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Writer's pictureJeffrey Snyder

Blog #376: Why I Valued Walt Disney’s Anthology Series as a Neurodivergent Individual?

Okay, it’s no secret that many neurodivergents love Disney….

I, myself, have grown up on Disney and it made me a huge part of who I am today.

Growing up, I remember watching a few episodes of Walt Disney’s anthology series that came out in the 1950s and 1960s. Usually, the episodes were on late at night, but I did get a few chances then and ultimately later on with the rise of YouTube and Disney Plus. With each episode I watched, I often thought to myself…you know, I think I learned a lot from Disney just as much as from behind school walls.

What is it about watching Walt Disney that attracted many individuals on the autism spectrum? Well, there is something that right away you can notice about Walt’s programs. You notice right away that he tries to not talk down to the audience, as if to say that he is speaking directly to you. Furthermore, a lot of the topics that are covered are topics that some of us never learned in school growing up.


Take for example the history of Sir Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister of Great Britain. Being from the United States, I never had a history class that featured this historic figure. But Walt Disney did teach the subject on his program while introducing his silly symphony, “Who Killed Cock Robin?” in the 1950’s. I actually remember watching this segment for the first time as an easter egg on the Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphony DVD in 2003 and looking back, I notice that I felt like I was in an actual classroom with Walt as the teacher.

Remember back then, Walt was trying to get his older cartoons and movies to a new audience in the 1950’s, but he was smart enough to throw in a historical connection to what he was trying to promote to his audience. Some of the notable episodes also included “The Plausible Impossible,” (which includes history and backstory of Modeste Mussorky’s “Night on Bald Mountain” and how the music could be incorporated into several other scenes from other films like “Bambi”).

Another episode is “Tricks of the Trade,” that covers the history of 3-dimensional effects courtesy of the multiplane camera. If there is an influence to photograph, then this was the episode.

Another type of subject that Walt taught was science. He made it a personal mission to make science as informative and engaging as possible. There are many of us who despise science class, but Walt took some of the unhappiness about it away. Usually, the episodes featured narrations by Paul Frees (who was later the voice of Professor Ludwig Von Drake). He also featured other guests such as Dr. Heinz Haber, to discuss about the atom as an example.

Most importantly, Walt taught perhaps the biggest lesson of all and that it is important to look to the future without forgetting the past. If you go to Disneyland or any of the other Disney Parks, you will see that Walt took in history and made it palatable to his audience. Many neurodivergents would like to prefer to remain stuck in the past, but then they forget that the future can lead to good things too. Still, you can hold onto the past internally, but never forgetting that there is a great big beautiful tomorrow out there to look forward to.


But you might be wondering why I bring all this up? Well, Walt’s anthology series can be a good learning tool for today’s educational curriculums even though some may find it corny or outdated. Yes, that is the case, but Walt wasn’t afraid to send a message that his products were just about education as it was about entertainment. Recently, I came across a channel on YouTube that features nearly full length episodes of Walt’s show called “Keeping Walt in Disney” that teachers can show classes if it applies to the lesson plan. You can find the channel on this link below and I highly recommend you check it out if you are a teacher:


Catch you all later!!

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