The Spark that was Disney

Hi, Peaches here,

Mom read a note from a reader to me. Our friend got this information from Jean Huston's book, Mystical Dogs.

What is one of the most successful enterprises in the world today? By any economic or populist standard it is the various Disney Worlds where archetypal animals – Mickey the Mouse, Donald the Duck, Goofy the dog – are there to greet us and bring us home again to a land of wonder and enchantment. The creators of Disneyland and Disney World may not know it, but they have presented us with modern Platonic forms, and in their presence we feel safe and ready for adventure.

Our friend then shared this story:

I once had a conversation at Disneyland in California with a man who every day and for some time had worn the Mickey Mouse costume. He had divested himself of costume and mask, and now was permitted to talk. I asked him what it was like being Mickey Mouse month after month, and he told me something very strange. He said that sometimes when he looked into the eyes of wonder of some little child, he felt that he was the great Mouse and that he also was the essence of the heart and spirit and knowledge of all animals. Then the parent of the child would tell him to pose for the camera and it would be gone. But for a moment, he had known the magic and the mystery that indigenous people know when playing in their totemic incarnation.”

Posted by Jewell D at 12:25 PM 1 comment: