The Disney Religion

[k_peek_2000]

I don't know if you've noticed this yet but the further I get into disney, The more I see that it has the potential to be a religion. I an im no way encouraging it. But for example. When sombody askes, "Do you believe in Disney Magic?". That can have the same effect as when sombody askes if they believe in the word of god. Some will say yes and others will say no. Like religion. Walt Disney has millions of followers like God. People look up to him like god. People often worship him like god. People cry when they hear Walt Disneys voice, some people cry when they strongly feel the power of god. Disney music can often put a trance on some people making them zone out and be places in to a different world. Also gospel and christian music does the same. Have you guys noticed this yet? I think that someday there probably will be an official disney religion.

-k_peek

[Chris]

Mod Note: This topic will be watched closely. If it gets into a heated arguement, it will be closed.

[Loneknight]

Uh boy.....I can see a rather large can of worms ready to explode.

[Ezra]

I'm going to try to be very careful here...

It's not very similar to religion at all.

Disney entertainments:

• do not delineate any ideas concerning the soul or spiritual entity
• do not describe a supreme being or an afterlife
• do not dictate adherence to any creed or set of guidelines
• do not require faith
• do not institute any prohibitions or injunctions
• make no claims regarding a persons fate (bliss, heaven, nirvana, etc.)

[Loneknight]

Ezra, how did you do that?! I had written up over a page of reasons, examples....and you nailed them all in neat, tidy bullet-points!

This is what I get for inheriting my Dad's ability to lecture.

[ShrunkenNed]

I'm taking it in good humor and making a joke out of it.

If it were to happen, it would probably be a thousand years from now, when achaeologists dig up the time capsule that was buried on the 45th Anniversary. "Strange new mystic force, known as Disneyana, discovered in Anaheim ruins." A few elite celebrities pick up the cause, soon little black bracelets made from the threads of Mickey Mouse ears are selling for hundreds of dollars.

Sorry. Hope I'm not offending anyone. Just tried to have a little fun with it...

Wanna take a pool to see how long it takes this thread to get closed?

Bad Ned. Bad.

P.S. - Ezra, you were very articulate, and well thought out. I appreciate that.

[Ezra]

Thanks guys!

Sorry I beat you to it, LoneKnight

Ned, it sounds like maybe you read Motel of the Gods? It's about archeologists of the future misinterpreting what they find when they dig up an old motel.

[Mortimer]

Ezra really does address the point astutely, of course, Disney does not get into things regarding the supernatual or spiritual, supreme being, afterlife or any of that. Religion addresses questions of creation and mortality as well as the meaning of existence. Religion has ritual and dogma. And individuals and families give their lives over to their religions. To put it another way, I admire Walt Disney as my all time favorite hero. But I wouldn't convert anyone else to feel the same way. And while I do enjoy the community I find here at VF, I'm not attending a church when I come here. And Disneyland may be very dear to my heart, but my life doesn't really focus on it. Well, perhaps it seems to my friends that it does. But really, it doesn't.

The comparison K Peek 2000 is talking about is not between religion and Disney, it's between religion and heroes in general. I often compare Disney to rock & roll. I don't really have much interest in music, but try talking to someone who's a fan of the Beatles. They won't just know all the Beatle's songs but they'll also know their history, their personal characterstics, who produced which album and what studio it was recorded in and what the weather was like the day they recorded Sgt. Pepper and on and on. People do adore their heroes, and say they worship them. But worship really is a different thing. And to people of faith, it means something very different.

What is the same is how we feel about our heroes in the stories we tell when it comes to religion. When people talk about the stories that occur in any religion, they are often stories of every day people who did incredible things. And we admire those people even though we didn't meet them personally. Religion inspires us to be better people and to believe in things that are positive. It does that through worship, but it also does it by giving us heroes we can look to as role models.

While Walt Disney is not a religion, he was a very good man, and to that extent, he's an excellent role model. He was talented and compassionate. His movies focus on good values. He surrounded himself with talented people and they thrived under his leadership. And my favorite trait of his, he learned from his mistakes. Do I worship him? Not really. Do I admire him. Absolutely.

If Walt Disney inspires anyone, I think they'll find there's a lot of positive stuff to learn about him, the work he did and the life he lead. On a bad day, a lesson learned from Disney can make a real difference. It's not religion at all. But it's still a very good thing.

I'd suggest going here.

Walt Disney : An American Original by Bob Thomas. Excellent biography of Walt. Focuses more on the man than other books I've read.

The Art of Walt Disney: From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdoms, by Christopher Finch. Can't leave this out of any list of Disney books. Required reading.

Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation, by John Canemaker. Wonderful book about the Disney artists. There's more to Disney than those nine guys (Mary Blaire, Bill Tytla, Ub Iwerks, just to name a few). But these are the ones who were in charge and Canemaker is a great historian. (He also does wonderful commentary on the Fantasia DVD.)

And of course http://disney.go.com/disneyatoz/familymuseum/index.html. Go there first if you haven't already.

And most of all, right here at VF. Best Disney site there is.

Walt Disney does have millions of fans. Disney stories and music move us. Disney is inspiring, no doubt about that. But to compare it, even abstractly, to a religion while interesting, is not really correct.

While this is a highly questionable thought, it's an intriguing point, and a clever comparison. That's all.

[ShrunkenNed]

Originally Posted by Ezra

Ned, it sounds like maybe you read Motel of the Gods? It's about archeologists of the future misinterpreting what they find when they dig up an old motel.

No, but now, maybe I should...

[Loneknight]

Mortimer, I couldn't have said it better myself.

And yes, Bob Thomas' book is a great read on Walt. It establishes Walt as a human being with an amazing knack at getting things done, and for no other purpose other than to make people happy.
The great thing about this book is that it reveals Walt as a human being. He laughes, he cries, he gets angry, he smokes, he fires people, he curses, he drinks, he creates, he has a family, he gets frustrated, he goes through bankruptcy.....people can relate to him on their own level, and it's because of this humanity that makes me respect Walt. He was human....but his mortality is what helped drive him to do these great things.

I could never see Walt as a deity. As a role model, as a hero, as an idol....ideal.

[Mortimer]

Yeah, the Thomas might actually be my favorite, Lone Knight. If I had to recommend only one book, that might be the one.

The Finch book is one I saw all over the place and it's a lot of fun to go through it. But the Thomas book really goes into his life and childhood and family and all that. The Finch book reminds me of why I enjoy Walt Disney so much. But after the Thomas book, I feel like I really got to know him.

[CA Screamin Dude]

Though the Disney way is more moral than many religious ones have become.

[Loneknight]

Originally Posted by CA Screamin Dude

Though the Disney way is more moral than many religious ones have become.

You got a good point there.

[kodiak]

ok... I would suggest for the sake of this thread, that we not name any names and practices of religions that may have been referred to in the above post. that is just asking for a series of scorching comments. I guess you could be right and wrong depending on your point of view. under eisner, disney made some doosies of decisions that may not have been viewed as particularly moraly straight. is walt were still alive, with his same ideals and values, then I would say that it is a little closer.

[PeoplemoverMatt]

Hey, if Disney is a religion, can Macaroni & Cheese be one too? My nephews always have faith & believe that mac & cheese waits for them when they visit.

On a more serious note: we really don't want to go here, do we?

-- PMM