Today is an important day for a lot of my friends and
coworkers and indeed millions of others around the world. You see 110 years ago
one Walter Elias Disney was born. And today more than any other day I feel like
Ebenezer Scrooge; a person that seemed to simply miss the point of the day.
However unlike Scrooge I will not be visited by spirits of past, present, and
future Disney to show me what this celebration is really all about. Furthermore
I would not want to be. Disney was a man and he left a company. That is it.
Nothing more. So many others seem almost to deify him, and frankly it is
sickening. What makes him so worthy of cult-like adulation?
He was an innovator! Well so was Wozniak and Tesla.
He was a visionary! Ghandi and King Jr. had grander dreams.
Well he created Disneyland! To those that visited the 1893
World’s Faire that was far more impressive in all aspects even if not
permanent.
I’m not here to bash Disney. There are more than enough
places where that is the case. Each of those things above are true, he created,
innovated, dreamt, and made those dreams reality. That is rare in a person and
worthy of admiration. However it seems that it is much more than admiration
what I witness. Yes, I live in one of two ground zeros for that sentiment. So I
perhaps am unfairly critical because of my constant contact with this blind
love. I’ll give you that. It doesn’t change how I feel though that this
admiration borders on fanatical devotion to one man. A man to whom has been
attributed much more than what he actually did and no notice paid to any of his
own personal faults. Faults that in today’s society would have him become a
social pariah in moments. Or perhaps not, Disney was as much shaped by his time
as he did shape it.
Walt Disney left an indelible imprint on American culture
and entertainment and his influence is hard to overstate. However he is not a myth, he was just another
successful director/producer/studio head with a much better reputation than
most. Seems the man my friends celebrate today was too good to have lived. Is
this how heroes are born? Someone quote Joseph Campbell please!
There are theories as to why he receives such an inordinate
amount of love, but I will save that for another post. I leave you friends with
birthday wishes to TWO men I admire (but do not idolize) with utmost certainty:
Happy Birthday Walt Disney and Werner Heisenberg!
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| Werner Heisenberg...I'm pretty certain |
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| Walt Disney |
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