Monday, October 09, 2006

When I Was Your Age . . .

I listen to podcasts. I lurk on forums. And let me tell you-- I’m tired. I’m tired of the whining. I’m tired of all the moaning and complaining.

The Disney Channel stinks! We hate the “cheap-quels”! We want Vault Disney back! We’re sick of Stitch! There’s not enough E-ticket attractions! There’s too much Pooh stuff! Michael Eisner ruined the company! The parks are turning into Pixar-lands! John Lasseter is going to screw up everything!

You know, young Disney fans just don’t know how good they have it.

Let me tell you how it was when I was your age . . .

. . . we only had one theme park at Walt Disney World. One park, three resorts (if you count the golf one), a campground and a wildlife preserve you had to ride a boat to. That was it.

. . . we had tickets. Yes tickets. None of this unlimited access to all shows, rides and attractions. You rode Haunted Mansion once. That was it. Pirates of the Caribbean. Once. Jungle Cruise. Once. And your mother always made you waste one of those precious E Tickets on Small World.

. . . we had to typically wait three to four years for a new Disney animated feature film. And then what did we get? Robin Hood. The Rescuers. The Black Cauldron. The Fox and the Hound. Oh, they’re nice little movies, but not exactly up there with the likes of Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King, and Toy Story, all the ones you were all raised on.

. . . if you wanted to watch a Disney classic, guess what. You could see it once every seven years in a theater, if you were lucky. God, when Pinocchio was released on home video in the early 80s, we thought we had died and gone to heaven. Films like Melody Time, Make Mine Music, and Fun and Fancy Free? Get real. I didn’t even know they existed until Leonard Maltin told me about them when I was older.

. . . seeing an intact, unedited Mickey Mouse cartoon was next to impossible. You guys can pretty much pop Steamboat Willie into the DVD player any time you want. Let’s not even talk about how you can now watch some of them on your iPod.

. . . we had nothing even close to the Disney Afternoon, let alone the Disney Channel, Toon Disney and entire Walt Disney Home Video library. We had the Wonderful World of Disney for an hour every Sunday night. And most of the time we got stuck with stuff like Charlie the Lonesome Cougar and Sammy the Way Out Seal.

You youngsters are soft, spoiled. Don’t know what true Disney hardship is.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think what most people whine about nowadays is the general lack of thought and "magic" put into today's attractions. Do you ever get off of Test Track and go, "Wow! That was amazing -- so much better than World of Motion!"?

I would certainly hope not. Quality, not quantity is what matters.

Jeffrey Pepper said...

Well, I did feel that Test Track was pretty amazing; I just never really felt the need to compare it to World of Motion. Why does there always have to be a competition between the old and the new?

Your statement about Test Track is subjective at best. Most guests don't share your assessment. It was very well-receivied and is still extremely popular.

As to quality and quantity--that's just my point. Since the 1970s, there has been an overwhelming increase in the quantity of quality Disney products.

As to the whining, see my Cranky Mouseketeers post--people are complaining about the dumbest things, and then become angry when others do not agree with their very narrow and highly subjective perceptions.

Unknown said...

I actually agree.
I am 25 years old but I get so annoyed that everyone hates on everything new in the Disney universe. I have to listen to so many nostalgists complain that Disney should never update or remove attractions. It's annoying. I will admit that I get annoyed every once in awhile like Stitch's Great Escape or Monster's Inc Laugh Floor (though I actually found it very funny) and others but it's better than nothing. And also keep in mind that I know we are going to get a lot of Frozen coming our way but that's how it is now.
My only wish is that they allowed original attractions instead of insisting on synergy and everything has to be connected. Radiator Springs Racers and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train are awesome (though Mine Train isn't up yet) but Mystic Manor is so awesome. I wish we got that in the U.S. somewhere.
Well let me end my tirade, and great article, sorry I'm spamming your articles as I go through them.
-gioDisney