Jim On Film
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Why I like Disney,
or
That’s the Reason I Saw Atlantis: The Lost Empire So Many Times

I’m sure you’ve had it before--the odd look of the cashier as she rings up your DVD copy of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

"Gift?" she says to make conversation.
"No," you say. "I collect Disney."
"Oh," she says.

Or someone you don’t know very well asks you what the last movie you saw was, and you reply,
"The Princess Diaries."
"Oh," he says.

Some people love Star Trek. Some people study Renaissance art. Some people passionately ingest the works of Anton Chekov. I watch, read about, and study Disney.

Oh horrors of all horrors--study something as unintellectual and childish as Disney?!

But I do. And I’m not the only one. What is it about Disney that causes such a strong following? What is it that causes people to line their walls with Disney collector’s plates or to see Tarzan multiple times or to buy books about the creation of these films?

For some, I know, it begins in childhood. They love Disney because it is a way for them to relive the beloved memories of their youth. For others, it is a theme park thing. The are obsessed with returning to the various theme parks and having the opportunity to live in the ultimate fantasy. And for another group, it started with their children. They dragged you to see Pocahontas and Toy Story, and you enjoyed yourself so much that now that they’re older, you drag them to The Princess Diaries and Snow Dogs.

For me, things were a little different in the beginning, but the result and the reasons are the same as they are for many people. It all comes down to the art and the entertainment.

Walt Disney
When I began my obsession with the products of Disney, I could not have cared less about who Walt Disney was. But the more and more I read about him, even in the controversy, the more I see how important he was to what his company was then and is today. From what I have read from a variety of sources, I have come to see that:

1. Walt Disney was a visionary. When he envisioned Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he had to have realized that the Hollywood community would not understand. Despite this, he knew what quality was and followed through with his vision. The result was the highest grossing movie at that time. It was this vision that allowed him to embrace television and to create Disneyland and later, Walt Disney World. Now, in a time when movies seem to be made as bland marketing decisions, it is more amazing that Disney took risks in creating what he thought people wanted. For some reason, I have a difficult time believing that a movie such as Josie and the Pussycats was produced after an executive thought, "Hmm, I’d really like to see this one myself." However, there’s a sense that Walt Disney was creating not only what his audience would want to see but what he would like as well.

2. Walt Disney demanded quality. He took pride in his product. As you read about his dreaded sweatbox where he scrutinized and re-scrutinized the works of animators until he reduced them to tears, you know he was demanding quality. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of Fox’s Titan A.E., it is clear (even had there not been a directors’ commentary) that parts of it were rushed. Why? The studio executives made it solely for profit, and the way to keep profits high is to cut costs. For Disney, quality was worth paying for. As it is well known, he stopped production on Pinocchio six months into the process because it wasn’t working. This was when his studio was not firmly established and every film counted; it was probably a very costly delay at a time when finances were not abundant. Similarly, when he saw the octopus battle from 20, 000 Leagues Under the Sea, Disney insisted it be completely refilmed in a stormy setting because it looked too fake. When he needed the money most, he still did not hesitate to fight for the quality he wanted. Walt Disney cared less about the business and more about the show of show business. And in the end, he made a financial killing.

3. Walt Disney truly believed in the concept of the family friendly film. In all of the eighty-six feature films he created, most of which I have seen, I have only heard two mild swear words (in Kidnapped and Bon Voyage!). In his adventure films, there is some strong action violence, but none of them would warrant anything above a PG rating by today’s standards. He didn’t do this as a marketing concept. He didn’t do it because he thought he would make more money that way. He did it because he truly believed in it.

It is these three things that amaze me most about Walt Disney, and while the product of the studio that bears his name has changed throughout the years, when something is released that keeps this in mind and bears the Disney name, it earns its place in the hearts and minds of Disney fans everywhere.