Does magic exist?

The word magic itself tends to have a dark history. Thanks to movies, books, and real life cults there tends to be a certain directive thought as to what “magic” really is. I want to talk about a different kind of magic here. Disney Magic! 

Walt Disney knew what magic was. He wasn’t a wizard, and he did not know Harry Potter…but he definitely knew what magic is.

Everyone has a little bit of magic. It’s that deep rooted belief. The gut feeling you get when a great idea comes your way. The feeling you receive when you know you’re making the right decision.

Disney tapped into his inner magic…the inner curiosity that leads us down new paths. I would say it’s what defined his life.

Early on he was in touch with his creative side, even though he was fired from a newspaper company for not being creative enough (true story).

EARLY MAGIC – LAUGH-O-GRAM

A great example of this is from early Disney history when he was part of his Laugh-O-Gram Studio. Here short films were created in black and white called “Alice’s Wonderland”. Imagine creating cartoons with live actors before animation was a truly conquered genre!

He always did things a little different, with a little more imagination, and a little more creativity then those around him. Even though the Laugh-O-Gram Studio went bankrupt, it didn’t stop Disney.

He persevered. That Disney “Magic” kept him going regardless of adversity or environment. He made the first full length cartoon film, even though people didn’t think it was possible. He didn’t have enough money, and it was something never done before. That doesn’t stop a man with the right kind of magic.

He kept going. he always kept going. No matter what happened in every part of his life this man kept moving forward. Think about the current size of the Disney corporation! He didn’t plan for that, all he planned for was to keep moving towards the mark…following his dreams and ideas.

FULL LENGTH MAGIC – SNOW WHITE

Imagine doing something no other person or company had the courage to do. This is the origins of his first fully animated film, Snow White. Think about it. Things were different then, they didn’t have an adobe suite of tools like photoshop to render perfect images. There were no CGI graphics to be added into anything.

The thought of a full length film was a tremendous one. So much so, that most people were against it. Think about all the effort to create a feature length film back in the 1930’s!

Here are some facts to cement the depth of this project. It took one magnificent Disney filled with vision at the forefront of this thing. Now add those needed to make it happen which included: 

• 32 animators,

• 1032 assistants,

• 107 inbetweeners,

• 10 layout artists,

• 25 background artists,

• 65 special effects animators

• 158 inkers and painters.

Together they made approximately 1.5 Million still images or “Cells”. Seriously….1,500,000 individual cells to create this moving picture which only lasted about 83 minutes. Quick math tells me that took a little over 18,000 Cells a minute!

Now that’s some flippin fricken magic! Have you ever taken on a project with employees and contractors? Imagine doing that with thousands of animators, directing their work schedules and workloads for the time it took to make these things (which was about 3 years from 1934 – 1937).

The monumental size of this project alone would have deterred most people. Good thing it wasn’t just anyone, it was a magic filled Walt Disney.

Snow White persevered and became a huge success, despite the naysayers. Inner Magic makes you able to do the impossible. This kind of magic pushes you forward to greatness in times of trouble and worry. It keeps you moving forward regardless of what life throws at you.

Do you have this kind of magic? Are you prepared to persevere through life no matter what until your greatness becomes a full and complete reality?

Let’s look at one other bit of magic from this “magic man”…

THE ORIGINAL MAGIC KINGDOM – DISNEYLAND

Another time I can remember when mystical magic turned fantasy into reality is when Mr Disney had the idea for Disneyland.

A theme park? Disney was a movie maker, not a theme park designer. Yet, he knew deep down it would succeed. His peers told him it was a bad idea. Even his family was against the thought of it, but that didn’t stop a man like Disney.

It all started while he was out with his daughters one day at Griffith park in southern California. Sitting on a bench (now housed in Disneyland) he came to up with the grand idea of a place where kids and adults could have fun together. A place full of imagination, where the common man can come to escape the everyday.

So he immediately had a lead artist of his draw up a rendition. The first sketch was more like a large playground then a theme park. But the idea grew and grew (as most of his ideas tended to do).

It became much bigger and grander than intended. So much so that he needed help paying for it. He pitched the idea to many entities, but had to get very creative with magical funding for this magical place.

He did many unusual things to get it going including: 

T

• Taking a loan from his own life insurance policy

• Cutting merchandising deals utilizing his well known name

• Getting huge sponsors to promote to their own customers

• BEST: He created a TV program on ABC highlighting the worlds inside Disneyland

Listen…I don’t know how many marketers are reading this, but Disney was a real Marketeer! This man used television which was still new and exciting to push the idea of Disneyland by making episodes showcasing the lands inside.

What a gosh-darn genius move! What better way to get people hyped, to get people sucked in, to get people invested in a place….than by using the largest entertainment venue at the time.

The gravity of this is huge, Disney knew that he was creating an escape. It’s the same reason people were watching the TV, to escape to a new place in their mind. TV is both great and dangerous in that way, we allow our imaginations to take us to where our eyes and ears are pointed.

I remember watching the “Walt Disney Presents” and the “Wonderful World of Color” at my grandma’s house growing up.

You better believe I knew who Davy Crocket was and couldn’t wait to visit Frontierland myself and get a raccoon hat just like him when I was a kid. (Side note, in my later years as a teen it was the need for a Fedora thanks to the Indiana Jones ride which came out in the 90s!)

Disneyland changed the way theme parks do business, just like how he changed the movie industry.

It was the Disney “Magic” they said. It’s something you can feel when you are inside Disneyland. There is something special about it, a different feeling then any other theme park including Disney World in Orlando.

Disney wasn’t alive while Disney World was being built, but his hands were all over Disneyland. He had an eye for detail and quality…but there was always something else. That “magic” touch which was definitely there but indescribable how it works. 

If you have ever been to both parks (nostalgia aside, some people were raised in Disney World so that is the preference) There is something special about Disneyland. A feeling. A magic!

CONCLUSION – THERE IS MAGIC IN YOU!

Disney was unstoppable…because of his magic. What about you? Les Brown always says there is GREATNESS in you. I call it magic.

What about your inner magic? That secret part of you with amazing thoughts and ideas on a particular subject? The part inside which makes your inner child scream out…Where is it?

Have you found something you thought was magical as a child and forgot about it? Maybe you became super excited about a topic as a young adult and wanted to dedicate your life to it, but then life happened.

You had to get a job because a relative died. Maybe you became the only source of income for your family and havent stopped working since. Maybe it’s something deeper, and you can remember a specific time when your innocence disappeared. 

Everyone has something that affected them deeply in life, but some are much more traumatic than others. Something terrible happened, someone you loved died, it could have been anything. DON’T let it keep you from your magic. 

Don’t DIE with your MAGIC still in you!

Imagine all the things you can bring to the world which you haven’t yet. Why? What’s stopping you? Everyone has a story, where in your story did you stop dreaming?

It’s a serious question, because there is serious magic within waiting to go out. The world needs it, especially now. You can spend your time arguing about politics, religion, and war…but what the world really needs right now is you.

You showing up, bringing your magic, and bringing people together. 

I believe God created you in a special way. You don’t have to believe the same as me, but you KNOW there is something special in you…given to you at birth…so you can give it to the world.

It’s my job to remind you that it’s there, motivate you to let the magic come out, and help you add that magic into this lost and dying world.

That’s my magic. What about yours?

As this community grows into something amazing, open your heart to allow yourself to grow too.

I hope these “value bombs” have exploded and penetrated your heart today, more to come so keep watch!

Until next time my magical friend, this is Mr Jones

***Don’t forget to sign up to get the “Find Your Strength” Guide so your magic can start being recognized and come out!***