02.01.2010
  
Michael Fox CPCC,
founder of magine!,
is a professional
coach and trainer,
author and creative artist, whose work has been featured throughout
the world.

Michael is a
Certified Practitioner
of the
Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator.

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Curiosity may have killed the cat,
but it saved The Mouse...

I've always held a curiosity around the creative genius and temperament of Walt Disney. I spent my teen years in the shadow of Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Disney, with little exaggeration, was a modern Da Vinci, whose visionary genius transcended the arts and influenced the way many of us live, work, and play. Disney once reflected on curiosity as a creative force:  

 We keep moving forward,

opening new doors, and doing new things,

because we're curious and

curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

 

Disney is credited with a number of innovations in film including the first full-length animated feature, the classic Snow White and the Seven Vertically Challenged Diamond Miners. It would be an easy case to make, however, that Walt Disney's Fantasia (1940) stands today as his most creative, and ambitious, foray into film.  

 

Fantasia is a tapestry of eight dialog-free, animated shorts--ranging across the spectrum between literalism and abstraction--each inspired by a piece of classical music introduced and conducted by Leopold Stokowski. Seven of the eight pieces were performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Featured composers included Bach, Tchaikovsky, Dukas, Stravinsky, Beethoven, Ponchielli, Mussorgsky, and Schubert.   

 

Today, the most recognizable of Fantasia's eight shorts is Paul Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice, the only one featuring a Disney star. The Sorcerer's Apprentice was conceived as a standalone, "comeback" vehicle for Mickey Mouse, whose popularity had begun to wane. There are, Disney had discovered, only so many tales you can tell of a congenial neighbor; hence, the creation of that contrarian, Donald Duck, six years prior.  

 

Among Fantasia's many distinctions, the production was the first major film released in stereophonic sound, employing a process marketed as "Fantasound." Disney actually toyed with the idea of 3-D and--what years later became known, regrettably, as "Smell-O-Vision."

 

Fantasia premiered in New York City on November 13th, 1940 to largely positive reviews. Many highbrow music critics, however, dismissed the movie, pushing back on the animators' visual interpretation of the compositions; some even questioned the "presumption" of attaching any visual imagery to a classical composition, fearful it would inhibit listeners' own imagining. It would require numerous releases over the course of years before the massive production recouped its investment.

 

I wrote a paper in college on the production and premiere of Fantasia. In researching the paper, I was graciously welcomed to Disney Studios by David Smith, the renowned Founder and Chief Archivist of the Walt Disney Studio Archives. Mr. Smith, a kind and hospitable man, answered my numerous questions without regard of time and, then, much to my delight, produced several priceless artifacts from the film including clay models fashioned by the animators and a copy of the program distributed at the premiere--signed by Disney, Stokowski, and other notables connected to the production.

 

At the time of my visit, Fantasia had yet to be released to video. As I prepared to conclude my stay, I asked Mr. Smith if there were any plans in place to make the film available. I confessed to Mr. Smith that I had never had an opportunity to view the film. I was only aware of the film by reputation. Without prompt, without expectation, Mr. Smith smiled and asked if I was in a hurry. Umm, no. He led me into a cramped screening room where he mounted a print of Fantasia and left me alone, spellbound, for the next two hours. Grace.

 

When I reflect upon that wondrous day long ago at Disney Studios--immersed in all things Fantasia in the very place of its creation nearly a half-century earlier--I recall once again Walt Disney's curiosity:  

We keep moving forward,

opening new doors, and doing new things, 

because we're curious and 

curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. 

 

 

And so I'm curious. Where has curiosity taken you?  

 

Do you routinely "kick the can" down the street, unaware, unconcerned, where it might lead you? What's your experience? 

 

What might you do to foster a greater sense of curiosity?  

 

Anticipating outcomes is often wise and essential. But...how might always anticipating outcomes limit your discoveries to the breadth of your own ability to "imaginate." Where's the bigger place to play?

 

 

Michael Fox
m�agine!

530/613.2774
407 Myrtle Drive
Farmerville, LA, USA 71241  
In addition to personal and professional coaching,
m�agine! specializes in spiritual transformation coaching,
employing its proprietary models
--Values, Vision, Voice
and Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength--

as well as
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator� curriculum
published by CPP, the People Development People.

Michael's books include
 
Complete in Christ,
Complete in Christ Spiritual Transformation Workbook,
and Biblio�files.

Coaching fees are based upon a sliding scale. Contact us for details.
For additional information, visit our website at maginethepossibilities.net.

Limited scholarships are available for spiritual transformation coaching.
On the flip side, if you are able, please inquire about opportunities
to fund scholarships for those who cannot afford coaching fees.

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