I do think that the idea of the original Partners statue was interesting, because even if it was created to solve an issue, at the very least it was done as a reverent tribute. I otherwise agree that the company has molded his image into something that's, well, kind of disgusting. I have issues with the parks selling pre-packaged, heated chili as "Walt's Chili", or throwing in weird lines to market dumb things like Storyliving, Contino, stating that Walt liked to spend time in the desert. It's claiming that a tree designed to be a kid's play area for Toontown was "inspired" by a tree that Walt used to sit and read under. One of the largest issues with this is how disingenuous the portrayal is, slapping Walt onto something as if it's an endorsement of increasingly worse decisions made in the company. I'm sure that Walt would not have been happy to have seen EPCOT as a city turned into a theme park, but the irony of placing him in the current park seems to really be lost on the executives. The original park was full of spirit and creativity and I can't unsee Walt on the toilet, unintentional symbolism for how he would probably perceive the park today. I'm not usually crude, but it's as if he's defecating on this new Epcot, a soulless billboard for Disney+. It's an extremely disingenuous placement that reads like an endorsement for a place that represents the worst of Disney leadership today and yet, they will fail to see the irony.

In Saving Mr. Banks Tom Hanks wanted to smoke cause Walt did but Disney wouldn't let him, They only allowed him to put out a Cigarette in that scene

Walter Elias Disney was a real human being. Due to this, he had sides of him that are marvelous and others that are reprehensible. Personally, I am happy that his version of EPCOT never made it into reality -- a corporate city that would require everyone to be perfect reflections of a wold that Walt wanted, rather than the reality of day-to-day life. I honour him for his creativity, but I also realize that some of "his" creative moments actually belonged to other people. I grew up with the Wonderful World of Disney and the like back in the 1960s. It was a highlight of the week for me as a kid. And I still have a lot of fun at DL when I go there. Still, I know about his smoking, his union-busting, his time in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee, and suchlike. In many ways, Walt is now becoming like Main Street USA -- that rose-tinted dream of what once was, not so much a reality as a vision of a memory.

I believe there was an interview where he said that "I am no longer Walt Disney" meaning that he was now a product. And, from public relations crafting his "story" to changing his signature, I always wonder if it was tough for him

Great video! I've noticed the Disney Company slowly distancing themselves away from the OG Walt and trying to plaster their own image on top. Walt Disney for example didn't like the idea of the trees being trimmed in Disneyland. Many of the Imagineers at the time hated how the trees started to outgrow the 5/8th scaling of the buildings, but Walt Insisted on having the park be 5/8th while also letting the trees grow however they wanted. Since he passed, they've ripped out the trees multiple times on Main Street and replaced them with smaller ones since they usually get too big, then they turn around and start singing their praises to Walt. Very Ironic really. Also, it's very sad with what they're doing with the Partner Statues since they basically have no idea what to do in their International Parks with Walt. Keep up the good work!

Disney needs to realize that we now live in an era where every kind of information is immediately available, trying to keep hiding the real Walt is pretty ludicrous by now (especially with the recent strikes echoing the ones in his day). They'd be better off saying something like Walt had many flaws, but he genuinely wanted to provide quality entertainment and clean theme parks (although I guess they really can't say that these days either 😅)

I think that when it’s a legit meaningful tribute (like the lego Walt Disney tribute set or the statues in DCA and EPCOT) then I’m fine with it, but the countless Funko pops and ornaments being sold is where I draw the line Edit: while I think the idea of a Walt statue in EPCOT is a very good idea (if executed well), the one we are getting (specifically its backstory) is not what I would want as a EPCOT Walt statue

Thanks so much for this! It’s about time somebody talked about this openly and comprehensively. I have long been shocked over a Disney companies complete sanitation of/denial about Walt Disney’s smoking, and how it killed him. I’ve been surprised that Disney didn’t take an opportunity to support anti-smoking and anti-tobacco campaigns, or to become a major benefactor of organizations that discourage smoking and educate about lung cancer (and now, vaping). I hope anyone listening to your video (and any true fan of Walt Disney) somehow takes the time and makes the effort to visit the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. I also hope all true Walt Disney fans take time to learn about the fullness of this complicated and extraordinary man, warts and all.

When Walt came up with the idea of Disneyland, the main idea was to make an amusement park that was equally enjoyable to both kids AND adults. And he succeeded. But nowadays, I feel like there are some attractions and rides that are targeted to just kids. An attraction that comes to mind is Lightning McQueen’s Racing Academy. When I went, I saw a mother in a row ahead of me scroll through her phone as her kids jumped around in glee. Now, it’s fine that she was able to relax for a bit. Being a mother is challenging, but it just made me sad. It seems that the Disney Company nowadays doesn’t acknowledge why Disneyland was created in the first place. Now Walt wasn’t perfect. Far from it. But there were some aspects that I do respect, and his idea of Disneyland, being a place where adults and children could have a good time on the same rides and attractions, was a wonderful and beautiful idea.

I 100% agree with your points made here, but would add that sometimes Disney fans have a Walt problem, too. On nearly every post about the company, nowadays, someone will inevitably comment “Walt would be turning over in his grave!” to the discussion

I'm already seeing people in the comments swing the other extreme and say he was a monster burning in hell. That is wrong just as much. -The Disney company parades him as some sort of flawless, ethereal being, like he's a divine idol who created his empire, and now his spirit lives on even though his physical body is gone or whatever. We can't see him smoking or acknowledge his flaws at all, he is the almighty creator of the Disney empire and anything less is blasphemy. -On the other hand, we have second camp: the media and people, even in these comments, perpetuating the idea that he was a tyrant and an evil racist man who deserves nothing but contempt because it's the year of the present and Walt doesn't measure up. To those in this category, you are wrong as well. My best response to you is do your research and stop parroting what Hollywood says Walt was. I believed that nonsense about him for a while, but after looking into it on my own, I've found that I believed a lie and that I was incorrect. He was just a man. He, like most people, had his admirable virtues and deep flaws. To act as though he is anything more or less is the wrong thing to do. All those who idolize him need to come back down to earth, and those who demonize him need to stop measuring him to a standard that no human being is capable of meeting. That's all I wanted to say.

Fun fact: Disneyland Paris has another Partners statue. It's backstage in an office building and it's actually larger than life. You feel extremely weird next to Walt and Mickey looking down on you haha

Walt Disney deserves to be honored especially in this day in age

In 2001, WDW did a Walt's 100th Birthday Advertisement for the parks

So instead of WWJD it’s WWWD - what would Walt do? Another man often deified by the public is Steve Jobs, who interestingly enough had ties to Disney via Pixar. Despite their personal flaws, both Jobs and Disney were very forward-looking thinkers who still inspire our imaginations. Disney editing old photos of Walt to hide that he smoked cigarettes is very 1984-esque, but I understand why they did since they’re marketing to families. My grandpa died of lung cancer at age 59 from smoking and working with asbestos. Education about the health issues of smoking would fit well in the Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot. Growing up in the 90s though, anti-smoking PSAs were everywhere and laws were passed banned smoking in various public places.

Loved seeing your LEGO modular collection on the shelves!

During his own lifetime Walt shifted from being merely a darling Hollywood producer to a corporate icon, and he knew it. But the modern Walt Disney Company Ltd. is stuck in this very strange place where they are trying to disown their own history while still trying to animate a skinsuit of that history to justify what they're doing now. Prepackaged Walt quotes keep getting trotted out as a magic talisman against criticism, his preapproval goes on every bargain basement dumb idea Imagineering comes up with, while anything he actually stood for gets progressively effaced. I can buy a resin idol of the Partners statue for my home altar, while Rachel Zegler gets marching orders from marketeering to shit on the actual movies Walt made. Truly weird, weird.

I remember your comment on the Disney Studios Statue "This is an insult to Mickey, Not just Walt"

No matter how you look at it he was an amazing man. And none of this would be here without him. A true American despite his flaws.

His name is in the company. If someone bought Disney during the Eisner era and only kept the name for animated film if they decided to make new films, this might not be the case as are any of the founders of the legacy studios (Universal, Warner Bros, MGM, Fox, Paramount) have statues in any of there parks? NO

Great video! I think Disney issue is treating Walt Disney just like all of their IP’s! They have over used almost every single IP, milking the for ever single last penny and it cheapens the value. To think that they are so desperate to make a buck, they would treat Walt like that is sad but not shocking. I hope they pull back a bit. However I wouldn’t be shocked if they make some type of Disney + cartoon with Walt and Mickey for kids 😂

Thank you so much for sharing this topic. I am genuinely embarrassed by how the Disney company is using Walt as a means for profit and nostalgia. He deserves better than this, as he is a person like many of us, not the best, and not the worst.

This is a great piece you guys did here, certainly something I haven't seen others cover. I agree with everything but playing devil's advocate here, no matter how much Disney only shows this polished version of him it still remains true to the image that Walt himself wanted to project. Compare to someone like Col. Sanders who gets turned into a cartoon then played by a dozen different actors. Even the Disney corporations version is still Walt so I'm giving them a pass, for now.

Walt never wanted Disneyland to become a museum. I’ve never liked the statues (Walt, Roy and the characters). They’re maudlin. I’m with Lillian: no statues.

I don't need current Disney creatives or executives to ask "what would Walt do?" over every decision but I do wish they'd apply that to the spirit of the choices they make. For example, it was very important to him that the parks be kept clean and well maintained. He wanted to provide a magical experience for "children of all ages" and that was reflected in many aspects of the parks (and movies). My sense of things today is that no one in power at Disney cares about any of those things and it shows.

The first time I noticed them doing this was decades ago, when I saw a commercial depicting Walt as having invented Mickey when he was a little kid. I had a visceral reaction to that.

I wish that people would stop trying to make him perfect - he inspired me because he was human, he had flaws but still made Disney what it is today - by some accounts he was racist, and misogynist. But he lived in a time where that was the norm, we shouldn't put him on a pedestal and make people forget he was a flawed human being, he smoked, he was a union buster. But he made Disneyland and movies for families to enjoy together. We should accept his flaws, and appreciate what he did while possessing the flaws he had, nobody is perfect and we shouldn't pretend anyone was.

I feel like this is part of a larger conversation regarding the image of celebrity, about what happens after a celebrity dies and their image becomes frozen, popular, and more easily marketable. This fate largely seems to befall those who die young and tragically (Marilyn Monroe, Tupac, James Dean, etc.) but as Walt Disney proves, it can happen to anyone with a marketable celebrity image. (Or in the case of Peter Cushing, star in an early entry of a highly marketable franchise.) As technology gets better and better, as we are able to digitally recreate people into these holograms, I really think tighter legal precedents need to be set. I know that currently people have to get permission from the deceased's estate, but the estate is not the person and cannot speak for them (especially since money talks, and there's a lot of money in some celebrity images.) I don't think it's right for digital Audrey Hepburn to be selling chocolate or digital James Dean to star in a movie or digital Walt Disney to greet exhibitition visitors like a carnival barker. We're literally putting words into these people's mouths, puppeteering their corpses around into a marketable image. Where are the lines here? We know RDJ likely doesn't want to come back as Iron Man, but if he died tomorrow, how long would it take Marvel to make an Iron Man with a digital version of him? Five years? Ten years? DC had no qualms about bringing a digital George Reeves back for a cameo in the Flash, which is particularly obscene given the long standing rumors that playing Superman may have driven him to suicide (I know the historical record is unclear there, but still. It felt unbelieveably callous.) Walt Disney represents an extreme example of what happens when a person become a marketable image. And while that can be a problem in statues and misattributed quotes, the holograms strike me as a disturbing escalation. Honestly, I think this sort of digital recreation should not be legal. The dead should be able to rest, not be endlessly brought back as profitable digital ghosts.

It's hard to expect anything resembling respect from a company whose middle and upper management despise Walt Disney for ideological reasons.

Yep! The two finger point is to cover up that the Walt photos are photoshopping out the cigarette. They say it’s for politeness but it was implemented for the explicit reason of saying they’re “honoring what Walt did”.

While you make a good point about the misuse of his image, Walt kind of did it to himself. As you mentioned, the kindly Uncle Walt persona in his TV appearances wasn't indicative of his actual personality. Walt turned himself into a Disney character long before the company did. It doesn't surprise me that they're continuing that trend.

Thank you for this video

I think this isn’t just a Disney problem, I think the USA in general does this to historically important people. However I want to latch on to a statement, everyone has their faults. I think we as people know this but not everyone wants to admit to it. To this I raise the question, is it acceptable to celebrate someone while they are were lacking in faults then erase that celebration when a fault comes to light, this is assuming that when the celebration become everyone knew that person. Example: Naming college buildings after large donors. I think Walt Disney would have wanted cigarettes erased by the company for media images, like you said he played himself or a version of himself on TV. You make a lot of good points about the statues in the park and Disney selling the likeness of Walt Disney. To add a probably unimportant fact, Walt Disney did have his name or something like this setup for a long where the Disney company had to pay royalties to his family. Someone else can better explain that. Great video by the way!

This video deserves WAY more attention :/ and that frightens me

Such good points. Enjoy your videos.

It’s funny, I watched Finding Mrs. Banks before I saw Mary Poppins and they made Walt out to be this sweet, honorable man and I really loved that movie. Then a month later I finally watched Marry Poppins and he lied his ass off, he did Everything in that film that she expressly said she didn’t want and he promised he wouldn’t do.

Don’t forget about the stupid tree in disneylands toon town that “Walt would sit under and dream his imagination”🙄

Interesting analysis

Great video! This is so true! It’s so sad to see how his image has ended as a marketing gimmick… Still insists, the shareholders and the executives don’t understand Walt’s philosophy, principles and the essence of storytelling!

Yea... The moment they started editing the actual photos of him to make them and his image more 'marketable', I was grossed out. While there are grey areas in how we portray important dead figures, I don't think it's strange to say that definitely crosses the line.

Disney fans, Help me out; At 13:01 He mentioned 4,333 and 333; Is there a reference to 333 I don't get?

I love Walt Disney but I’ve started to notice Disney fans have turned their admiration of him into worship. Like he’s turned into their new god.

Disney’s treatment of Walt tracks with the decline of the company. The issue is the value system of those currently in charge is completely antithetical to Walt’s, so they hide him instead of giving him his due reverence. That’s why we’ve seen nothing but a long string of failures and disappointments over the last decade or so. And it’s only going to get worse because destroyers never learn.

Yeah, that's how I've been feeling about the whole situation too, especially with the increasing number of statues they're making of him around the parks. Don't get me wrong; it's very touching, but it does seem like they've turned them into kind of a character almost. Also, don't say Walt Disney 'posted' back then. 😅 He didn't post anything; bro, social media wasn't even invented yet. Just say he released something.

The only part of the video I disagree with is your objection to the removal of cigarettes from his hand in official Disney material. You wouldn’t want a child to see Walt Disney, a role model of sorts, with a cigarette in his hand because it might lead them to believe it’s ok to do. The rest of the video is spot on.

I'm 45 now, fanboy of themeparks from 1980, but today I'm not shure why don't get excited with Disney theme parks never again, maybe getting older or tired of the big amount of information from youtubers, media, etc.. but amazed with all info from Epic Universe and some European theme parks with no branding. Disney is not doing well lately.. and to be honest, I don't care anymore.. visited Anaheim, Orlando and Paris, maybe if I can afford it in the future TokioSea is the last one for me. Love your channel.

Walt Disney - man with good and bad qualities shock.

12:10 are you talking about "You know I had to do it to em"?

Totally agree with you. I love the partners statue but it’s getting a little absurd.

Disney has turned from Walt and turned into 🗑

Reskin on Great Moments with Lincoln.

Whilst I agree with you, I would have rephrased the question.

Excellent video. You captured my thoughts perfectly. Walt was a man, a great man, but a man none the less. I also regret the Walt's EPCOT was not made. It was his last wish, and it never reached reality. We got a shoddy world's fair instead.

Agreed

Imagine if in one of his TV appearance Walts come in smoking cigar and walk you through his plan to bust the union.

Walt Disney was a very genuine human being, a very real, warm, interested, curious, kind human being. He genuinely loved children. He had a lovely sense of humor. He was really easy to talk to because he listened. Hayley Mills

This is a hot take that I didn't previously have words for...!!

I dont really have any personal issues with the usage of Walt by TWDC, sans the admittedly awful NFT sale. But i absolutely respect anyone who feels otherwise, & I really appreciate the video 👏👏

That also bore his name, not bared.

I'm sorry, what does the sitting Walt's pose resemble?

When you guys will upload the genting skyworlds malaysia vlogs tho.......... 😅

Would have been weird to have a Walt Disney statue in the Song of the South movie...lol. Disney clearly was embarrassed and put that movie in the vault because of it subtle racism making it seem AOK that slaves were happy in plantations. Also interesting that movie was made and the star could even go to the premiere because of the racist South where it was played

Walt was a flawed character. Just like any of us as we're all flawed. He was a product of his time and own life experiences. He was an artist and a visionary but a horrible businessman which is why his brother and others handled the details. He killed his mother (and almost his father and housekeeper) via CO poisoning by sending unqualified studio workers to install a heater in their home. That left an emotional scar. He came from nothing and fought for everything and thus hated those who asked for more under his watch. Yes he lied in his congressional testimony that a union leader was a communist and ruined their life. But he was a leader who also did things others did not. He gave Mary Blair and Iwao Takamoto a career when no one gave women or minorities -- especially one from a culture they just went to war with). So be kind and even handed. We're all flawed.

I absolutely get what you’re saying and that Walt has become more of an idea/character than the actual person he was. Being real, he was not always a pleasant man, he was not always a fair man, and some of his beliefs and attitudes are downright offensive through a modern lens, but his vision and his ideals were what pushed people to do things they never thought they would achieve and that’s why I believe that his statue and his presence in the parks is meant to represent that ideal, even if he wasn’t directly involved with a particular project. I also will never hate the Epcot statue because I was lucky enough to be in the parks pavilion at the D23 Expo when Bob Gurr came in and saw the mock-up of the statue. The emotion and joy on his face when seeing that statue will always make me believe it is a good thing to do.

Disney needs to be operated under four words: "What would Walt do?" The same mantra that ran Disney for decades after his death and will again after I seize it in a hostile takeover. The answer to that question? "Make Disney Great Again." Walt would've rightfully snitched out Crooked Bob in front of the HUAC. Disney under my rule will only hire people who also believe in WWWD. Donn Tatum, Card Walker, Ron Miller, and even Michael Eisner (before the tragic loss of Frank Wells) all followed the WWWD mantra.

I respect your point but honestly, your only example of Walt being "sanitized" is the removal of cigarettes from photos, which is just going to be a standard for anything marketed towards families primarily in the USA. We do not need the children of today learning what cigarettes are from Uncle Walt or anybody they may admire or look up to, and that really has no baring on his creative accomplishments. Adults can deep dive and find the truth out there.

I liked the video and your opinion on this but I'd have to say I disagree. I don't think most people look into it this deep. If you're at a Disney park anywhere in the world you'd like to think of the man who started it all, Walt Disney. The Disney company just wants to honor this by creating an opportunity for guests to see the face of Walt Disney and potentially take a picture with his statue. That's why he is now seen in more places that he didn't have any involvement in. That is besides the point. People might not know about his personality or his flaws but I think most people do know who he is and that's good enough for most people.

Yes disney sure does have a walt problem Someone needs to tru to contact walt disney’s ghost and tell him what has happened to his company

Walt was a great man one of my idols but he was no saint or a devil i think people only see people from history as only a good side or bad side Rip Walt Disney 😞😞 we are sorry that they destroyed your legacy

The fact that he was pretty sucky when he was alive makes Disney’s romanticizing of him even weirder

If there is a Heaven and if Walt is there,....I'm SURE he is looking down at this company while crying and wishing that they would take his name off of it. This company today does not respect it's past achievements. They believe the company's history needs to be "fixed" to pander to a modern audience. That's fine...do that...but remove the "Walt Disney" name from the company. Current Disney ownership doesn't agree with Walt Disney's philosophy any longer and we ALL know he would also not agree with theirs. So, I think it's only right to separate the company and it's "Walt Disney" name to avoid any future customer confusion. Doing this would also free the company to pursue any modern social activism that it chooses without being ideologically chained to a man that they don't agree with. Disney,..please just drop the "problematic" name and it's history and move forward with a brand new name and new activist mission...but don't try to operate and market yourself under two conflicting philosophies at the same time. Doing that only angers both sides.

Cringe (no offense don’t attack me)

I wish I could give this 100 thumbs ups! SUPERB and SO TRUE guys! Maybe your best "think piece" (as differentiated from the great reviews and park visits) EVER! Thank you! You could also add that not only are they sanitizing the REAL Walt, they are doing things with "wokeness" Walt would have HATED and never allowed.

They've been deifying him for ages, I remember seeing One Man's Dream and thinking he was amazing before I learned more about who he actually was.

you wanna talk disrespect to Walt Disney and his legacy? this current administration running Disney right now does nothing BUT DISGRACE AND DISHONOR his legacy * you have Bob Iger over here buying all these studios like Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Fox and Pixar for unbelievably idiotic amounts of money putting them in so much debt * and then Bob Iger does nothing but rehashes a lot of the classic animated films into unnecessary live-action versions that no one is asking for for no good reason whatsoever other than corporate laziness and corporate greed (you cannot deny that these were made out of greed and laziness) they are an insult and a mockery of Walt's artistry * then they hire people who mock the legacy of Snow White and then has contempt for its lineage as well * and then the sociopolitical landscape that was introduced at the company has driven away majority of people especially classic Disney fans who have supported them for all these years * and you know what not only does the current administration disrespect the legacy of Walt Disney but they also disrespect Michael Eisner's contributions to the company as well regardless of what people think of him Eisner did not drastically destroy the image, the reputation, the credibility, and the legacy of both Disney and Walt Disney himself LIKE Bob Iger HAS!

Disney has a capitalism issue

GET HIM OUTTA HERE

I think it's karma for him and the one thing Disney does right in my opinion. He didn't want to just be seen as Creating Mickey Mouse, but barred anyone else from achieving anything underneath it (see: the striking workers, the selfishness in Adriana Casselotti only being used as Snow White, his goddamn obsession with keeping his "family" alive at all costs yet throwing away actors when they hit a certain age ala Bobby Driscoll) so it's only fair that he gets turned into a marketable, sanitized piece of his own company.

His union busting was AWESOME

Walt is problematic for the modern Disney Co. The woke imagineers, Gen Z’ers, and Millennials hate Walt and the times he lived in. He’s been relegated to character status, not the Man Who Started It All. It’s a shame.

This is what mankind do to dead people, just look at Jesus, 2000 years of crazy change 😅