Thanks Walt

It's been awhile, but we're back in action. Sometimes, in life, you have to hit the hard reset button - and then, perhaps not so surprisingly, you move on with it.

Appropriately enough, our blog challenge topic choices both inspire creativity and our views on two very different types of media.

1. A Haiku on Fox News
2. What Disney has Taught Me

While I prepare to mull over the endless 5-7 syllabic lines of prose-commentary on the ever-riveting Fox News, I think I will first begin with the happiest place on earth.

What Disney has Taught Me

As a child of the 90's, let me state frankly: what hasn't Disney taught me? I learned to love, laugh, and cry (hell-ooooo Bambi) through Walt & Co.'s imaginative and colorful classics. From Snow White to Hercules, I was hooked hard and fast.

Nickelodeon? Cartoon Network? GARBAGE. As a child as young as 4, I stuck up my nose. There was just something about the voices, the dialogue, the line, and color quality that I recognized from an early age. If you've ever met a child with a brand preference so strong before age 5, please let me know.

I may be turning 26 this year, but my favorite movie is still Beauty and the Beast. While many associate Disney princess fables with undermining young girls' abilities to succeed in the world, I have always harbored a slightly different sentiment. Belle could be the reason I loved to read as a child, and was never afraid of being the odd ball or refusing to settle into what I'm supposed to want to have. Ariel could account for my hard-headed, and sometimes fool-hearted stubbornness, and unending sense of adventure. Megara could be the reason I practically drip with sarcasm. Mulan certainly helped me realize that gender non-conformist tendencies are just part of who I am. I loved these characters, and these stories. I still do - but as an adult, my investment has grown tenfold as I continue to realize the genius of this massive corporate giant.

Climb the beanstalk with me for a moment - my affinity for all things Disney most likely led me to my current job aspirations and passion for branding. A brand is how you build your empire - your voice, your face, and your promise to your audience. Your brand is simultaneously all you have, and the most invaluable thing you will ever own. With great branding, you can be anything, and everything to endless facets of customers - but even more than that, you can be immortal.

Everything Disney has to sell is flawless. Whether a churro from Fantasyland, a DVD from the vault, or a spot in line to meet your favorite character for the first time as a 3 year old (and someday, with your own 3 year old), Disney never misses a beat. Their commercials are golden, their properties impeccable, whimsical, and perfect. I'm simply enchanted. I have been devoted since I could make choices. I will be devoted a lifetime - ah, the immeasurable power of a compelling brand. Does anyone, or anything else hold such power?

Walt Disney knew the power of imagination, but he also knew the power of GREAT business. With his extraordinary vision and unbridled passion for creative innovation, his empire is arguably the most sound in history. I love the house of mouse for all of its glory - both the carefully crafted and constructed facade and the painstakingly executed behind the scenes operations.

And speaking of... when are we leaving? It's about time I got back.