Disney is the most powerful entity in Florida
… Walt Disney empire has a corporate conscience
In 1928, Walt Disney became a national celebrity when his first successful opened in New York City. It was entitled “Steamboat Willie” and starred the now ubiquitous cartoon character named Mickey Mouse. It was the start of the development of an empire built upon animate cartoon figures who became beloved as part of American folklore.
Disney was the creator and the voice of Mickey, which had failed previously as a silent film. Disney’s creation led to a monolith, a movie production company that is now one of the largest and most powerful companies in America.
It is an American success story that led to the creation of Disneyland in California, which is still the home of those cartoon characters in an amusement park.
Then, in another stroke of business genius, he created the East Coast version Disneyland called Disney World in Florida. It became the most powerful business in the state, but today, politicians are trying to destroy the beloved franchise that is the destination of many of America’s families.
Background of Walt Disney
The Disney family has European roots, and Walt showed his entrepreneurial spirit at a young age,
Disney’s father was Elias Disney, an Irish-Canadian. His mother, Flora Call Disney, was German-American. Disney was one of five children, four boys and a girl.
Walt Disney’s Childhood
Disney was born on December 5, 1901, in the Hermosa section of Chicago, Illinois. He lived most of his childhood in Marceline, Missouri, where he began drawing, painting and selling pictures to neighbors and family friends.
In 1911, his family moved to Kansas City, where Disney developed a love for trains. His uncle, Mike Martin, was a train engineer who worked the route between Fort Madison, Iowa and Marceline. Later, Disney would work a summer job with the railroad, selling snacks and newspapers to travelers.
Disney attended McKinley High School in Chicago, where he took drawing and photography classes and was a contributing cartoonist for the school paper. At night, he took courses at the Art Institute of Chicago.
When Disney was 16, he dropped out of school to join the Army but was rejected for being underage. Instead, he joined the Red Cross and was sent to France for a year to drive an ambulance. He moved back to the U.S. in 1919.
“Walt Disney,” Biography, April 27, 2017
However, Walt Disney did not have a smooth path to the American Dream. He had to declare bankruptcy in 1923, but he continued on his path to despite the setback.
Movies
After Mickey Mouse became a hit, Disney was finally on the road to success. Here is a list of the famous movies produced by Disney over the years,
Pinocchio (1940)
Fantasia (1940)
Dumbo (1941)
Bambi (1942)
Cinderella (1950)
Treasure Island (1950)
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Peter Pan (1953)
Lady and the Tramp (1955)
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
101 Dalmatians (1961)
“Walt Disney,” Biography, April 27, 2017
Disneyland
By the 1950s, Disney was well on his way to financial success. That led to the construction of Disneyland in Anaheim, California, in 1955,
Disneyland
Disney's $17 million Disneyland theme park opened on July 17, 1955, in Anaheim, California, on what was once an orange grove. Actor (and future U.S. president) Ronald Reagan presided over the activities. After a tumultuous opening day involving several mishaps (including the distribution of thousands of counterfeit invitations), the site became known as a place where children and their families could explore, enjoy rides and meet the Disney characters.
In a very short time, the park had increased its investment tenfold, and was entertaining tourists from around the world.
The original site had attendance ups and downs over the years. Disneyland has expanded its rides over time and branched out globally with Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, and parks in Tokyo, Paris, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Sister property California Adventure opened in Los Angeles in 2001.
“Walt Disney,” Biography, April 27, 2017
Florida, the dream and now the nightmare
After the success of Disneyland, Walt ventured east to develop EPCOT. Florida was thrilled with the possibility of Walt Disney World, even if Walt did not live to see the final fruition of his dreams,
Within a few years of Disneyland’s 1955 opening, Disney began plans for a new theme park and to develop Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT) in Florida. It was still under construction when Disney died in 1966.
After Disney’s death, his brother Roy carried on the plans to finish the Florida theme park, which opened in 1971 under the name Walt Disney World.
“Walt Disney,” Biography, April 27, 2017
Families today save money for years for their vacations to Walt Disney World, but the clueless, bigoted politicians are trying to destroy the state’s monolith.
They, however, will fail.
Disney too powerful for politicians
The far-right Florida politicians have passed a law called “Don’t Say Gay” as means of discrimination against homosexuals in Florida. Disney has opposed the legislation, leading to those same politicians — who are allegedly “pro-business” — attempting to destroy it.
However, they will fail in their quest, as this story indicates,
Orlando has been the target of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ retaliation for publicly opposing the
“Parental Rights in Education” bill, also known as the “don’t say gay” bill.
As Florida legislators were rushing through passage of a bill to repeal the special district that governs Walt Disney World last week, they failed to notice an obscure provision in state law that says the state could not do what legislators were doing — unless the district’s bond debt was paid off.
Disney, however, noticed and quietly sent a note to its investors to show that it was confident the Legislature’s attempt to dissolve the special taxing district operating the 39-square mile parcel it owned in two counties violated the “pledge” the state made when it enacted the district in 1967, and therefore was not legal. The result, Disney told its investors, is that it would continue to go about business as usual.
The statement, posted on the website of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board on April 21 by the Reedy Creek Improvement District, is the only public statement Disney has supplied since lawmakers unleashed their fury over the company’s vocal opposition to the “Parental Rights in Education” law, also known as the “don’t say gay” bill. The statement, first reported by WESH 2, quotes the statute which says, in part, that the “State of Florida pledges...it will not limit or alter the rights of the District...until all such bonds together with interest thereon...are fully met and discharged.”
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So, when Disney moved to Florida, the politicians and business community embraced it with open arms. Perhaps this was corporate welfare, but unless the legislature can come up with billions of dollars to undo the agreement made at that time, Mickey and Minnie will continue to live on as unbigoted creatures in Florida.