9. Walt Disney changed the world in many ways and continues to do so today
How Walt Disney changed the world is like a Shakespearean sonnet, with the answer being “Let me count the ways”. Mickey Mouse is a term referring to something trivial. In the United Kingdom, it means fake, or of dubious quality. In college slang, it can refer to an easy passing grade, though sometimes if a course of questionable merit. A job easily accomplished, or of little significance, is a Mickey Mouse task. There are numerous other uses of the name, and it was even mentioned by Fredo in The Godfather, in reference to his own uselessness to the family. Mickey was once a character of some sophistication, prone to angry, stubborn fits of pique, and in recent years he was started to once again exhibit those traits. And that is just one character introduced by Walt Disney, whose film studios launched dozens, if not hundreds, of others.
Disney’s minions went to war in World War II, on the screen, in comic books, and with the soldiers and sailors who went overseas. Disney created other worlds via animation, sometimes through the adaptation of fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, and sometimes through original scripts. Eventually, he became far more than a filmmaker, but it was film through which he created his iconic characters, and those characters were the basis for his entertainment empire which continues to enthrall the public around the world more than fifty years after his death. Sociologists, psychologists, political scientists, and pundits worldwide continue to dissect his seminal films and work for social relevance and hidden agenda, but his work continues to entertain and influence the world. Disney both made history and changed it forever, and he continues to do so in film, television, magazines, books, video games, board games, music, theme parks, and more, all originating from an animated mouse.