A recent Wall Street Journal article by Jeff Zaslow told a story of children at Disney World not knowing who the man holding Mickey Mouse’’s hand in the prominent statue in front of Cinderella Castle was. The article went on to describe how specifics about who Walt Disney was seems to be unknown to many people nowadays.

After you”re finished, click here to read my editorial.’, ‘This article bugged me. It seems to be picking on Disney just for the sake of doing so. With the 100 Years of Magic celebration just starting, I suppose someone felt it necessary to write something negative to balance all the happiness. Here I pose a counterargument.

I believe that people are becoming less intelligent in general. It’’s almost becoming ”cool” to be dumb (how else could Britney Spears be popular?). The fact that children (and a even adults) don”t know who Walt Disney was or even that he was real doesn”t mean anything. Hasn”t the author of this article ever seen Jany Leno’’s “Jaywalkers” segment where he asks people simple questions and they get them terribly wrong? People today often don”t pay attention to facts, especially historical ones, and if they do, they only pay attention to those they find interesting. They have no reason to learn extraneous information.

Walt Disney is now a historical figure right along with (most of) the men found in the Hall of Presidents. When I visited that attraction last, I heard many people commenting about how they didn”t recognize a few of the former Presidents” names when they were announced. These are very important people in American history and Americans were making these comments. It’’s not that Disney isn”t letting people know who Walt was, but rather people just don”t care. They go to Disney World and enjoy it for what it is, not who started it.

While the 100 Years of Magic celebration is celebrating Walt’’s birth, it’’s also celebrating all the magic that has happened since then. Walt clearly has not been alive for all of the past 100 years, so the magic that is being celebrated has extended beyond him. Sure he’’s a HUGE factor in the whole thing, but not the only one. In my opinion, the “One Man’’s Dream” exhibit, especially the closing video, lets people really know who Walt was. I don”t see how anyone can leave that exhibit without knowing a little more about the man behind the mouse.

This article reminds me a lot of that semi-recent Orlando Sentinel one about the waning crowds in the parks. It’’s just looking for something to reprimand Disney about in the midst of all the joy. Oh well, let Mr. Zaslow stare at the statue ”Partners” statue and think about Walt’’s life all he wants, I”m going to go get good seats for the afternoon parade.