Walt Disney Myths And Legends Essay
Professor Tamm
English 151
May 11, 2014
The Myths and Legends of Disney We all have known and have all heard of the magic of Walt Disney. It takes us to place a in the world like no other. It can make the eyes and smiles of children widen with happiness, and even make an adult feel like the youngest of hearts. But behind every great magical detail that we may see or encounter there is some kind of myth, urban legend or folklore to tell. Some was found to be true while others remain just what they are myths. Some of these myths range from the discrimination of women in the Disney films, educational films for young girls about their menstrual cycles, to park and movie secrets, to even Walt Disney’s death itself.
Walter Elias …show more content…
Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Hermosa, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois to Elias and Flora Disney. When Walt was four, his family moved to Marceline, Missouri were his father Elias purchased a farm. Being in Marceline, the young Disney developed his love of drawing. Walt had quite a difficult childhood growing up. Walt’s father Elias ruled with an iron fist which later drove him to join the Red Cross at a very young age. After the war, he then began his artistic career. He landed several jobs where he was drawing political caricatures or comic strips. Walt would eventually meet several individuals who helped his career in animation. He later created Oswald the lucky rabbit to whom he lost rights to his former business partner. However being the optimist that he was, Walt developed a new character by the name of “Mickey Mouse.” With the birth of Mickey Mouse, Walt’s dreams were finally coming true, the essence of magic were beginning to taking form. (http://www.justdisney.com) According to Charles River author of American Legends: The Life of Walt Disney Walter Elias “Walt” Disney built his legacy and leadership based on his greatest dreams, creative imagination and the lifelong desire to experience magic. The “Disney magic” started its humble beginnings when Walt had a vision and a mission to provide entertainment and happiness to people of all ages. Walt used his vision and imagination to carry over his mission to improve and challenge the future of technology. Walt was a leader and dreamer. He only and employed individuals who are exceptionally talented with a strong desire for excellence. (Editors)
Walt’s traits as a leader showed that he was both innovative and creative with a high respect for the arts and saw technology to be boundless with untapped potential. He was also a risk taker despite many financial setbacks, he kept chasing his dream of creating the magic. Being the charismatic person that he was he promoted casual and personal relationships with employees. Always creating something innovative and the desire to do better attitude proved his strive for success and his attention to detail. But with fame also came many myths and urban legends that people still to this day question.
Disney used to have a policy stating that women could not be hired at the animation studio outside of the Ink and Paint department. It 's sadly true, though no longer the case. As the above 1938 rejection letter received by animator Mary Ford reads, "Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that work is performed entirely by young men." The concern was that Disney would invest a considerable amount of time and money in training a new animator only to lose that investment when she "inevitably" left to get married and start a family. This says more about the culture of the time than about women animators, who may well have been happy to keep their jobs had they lived in a society that allowed them to do so.
The taboo menstruation film of 1946, explaining the menstrual cycle to young girls. This was thought to be a myth of sorts it may seem hard to imagine Disney, which generally tries to tiptoe around anything remotely taboo, tackling a subject like menstruation. But there was a time when Disney produced a number of educational films for use in schools, including this one in cooperation with Kotex.
One of the many myths surrounds one of Disney’s biggest characters, Tinker Bell. The myth states that Marilyn Monroe was the inspiration of the character however she was created and actually modeled after actress Margaret Kerry. Tinker Bell has been one of Disney 's most recognized and important branding icons for over half a century, and is generally known as "a symbol of 'the magic of Disney '."
Probably one of the most frightening myths is the one about a guest who stood up in his seat while riding Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom. The legend claims this guest’s head was cut off from a track above. There is no record of this incident, but during testing of the ride before it opened, Imagineers discovered a dummy’s head was severed off when placed in the standing position.
The movie Song of the South, was released in 1946 and is based on a series of folk tales. The movie was a financial success upon its theatrical release, but it has never been released in its entirety in the U.S. because of the claims that the movie is racist. Critics have accused Disney of glorifying slavery. A rumor was circulated that African Americans can receive 5000 free shares of Disney stock as restitution for the release of Song of the South. This rumor had absolutely no basis in fact and no such offer was ever announced by Disney.
Dirty subliminal messaging in Disney movies? After tons of digging around and video watching I found this myth myself to be untrue. Several scenes from Disney’s movies are said to have some sort of subliminal messages in them. There are both subliminal and non-subliminal hidden messages in Disney films, it’s actually a bit of a tradition at the studio. Several of these movies include The Lion King, in the scene where Simba watches his father die, the word “SEX” is briefly formed in the clouds above his head. Some observers think that the hidden word is actually the letters “SFX”, referring to Disney 's Special Effects department. Even the merge between Disney and Pixar there is even hidden messages like the letter and number combination that appears several times in the Toy Story movie franchise the numbers can be found on the tag of the pizza delivery car A-113 which actually refers to the classroom where Pixar artist are trained and where the a Toy Story movies where designed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A113)
“The “Duck Ban” In 1977, a Liberal Party representative in Finland proposed to youth centers that they stop buying Donald Duck comics because they were an unnecessary expense during the downturn in the economy. The media stretched the truth and now there is a myth that Finland banned Donald Duck because he doesn 't wear pants.” (Nefer)
Haunted Disney, some believe that one of the singing busts in the graveyard in the Haunted Mansion is Walt Disney. The busts is actually that of Thurl Ravenscroft a singer whom many would recognize as the same voice that sung "You 're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" from the classic Christmas television special, Dr. Seuss ' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and also as the voice of Tony the Tiger. Ravenscroft who closely resembled Walt Disney 's appearance was quickly cast as a busts for the attraction and has however kept the rumor mill running that Walt was still with us even from the dead.
Let the bell of freedom ring throughout the park, ok well maybe not the actual Liberty Bell, but the myth is it’s the only replica that is known and said to exist and it is located at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando. This myth contrary to belief is indeed untrue. Yes this is a true replica cut from the original mold as the real Liberty Bell but there are 50 other replicas along with this one.
The Castle Poster It is alleged that a disgruntled animator decided to get even with Disney after being laid off. He is said to have drawn a very inappropriate body part on the castle for The Little Mermaid 's poster. Both Disney and the animator claim this was an accident. However contrary to belief the artist who created the original castle artwork didn’t work for Disney. So he wasn’t mad at Disney nor was he about to be fired. However, the tower’s resemblance cannot be denied, and Disney removed the offending tower for future releases.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) Rumor Has it…Walt Disney, was a rampant cocaine addict, included an homage to his drug of choice in one of his first productions. Each of the seven dwarfs of Snow White represents one of seven “stages” of cocaine addiction: Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey, Bashful, and Doc. First of all, however much pop culture likes to attribute salacious rumors to its icons, it has never been proven that Walt Disney ever partook in any recreational drug use. Furthermore, there are no “stages” of cocaine addiction, although there are mood swings (Happy and Grumpy), sleep issues (Sleepy), allergies (Sneezy), personality alterations (Dopey and Bashful), and ultimately a trip to the Doc.
Ten days after his 65th birthday, on December 15, 1966, at 9:30 a.m., Disney died of acute circulatory collapse, caused by lung cancer.
It has been a myth since his death that he was frozen through the use of “cryonic suspension”. However there is not enough real evidence to support these beliefs due to the privacy Disney himself maintained concerning his personal life. The lack of detail about his funeral and burial arrangements, combined with his reputation as a technological innovator has helped to foster the myth that, Walt Disney is frozen and encapsulated under the castle at Disneyland in California. Although Disney’s preferences regarding the disposal of his body are not public record (instructions or provisions for his funeral or burial were not included in his will. Maybe this is a true myth or does one wonder, could it be true that underneath the “happiest place on earth” lies the creator of it all. There is almost no credible evidence to suggest that Disney was even interested in the potential of cryogenics. Most of the claims that Disney did have himself frozen come from discredited biographers whose sources are hearsay at best, outright fabrication at worst. Disney 's death certificate states that he was cremated and statements from the Disney family bear this out. But as long as conspiracy theories and the dream of seeing Walt come back to put the House of Mouse in order persist, the legend will live on. (Urban Legends- Walt Disney Frozen -
YouTube)
To wrap things up “When stars are born, they possess a gift or two. One of those is, they have the power to make a wish come true.” (Fairy) It looks as if this statement is true although Walt may have left us almost 50 years ago but his dream and legacy will live on forever. If not in spirit but in the myths and urban legend that he left behind.
(Exploring New Things) (Unknown)
Works Cited
Barrier, Michael. The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney / Edition 1 . University of California Press, 2008.
Editors, Charles Rivers. American Legends: The Life of Walt Disney. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014.
"Exploring New Things." Hollywood: Walt Disney Sudios, Unknown.
Fairy, The Blue. "Wishes Walt Disney World." Disney Parks Soundtrack. Orlando, 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A113. n.d. 03 05 2014. http://www.justdisney.com. 2013. 28 04 2014.
Nefer, Barbara. Fact or Fiction? 20 Urban Legends, Ghost Stories, Rumors & Secrets of Walt Disney World [. LifeSkills Press, 2012.
Unknown. "Partners." Orlando : Walt Disney World, 2014.
Urban Legends- Walt Disney Frozen - YouTube. 2013.
English 151
May 11, 2014
The Myths and Legends of Disney We all have known and have all heard of the magic of Walt Disney. It takes us to place a in the world like no other. It can make the eyes and smiles of children widen with happiness, and even make an adult feel like the youngest of hearts. But behind every great magical detail that we may see or encounter there is some kind of myth, urban legend or folklore to tell. Some was found to be true while others remain just what they are myths. Some of these myths range from the discrimination of women in the Disney films, educational films for young girls about their menstrual cycles, to park and movie secrets, to even Walt Disney’s death itself.
Walter Elias …show more content…
Disney was born on December 5, 1901 in Hermosa, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois to Elias and Flora Disney. When Walt was four, his family moved to Marceline, Missouri were his father Elias purchased a farm. Being in Marceline, the young Disney developed his love of drawing. Walt had quite a difficult childhood growing up. Walt’s father Elias ruled with an iron fist which later drove him to join the Red Cross at a very young age. After the war, he then began his artistic career. He landed several jobs where he was drawing political caricatures or comic strips. Walt would eventually meet several individuals who helped his career in animation. He later created Oswald the lucky rabbit to whom he lost rights to his former business partner. However being the optimist that he was, Walt developed a new character by the name of “Mickey Mouse.” With the birth of Mickey Mouse, Walt’s dreams were finally coming true, the essence of magic were beginning to taking form. (http://www.justdisney.com) According to Charles River author of American Legends: The Life of Walt Disney Walter Elias “Walt” Disney built his legacy and leadership based on his greatest dreams, creative imagination and the lifelong desire to experience magic. The “Disney magic” started its humble beginnings when Walt had a vision and a mission to provide entertainment and happiness to people of all ages. Walt used his vision and imagination to carry over his mission to improve and challenge the future of technology. Walt was a leader and dreamer. He only and employed individuals who are exceptionally talented with a strong desire for excellence. (Editors)
Walt’s traits as a leader showed that he was both innovative and creative with a high respect for the arts and saw technology to be boundless with untapped potential. He was also a risk taker despite many financial setbacks, he kept chasing his dream of creating the magic. Being the charismatic person that he was he promoted casual and personal relationships with employees. Always creating something innovative and the desire to do better attitude proved his strive for success and his attention to detail. But with fame also came many myths and urban legends that people still to this day question.
Disney used to have a policy stating that women could not be hired at the animation studio outside of the Ink and Paint department. It 's sadly true, though no longer the case. As the above 1938 rejection letter received by animator Mary Ford reads, "Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that work is performed entirely by young men." The concern was that Disney would invest a considerable amount of time and money in training a new animator only to lose that investment when she "inevitably" left to get married and start a family. This says more about the culture of the time than about women animators, who may well have been happy to keep their jobs had they lived in a society that allowed them to do so.
The taboo menstruation film of 1946, explaining the menstrual cycle to young girls. This was thought to be a myth of sorts it may seem hard to imagine Disney, which generally tries to tiptoe around anything remotely taboo, tackling a subject like menstruation. But there was a time when Disney produced a number of educational films for use in schools, including this one in cooperation with Kotex.
One of the many myths surrounds one of Disney’s biggest characters, Tinker Bell. The myth states that Marilyn Monroe was the inspiration of the character however she was created and actually modeled after actress Margaret Kerry. Tinker Bell has been one of Disney 's most recognized and important branding icons for over half a century, and is generally known as "a symbol of 'the magic of Disney '."
Probably one of the most frightening myths is the one about a guest who stood up in his seat while riding Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom. The legend claims this guest’s head was cut off from a track above. There is no record of this incident, but during testing of the ride before it opened, Imagineers discovered a dummy’s head was severed off when placed in the standing position.
The movie Song of the South, was released in 1946 and is based on a series of folk tales. The movie was a financial success upon its theatrical release, but it has never been released in its entirety in the U.S. because of the claims that the movie is racist. Critics have accused Disney of glorifying slavery. A rumor was circulated that African Americans can receive 5000 free shares of Disney stock as restitution for the release of Song of the South. This rumor had absolutely no basis in fact and no such offer was ever announced by Disney.
Dirty subliminal messaging in Disney movies? After tons of digging around and video watching I found this myth myself to be untrue. Several scenes from Disney’s movies are said to have some sort of subliminal messages in them. There are both subliminal and non-subliminal hidden messages in Disney films, it’s actually a bit of a tradition at the studio. Several of these movies include The Lion King, in the scene where Simba watches his father die, the word “SEX” is briefly formed in the clouds above his head. Some observers think that the hidden word is actually the letters “SFX”, referring to Disney 's Special Effects department. Even the merge between Disney and Pixar there is even hidden messages like the letter and number combination that appears several times in the Toy Story movie franchise the numbers can be found on the tag of the pizza delivery car A-113 which actually refers to the classroom where Pixar artist are trained and where the a Toy Story movies where designed. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A113)
“The “Duck Ban” In 1977, a Liberal Party representative in Finland proposed to youth centers that they stop buying Donald Duck comics because they were an unnecessary expense during the downturn in the economy. The media stretched the truth and now there is a myth that Finland banned Donald Duck because he doesn 't wear pants.” (Nefer)
Haunted Disney, some believe that one of the singing busts in the graveyard in the Haunted Mansion is Walt Disney. The busts is actually that of Thurl Ravenscroft a singer whom many would recognize as the same voice that sung "You 're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" from the classic Christmas television special, Dr. Seuss ' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and also as the voice of Tony the Tiger. Ravenscroft who closely resembled Walt Disney 's appearance was quickly cast as a busts for the attraction and has however kept the rumor mill running that Walt was still with us even from the dead.
Let the bell of freedom ring throughout the park, ok well maybe not the actual Liberty Bell, but the myth is it’s the only replica that is known and said to exist and it is located at the Magic Kingdom in Orlando. This myth contrary to belief is indeed untrue. Yes this is a true replica cut from the original mold as the real Liberty Bell but there are 50 other replicas along with this one.
The Castle Poster It is alleged that a disgruntled animator decided to get even with Disney after being laid off. He is said to have drawn a very inappropriate body part on the castle for The Little Mermaid 's poster. Both Disney and the animator claim this was an accident. However contrary to belief the artist who created the original castle artwork didn’t work for Disney. So he wasn’t mad at Disney nor was he about to be fired. However, the tower’s resemblance cannot be denied, and Disney removed the offending tower for future releases.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) Rumor Has it…Walt Disney, was a rampant cocaine addict, included an homage to his drug of choice in one of his first productions. Each of the seven dwarfs of Snow White represents one of seven “stages” of cocaine addiction: Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey, Bashful, and Doc. First of all, however much pop culture likes to attribute salacious rumors to its icons, it has never been proven that Walt Disney ever partook in any recreational drug use. Furthermore, there are no “stages” of cocaine addiction, although there are mood swings (Happy and Grumpy), sleep issues (Sleepy), allergies (Sneezy), personality alterations (Dopey and Bashful), and ultimately a trip to the Doc.
Ten days after his 65th birthday, on December 15, 1966, at 9:30 a.m., Disney died of acute circulatory collapse, caused by lung cancer.
It has been a myth since his death that he was frozen through the use of “cryonic suspension”. However there is not enough real evidence to support these beliefs due to the privacy Disney himself maintained concerning his personal life. The lack of detail about his funeral and burial arrangements, combined with his reputation as a technological innovator has helped to foster the myth that, Walt Disney is frozen and encapsulated under the castle at Disneyland in California. Although Disney’s preferences regarding the disposal of his body are not public record (instructions or provisions for his funeral or burial were not included in his will. Maybe this is a true myth or does one wonder, could it be true that underneath the “happiest place on earth” lies the creator of it all. There is almost no credible evidence to suggest that Disney was even interested in the potential of cryogenics. Most of the claims that Disney did have himself frozen come from discredited biographers whose sources are hearsay at best, outright fabrication at worst. Disney 's death certificate states that he was cremated and statements from the Disney family bear this out. But as long as conspiracy theories and the dream of seeing Walt come back to put the House of Mouse in order persist, the legend will live on. (Urban Legends- Walt Disney Frozen -
YouTube)
To wrap things up “When stars are born, they possess a gift or two. One of those is, they have the power to make a wish come true.” (Fairy) It looks as if this statement is true although Walt may have left us almost 50 years ago but his dream and legacy will live on forever. If not in spirit but in the myths and urban legend that he left behind.
(Exploring New Things) (Unknown)
Works Cited
Barrier, Michael. The Animated Man: A Life of Walt Disney / Edition 1 . University of California Press, 2008.
Editors, Charles Rivers. American Legends: The Life of Walt Disney. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014.
"Exploring New Things." Hollywood: Walt Disney Sudios, Unknown.
Fairy, The Blue. "Wishes Walt Disney World." Disney Parks Soundtrack. Orlando, 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A113. n.d. 03 05 2014. http://www.justdisney.com. 2013. 28 04 2014.
Nefer, Barbara. Fact or Fiction? 20 Urban Legends, Ghost Stories, Rumors & Secrets of Walt Disney World [. LifeSkills Press, 2012.
Unknown. "Partners." Orlando : Walt Disney World, 2014.
Urban Legends- Walt Disney Frozen - YouTube. 2013.