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January 31, 2003
The Genius behind the Mouse
He was one of the brighter stars in the firmament of the 20th century luminaries. His genius was and continues to be universally acknowledged. And, there can hardly be any question as to his greatness. He purveyed happiness while promoting good behavior and buttressing human trust in virtue that was invariably portrayed by him as triumphing over wickedness. Interestingly enough, he fostered subtly this trust through cartoon films in which all characters were portrayed by animals - Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Goofy, Pluto, Donald and all their feathered and furred friends.
Mickey holds a special place in this bevy of talking animals; he is the icon. Walt Disney pointed to this when he said: “I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse.”
Mickey popped out of Disney’s mind onto a drawing board some 80 years back when Disney and his brother Roy were at the verge of financial disaster. In the words of Disney, “Born of necessity, the little fellow freed us of immediate worry. He provided the means for expanding our organization to its present dimensions.”
The first cartoon film with a sound track, starring Mickey Mouse, was released as far back as 1928. Disney endowed the mouse with his own voice. For the next 26 years Disney continued to provide himself the voice for Mickey.
Disney nurtured, understandably, the character with utmost loving care. For, as he himself put it: “The life and ventures of Mickey Mouse have been closely bound up with my own personal and professional life. It is understandable that I should have sentimental attachment for the little personage who played so big a part in the course of Disney Productions and has been so happily accepted as an amusing friend.” So much so that Mickey had emerged as a national symbol and had therefore to behave properly at all times.
Disney enlivened the imagination of children and adults alike. A pioneer in the world of animation, he created the first sound cartoon, the first full-length cartoon film, and the first cartoon icon - Mickey.
He won 32 personal Academy Awards - a record. His influence lasts forever. He brightened the world for millions and kept the child in us alive with hope, laughter and love. He liberated laughter and our sense of fantasy from stifling conventions.
The concept of animal characters serving as human surrogates goes back to Aesop’s fables and beyond. All cultures have used the technique particularly to convey views unpalatable to the ruling elite. Kalila ve Damna (Arabic), Anwar-I-Suhaili (Farsi), some tales in Saadi’s Gulistan and Rumi’s Masnavi have also used this effective medium.
Gifted with an exceptional imagination and an incredible energy that kept him pulsating all the time, Walt Disney had produced by the time of his death at age 65 in December 1966, twenty-one animated feature length films, 493 short cartoon films, 47 live action films, 7 true-life adventure features, 330 hours of Mickey Mouse Club television programs, 78 half-hour Zorro TV adventures, and 280 other shows. This record is unlikely to be excelled in the foreseeable future.
What actually stand as the outstanding monuments to his genius, his fantastic imagery, his magical legacy are the two entertainment parks - the Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and the Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
I have been to Disneyland twice and each time I have come out dazzled by the enormity of the project and the greatness of the mind behind it. Living for over a decade in Anaheim, I have had the advantage of watching the immense influence of the “Happiest Place on Earth” on this small, almost sleepy city of a little over 300,000. Take Disneyland away from this city and it would wither away and shrink to insignificance in no time. Anaheim is essentially Disneyland surrounded by hotels, motels, restaurants and other facilities catering mainly to the visitors attracted to the park. It has been expanding its attractions despite the limits of space. If it stops expanding, it would certainly shrink. Disney’s magical legacy keeps it throbbing and serving good, clean fun to all visitors.
Disney was a visionary artist who let his heart not his wealth guide him through life. He was always willing to gamble everything on an idea. It is kind of fun, he believed, to do the impossible.
He has indeed done the impossible. He has been eminently successful in creating a place where both adults and children could have fun together, a place that would turn an ordinary day into a festival.
Disneyland, he had declared, would be a world of Americans, past and present - a place of warmth and nostalgia, of illusion and color and delight. It would be the essence of America, the nostalgia of the past with exciting glimpses of the future. Its Main Street and the adjacent Town Square are designed to evoke old values, a sense of neighborhood and the compactness of society in a simpler age.
In the American value system, a person’s place in society hinges on his own attainments, not his descent. The possession of ‘know-how’ in the American cultural milieu is a very valuable attribute. Walt Disney was know-how personified. His know-how encompassed both the mechanics and the art of film making, knowledge of various disciplines and specialties. He was an inspired tinkerer, a spellbinding story-teller and an accomplished editor. He was a visionary with know-how like Thomas Edison for whom technology was not dull but a harbinger of a magical transformation of the world. No wonder, Disneyland and Disney World attract architects and planners because in these parks systems that visionaries only dreamed of have become realities and can be seen in operation. The monorail of Disneyland attests to this.
Walt Disney is a classic American success story. In the past century and a half, America produced numerous self-made men. The species thrived in America as nowhere else. Each one started with almost nothing except a dream and an unrelenting obsession to fulfil it. The society encouraged the march of such individuals towards their dreams.
Disney was a hard-task master and had around him only high-achievers. His success and celebrity did not turn his head. In his own words: “As far as I can remember, being a celebrity has never helped me make a good picture or a good shot in a polo game, or command the obedience of my daughter, or impress my wife. It doesn’t even seem to help keep fleas off our dogs and, if being a celebrity won’t give one an advantage over a couple of fleas, then I guess there can’t be that much in being a celebrity after all”.
But, he was indeed a celebrity - perhaps the best known and most admired American throughout the world. And, he turned his alter ego, Mickey Mouse, into no less a celebrity. (arifhussaini@hotmail.com January 24, 2003)
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