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Credit: D23The entertainment industry would not be what it is today without the creative genius of Walt Disney. There’s no denying that his contributions to the realms of cartoons, film, and especially theme parks helped shape our modern popular culture. Naturally, Disney’s fan base has known this for years.
That all being said, the subject of “what would Walt do” has risen more times than many care to count. To say the modern Disney is completely unrecognizable from Walt’s day wouldn’t be untrue, but would his method of doing things truly help things at the movies or at the Parks?
What Would Walt Disney Want?
Walt Disney did a lot of good for a lot of people, and all in the name of imagination and creativity, there’s no disputing that. However, he was far from a saint. Like any successful businessman, he made some very controversial decisions in his line of work, and the results definitely called his character into question.
A recent post on r/WaltDisneyWorld asked the question, “What would the parks be like if Walt was still around or they still followed his ideologies?” Similar subjects have been debated for years, but mentioning his ideologies stirs the pot in a different direction.
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Let’s be realistic, it’s hard to compete with the wants and wishes of a ghost, but that doesn’t stop the Disney fanbase from wondering what Walt would do if he saw the state of his magical media empire. Naturally, the responses on the thread were quite vocal.
u/Bigbuckrocks began the conversation in their original post, but the following phrase nabbed this writer’s attention.
“Walt was a man who not only had a dream, but also wasn’t shy in taking great risks to pursue them. Before Snow White came out, he was told by everyone that it was a bad idea, but he went so far as to mortgage his own house to fund it. The film ended up making cinematic history. Before Disneyland opened, everyone told him the same thing. Except this time, they were kind of right, because “Black Sunday” happened. But, it did ultimately make its mark in theme park history.”
The user is certainly right, but one of the issues many dedicated fans have with the company is that Disney has become afraid to take risks, and has since become too reliant on established IP. The same user goes on in their post to address the same subject, but they aren’t the only one.
u/MikeandMelly adds,
“I don’t know where this idea that Walt would shun popular IP in favor of original ideas if he were still around came from. It has to be one of the most off base presumptions about the guy given what we know actually know about him. We don’t have classics like Splash, Space and Thunder Mountain because Walt was some guy out to spite IP – it’s that IP of his time is simply not what it is now and they were forced to build these ideas from the ground up. Walt was head over heels for IP though, and would’ve been all over stuff like Star Wars…”
On the subject of the Parks, much has been said about places like the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT. A general consensus is that they’d be practically unrecognizable, but would still have their crowds.
u/the_dj_zig adds,
Epcot as we know it wouldn’t exist (we all know why) -Studios wouldn’t exist ([Great Movie Ride] was originally conceived as a pavilion in Epcot and instead became the ancho of a new park at the suggestion of Eisner (who also probably would’ve never become a part of Disney)). -DAK might still be here (it was the idea of Joe Rohde, who potentially would’ve come to the company on a different timeline) -DCA probably wouldn’t be there; it was a replacement idea for WestCOT, which also wouldn’t have been a thing if Epcot stayed as a city…”
Of course, many fans flocked to the comments for the political discord. A few users even suggest that Walt would be cancelled in today’s social climate, but that’s not saying there aren’t at least some interesting perspectives.
u/JonnyRocks discusses the original intent for EPCOT when they write,
I think you misunderstand how libertarian Walt Disney was. After Magic Kingdom, he was going to build an actual city, which he called EPCOT. Everyone had to have a job. If you lost your job, one would be provided at the park. If you refused to work, you were kicked out. When you became too old to work, you were kicked out.
Politics and IP debates aside, anyone involved with the discussion needs to keep one thing in mind, this is all subjective. It is literally impossible to know what Walt Disney would have said, done, or believed had he not passed away in 1966. Fans and CEOs alike can speculate, but it’s a different world from Walt’s day.
What do you think Walt would do about the state of the company today? Tell Inside the Magic in the comments below!