Two thousand years back, people entering Grecian temples dropped coins into machinery that then clanked forth holy water.
It is a long way from that first slot machine to the "miracles of rare device" created by Walt Disney for his kingdom, Disneyland. When Walt Whitman wrote, "I sing the Body Electric," he little knew he was guessing the motto of our robot-dominated society
I believe Disney's influence will be felt centuries from today. I say that Disney and Disneyland can be prime movers of our age.
But before I offer proof, let me sketch my background. At twelve, I owned one of the first Mickey Mouse buttons in Tucson, Arizona. At nineteen, selling newspapers on a street corner, I lived in terror I might be struck by a car and killed before the premiere of Disney's film extravaganza, Fantasia. In the last thirty years I have seen Fantasia fifteen times, Snow White twelve times, Pinocchio eight times. In sum, I was, and still am, a Disney nut.
You can imagine, then, how I regarded an article in the Nation some years ago that equated Disneyland with Las Vegas. Both communities, claimed the article, were vulgar, both represent American culture at its most corrupt, vile and terrible.
I rumbled for half an hour, then exploded. I sent a letter winging to the prime Nation editors.
"Sirs," it said, "like many intellectuals before me I delayed going to Disneyland, having heard it was just too dreadfully middle-class. One wouldn't dream of being caught dead there.
"But finally a good friend jollied me into my first grand tour of the Magic Kingdom. I went... with one of thw great children of our time: Charles Laughton."
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