Miss Dawn’s Musings – A Proud Product of Disney

Blog-MissDawnsMusingsI had a realization not long ago that Disney played a large role in making me the geek I am today.

I’ve been a Disney freak since as long as I can remember. When I was a kid I saw all the movies, watched the weekly television show and went on family trips to Florida almost every year. It’s at the point where I honestly don’t know how many times I’ve been to Walt Disney World, though I know it’s more than a dozen.

So anyway, my fandoms include sci-fi/fantasy, paranormal, steampunk and cephalopods (I said “include”… there are others). Though there were other influences that solidified these for me in my formative years, so to speak, my first memory of each is via Disney and to a large extent The Magic Kingdom.

Obviously as a kid The Magic Kingdom was the biggest draw and I hit all the rides. My favorite was always The Haunted Mansion and I’m sure that had a hand in my interest in the paranormal and not actually being scared of ghosts. There was also that Mickey, Donald and Goofy cartoon where they investigated a haunted house – I think it was called Lonesome Ghosts. I had it on my Movie Viewer toy and watched it over and over.

Now the steampunk and cephalopod interests have a mixed Disney angle, park and movies. As I said, I watimageched all the Disney movies, even ones made before I was born so that included 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I loved the look of the film, especially the Nautilus, and was fascinated by the giant squid. (The Nautilus is still one of my favorite movie vehicles ever.) And when I was a kid, The Magic Kingdom still had the 20,000 Leagues ride, which involved riding in a sub that went underwater – I distinctly recall seeing a squid attacking another sub (all part of the in-ride storyline)… it was great!

As for sci-fi/fantasy (aside from 20,000 Leagues), it was the movies that did it. Now I saw a lot of this genre as a kid because my dad was into it. But aside from Blade Runner (which I saw in the theater at far too young an age), my early sci/fi fantasy movie memories are Disney – Black Hole, Something Wicked This Way Comes, Escape to Witch Mountain, The Absent Minded Professor, The Cat From Outer Space… I loved all of them!

There’s so much more “Disney detail” I could add about my fandoms, but the basics are obvious. So when I say I love Disney, it’s not just for the cartoons and parts and entertainment in general. It’s for having such an influence on the geek I am today.


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One thought on “Miss Dawn’s Musings – A Proud Product of Disney”

  1. I think the reason Disney is a part of so many geek cultures is that science fiction often falls into what Walt Disney envisioned in all of his films and projects- a world that is not full of violence and hatred, but instead of happiness and innovation. Sadly the basis of this for him was racism, but that’s ignored a lot when you consider what he created- Flubber, Herbie the Love Bug, EPCOT, film adaptions of 20,000 Leagues, etc. all of these are simple science fiction interpretations and innovations that have expanded the science fiction of the 80s through today.

    I just watched a PBS documentary about Disney this week that puts a lot into perspective about him and how Disney studios started. It’s crazy to see all he went through in the 50’s and 60s (and even more what people put up with/didn’t put up with from him).

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