What Makes Disney Magical? An Interview with Alissa Jolly

So let's back up a little bit.

I kind of dumped this prompt on you talking about the magic of Disney.

And I want to caveat that a little bit that I don't think everything Disney makes is magical.

I don't think everything they do is magical.

But there are certainly aspects that have stuck with me and that I've enjoyed as an adult.

But if you hear that phrase, Disney magic, like do you balk at that or do you agree with it or somewhere in between?

I agree with it wholeheartedly.

And I, I always have.

And as you become an adult, you do get more critical of things and you have to know that Disney is a corporation and it's a company and there's a lot of levels to it.

But on the flip side, I have always just loved Disney for, I think what it wants to be at its core and what it's Walt Disney's intention was for it to be.

And that is magical.

So I think about the animated movies and like when I first think about Disney magic, I see the opening credits of a Disney movie, like the old school blue screen with the castle or with Tinkerbell making her magic dust or the most magical moments of the animated movies.

Like In my brain, when you say Disney magic, I imagine this little Disney movie vignette in my head with Cinderella's dress transforming or the Sleeping Beauty dress, a lot of dresses, changing colors and the rose in the jar at Beauty and the Beast.

And then you talk about Disneyland and that's a whole other series of mental vignettes.

Yeah, it's true.

And I was trying to think how we could make this kind of flow as a thread because we usually go through a story, right? So kind of a plot along the way.

And so for me, I kind of separated it into kind of movies that are magical and kind of moments that have been magical.

And the crossover for me is the moments that take you to the park, to park experiences.

When I think of Disney magic, the fireworks, right? come to my mind nobody does fireworks better i remember tearing up i was i was in disneyland in high school i mean it's not a time to get real emotional about fireworks but oh my gosh the tears were streaming because it was just so beautiful looking up main street i mean i remember that in in my gut so uh I think Dave might not agree as much as we do about the magic of Disney.

But I know for a fact that he has certain things that can come to mind as well.

Dave, what would be your Disney magic? What comes to what fills your brain if that phrase is said?

Um, there's that area in Disneyland, uh, like right after you enter the park, I don't know what it's called.

Main

street.

It must be main street, right? Whatever.