Friday, 16 February 2024

Disneyism: The One True Mouse

 

Disneyism

Pursue Your Dreams Fearlessly

  While the Disney company is yet to actually create a religion, the doctrines are already in place. If you wish to follow Disney as a religion here is my interpretation.

 

Worship the Mouse

   While we may see Walt Disney as a god, he’s not, he was a man. If we must worship an entity, let us worship Disney’s most recognisable icon, Mickey Mouse.


95 years old (Birthday 18 November 1928) and only slightly different in appearance from when he started, Mickey Mouse is immortal, timeless and the one true mouse.

Cosmology

  While many religions have a cosmology a Disney religion doesn’t really need one. For arguments sake, we can say the Disney Universe was created by Walt Disney. The Walt Disney company is now mostly owned by shareholders with the Disney family only owning about 1%. Many people are involved in decision making and the creative process so the universe was started by Walt Disney but definitive cosmology is hard to explain.

 

Tenets/ commandments

  Sofia the First and Jake the pirate can give us pointers here.  Essentially, we should be good people, that’s what the films tell us . Of course, the more modern Disney films also encourage us, especially females, to be independent, strong and true to ourselves. Things which are starting to sound a little twee, new age and self-congratulatory after it being rammed down our throats by a country accused often of being overtly racist and intolerant, especially in recent years. This however, is about Disneyism as a religion so to summarise, for now,

·        Kindness- Be kind to everybody, without exception

·        Generosity – Generosity of spirit at least

·        Loyalty – Let’s not let Dreamworks or Warner Brothers forget where our loyalty truly lies

·        Honesty – Kind of self-explanatory

·        Courtesy – Have good manners

·        Worship the mouse

 

Place of Worship

  While there are no churches, Disneyism can easily be practised at home. We can, of course, make a pilgrimage to a Disney park . to honour the mouse, but we can worship the mouse anywhere. Of course, we can share this with family and friends. A Disney party with costumes, singing along with the songs and a marathon of Disney is the most fun way to do it of course. If you cannot afford Disney+ there is nothing wrong with doing it the old fashioned way, whether this be through Blu ray, DVD or even VHS. We can also show our devotion with merchandise, we have plenty to choose from. You could also form a local club. Meet up and watch Disney, talk about it, read it, whatever you can do.

 

Becoming a Devoted Follower of The One True Mouse

  Disneyism is not a recognised religion, it may never reach that status but that doesn’t make it invalid. It can be done as fun or as seriously as you like. There may be things you think of that I have missed, if so, let me know and I’ll see about adding it. In the meantime, find other faithful's, spread the word and, as always, remember the main message from the mouse, Pursue Your Dreams Fearlessly.

  In other words, put those ears on and enjoy yourself.