As a kid, anything with mouse ears on it was something I could watch. It usually stretched my imagination and was always enjoyable. There weren't too many Disney products that I didn't love as a child. All the animation was great and the Wonderful World of Disney always was a treat. When cable came around and my family started getting the Disney Channel, which mainly consisted of animation shorts, old Disney movies and Wonderful World of Disney reruns at that time, I lived on a steady diet of mouse. When Walt narrated those nature documentary-style programs, I was entranced. It was probably the influence of the Disney Channel that made me so Disney crazy when I was in college in Lakeland, Florida. Once I began going to the parks I was hooked. I loved the design and the artwork. I loved the imagination that goes into the place and I simply couldn't get enough of it. A singing group that I was in would do some holiday singing in the parks and in the resorts and it was always so cool to walk the hidden corridors. Jennifer and I might go so far as to tell you that we fell in love there. (On our first date, we watched the fireworks over Epcot Center and one of our park trips was an unforgetable stormy Sunday at MGM.) Sure, we knew that it was outrageously expensive and mostly a glossy put-on, but we didn't care; Disney World was a place of fairy tales, color and imagination, and we liked how we felt when we were there.
Then there were the years of the Disney Boycott popularity. Spokesmen of the Christian Right began to call attention to the seedier aspects of the Disney Juggernaut. The information learned from those years soured the pristine 'we just want to make people happy' image that I had swallowed. I began to realize that Disney, like any other company in the world, wanted to make money. I also came to realize that just because a company makes cartoons and G rated movies doesn't mean they are 'pure' and not involved in any other morally forbidden behavior. My disenchantment with Disney was short lived as it was soon overcome by anger at the whistle blowers who tried to make me believe that hidden words and animated characters were going to turn my children into homosexuals. In the secret of our living room away from the watchdogs, we watched the Lion King, Alladin, Hercules, Pocohontas and every other fairy tale hero the Disney animators could throw at us. In spite of the 'christian' thing to do, we watched the shows, bought the videos and even visited the park. All because of the enjoyment the entertainment and all its accompanying merchandise brought us. Some voices against the boycott were out there, but they were definitely the minority among evagelicals for a few years. The Boycott, which still exists in some form, has lost most of its original impetus, and in my estimation did not bring the empire to its mouse knees.
Which brings us to now. If I honestly look at my family's life, I must admit that Disney impacts us on a daily basis. From Rolie Polie Olie to Out of the Box, my children are into Disney educational shows. We watch the movies, buy the DVD's and play the video games. Over the past few years, My wife and I have been introduced to Disney Channel original programs, which in my opinion shape pre-teen culture in America more than anything else. If you don't know who Shia LaBeouf is, you should tune in. Raven Symone and Hilary Duff's shows are the Father Knows Best, the Andy Griffith Show, and the Happy Days of today; And when your 4 four old sings, "Call me, beep me, if you wanna reach me", you better know who Kim Possible is.
We are, of course, keenly aware that we don't want our progeny following the life path of the mousketeers set in front of them, and that the content coming from the Mouse is not always innocent. We know that and we push to make sure that our children know it as well. While living our lives as followers of Christ we would not support everything produced from the Disney empire, but we wouldn't support everything TBN puts out either, but we have chosen not to boycott Paul and Jan this year. We don't support immorality and we have to filter junk sometimes, but you know what? I like watching Even Stevens with my kids, and I'm not ashamed to admit it! I like watching them pretend to be the skaters, race car drivers, dancers and rock and rollers they see courtesy of the mouse. Einstein is quoted as having said, "If you want to make your child a genius, read them fairy tales."
I guess the point that I am trying to make is that for 75 years Mickey Mouse has been impacting the culture of our world. It seems to me that Disney has an imagination monopoly in children's media today. Congratulations Walt, and Happy Birthday Mickey!
No comments:
Post a Comment