Seems that when the
newest Muppet Movie release the opening credits just showed the Disney Castle
with Disney underneath. No Walt Disney
Pictures, just Disney, in that unmistakable Disney script. Of course, with Kermit and Monster at the
bottom of the screen, there wasn’t the usual space available. That aside…
The controversy seems to revolve around the removal of “Walt” and “Pictures”
from the studio vanity
card – the term I think I saw used – that flashes up on the screen at the
beginning of the film.
The root definition
of fan truly applied to most Disney Fans and most particularly many Walt Disney
Fans. That root is fanatic and many are
just that, fanatical. Upon seeing this
new vanity card graphic rumors immediately began circulating that that the
clandestine management team at The Walt Disney Company are trying to excise all
memory of Walt from the collective memories of both company and public.
Jim Hill has an
interesting article over at Jim
Hill Media talking about some of the details of this change. I will only add… If TWC is shortening the name, on the splash
graphics on its movies, so what? What is
the first thing you think of when you see the name Disney? For me, as I believe most people, it is Walt Disney. In my opinion, to excise Walt’s memory from
the Company, you’d have to remove more than just his first name. I tend agree with some of the other assessment
that this really has more to do with the branding of the content being
delivered today’s new media environment.
With the advent of tables and smartphones, more media is being delivered
to devices with smaller screen real estate.
You can make the Disney name bigger on the screen in this
environment. Besides, I might argue that
just seeing that Castle on screen invokes images and memories of Walt Disney.
But there is
something else to consider… We should all remember, it was not Walt’s idea or
choice to rename The DisneyBrothers Studio to Walt Disney Productions… That was Brother Roy’s choice, in recognition
for the company’s creative force, his brother Walt, as was the choice to call
Walt’s DisneyWorld, Walt Disney World, again in recognition of its creative
founder. Warner Brothers notwithstanding,
I don’t think Walt would have cared if Roy decided to call the company
Acme. Boy would that have messed with
the coyote’s mind. J Walt Disney,
like his character – Peter Pan, was always much more interested in the next
great adventure, not memories of past journeys.
Which is what I think is at the base, consciously or not, of our draw to
him.
There are people out
there who have researched and/or know Walt Disney far better than I, but from everything
I have learn about Walt, over the last few of years, he does not come across as
a man all the believing in his own self importance. He did what he did because he enjoyed it, and
believed that others would as well. He
was right, and probably far beyond even his own wildest dreams.
It is an amazing
testament to the Man – Walt Disney that his fans take such umbrage at trivial
changes in the company he founded, however let us honor the Man by remembering
him as a real man he was, not the icon and myth he’s become through the company
he founded. We have the Walt Disney Family Museum
to continue the legacy of the man – Walt Disney. And, even if there was the slightest chance
that some, at The Walt Disney Company,
were covertly planning the excise of Walt’s memory from the collective minds of
all, how epic a fail would that be witness?
Your comments or questions
are always welcome. If you have a
correction or something you think I should look at in my research, please feel
free to contact me at mr.grumpyguy@gmail.com
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