If Walt Disney was alive.

[Florida_is_hot]

Walt Disney died over 50 years ago I wonder what he would think if he seen what happened to the company carrying his name ?

• Been dead 50 years, he was not perfect. He was a racist (look at early animation), chain smoker etc.... it is different time. The company that carries his name is no longer controlled by his family. In the park "he only knew Disneyland but they are all the same" the service that would of existed 50 years ago is becoming history. Animation is all computer driven, everything from animation to the management of the parks has one purpose to make money for stock holders.

Me I think many things would of disappoint Walt Disney, but I remember he did have a brother Roy and Roy was the businessman and Walt was not.

 

[Tom]

Your post must have required as much research as your username did.

 

[Captain Barbossa]

Your post must have required as much research as your username did.

Lol

 

[AndyS2992]

The Walt Disney Company takes in billions in profits annually, I'm sure he'd be very pleased. Though when Disney announces something and people say 'Walt would not approve', that bothers me. You're not Walt, you don't know what he would have thought, no one does. So there really is no point speculating.

 

[sublimesting]

Walt Disney died over 50 years ago I wonder what he would think if he seen what happened to the company carrying his name ?

• Been dead 50 years, he was not perfect. He was a racist (look at early animation), chain smoker etc.... it is different time. The company that carries his name is no longer controlled by his family. In the park "he only knew Disneyland but they are all the same" the service that would of existed 50 years ago is becoming history. Animation is all computer driven, everything from animation to the management of the parks has one purpose to make money for stock holders.

Me I think many things would of disappoint Walt Disney, but I remember he did have a brother Roy and Roy was the businessman and Walt was not.

OK, where to begin.

I'll start with this: 'He was a racist (look at early animation)'. No, he was not. The animation was insensitive, yes. But he was not a racist. People like to toss around that he hated Jews as well, but nothing could be further from the truth actually. And he smoked.... I can guarantee he wishes he didn't. And none of that matters anyways.
I'm not even sure where this quote is from: "he only knew Disneyland but they are all the same". Actually I'm not even sure what the entire sentence means. But he wanted there to be a Disney World so he had a playground for his dreams. He didn't want a clone of Disneyland. But above all else Walt was an innovator and strived to continually push the envelope and improve how things were done. He was never one to rely on the old fashioned way of doing things. Case in point is his groundbreaking work with multi-plane cameras and the way he revolutionized the animation industry. Case in point number 2 is the way in which he revolutionized the theme park industry with the creation of Disneyland.
Case in point 3 is the fact that Walt continuously reinvested everything he had in money and time repeatedly over the course of his career to try new things, to better old things and to create new experiences.
I think he would have loved computer animation, especially as it relates to live action films. As for serving the customer I also feel that Disney has upheld that aspect of Walt's dream. Customer is king.
One point of conjecture I will make though is the drive towards profits. Make no mistake here. Walt was a businessman! Read any books on the man. He was not a warm cuddly teddy bear. He was not uncle Walt. He was a driven, hard serious man of business. Things were done right and done the Disney way. Where Walt differs is that he re-invested the profits. And note that Disney was controlled by Disney while now it is controlled by investors. It is more profit driven but the spark to innovate and create is still there.

I will say this as a final end cap. Walt would not like the fact that Disney is skewing more towards the wealthy now days. Everything Disney does creatively and technologically would be Walt approved. Making money to enrich investors Walt would not have liked. BUT being as he was a business man, he would probably have seen the value of the investors capital, which is what enables Disney to create and expand and be what it has become.

 

[correcaminos]

The Walt Disney Company takes in billions in profits annually, I'm sure he'd be very pleased. Though when Disney announces sosmething and people say 'Walt would not approve', that bothers me. You're not Walt, you don't know what he would have thought, no one does. So there really is no point speculating.

This!

Though one thing I always laugh at is how the views of Walt vary among people. As a whole they were ruthless businessmen. Sure Walt had some great visions, but he was no saint either. That said not sure what smoking had to do with anything. Also I've always heard refuted evidence on him being racist in any form. What was shown on TV at the time may come across as insensitive now but times have changed.

Anyway, I think Walt and Roy would be pleased with profits.

 

[John park hopper]

OK, where to begin.

I'll start with this: 'He was a racist (look at early animation)'. No, he was not. The animation was insensitive, yes. But he was not a racist. People like to toss around that he hated Jews as well, but nothing could be further from the truth actually. And he smoked.... I can guarantee he wishes he didn't. And none of that matters anyways.
I'm not even sure where this quote is from: "he only knew Disneyland but they are all the same". Actually I'm not even sure what the entire sentence means. But he wanted there to be a Disney World so he had a playground for his dreams. He didn't want a clone of Disneyland. But above all else Walt was an innovator and strived to continually push the envelope and improve how things were done. He was never one to rely on the old fashioned way of doing things. Case in point is his groundbreaking work with multi-plane cameras and the way he revolutionized the animation industry. Case in point number 2 is the way in which he revolutionized the theme park industry with the creation of Disneyland.
Case in point 3 is the fact that Walt continuously reinvested everything he had in money and time repeatedly over the course of his career to try new things, to better old things and to create new experiences.
I think he would have loved computer animation, especially as it relates to live action films. As for serving the customer I also feel that Disney has upheld that aspect of Walt's dream. Customer is king.
One point of conjecture I will make though is the drive towards profits. Make no mistake here. Walt was a businessman! Read any books on the man. He was not a warm cuddly teddy bear. He was not uncle Walt. He was a driven, hard serious man of business. Things were done right and done the Disney way. Where Walt differs is that he re-invested the profits. And note that Disney was controlled by Disney while now it is controlled by investors. It is more profit driven but the spark to innovate and create is still there.

I will say this as a final end cap. Walt would not like the fact that Disney is skewing more towards the wealthy now days. Everything Disney does creatively and technologically would be Walt approved. Making money to enrich investors Walt would not have liked. BUT being as he was a business man, he would probably have seen the value of the investors capital, which is what enables Disney to create and expand and be what it has become.

Great rebuttal to Florida is hot.

 

[ppete1975]

He would be surprised his parks were so popular.. I honestly think he expected them to not get past knots family park levels not the huge crowd packer it is. He would be shocked there were disneys in other countries esp china.
He would be disappointed that all of them are Disney land jrs and not all unique, he only built Disney world so he could get a loan for the florida project. EPCOT (his version that was never built) was his goal, and I think hed be sad it didn't get built.
I think he would think it was dirty (he wanted every piece of trash picked up at all times).. part of why he built Disney land.

Hed be shocked at the beautiful computer animation and he would be a fan. (he was an innovator, he would have used computers if they had been around)

Hed be shocked they bought espn abc marvel and star wars (after we told him what 3 of those were, ok marvel was around but totally diff)

I think hed be shocked that as much old stuff is still around, I think hed have torn down a lot of the stuff we love, and put in new stuff.

If hed lived....... Disney land would be totally diff, Disney world would be the same as Disney land., Epcot would have failed, I think animal kingdom and Hollywood would have been built. Nostalgia wouldn't matter. The parks would be cleaner. But I don't think youd have marvel or star wars, and I think the parks wouldn't be as rich as they are.

 

[JIMINYCR]

You have to realize times change and things never remain the same. Everything is affected by time and the changing lifestyles and attitudes around it. There are no companies or corporations that resemble themselves as they were 50 years ago. Changes need to be made to stay competitive and viable, Disney is no different. Sure, I agree Walt would not recognize his company as it is running now and maybe it would not have survived if it continued being run by his family members... they botched it and Disney needed a big overhaul to stay solvent years ago. Everyone looks at the Disney corporation, its leaders and stock holders as evil but it is a necessity if Disney wants to survive. Some moves they make make you mad and others happy, but thats the business world.

 

[Prince-1]

The Walt Disney Company takes in billions in profits annually, I'm sure he'd be very pleased. Though when Disney announces sosmething and people say 'Walt would not approve', that bothers me. You're not Walt, you don't know what he would have thought, no one does. So there really is no point speculating.

Walt would not approve of your post.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Walt Disney died over 50 years ago I wonder what he would think if he seen what happened to the company carrying his name ?

• Been dead 50 years, he was not perfect. He was a racist (look at early animation), chain smoker etc.... it is different time. The company that carries his name is no longer controlled by his family. In the park "he only knew Disneyland but they are all the same" the service that would of existed 50 years ago is becoming history. Animation is all computer driven, everything from animation to the management of the parks has one purpose to make money for stock holders.

Me I think many things would of disappoint Walt Disney, but I remember he did have a brother Roy and Roy was the businessman and Walt was not.

Yeesh.

As for being "racist" - the way those toons depicted African-Americans, Native Americans and the like were typical of the times and were not done out of malice. Was Elmer Fudd meant to be a slam on whites? And speaking of Elmer - Warner Bros. was the worst of all the studios when it came to stereotyping. Check out its toon "Coal Black and the Sebben Dwarfs", for instance. Very cringeworthy stuff.

As for Walt personally, Floyd Norman, an African-American Disney animator who worked with Walt on Sleeping Beauty and the Jungle Book, has refuted any claims Walt was racist. Given his credentials, you might want to take his word on that.

As for 'misogynist"...in 1941, Walt Disney told his staff he intended to hire and train women animators. When his (all-male) staff objected, he had this to say:

Disney told his male animators, who were currently drawing "Dumbo," to expect to see more women working at the studio, according to Sigman Lowery. “If a woman can do the work as well, she is worth as much as a man,” Disney said, according to studio archives. “The girl artists have the right to expect the same chances for advancement as men, and I honestly believe they may eventually contribute something to this business that men never would or could.”

Wow, some misogynist huh? BTW, here's the link to the source for that quote: http://articles.latimes.com/2013/no...alt-disney-speech-on-women-animators-20131129

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, he wasn't an anti-Semite either. In fact, B'nai Brith, an organization that fights anti-Semitism, gave Walt a Man of the Year award after investigating that anti-Semite stuff. A few years later, Hadassah, a womens' Jewish group, also awarded him. So the anti-Semite rumor is false as well.

If you've been getting your info about Walt from the likes of Seth McFarlane and and Meryl Streep, bear in mind that while they are both accomplished in their fields, they are sadly, as is all too typical of today's Hollywood, political morons.

You're welcome.

 

[George]

If Walt were alive today, he'd be a 115 year old cyborg with complete control of planet earth. His iron hand and unbreakable will would be sternly enforced by his android army. A small, ragtag band of resistance fighters armed only with courage, hope, and several long range nukes would be huddled together on the outskirts of what was once known as "Topeka". Most of us would try and get through the drudgery of our 22 hour workdays without any of the name tag wearing informers finding out our true emotions.

 

[SpoiledBlueMilk]

I watched a video on YouTube that listed out how Disney has grown. It's amazing how many brands it owns. I could imagine Walt looking at the flow chart and being overwhelmed.....I see the questions going something like.....

"Wait - we own ABC? What is ESPN and why are there 20 of them? Sports you say?"
"What's Vice media? Hold on - we have a stake in that??!"
"Wait - we turned the Jungle Book into a live action film that made HOW much?"
"You mean to tell me we have not one, but two parks in a communist country?!"
"Jesus, hold on....I need a cigarette.....WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T SMOKE HERE?!"

 

[TaoBoxer]

I don't think Walt was racist, rather just a product of the times. Which could be said for every generation, including ours. I do wonder, however, if Walt would've expanded the "product" overseas. Especially in communists countries. Or perhaps, just continued with EPCOT?

 

[Minthorne]

Walt is alive. His cryogenic head is attached to the most advanced audio animatronic ever made and he dwells beneath Sleeping Beauty castle.

 

[ppete1975]

I think epcot would have failed miserably..... as a theme park. As a science research facility I think it would have been amazing and a success and something that would have helped mankind. Corporate sponsorship and big pharma would be paying for it not us, and we prob wouldn't even be allowed in. We would have received Disney world (only so walt could pay for epcots construction) and maybe animal kingdom (that's what jungle cruise was supposed to have been) maybe Hollywood studios or something else... but honestly I think he was done with theme parks.... maybe a train land... OH and he would have made Pixar make the movie Trains.

 

[Gelatoni]

We as people have a bad habit of painting those we lost with rose tinted glasses. I love Walt but lets be honest he would have lost touch with the consumer by the 80s. He left us in his prime.
A prime example is vince mcmahon who is in 70s now and almost every wrestling fan says the same thing he's lost touch and his company is paying for it.

 

[Rumrunner]

Walt Disney died over 50 years ago I wonder what he would think if he seen what happened to the company carrying his name ?

• Been dead 50 years, he was not perfect. He was a racist (look at early animation), chain smoker etc.... it is different time. The company that carries his name is no longer controlled by his family. In the park "he only knew Disneyland but they are all the same" the service that would of existed 50 years ago is becoming history. Animation is all computer driven, everything from animation to the management of the parks has one purpose to make money for stock holders

Me I think many things would of disappoint Walt Disney, but I remember he did have a brother Roy and Roy was the businessman and Walt was not.

Walt Disney built Disneyland and envisioned Disney World because he wanted a family environment where families could have a unique and wholesome experience. That was part of his core and I doubt he would waiver far from those core beliefs.
I doubt he cared what color the people were that came to his parks.

 

[Bairstow]

I think Disney likely was sexist and racist when he first came from Missouri, and over the course of living and working in California for half a century, his point of view changed. That's what tends to happen when one spends a lifetime meeting and collaborating with hundreds of different people from all over the world during the period of greatest social change in American history. It's as ridiculous to deny the prejudiced overtones of Disney's early work as it is to ignore the impact that his lifetime would have had upon his beliefs.

Having said that, if Disney somehow survived to the present day, I would see him as having long gotten bored with theme parks, as he had with film, and gotten really interested in video games and other forms of interactive entertainment. At this point, he would be putting all his best people into working on VR experiences and how to make them profitable through online distribution.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I think Disney likely was sexist and racist when he first came from Missouri, and over the course of living and working in California for half a century, his point of view changed. That's what tends to happen when one spends a lifetime meeting and collaborating with hundreds of different people from all over the world during the period of greatest social change in American history. It's as ridiculous to deny the prejudiced overtones of Disney's early work as it is to ignore the impact that his lifetime would have had upon his beliefs.

Having said that, if Disney somehow survived to the present day, I would see him as having long gotten bored with theme parks, as he had with film, and gotten really interested in video games and other forms of interactive entertainment. At this point, he would be putting all his best people into working on VR experiences and how to make them profitable through online distribution.

He was bored with them right after Disneyland. His use of MK for Florida was out of the knowledge that they needed an income source to finance his EPCOT dream. In fact, it has been said that he basically just told the nine old men to create MK in the area and walked away from it. By then his interest was almost exclusively about EPCOT.

I think that the first few years, had he lived, of EPCOT would have seemed successful. Businesses would have seen the place as a great way to get out information about new technology. However, I firmly believe that with the advent of the internet, a much cheaper and more accessible way of showcasing their stuff. It would have ended the corporate desire to continue to continuously upgrade and supply the technology. At the very least, without his reputation it would have eventually faltered anyway unless some of the new technology was how to live forever.