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creator 01 MicKey MouseNow it. is settled for once and r all: There reallv is a Santa* itaus. Walt Disney says so. and he ight to know. As the creator who is breathed the breath of life to such characters as Mickeyousc, the Three Liub* IMtrs.low White, and the Seven =wart's, Walt Disney Is the Su-•erne Court on any decisions eon* trning Santa Claus and for thm atter about all elves, gnomes..prechauns, Easter rabbits, and 1 those very real creatures whom 10 dimmed eyes of old a at' have fficulty in seeing.Acting as Disney's spokesman.; unro Leaf—himself no mean au-: lority on these things since he■rought forth Ferdinand tin* Hull; -reports in the current issue of; Woman's Day’' that Walt Disney elieves in Santa and tells his own iiildren that the jolly Christ urns nome really exists.“Every time the Christmas sea-m rolls around in many homeshroughout America,” writes Mr. ,eaf, “mothers and fathers with he best intentions in the world -ilk, talk, talk deep into the night bout a problem that has been ;ith us for centuries. Shall we ell the children that there isn’t uy Santa Claus?“Before you decide that im-ortant matter, and don't make he mistake of thinking it isn’t important, suppose we go to the manwhose ideas probably mean as much to the children of the world as those of any one living today, Walt Disney.^Let's ask him if he believes in Santa Claus and what do you think his answer is? is“ ‘Cnrtainiy. ves,’ ji“What man or wmiiaii who pcnt a happy ehihlhood with par “ins who told the tales of the fat 5 jolly whiskered gentleman who could slide down chimneys and ;told it with a twinkle in their own j.eyes, has ever stopped believing j in him? Of course all of us some- ; where along the line experienced j a temporary jolt the way Walt Disney did when at tin1 aglt;* of six he saw his older brother, Koy, sneaking the Christinas tree into the cellar, but that hasn’t anything to do with one of the grandest stories that the human race ever produced.“What child has been told a tale that thrilled him more?“But, ‘sadly, literal 'matter-of-fact people will solemnly shake their heads and say, 'But it isn’t true - there just isn’t any Santa Claus and you know it/“Do we know it? That is thereal question.“Let’s tackle Walt Disney again. Let's ask him another question.“Is there a Mickey Mouse? lithe re a Minnie, is there a Donald IMPROPER SWINISH-John Homans,prp^ssJcumV, of the, RivprsidQ, Qp\t t-Qtib o( * Weatpn, exhibits his hew swing corrector club,, bent as the result of an improper Swing, Inset is the spring just below the grip whichis opened by a false move.ey and Donald and Pluto are more real and bring fun to millions more than he could ever please by going around I he world himself.“He knows that Heidi and Mow-gll and Uncle Remus and the Wizard of Oz and IMnoccio and Win nle-t he- Pooh and Old Mother Hubbard and Rip Van Winkle andthousands of others are every bit. as real as Mrs Breen who lives next door or Mr. Jasper who delivers the milk.“Why pick on Santa Claus? What has he done to deserve all this doubting?“Why should one of the joi-liest, most likeable creatures that ever put over the truth that it’s really fun to give be talked out of childhood just because s o m e grownups haven’t enough joy inthem to make a good job of it? “After Walt Disney found out at the age of six that there wasn’t any team of reindeer waiting up on the roof while' a fat man slid down his chimney, he had fun pretending to his parents that he stih believed the whole works. It is a safe bet that the experience of discovery didn't leave him all tied up with complexes that so many parents seem to fear.a“Before Walt Disney had made movie about Ferdinand theBull, a character who popped into my mind one rainy Sunday afternoon, 1 had an experience which bears out the fantasy of childhood.I had written ‘The Story of Ferdinand’ and Robert Lawson haddrawn the pictures for the book.“A little boy of five, named Peter, knew the book by heart and loved it. His mother thought it would be nice if Peter and I should meet, so my wife and I were invited to dinner and Peter was told that Ferdinand's Popp/ was coming that evening.“I have seen some disappoint children in my life, but never on,e so completely surprised and dejected as Peter when he saw me! Just a man, as he put it, with pants on! He had at least expected me to bo led in with a ring through my nose, and my tail switching. You will never convince me that Ferdinand is not more real to Peter Ilian I can over hope to be and I am grateful that Wait. Disney has made a picture that will give Peter more satisfaction than a permanent personal appearance on my part could hopeto.j *“Why not lot this he so for Santa Claus and your little children? If he is not real it is only becauseyou fail to make him so.“Walt Disney says, ‘When my little daughters confront me with the question, I shall say without a twinge, “Of course ^here is, and let’s join him as he adds,“ ‘Long Live Santa Claus’/’JABBERWOCKYCommenting on the statement in a magazine that “the new internationalism must establish a symbiosis among nations, and nota phagocytosis/1 the St. Louis Times Star snorts: “Suremust. You took the words vi%\ out of our unabridged/’i i .
Newspaper Details
Carroll Daily Herald
Carroll, Iowa, US
Sat, Dec 10, 1938
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
King C.
WA, USA 15 Oct 2019
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