The Storytellers

The Storytellers

I’ve been looking at my pictures of Disneyland. I noticed I seem to take a lot of pictures of the various statues at the parks.

Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom have their Partners Statue, and I love how it represents Walt looking back with Mickey Mouse at all they have accomplished together. For year’s Partners was one of the focal points of my camera lens. Last year, with the reopening of the reimagined DCA (Disney California Adventure) I found another beautiful statue to take pictures of.

The Storytellers Statue at DCA is beautiful and inspirational. Storytellers shows Walt as he was in 1923 when he came to California. Walt was 22 years old and was broke for the third time in his life. Yet, he was still hopeful and excited about what the future could hold him. Next to Walt, standing on Walt suitcase is the yet to be designed Mickey Mouse. This Mickey is a mix of the classic, original pie-eyed Mickey with touches of the more modern Mickey. Together these two bring such hope and joy.

Walt as depicted in the Partners Statue is the Walt of my youth. It is Walt as I remember seeing him on TV introducing that week’s edition of Wonderful World of Color. It is Walt as I remember seeing him a couple of times from a distance while growing up in Burbank, California. He is reveling in his achievements yet by no means resting on his laurels. He is saying, “Look Mickey, this is what we created!”

Storytellers Statue reminds me were Walt came from and the work it took for him to build is entertainment empire. Storytellers reminds me to hold onto hope, look to the future and find the blue sky even in the dark times. The Storyteller Walt is standing there thinking, “How exciting, there are so many things to do, so much fun to create and there’s nothing that can stop me!” In short Storytellers reminds me to never give up into just keep trying.