain and let alone maintain. I don't even know who I am yet, how can I trust an unwritten book to pay the bills?

Any-who, the quote was definitely reassuring. In all the biographies I've read, the first sentences praises Disney's early creativity. He excelled in what he loved and made it into something great. He left a legacy behind him and made a life suitable for his needs and worth living. He cut his own path, though. The quote was that Disney was fired from his job in a Kansas City Star newspaper for AND I QUOTE, "not being creative enough." The demands of his superiors where apparently not met. So Disney stepped off the dirt road, because he saw the dead end. He cut himself a new path and ended up touching the sky. He believe he would be a success and I'm sure it was difficult and hard to do something no one else in the world has ever done but wow did he make it happen. Wow. He slaved away and created a business and his own theme park and movies and plays. He won awards and had a family and a jolly good time, I'm sure. Disney was fired, a low, depressing state to be in and look at the castle, literal castle in Magic Kingdom, he built. This may be no new news to you reader, and I'm sure many other facts about famous people in history can be more or equally motivational as this situation but go back to that visual of a world without Disney. Not classic time to satisfy your inner, corny childish self.

I figured after reading that quote and researching to be sure, if he can trust himself and make such a great legacy, well darn right I can as well.