Post #598187 by GatorRob on Mon, Jul 18, 2011 5:08 PM

On 2011-06-23 20:48, JOHN-O wrote:
OK, Disney (or rather the post-1960's cultural impact of the Disney corporation) has never been my cup of tea.

To this historic dive bar loving Tikiphile, the concept of "Disneyfication" is horrifying...

**Dis-ney-fi-ca-tion (noun)

: the transformation (as of something real or unsettling) into carefully controlled and safe entertainment or an environment with similar qualities.**

Yes, I enjoyed Disneyland as a pre-teen but as I've grown older, the nostalgia of those childhood memories has grown less and less.

JOHN-O I completely understand the sentiment. But your opinion of Disney has been poisoned (as you said) by the mega-corporation that is Disney today. The Disney that really turned me on is not the one that turns every shop in its theme parks into plush toy retail outlets or puts out garbage TV on its flagship TV channel. The Disney that really got my attention was the Disney of the early days (cue the harp and the wavy video)... Walt Disney was an innovator and risk taker (something that the Disney corp is really not at all these days). His theme park was a huge financial risk and was totally a labor of love for him. There were no focus groups to decide what to build. It was what he envisioned as the perfect environment to immerse yourself in with your family. That was a lofty and worthy goal. His co-conspirators were, quite literally, geniuses. Names like Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas, Ward Kimball (ah, Ward is my favorite!), Harper Goff, etc... Their attention to painstaking detail, authenticity and devotion to quality are so inspirational.

We've lost a lot of that today. Corporations like Disney focus on ROI and shareholder return. But that existed back then too. I'm not naive about that. The Mad Men society was not all rosey. But Disney today still has some geniuses behind it (okay, many are at Pixar). They may not go down in history with their names in books, but they are there.

My attraction to Disney is definitely rooted in their past glories, but some of those glories are still around and still awe me as amazingly inventive. And every now and then a new creation shows that same spark of genius that was found routinely in people like Ward Kimball.

So, hey, cut 'em a little slack. :)

I'm sure the Nine Old Men would have loved the Molokai Bar at the Mai-Kai.

And hey, about that nostalgia of your childhood memories growing less and less... remember that we all get older, but we are only as old as we act. We should experience the world from a child's eyes more often. So go ride a rollercoaster and giggle like a little girl, damnit.