Walt: The Man Behind The Myth

[MKCustodial]

I just got the DVD and was watching it yesterday. It has some great extras, interviews with close friends like D!ck Van and Dean Jones, and also interviews with the remaining Nine Old Man.
Well, the whole thing got me thinking. We tend to complain about the company, saying stuff like "Walt wouldn't aprove this" or "Walt would rather have it like that"... And those who don't agree say we never knew Walt to know what he'd want or dislike. Well, here's a DVD full of people who KNEW him, and they all seem to say the same thing"Walt was a wonderful man, he built his parks for families to have fun together, ad he wanted his movies and cartoons to be fun, first of all.

Shouldn't Roy play this film to the current executives and board of directors? Maybe then they'd listen and understand...

 

[prberk]

Yes. I believe that all employees should have to watch something like this as part of orientation. (Is it part of "Traditions" any more?)

This should be the case for all Disney employees, of all divisions.
The company operates in his name, and it should be expected.

I also believe that it should be reinstated as an attraction at the Magic Kingdom. I saw it as a child, and it really left an impression. It put the place I was visiting into perspective in a grand way, and probably inpired more than anything else my interest in WDW.

Walt was all for progress and change ("Tomorrowland"), but he also knew the value of understanding where you came from ("Frontierland"), for solid roots. Those who don't know the lessons of any history are bound to repeat them. The past can both inspire and inform the future. And that especially the case with this truly remarkable man in this uniquely gifted company.

 

[MKCustodial]

Originally posted by prberk
Yes. I believe that all employees should have to watch something like this as part of orientation. (Is it part of "Traditions" any more?)

This should be the case for all Disney employees, of all divisions.
The company operates in his name, and it should be expected.

I also believe that it should be reinstated as an attraction at the Magic Kingdom. I saw it as a child, and it really left an impression. It put the place I was visiting into perspective in a grand way, and probably inpired more than anything else my interest in WDW.

Walt was all for progress and change ("Tomorrowland"), but he also knew the value of understanding where you came from ("Frontierland"), for solid roots. Those who don't know the lessons of any history are bound to repeat them. The past can both inspire and inform the future. And that especially the case with this truly remarkable man in this uniquely gifted company.

I believe you're mistaking it with "The Walt Disney Story", that is included in the "100 Years of Magic" DVD? Isn't it the movie playing in "One Man's Dream" at the Studios? This one is also great, and pretty much everything in it is included in some way or another in "Walt: TMBTM".

What you said about progress X roots is also very true. I believe at one point he even refers to himself as old-fashioned and tied to the past... And then those pesky thrill teens complain when someone voice their disagreement over a classic attraction being torn down! The man was a conservative himself! :lol:

Along with these DVDs, I also got the 2 Mickeys and the Goofy Treasures. Walt cared so much about the past, and about his roots in particular, that as Leonard Maltin states at some point, you can see traces of Walt's upbringing in the cartoons' storylines, and the fact that many of his artists shared that background (since it was common for that generation) only helped accentuate those traits. Farm stuff, his love for polo and trains, and even further into the past, like the frontier days and the gold rush.

You're absolutely right. Even though "Walt" is too big a movie, the shorter "WDS" should definately be a part of Traditions. What they tell about him at the classes don't do him justice. By the faces people would do at the movie, they could even tell which were not right for a true CM position.

 

[JLW11Hi]

That is a great movie...I got teary-eyed when I first watched it!

 

[prberk]

Originally posted by MKCustodial
I believe you're mistaking it with "The Walt Disney Story", that is included in the "100 Years of Magic" DVD? Isn't it the movie playing in "One Man's Dream" at the Studios? This one is also great, and pretty much everything in it is included in some way or another in "Walt: TMBTM".


You're absolutely right. Even though "Walt" is too big a movie, the shorter "WDS" should definately be a part of Traditions. What they tell about him at the classes don't do him justice. By the faces people would do at the movie, they could even tell which were not right for a true CM position.

You are right. I did not point out the distinction. I would like to see "The Walt Disney Story" or some similar movie (with a similar length) reinstated as an attraction at the MK (where it used to be is fine: across from City Hall), and also used in "Traditions."

As for the Studios "One Man's Dream" version, it was different and edited somewhat to fit the company's current take on Walt (all "dreams" and "magic," less of the supporter of science and progress). The film skimmed over and almost ignored EPCOT, unlike "WDS," which quotes Walt as saying it was "the very heart of everything" he and his company would be doing in Florida. It allowed you to see his original vision, without knowledge of which the park and its evolution really make little sense. Knowledge of this actually puts it into perspective and inspires loyalty to its ideals, even despite the evolution of his dream into the current Epcot. At least that was the case for me.

It always helps inspire loyalty (and repeat business) if you know where you came from, and thus you are grounded in a firm foundation. Otherwise you risk being adrift in shifting sand....
Even the Bible says that! :animwink:

 

[cornnibblitz]

I LOVE Walt: The Man Behind the Myth. Love it, love it, love it!

I do wish One Man's Dream would come out on video as well.