Sad news at Disney

Maybe it's because I didn't have kids, but I'm not the world's foremost Disney fan. 

Of course, when I was a kid things were different. 

The first movie I saw in a theater was Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin in Three Ring Circus at the Park Theater in Worcester's Webster Square. My father took my sister Kath and me, and I found it HI-larious. 

Not that I went to the movies all that often, but after that, I'd say that, until I was in junior-high, three-quarters of the movies I went to see were Disney.

Cinderella. A re-release of Fantasia. Alice in Wonderland. I remember getting on the bus with my sister Kath and our friends to go "down city" to see Darby O'Gill and the Little People." Ditto for The Parent Trap. ("Let's get together, yeah, yeah, yeah.") I loved The Shaggy Dog, The Absent Minded Professor. Lady and the Tramp. Disney movie, real people or cartoon? Bring it on!

And then there was Disney on television.

Did I ever miss an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club, which ran Monday through Friday, late afternoon? Answer: not if I could help it - even if I did prefer Donald Duck to the smarmy Mickey. If someone queued up the tunes, I'm pretty sure I could perfectly sing along with the intro: "Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me? M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E". The special theme song for each day of the week ("Today is Tuesday, you know what that means, we're gonna have a special guest"). And the weepy, dirge-like farewell. ("M-I-C - see you real soon now - K-E-Y - why? because we like you!").

I had a big fat crush on Cubby O'Brien. And, although he wasn't a Mouseketeer, I had a bigger and fatter crush on Tim Considine, who played Spin on Spin and Marty, a serial about a boys ranch camp that ran on the show. (A couple of years ago, I watched one of the episodes. Yowza. The weird pedo undertones of this show were quite unnerving.)

Naturally, I admired and envied Annette Funicello, and even saw her in person once. Heavily made up and wearing a full-length leopard-skin coat, she made an appearance in the Stop & Shop parking lot. I was a bit taken a back. Sure, she was an older girl - 14 to my 7 at the time - but she was way too grown up.

Still, I lived and died by the Annette series, when dowdy poor country-girl orphan - and, let's face it, who didn't want to be an orphan at some point in their young life? - comes to live with her rich aunt (Lila) and uncle (Archie) in the big city. I can still remember how furious I was when Annette was accused by the mean-girl played by Roberta Shore of stealing a necklace. (The word "insinuating" was used in one exchange. Word power!)

I didn't have a lot of Disney gear, but one Christmas I was given a plastic Mickey Mouse Club wallet. To keep what in, I have no idea. If I had any money, it was small change, not bills.

On Sunday evenings, our family watched whatever the incarnation of the Walt Disney Show was. So I saw Davey Crockett, Johnny Tremain, Swamp Fox, and all the other serials that ran on that show. I vividly recall how I felt when Johnny Tremain's hand was burnt by molten silver. (Johnny Tremain was especially dear to me, because the author of that book, Esther Forbes, was from Worcester.)

And, of course, I lusted after Disneyland.

I finally made it when I was 22, about 14 years too late to really make me happy, but I did enjoy the experience, however weird it was. 

I went again in my mid-thirties with my sister Trish. 

And I still think the the whirling teacups, the flying Dumbo, and Mister Toad's Wild Ride are a lot of fun.

But I don't really keep up with 'what's new' from Disney, other than the background noise you can't escape. Lion King...Mulan...Little Mermaid. 

I've never been to Disneyworld in Florida, other than attending a business conference in a related hotel years ago.

Still, I'm saddened to see that the pandemic is taking its toll on the not-so-wonderful-world of Walt Disney.

A couple of days ago, Disney announced a major RIF.

Disney is laying off 28,000 US employees at its theme parks as the coronavirus pandemic hammers its theme park business.

The layoffs will hit the company's Parks, Experiences and Products, the company said on Tuesday. Disney added that 67% of the employees laid off will be part-time workers. (Source: CNN)

Part-time, full-time. Doesn't matter all that much. That many people losing their jobs is just dreadful. So much for the happiest place on earth. But, of course, inevitable, given the times.

One of my favorite Disney cartoon characters - other than Dopey of the seven dwarves - has always been Jiminy Cricket. There's just something about him (it?) that, as a kid, I found comforting. So for all those laid off Disney workers, here's Jiminy:

                    When you wish upon a star
                    Makes no difference who your are
                    Anything your hearts desire
                    Will come to you.

Do I absolutely believe this? Well, no. But, hey, anything's worth a try. Take a deep breath. Get those résumés updated. And head outside and grab a star to wish on. Can't hurt.

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Happy Birthday to my sister, and fellow child Disney watcher, Kathleen!