Walt Disney is a serial attention seeker who is not happy when one of his employees grabs the headlines. This story revolves around the reaction of Walt Disney on the success of his employee who ferried animals to Island of Tobago for filming of, “The Swiss Family Robinson.”
Walt Disney believed he was the sole creator of the Disney world, his behaviour characterizing him as an egotistical and tyrannical of a mortal man. Walt Disney’s angry reaction shows a man who believed that he should have been in the headline and not one of his staff (Richard, 1968). The creator mentality that Walt Disney had manifests itself when he shouts that is Disney’s task to show he owns it. This reaction shows Walt Disney had power over his staff and he exercised it freely. Power created fear in his staff and respect for his work. This drove them to work harder for him. Walt Disney felt that he owned his employees, and they should only work for him or in their line of work, they should give Disney the credit. All this reaction by Walt Disney is equal to a God who feels that his creations have dis-obeyed him, and they deserve to be punished. A reaction meant to warn the other employees who were present and let them know what he felt about them. Walt Disney viewed his staff as his responsibility, and they had to pay homage to their creator. That explains why he reacted so angrily to the headline made by one his staff.
Walt Disney is a sentimental character who is in constant touch with his inner feelings and has no reservations on expressing his feelings. This quality is thought to be the source of his success in the entertainment industry. Walt Disney on seeing the headline he angrily cried. The angry cry shows a man who is free with his emotions (Leornard, 1985). The angry emotion provoked by a headline about one of his studio directors. The reaction shows he was close to the director and he was not happy with him working on a different project other than Disney creations. Being sentimental is of importance to Walt Disney because he identifies with his creations. Walt Disney is a man constantly controlled by his emotions instead of figuring things out.
Walt Disney is a passionate character who loves his work. After reading the headline, he reacts angrily to it because he feels he should have received the credit and not his studio director. This is expressed after he cries that the idea is Disney’s, showing how passionate he is about his work (Zehnder, 1975). Passion in most cases is thought of by people to be an admirable personality trait. According to the oxford dictionary, it is defined as a strong feeling and a burning desire for something. This character indicates a weakness in Walt Disney that he expressed when faced by competition in his work. Passion is associated with egoism, another character of Walt Disney displayed by his desire to be the only creator of animations. Passion motivated by ego drives one to over-indulge in his work.
In this story, Walt Disney displays a weak character shown by his traits of egoism, sentimentalism, and passion. All these traits indicate that he expects his subordinates to pay homage and be loyal to him and his creations.
References
Leonard, M. (1985). Disney's World: A Biography. New York: Stein and Day.
Richard, S. (1968). The Life, Time, Art & Commerce of Walter Disney. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Zehnder, L. E. (1975). Florida's Disney World: Promises and Problems. Tallahassee: Peninsular Publishing Company.
