"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." Walt Disney
"All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." Walt Disney
Who was the most consequential figure of the 20th century? Hitler? FDR? Einstein? Elvis? There are many good candidates, but for my money it has to be Walt Disney, one of the most forgotten and complicated men there was. Forgotten? Sure, everybody knows the name, but few know the man that died over 57 years ago.
I got to re-acquaint myself with Mr. Disney by visiting the Disney 100 exhibition that is now touring the world. (2024 is the 100th anniversary of the Walt Disney company. Walt himself was born in 1901.) The exhibition is well worth the trip, as it covers his origins and his secret sauce for revolutionizing movies and theme parks. I can't think of another person whose legacy has expanded so enormously since his passing.
The Walt Disney company encompasses a streaming service, cable channels, movie empire, 12 wildly popular theme parks, and a place in the hearts of billions around the world. They have acquired dozens of other companies, including the ABC television network, ESPN, Star Wars, Pixar, Marvel, Hulu and 20th Century Fox. And as Walt himself would have told it, "it all started with a mouse."
Actually, it started with a little girl playing Alice in Wonderland in the Alice Comedies. Walt started with a series of animated shorts featuring a live-action girl who had early adventures with an animated cat named Julius in 1923. The silent shorts were innovative for their day, but not that profitable. Eventually, Walt moved on to fully animated shorts, this time featuring Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Oswald was a hit, so much so that by 1928, Universal Pictures went behind Walt's back and claimed all of the rights to the character, which devasted Disney.
This led to the creation of one of the most iconic characters in American history- Mickey Mouse. It's hard to imagine a theme park built around a lucky rabbit. Mickey Mouse was a joint project between Walt and his partner, Ub Iwerks. Walt did the voice for many years, and Iwerks came up with much of the appearance. Interestingly, Iwerks left Disney in 1930 because of business disputes with Walt, and he was left out of much of the Disney folklore from then on.
Walt proceeded on his own, hiring many talented artists and producing animated shorts, some of which won Oscars. He added a famous group to Mickey's repertoire including Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, and Daisy, and the seeds were sown for a dominant brand. In 1937, Disney came out with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, an unheard of full length animated feature. Most in Hollywood saw it as an expensive mistake, but it was incredibly popular, grossing $8 million that year and a staggering $418 million today.
In many ways, Disney reminds me of Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple. He was bright, driven, curious, and not so great with people. He produced the right product at the right time, and his company has reaped the rewards ever since.
The Disney 100 exhibition has props and scenes from most of the popular Disney animated features from the past 100 years, from Alice to Zootopia. There are exhibits featuring the many live-action Disney movies, a Star Wars lightsaber, Captain America's shield, and actual theme park attractions. If you want to know the backstory of any Disney movie, you could spend hours digging into it.
What I liked best about the Disney 100 exhibit was how it was laid out into four sections The first section laid out the concept of story telling and where Disney got its stories from. Many stories are centuries old and immortal (also don't require paying residuals to the long-dead authors). A good story is the backbone of any movie, and Disney has mastered the art of telling compelling stories.
The second section had to do with characters. As a sign portrays, "While a story is an adventure, the characters who inhabit it are who we care about. We relate to them: we laugh and cry with them. They become as real to us as the people in our lives." Disney characters do a good job of being memorable- through their emotions, facial expressions, and good or bad deeds. If a movie has no memorable or sympathetic characters, it's hard to get involved in the plot.
The third gallery of the exhibit was devoted to sound, and how Disney created the distinct sounds of both their dialogue and special effects. And the fourth and last gallery was devoted to technologies and innovention. This is another of Disney's special sauces. The constant drive to innovate, both on film and in the theme parks has kept them from going stale, as happens to many larger corporations that are more focused on shareholder profits. The simple miracle of audio-animatronics at Disney parks has amazed people of all ages when lifelike robots can do things that have never been done before.
There is nothing in the exhibits, however, about the negative underside of Walt Disney the man. Probably the most authoritative biography was written by Neal Gabler, and it painted a shy, introverted man who was starved of affection and approval from his mother and father and left to wander the fields of Missouri with his imagination. Walt was a notoriously tough boss with high expectations who was stingy with praise. This worked for him in getting things done, but made both him and those close to him less than happy, ironically. Disney was also prone to the views of wealthy white men of his time- women were second-class citizens at his company, black people were badly caricatured in his early films, and he was no friend of labor after suffering a strike in 1941 from his employees. Worst of all, Walt was a rabid anti-communist during the darkest periods of the 1950's, testifying before the house un-American activities committee and naming names of left-leaning employees who were then blacklisted.
The Disney company today is not without its controversies. Some lambast it for being too woke, and others critique it for relying on stereotypes. They have been accused of plagiarizing other's works, while overzealously protecting their own copyrights. Their labor practices are not great, and they have fought against employee unions as recently as 2024, when Disneyland employees voted to go on strike. Unfortunately, as a public company the Disney board is motivated just like all the others- maximize shareholder profits.
I've been a fan of Disney movies and theme parks since childhood. They hold a special place in my memories, even knowing the good and the bad of the man who started it all. What I admire most about Walt Disney was his courage in sticking to his dreams and navigating a tough environment during the Great Depression while giving people happy, inspiring stories to think about. Even today, I marvel at the decency of the typical Disney hero or heroine and pull for them every time. Somehow this one man build the foundation that carries on strongly into the 21st century. I salute him for that and look forward to the next 100 years of stories from the people who follow in his footsteps, hopefully while treating their employees like the valuable assets that they are.
Here is your challenge- watch these two videos without laughing or crying. They are testament to the power of Disney stories and characters to touch our soul and our funny bone.
Comments