Destroying Disney: How the House of Mouse Lost Its Way and How They Can Reclaim the Magic

Author's Note: As a lifelong Disney fan, this post admittedly comes from a selfish place. As an admirer of the Disney brand and all that it stands for, I want to see it thrive and succeed while remaining true to its core values. Recently, however, the company and its brand of "magic" I fell in love with has become unrecognizable under the pursuit of profit and the affliction of politics. This post is not Disney hate mail, but rather a love letter of a bygone era and a plea to remember what made it magical.         

My earliest memory of Disney magic was formed in a darkened movie theater, where the flickering lights on the silver screen brought to life images of a far-away land, incredible magical powers, and a life-altering glass slipper. It was 1987, Cinderella had been re-released for the last time (at least globally), but to my young eyes, it was the first step into a whole new world of magic – pun totally intended!  

I have to take a moment to thank my parents for introducing me to the wonderful world of Disney movies at such a young age (though looking back, they were probably doing it as much for themselves as they were for me). I also count myself fortunate to have grown up during the peak Disney Renaissance, when little mermaids, beast-taming beauties, wisecracking blue genies, and lion kings danced, sang, and dominated the box office for nearly a decade!
 
This particular brand of “Disney Magic” was so addicting, that even when a film from the House of Mouse wasn’t playing at the nearby cineplex, I could be found hunkered down in front of my TV, wearing out VHS copies of Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book, and Pinocchio. The magic wasn’t confined to just my little corner of the world; almost no birthday passed me by without a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth. Let’s be real, what kid wouldn’t choose Disneyland over a boring old birthday party? 
 
Later, in my early adult years, I was a proud annual pass holder, jetting off with friends after work to enjoy an afternoon making memories while playing in Walt’s park. I saw grown adults – my own mother among them – practically transform into jubilant children whenever we entered the park, leaving behind today and entering the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy. This is, of course, all to simply say: I’m a Disney fan. 

Or at least, I used to be. 
 
Sadly, the Disney that I once knew, that captivated me with its magic and promise of untold adventure and excitement is no more. In its place now stands an unrecognizable, soulless behemoth, determined to crush Walt Disney’s legacy under its lumbering feet. All who come to this once happy place are no longer welcome; Disneyland (and the magic of Disney the world over) is no longer yours. It’s held captive by those who don’t deserve it, will never understand it, and are actively trying to rebuild it in their twisted image. 
 
So, what happened? How did this abomination that was once the inimitable Walt Disney Company come to rear its ugly head? It would be easy to blame one individual – a sinister villain of classic Disney proportions – someone we could direct our collective ire towards as the architect of this nefarious scheme. The truth is, we have several players in this tragedy to blame – including some of our fellow Disneyphiles. Yes, they include names like Iger and Chapek, men who took their eyes off cultivating the venerable Disney legacy while trying to exalt their own, but also lesser players who worked in the shadows, defiling their roles as stewards of the magic. 
 
The blame also lies at the feet of fellow fanatics of the mouse, who turned a blind eye to the undoing of Walt’s life’s work and who blithely praised anything with the Disney brand – regardless of the message. Shame can most certainly be found with the nameless bean-counters lurking in the halls of the corporate offices, who above all else worship money. Their sin is pricing out the very types of families Walt sought to welcome into his Magic Kingdom.
 
The Walt Disney Company once stood for quality entertainment, whose only goal was to bring joy and laughter to millions, with no other agenda aside from pure unadulterated escapism. While it has always been a business, to be sure, Walt was never motivated by money, it was the audience and the guests – people – who drove him to make his dreams our reality. I’ve always considered Walt Disney, along with his vision and accomplishments, a personal creative inspiration. 

Watching his legacy desecrated in real-time by self-serving activists and money-hungry executives has been akin to watching your house get robbed and ripped apart as you lay tied up inside. The history of vandalism of the Disney Magic by these aforementioned villains is long and ugly. Their transgressions are impossible to ignore: 

• They have eschewed creativity and original theatrical content in favor of live-action remakes/reboots, which nobody wants, and which are often far inferior to their original counterparts. 

• They stripped Walt Disney Imagineering of its quality innovation by driving out many of its loyal and brilliant minds with forced retirements and layoffs, destroying morale. They've further hindered WDI's ingenuity by “playing it safe” with their projects and IPs, resulting in lackluster attractions and uninspiring developments. 

• They eliminated quality amenities at the theme parks while raising prices to an astronomical level for admission and almost every remaining service. They then created superfluous services designed simply to price gouge guests, banking on brand recognition as incentive to pay. 

• They insisted on retaining an unpopular and unsustainable reservation system at several theme parks, destroying the spontaneity of visiting a Disney park and frustrating the attempts of many families to visit them.

• They gutted Walt Disney Animation, the very cornerstone upon which Disney was built, in favor of solely creating CGI-laden films that have suffered a decrease in quality in recent years (it may be an unpopular opinion, but a one-hit song does not redeem a plotless film).  

• Most egregiously, they have abandoned quality storytelling and entertainment in favor of political posturing and social statements within their films and entertainment, resulting in insultingly vapid, hollow, and frustratingly unmemorable productions. 

These grievances may seem petty to some, but they are cardinal sins when viewed through the prism of Walt Disney’s vision. They are an ultimate betrayal of the Disney fan base and the primary catalyst for much of the consumers’ mass exodus from the company and the continual free-fall of its once invaluable stock. These symptoms are indicative of a cancer within the Walt Disney Company, a soul-sucking disease draining the life and talent from the house that Walt built. This cancer must be removed and cast aside, at all cost. 

The best remedy is for the Walt Disney Company to return to their roots by doing what they have always done best -- entertain. They need to remember what made them the gold standard of imagination and inspiration for decades and recapture the joy felt by millions all over the world. They owe it to the generations of fans who cherish the joy of feeling like a child again, if only for a moment.   

I miss my happy place. I miss the feeling I had in that darkened theater so many years ago, when the magic was real and a child could dare to dream. Disney magic has always been comfort food for the soul, not junk food for the greedy. Many years ago, a man believed in a dream and cultivated it into an improbable reality, proving dreams really do come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. It's high time we return to a Disney we can believe in again. Walt Disney and his legacy deserve better from the company he built. So do we.