Walt Disney has
become, truly, an enigmatic
figure in our culture. People have studied him and his life for years trying to
pinpoint that quality that would best description the man and his life. It seems that, of late, there has been an
approach in the general public to portray his life’s activities in as negative
a light as possible by interpreting events of his historical activities though
a lens of current day standards. Most of
these conclusions are draw on rather singular events in Walt Disney’s
life. Yes, there are people who have dug
up factoids in support of their claims, and I am not going to discuss them here
other than to point out some of the fallacies in their claims. If you want to review any of these claims,
they can be found quite easily via Google searches.
Unlike many research
historians, I don’t approach any single topic with a singular focus. Time and experience has taught me, I believe,
that the world we live in is so interconnected that, to truly understand
history we have to approach each and every event with a much more open mind of
how many multiple, seemingly unconnected, events effect the accurate
interpretation of a person. One of the
great challenges with historical interpretation is that we tend to want to view
historical events through the prisms of our own lives and experiences, and
there are some interpretations that have become so ubiquitous that we apply
their principles to our views without much thought. I won’t discuss what those pieces might be,
as I think most people are either aware, or will find offense with the
notion. But, even more in recent years
we have found these principles taking hold in our thinking about many things. I wrote a piece earlier in this blog about
the Apotheosis
of Walt Disney, and I think that view has spurred others to produce
interpretations to counter it. I don’t necessarily
think these people are trying to malicious, but rather, see what they do as a
defense of their own God(s) by pointing out their perceived fault of Walt.
True of the matter is that Walt Disney was a man and nothing more. Talk to anyone who knew him, or has researched his history with an open mind, and that fact will quite often be born out. I have had the great honor and opportunity to talk with a number of these individuals, and never come away with any thought other than Walt Disney was a man with an incredible thirst for knowledge, and a consummate storyteller, with an almost uncanny ability to understand what his audiences wanted, and the ability to encourage those around him to produce to levels that even they didn’t see in themselves. Was he always right, no… but,
I think I have
discovered that one word that best describes the man and his legacy, HOPE!
Whether it is his
films, animated or live action, his theme park, his dreams of EPCOT, or any of
his many other activities that I have had the honor to learn about… I am, and I think many others who are honest
with themselves, left with a feel of hope.
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
