If you’ve read my writing for any length of time, you know the influence Walt Disney has had on me. I can’t tell you how much I’ve written about Disney’s greatness and how the company has squandered Walt’s legacy.
I know I’m a Disney purist, but it’s not just about wokeness and political statements. It’s also about how the company has made questionable creative decisions, made the guest experience less enjoyable, and prioritized raising prices over value to guests.
I’m not alone in noticing this, either. The son of a country music legend has released a new single called “What Walt Would Say” that laments how Disney has strayed from Walt’s original vision.
Tyler Dean McDowell is the son of country superstar Ronnie McDowell and a talented singer-songwriter with a career of his own. When he first signed to a label, he kept his last name secret so that it wouldn’t look like his dad’s stardom influenced any decisions to sign him, but as an independent artist, he’s proud to carry on his family history.
Tyler said that his two heroes are his dad and Walt Disney because both of them have inspired his own creativity. His parents instilled in him a love of the Disney Parks and resorts.
“My dad, he was one of the first in our family to go to a Disney park,” he said. “A lot of people don't know that he was in Vietnam. He served, actually. He was in Vietnam and then went to Adak, Alaska, and then back to Vietnam. But when he was on leave in California, I think that would have been ’68, ’69, he went to Disneyland.”
“He had grown up seeing Uncle Walt, and then they went to the opening of Epcot, and my family kind of went to Disney all the time,” he added. “I mean, every year when I was born. But actually, my mother — funny story —she found out she was pregnant with me at Epcot. She talked to her doctor on a pay phone that’s still there.”
Like me, Tyler was shocked when he found out that people actually got paid to create the immersive attractions at Walt Disney World. The Imagineers became another creative inspiration for him.
Related: Disney Has Turned Its Back on What Made It So Great
Just like so many Disney purists — or, as he calls them, “pixie dusters” — Tyler began to see changes in recent years that bothered him.
“A lot of people think that my frustrations with the Walt Disney Company is their political stance and things,” he said. “And while that's definitely a part of it, I look at things like, you know, ‘What Walt would say if he was there?’”
He points out a recent change that allowed cast members to sport visible tattoos and haircuts or styles that distract from the “show” that these cast members put on while they work. He also cites additions and renovations at the resort that look generic and don’t have the same character as the original buildings.
Politically correct changes bother him as well. For example, Disney replaced the infamous auction scene in Pirates of the Caribbean, in which the pirates bid for brides, with one where the pirates are auctioning off treasures to each other instead of just stealing them like pirates should. (Additionally, the comely redhead bride became a grrrrl boss pirate telling the male pirates what to do.)
Last year’s announcement by Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts, that the picturesque Rivers of America area of Walt Disney World’s Frontierland would become a “Cars”-themed area was the biggest catalyst for Tyler to write a song.
“Obviously, that gave me a moment of pause because I remember the old Disneyland show,” Tyler said. “Obviously, I wasn't there at the time, but I remember watching the reruns and stuff, and when they would describe Frontierland, they would say, ‘Tall tales and true from the legendary past.’ Not race cars.”
Tyler believes that Disney has lost its way with storytelling. A “Cars”-themed area would work wonderfully in Disney’s Hollywood Studios, where Pixar already has a presence. In Frontierland, cartoon race cars will stick out like a sore thumb next to the more realistic depictions of America’s frontier days.
Side note: Concerned Disney fans can take action. Here's how.
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Tyler wrote and recorded “What Walt Would Say,” but there was one more task to achieve: filming a music video. Tyler and his cinematographer traveled to Walt Disney World and filmed in beloved parts of the Magic Kingdom, dodging Disney security all the while. The result is an evocative video that fits the poignancy of the song.
Recommended: Disney Legend Defends Splash Mountain and 'Song of the South'
It can be difficult to explain the attachment to Disney to those who haven’t experienced it for themselves. Tyler and I talked about how to describe why the purity of the parks is so special and worth defending.
“To those people who don't understand because you asked that question, like those people who don't get it, I would say it is art,” he said. “The park needs to be treated as such. It is a living, breathing form of art.
“It has inspired generations of people. I am one of them,” he added. “Even my dad, who is not a huge Disney fan as much as he was when he was younger. It still inspired him to be creative. And that is important. It's important to our humanity, to us as a culture. And it needs to be treated with respect, both by people who work there and people who don't. People who get it. People who don't. So that's what I would say to them. It's like, ‘This is why it's important. This is why I wrote the song.’ Because I feel the people who are running it don't get it. They don't care.”
But will a song and music video make a difference? Tyler thinks so. He’s even heard from a legendary Imagineer who appreciated and loved the song, and he’s gotten a lot of positive feedback from Disney fans. Who knows? If “What Walt Would Say” gets into the right hands, we might see some positive changes at Disney Parks.
Check out Tyler’s music and other projects on X and Instagram and at his website.
Here’s the video for “What Walt Would Say”:
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