Mickey saves

And Mickey rose from the grave on the third day.\nOr maybe I'm getting my stories confused.\nWhen I arrived at Walt Disney World this past weekend, I knew what I was in for. I love the place. The aesthetic is intoxicating: a regular "Truman Show" of perfection. Not one blade of grass is out of place. Not one happy thought is gone untended.\nAnd not one idea goes unsold.\nYou see, Disney has a new line of plush teddy bears available for purchase exclusively at the parks. They are the very same cute, delicately crafted, cozy little toys that we have all grown up with. \nWith one exception. This toy has history.\nIt seems the Disney Bear came into existence one night when Mickey Mouse wanted to watch the fireworks, but no one was around to join him. No Chip. No Dale. Not even Oliver and Company were available to step out. So, he did like any self-respecting mouse would do and brought his teddy bear along with him. The night was so magical, and the bond between mouse and bear was so great that Mickey gave his bear one great big mouse-hug to culminate the evening's festivities. Then -- as the little tag attached to the bear from which this story was taken tells us -- a miracle took place.\n"As soon as Mickey hugged the bear a magical Mickey head-shaped impression appeared in the bear's face, forever bonding him with Mickey."\nThe great bear of Turin! The Son of Walt, Mickey Mouse left the imprint of his face on the tiny toy, went into the desert, was tempted by Bugs Bunny, only to turn some cheese into wine and open the gates of heaven so James Earl Jones could speak down to Simba from above and save Toon Town from the Pirates of the Caribbean.\nI think that's how it goes.\n"Oh bother," I thought. "Is this some sort of Pooh coup?"\nNo, not at all. But it is a disturbing religious parallel.\nI really never had a hard time stomaching the "Walt is God" rhetoric as far as business was concerned. When I found out that Disney pumps the scents of popcorn and cotton candy through street vents in the parks to spur consumption, I told myself, "That's good marketing." But for some reason, the Disney bear makes me think perhaps something is rotten in the state of Florida. \nAfter all, they do own the entire city of Celebration, Fla. \nConspiracy theories aside, it might help to note that Walt was famous for saying, "and remember ... it all started with a mouse."\nAnd this seems innocent enough. Perhaps as innocent as "it all started with a babe." I guess my concern isn't really with where it all started, but where it all ends. \nThen again, when the human race is long gone and nothing but the tattered remains of Soldier Field and Epcot stand against the nuclear winter caused by our own crusades and jihads, perhaps I'd prefer the human race to be recorded in future texts as adhering to a mystical religion of Walt; one built on a belief in the endless stretches of the imagination; one where the Mouse performed miracles, children could fly and true love could turn a wooden puppet into a real live boy. \nThen our own end might not be laughed at as the incredible hubris of our species, our decision to kill our own in the name of faiths that supposedly all aspired toward an eternal bliss of some sort. Instead, our end would merely be another great mystery of the cosmos. A civilization of wonder and awe gone in a flash like the dinosaurs before us. \nOne that simply began with a mouse.