Walt Disney, hope

i would like to proudly announce to you that today yesterday was walt disney‘s birthday. as if you didn’t already know. {did you?..}

now let’s get it out there, let it be known i didn’t happen upon this on my own. thankfully, garrison {writer’s almanac, prairie home companion, etc.} gives me the inside scoop on my drive to work. the scoop on what? well, smart people things i tell you!

things about writers and authors and history that no human would know outside of npr in the mornings. things like “joan didion thought this about so-and-so” or “it’s the sixtieth anniversary of the great london smog” and his ever so wonderful “be well, do good work, and keep in touch” in his oh so velvety garrison voice. did i ever tell you that he walked in front of me?

photo evidence now:

so. i am thankful to garrison for letting me know about my good friend walt disney’s birthday, who is essentially a personal pal. moving on..walt.

we call him walt. one time, before the days of the princess pass (we call it the year of the princess in which i visited disneyland at least 365 times that year)…well it was 2005, me and many friends went on a pilgrimage on a grad trip to southern california and i had one goal. churros and walt disney picture (he has a statue in the middle of the park). it was a very emotional picture, taken at the end of a long day, but it was mine. i wore a yellow sweatshirt.

i must be honest, i know walt was a man. a real man, who put his pants on one leg at a time, drank a v8 (just like me), had a family and a house with a train..the slight difference being he and his team of imagineers blasted creative happiness with movies and a fantasyland that fulfills my every hope and dream of life and joy.

have i lost you yet? now pay attention.

because i have thoughts about that. and i tell you, sir grumpsalot-who-doesn’t-love-disney (see: james) may not agree with this, but i would say that it’s all growing on him. see, sir grump would pose a firm rebuttal to such a statement droning on about some nonsensical capitalism chatter, but sir grump still has a happy heart and decides to take me and let me wear princess crowns and give me mickey and minnie memorabilia and for that we give him a pardon, lucky man that he is. so pardons aside, i acknowledge the backlash and you nay-sayers, and they do not affect what I’m about to say.

Disney emulates the stuff of fairytales and dreams yes? but there’s one thing that’s constantly portrayed..and to me, that’s hope. My Disney theory..it’s hope. A dream is a wish your heart makes, right? there is something to wish for, something to dream about, something better, more wonderful, or maybe just different. countless disney characters come to mind. characters who are met with life circumstances (and intense ones people!), hardships and diversity and see something brighter on the other end of it.

It’s this resolve that the little guy matters and no matter who you are, things are supposed to be special and good and joyful (even amidst hard things). Whether it be movies, mickey’s steamroller cartoon or visiting epcot..We are all supposed to get in on the good stuff. Everyone’s important. Hello free entry to disneyland on your birthday!

everybody wants that right? ..Even the sir grumps a lots of the world. If Disney can create all of that and make it fun for people from my grandma, to my parents, to me and eventually to my children, they’re doing something right. and that is why you should love disney. do you? oh please tell me you do!

“There is more treasure n books than in all the pirates’ loot on Treasure Island and at the bottom of the Spanish Main … and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life.”