Monday, June 29, 2009

Walt Disney Everlasting Presence


It was on a blessed afternoon I first went to the movies, still a five-
year-old, to watch "Sleeeping Beauty". The reality of the movie was much more pungent than that of the catechism’s hell. As scary as the devil of the catechism,
the dragon was, nevertheless, vulnerable. It was killed by a handsome
prince, who was in love with the most ethereal Disney princess. Evil
was eradicated by courage, romance and beauty, for the sake of love.
Rather than an after life conquest, the happy ending was reached for the
fulfillment of life at its fullest. Life as love.From then on, I was either in
heaven or in hell. Heaven was Disney. Like a preordained coincidence, the combination of fairy fantasy with the Disney language was the awesome turning of the real- from that which merely is- into what must
be. Th e feeling of transcendence it transmitted mixed a sense of relief
and justice. “At last!” is what I told myself, without realizing it. Like charms created by the blessed Disney industry, the stickers of Sleeping Beauty,
launched right after the movie, were swapped between my younger brother and I, passing from one avid set of little fi ngers to the other, as a transcendental mission
behind the torrential, shield-like rain that had my dreaded school
providentially called off on that unforgettable morning.
When I learned more about the man Walt Disney, I realized that to benefit from the message of his integrity was to bridge this world of material existence with that of spirit. Disney traded material security for the abstract value of being in good terms with himself. "I traded security for self-respect", he declared. This declaration is like a written proof of the existence of the soul.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Reawekening Walt Disney's Living Interaction


I am really happy for having discovered that an interactive site where fans can write about Walt Disney have come to fruition on face book. Even though stories from those who met or saw Walt should obviously have priority, this living interaction, in order to be really alive and dynamic,has to go beyond chronological limits. In fact it does! It invites also Disney students and friends to participate. You guys deserve congratulations from the bottom of the heart!
Walt Disney is presented on the face book as one of the most influential people on popular culture and entertainment, to which should be added high culture as well, considering that Disney invented, with the storytelling rides of Disneyland, contemplative interaction, the newest communion of art (high art) and technology.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Walt Disney : King and Little Prince



When Walt was asked why he did not try to get into politics, he answered wisely: Why would he want to be the Governor of California, or even the President of the country, if he was already the king of Disneyland?
Disneyland is much smaller in size than California, let alone than the United States. The Little Prince was king of his planet, so small that he could watch the sunset many times a day by just moving his point of observation. It was great in imagination and in contemplation. It was also great in love: The Little Prince had a rose that he tended too and that captivated him. It was also great in beauty: How can anything be more beautiful than a rose, or a sunset?
Disneyland, specially in what it meant for Walt Disney, was great both in love and in beauty. Small as it is, in comparison to the state of California or to the US as a whole, it is endless in its symbolic value, in its power of materializing fantasy, and in love.
Walt Disney was the king of Disneyland, but, in his purity and single-mindedness, he was also the Little Prince.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Disney Mystical Seed


Contemplative Interaction involves immersion and yet reflection from the audience. One's physical presence affects the setting to reveal more aspects of itself, sometimes of a beauty that arouses contemplation, or of messages that elicit reflection. The mystical dimension of it relates to a synchrony between the subject and his surroundings, as if both are part of one same being. That is exactly what happens in a classical Disney storytelling ride, which is set to motion for and because of one's presence in it, eliciting from one appreciation for its fantasy, which keeps revealing itself as the ride goes along, as well as full immersion in its motion.
Contemplative Interaction is the newest form of the union of art and technology, and its exhibitions in shows and expositions keep developing throughout, generally arousing awe and elevation of one's spirit.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Disney Contemplative Interaction



Calling attention to a mystical dimension on the part of Disney comes relevant to an interpretation of his work within life’s dialectical context: the flight of creativity vs. the enchainment of survival, utility vs. fantasy. Not of just Disney’s work, but of what may revert to a mystical essence behind interactive processes in general. If the man who invented interaction with fantasy had a mystical drive, he was responding to a need that is common to us all, even though not all of us are aware of it. The unwillingness to accept randomness, not just in our particular lives, but in the universe as a whole, or the bitterness that result for those who accept it attest for the common mystical need referred to.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Disney Reality




Disney animation prophetically inaugurated the relativity of the real in everyday life, that is, in immediate, sensory perception. Until then, the reaching of fantasy was mediated. Reading demanded a withdrawal in to thought, and watching a play or a live action movie required an understanding of the story. The fantasy of their fictitious reality was all in the plot. It was intimated, not really seen. What was directly visible was either reality or a reproduction of it, like the shape and the movement of flesh and blood actors. With Disney animation, fantasy became immediate. It was in the very shape of characters, in their being drawn, colored and created from scratch, rather than just photographed on film. The way they moved was fantasy, their multicolored environment was fantasy, the way their story flowed was fantasy. It was all fantasy and alive, more colored and second nature feeling than reality. In the directness of its convincing power, Disney animation became even more immediate than reality: body and soul inspiring.