Hey internet friends.
Once upon a time, not so long ago, a people who believed themselves to be free fell under
an ever-growing shadow of malice and bondage as their world descended into a war without
end…
And out of the chaos of a wounded world emerged an unassuming figure, a man who sought to
construct a universe of strange enchantment, a land which might captivate all who longed
for a more innocent past—a safe paddock where magic flourished and the echoes of laughter
could deafen the sounds of sirens, bombs, and bullets. His kingdom soon stretched to
an empire, which encouraged children to never grow up and told adults they never had to
leave.
Unlike the kingdoms of olde, this territory didn’t require a dangerous and grueling
pilgrimage for a chance to enter its gates.
This empire was accessed through the mind.
As the decades passed, the nights seemed longer as the looming shadow blanketed generations,
societies and nations, and alongside it, the magical, happy kingdom found its way into
every television, onto nursery walls, and within classrooms.
Most thought nothing of it…and who could blame them?
They’d never been outside the paddock, distracted and entertained from birth, the very nature
of their reality molded by machinations.
But some escaped the paddock, leaving the gate wide open for others to follow, questioning
the true intent of such a grand illusion—what exactly were they being distracted from?
What were the real reasons adults were being encouraged to stay children forever?
And why did one corporation, seemingly organic in origin and claiming purity in motive, seek
to dominate every entertainment medium? Chances are, we all have the same shared childhood
experience of being entertained by Disney at some point or another, so let’s get to
know the man who started the empire, an empire whose exports have become synonymous with
absolute goodness: Walt Disney.
Though his bloodline has been the object of speculation over the decades, the most circulated
origin story of the pioneer of cartoons and entertainment aimed at children, is that he
was born in 1901 in Illinois to his mother, a grammar school teacher, and his father,
a sometimes farmer, occasional business man, perpetually unsuccessful entrepreneur and
a devout socialist.
Though Walt showed artistic promise in his youth and drew cartoons for his high school
newspaper, he dropped out of school at age sixteen to join the war effort.
Being too young to enlist in the army during the first world war, he managed to get a gig
as a Red Cross Ambulance Driver in Paris, and according to Disney historians, Walt “spoke
only positively” of his role in WWI, telling his daughter many years later
that it was a “valuable experience” for him, and was quoted telling her that: “if
we have to send our boys into the army, we should send them even younger than we do.”
After the war, Walt moved to Kansas City to become a newspaper artist, using the connections
he built there to pursue a career in film, creating animated commercials for the Kansas
City Film Ad Company.
In 1922, Walt followed a similar path to his brother Roy in establishing even deeper connections,
pursuing an initiated variety of brotherhood and rumored secret wisdom.
Walt joined the Demolay, a fraternal organization for young men ages 12 to 21, which was founded
in Kansas City and named after the Grand Master of the Knights Templar, a masonic faction
with its documented original purpose of “protecting Christian pilgrims” on their journey to
the Holy Land —Jerusalem.
The Templars became a major military power during the Crusades and were reportedly exempt
from taxes and “nearly all civil laws and authority”, but were purged from France
during the 1300’s after some Templars were tortured and confessed to worshipping idols
like the Baphomet and having a little too male bonding, if you know what I mean.
Allegedly.
All the idol worship and other extracurriculars have since been denied by the order...And now
that I’ve splashed scalding hot Templar tea across your lap, let’s get back to Mr.
Mickey Mouse.
Shortly after branching out on his own, Walt’s new business of live action and animated fairytales
went bankrupt, but that wasn’t the end for Walt and his cartoons, of course.
After moving to Hollywood in 1923, Walt and his brother Roy formed the Disney Brothers
Studio, which has since evolved into the Walt Disney Company we know now.
He married one of his artists, Lillian, along the way, fathering one daughter with her and
adopting the second, though for many years, the Disney family went along with the story
that Lillian had given birth.
These were the early days of the Disney kingdom: Walt’s iconic Mickey Mouse character first
debuted in 1928, along with his girlfriend, Minnie Mouse.
After Mickey’s success, Walt, his wife, Lillian and brother Roy toured Europe, where
they visited the British royal family and political elites.
That same year, in 1935, Walt was even presented with a medal from the League of Nations, which
recognized his character, Mickey, as a “symbol of universal goodwill”.
Back in the United States, Walt’s first animated feature film Snow White and the Seven
Dwarves came during the midst of the Great Depression: with its target audience being
children.
But not all stories in Walt’s life had a fairytale ending: in 1938, Walt’s mother
died in an accident at her home in Hollywood that Walt and Roy had bought their parents
after Snow White’s success…Walt’s mother complained of problems with the furnace leaking
upon moving in, which was reportedly addressed by Walt’s studio repairmen but not fixed
entirely.
Only a few days later, she and her husband were found asphyxiated in their home, though
Walt’s father survived.
A very specific trend emerged in the feature films released after Disney’s mother’s
death: Pinnochio, Bambi, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast…the main characters
didn’t have a momma…The guilt of Walt’s mother’s death became the go-to explanation
of why so many of the major Disney characters were motherless.
But was that really the true reason or a convenient excuse?
The first leg of Walt’s career seemed to be marked by creative desire, glimpses of
success, his brother Roy’s business choices, personal tragedy, and a propensity towards
bankruptcy, but all that changed with the second world war.
Revealed in documents re-opened through the Freedom of Information Act, prior to the official
beginning of WWII, Walt was recruited by the FBI to spy on Hollywood as a paid asset; Walt
even had underlings who reported to him on official spy business.
Walt expanded from an individual asset, to establishing the Walt Disney Company as a
government contractor, and the United States military parked themselves at Disney’s studios
only one day after Pearl Harbor.
His studios cranked out instructional military films, war bond advertisements, and endless
propaganda for the war machine.
Mickey played a huge role in WWII, with his likeness painted on aircrafts to lift the
spirits of the men fighting.
Mickey helped children feel safer during the war—with a line of issued gas masks resembling
the face of the mouse, making the masks seem less threatening.
“Mickey Mouse” was even the password of the Allies for the infamous D-day invasion
of 1944.
But was D-day any less bloody because of a silly password?
Was the reality of war any different because of the cartoons painted on the sides of aircrafts?
Were children any safer because their gas masks had Mickey Mouse of on them?
Of course not.
But one image managed to invoke specific feelings linked to childhood, altering the perception
of all who looked upon it, and that’s how this rodent became an emblem of hope, of Americana,
and of the middle class.
And, well, that’s the magic of Disney for ya.
Following WWII, Disney diversified.
Yeah, Walt had created a successful company.
He’d had some wins along the way.
But what transformed his kingdom into an empire was his utilization of television as a medium,
becoming a pioneer in the new frontier.
1950 marked the first Disney television broadcast, which proved successful in advertising his
new film, Alice in Wonderland.
As a result, ABC and Walt struck a deal: in exchange for the development of two network
series, Disneyland and the Mickey Mouse Club, ABC agreed to invest in Walt’s dream of
a utopia: a Disneyland Entertainment Mecca, featuring character stories, watered down
versions of American history, and adventure, which opened in Anaheim, California in 1955.
Furthering his television and government resume was his curious collaboration with one of Operation Paperclip’s
famous transplants, Warner Von Braun, who broadcasted three films about space exploration
through the Walt Disney studios with a goal of creating interest in the United State’s
government’s future space program, which Von Braun later pursued with his NASA career.
Walt had established a Mecca on the west coast, but the east coast was his next conquest,
a swamp in Orlando Florida, where the CIA helped him establish what
would be known as the happiest place on earth, Walt Disney World, and with a few lies, false
identities, you know…a little of this, a little of that, his dream came to fruition.
But tragically, Walt died of lung cancer, probably a result 70 cigarettes a day habit,
before his kingdom within a swamp opened.
As we reflect upon the life and character of Walt Disney, it’s clear that his success
was directly tied to his ability to captivate young children.
He understood the value of an individual’s attention, aggressively marketing his utopia
to toddlers who grew up to be life-long fans, adults who wished to revisit his "nostalgia
machine".
To this day, his animated films hold widespread recognition—in respect to childhood entertainment,
they can’t be touched, as they function as allegory on personal identity, teaching
children about their relationships to others, as well as to society—with the underlying
message blanketed in an attractive world of fantasy and adventure.
As we look back on Disney’s evolution, it’s unclear if Walt envisioned what his company
would become, or if he was just a frozen popsicle of a vessel that was commandeered postmortem,
a Trojan horse by which subversive agendas were unleashed in the most unexpected of places:
on the walls of the nurseries our mothers and fathers so lovingly decorated, within
the safety of our living rooms, while we were parked on the couch on Saturday mornings,
and even in the confines of public school classrooms, when we were learning about the
history of the world.
Yes, I know this is the part of the video where I’m supposed to focus on the hidden
symbolism and Easter eggs that popped up through the animation process, the 666 that is hidden
within Walt Disney’s logo, the sexual images within Disney posters, and the perverted suggestions
and undertones that are not appropriate for the target audience.
And sure, we could discuss what goes on underground in the tunnel network below Disney that Is
less than innocent in nature, the deaths that have occurred and been covered up at the Disney
Parks, and even the overt masonic influence at Disneyland, like the members-only exclusive
Club 33, the number 33 seemingly in reference to the number of degrees of freemasonry, and
the floor of the restaurant sporting the masonic black and white checkerboard, representing
the ultimate dichotomy: the good and evil of human life; the same checkered floor rumored
to have paved Solomon’s temple—of which the toolbox of one of the original builders
can be seen at Disney's Jungle River.
Look, we could spend forever traveling down the numerous rabbit holes, chasing an endless
trail of breadcrumbs….and that’s all fine and good, I’m not knocking it.
But you know, they spray wheat fields with Monsanto roundup to function as a desiccant,
so we’re going gluten-free for this video, because the breadcrumbs always lead to the
same place.
Somewhere along the way, after our eyes are bloodshot from identifying all the penises
in the backgrounds of Disney posters, we’re going to conclude that we need to purge our
lives of all that is Disney in one, massive internet friends bonfire, during which we
drink one too many kombuchas to counteract the effects of gluten and promote healthy
gut bacteria…and then, the next thing you know, I throw a bottle of hairspray into the
fire, vow to exit society and join an Amish compound, but sell everyone on the idea that
it won’t be so bad because Jethro makes a mean rocking chair, nearly 500 a day, and
his physique reflects a lifetime of manual labor and—
Thanks for listening to my Ted Talk.
Now let’s get to the point.
It was after Walt’s death that the Walt Disney Company began to establish itself not
only as a teaching machine for developing young minds, but as a prolific worldwide distributor
of entertainment—resulting in what the Walt Disney company is today: a global cultural
force.
The Disney of today is an unchecked global monopoly, slithering by uncriticized because
of its unrelenting campaign to produce a wholesome image.
Since Disney is synonymous with childhood virtue, mom and dad think it’s more than
okay to leave their toddler alone in the room with perhaps the most rogue babysitter the
world has ever seen.
This mega corporation realized long ago the potential of children, understanding that
one day, those children would be adults like me and you.
They got their emotional hooks in us when we were young, commandeering our hopes and
shaping our interests with images on a screen—our values, our relationships, and how we see
the world—all literally programmed into us with the programming we consumed.
Don’t believe me?
Well, I’ve got receipts.
Remember the Mickey Mouse Club?
Who emerged out of that pop culture factory?
Major American pop culture icons like Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Justin Timberlake.
What was the next phase of the Mickey Mouse Club?
Non-stop, around-the-clock Disney programming featuring seemingly organic, fresh faces.
Do you remember the absolute sensation that was Hanna Montana?
And who starred in that?
Miley Cyrus.
What’s she up to now?
We grew up watching these people, attempting to immolate them because we were too young
to know ourselves.
Don’t get me wrong, parents hold a great deal of responsibility over their own child’s
indoctrination, but screen time being part of life is heavily marketed to parents as
something that is normal...
In 2009, it was reported that children ages two to five watched TV for an average of more
than thirty-two hours a week.
That’s like a full-time job of watching TV!
But of course, the way we consume our entertainment has drastically changed over the last ten
years, and with it, Disney has adapted.
In 2018, 98% of homes with children had a mobile device like a tablet or smartphone,
and 42% of children had their own personal device.
Meaning more opportunities for megacorporations to monetize childhood, and certainly more
chances for Disney to educate children on what it means to be men and women, or a citizen
of a country, or even now, what it means to be straight or gay.
If children are getting hours of screen time every day, between getting home from school
and going to bed, how much time do you reckon that leaves parents to engage in meaningful
conversation with their children, after these parents get home from a job where they’re
overworked and underpaid?
On average, parents get way more screen time than their offspring, but when they sit down
in front of a blackbox to be entertained, how many of them realize they’re consuming
the same entertainment as their children?
Wanna catch a football game on ESPN?
Disney.
True crime episode on A&E?
Disney.
Pawn Stars on History Channel?
Disney.
A new Star Wars movie with a feminist agenda?
Disney.
The latest Avengers installment centered around the theme of depopulation?
Disney.
Turn off the television and open up YouTube to watch your favorite alternative media personality?
Well, they might be Disney, too.
Within the last year, Disney has purchased the TV and film assets of 21st Century Fox
to the tune of 71.3 billion dollars, meaning the handful of megacorporations that controlled
our media just got smaller.
Welcome to the illusion of choice in the land of the free, where the only way out is seeing
through the magic, baring witness to the reality before us: something strange is happening
with Disney and has been for some time.
Thank you for watching, internet friends.
You know I always look forward to your comments.
Thank you so much for subscribing, hitting the notification bell, and supporting my channel
on Patreon.
Bye!