Walt Disney & "The Secret"

[Jack Skellington]

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The Secret, is a hugely successful book that explains the concepts of the law of attraction. It has changed my life and the way I used to think about it. The law of attraction states that thoughts become things depending on whether their negative or positive thoughts, so you can get or become anything you wish for as long as you believe in getting them and think positive thoughts about whatever it is you want. Rhonda Byrne, the author of The Secret, said that many successful men like William Shakespeare, Leonardo Da-Vinci, Albert Einstein, and Ben Franklin all knew this secret and used it to attract whatever it is they wished to get or know. And I was wondering whether Walt Disney knew this, wishful-thinking has always been around in Disney's movies, like in Cinderella, Pinocchio, Snow White. Ultimately the Disney movie that hinted about the concepts behind "The Secret" was Cinderella, especially in the main song "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" in which she explains that you just have to wish, believe, and receive. (The 3 steps needed to achieve something you wish for as explained in the book)
Does this mean that Walt Disney understood the Law of Attraction and used this philosophy to make his dreams come true ?

[Billy Moon]

Does this mean that Walt Disney understood the Law of Attraction and used this philosophy to make his dreams come true ?

No.
Snow White and Cinderella are fairy tales, for pete's sake.

[Marky_198]

Does this mean that Walt Disney understood the Law of Attraction and used this philosophy to make his dreams come true ?

Absolutely, yes.

That law of attraction is exactly what you see in all the Disney movies.
Great comparison. To be honest, when I read the book things fell into place too, and it reminded me of the way of thinking I used to see in the Disney movies.

And Billy Moon, not all Disney movies were fairy tales. And if they were, there are numerous details and situations added by Disney that are like the secret.

[2099net]

If its a hugely successful book, it's not exactly "the secret" anymore. Should it now be called the "publically known technique which is often pooh-poohed by logical thinkers"?

[Jack Skellington]

No.
Snow White and Cinderella are fairy tales, for pete's sake.

Sorry, but the thing that makes them so special is how human the story is, to have a dream and to follow it no matter what , and to beleave in your dreams and have faith in them. If they lacked those human emotions and mentality, then many people would start to dislike them after the age of 12.
I skimmed through the book again and Rhonda says that the the law of attraction has been represented in many films, and I truly think Walt Disney knew this and he wanted to spread the word through his movies so everyone can live their dreams and be happy, just like in his stories. Everything you're heart desires will come to you as long as you ask, beleave, and receive, No Blue Fairies Needed !

[Billy Moon]

Well, I thought all this new-age stuff is quite new, and wasn't around in Walt Disney's time.

The current marketing department of the Disney company exaggerate the dreaming and wishing philophosy to an annoying level, IMO. To me, it's not what Walt Disney's movies were about at all.

[ichabod]

I wish I was a tree!

I believe I am a tree!

I am not a tree!

[Escapay]

Jack Skells, have you ever read a book entitled The Power of Positive Thinking? It was published in 1952 and The Secret essentially is the same thing.

Scaps

[Jack Skellington]

Jack Skells, have you ever read a book entitled The Power of Positive Thinking? It was published in 1952 and The Secret essentially is the same thing.

Scaps

Thanks Scaps, that one must have been around when Walt started producing his films, I'll definitely try to find that book at my local bookstore, but I've already read so many books on the same subject apart from the Secret, I read "The Power of the Subconscious Mind", "The Law of Attraction", and "The Secret Behind the Secret" ( this one actually has a more critical and a slightly skeptical view on the law of attraction), but now that I'm highly suspecting that Walt believed in this, I'll read his biography next !

The Law of Attraction has been around for a long time and only a few people knew how to advantage from it hence the name "The Secret" and it cannot cancel other laws in the universe, you can't bring back the dead, and no ichabod it can't make you turn into a tree, BTW most trees get chopped off for paper and wood, so be careful what you wish for !

[blackcauldron85]

I wish I was a tree!

I believe I am a tree!

I am not a tree!

At my spring-summer internship, a co-worker asked me to watch part of "The Secret" video on YouTube. I did it for him, since I really didn't want to. I agree with what ichabod was trying to get across.

In one of my classes, we're reading "The Seven Spiritual Laws", and I'm assuming that some of it is similar to "The Secret" (can you tell I haven't been reading the book...). Just because you think something doesn't mean that it will happen...I'm not trying to be a downer, but I'm very skeptical of the whole thing.

"I want to be Hannah Montana." I'll never be Hannah Montana.
"I want to be CEO of Disney." It could happen, but it's doubtful.
"I want to be taller." Not gonna happen.

I think that Walt had a dream and wasn't going to be satisfied until his dream came true.

[Jack Skellington]

At my spring-summer internship, a co-worker asked me to watch part of "The Secret" video on YouTube. I did it for him, since I really didn't want to. I agree with what ichabod was trying to get across.

In one of my classes, we're reading "The Seven Spiritual Laws", and I'm assuming that some of it is similar to "The Secret" (can you tell I haven't been reading the book...). Just because you think something doesn't mean that it will happen...I'm not trying to be a downer, but I'm very skeptical of the whole thing.

"I want to be Hannah Montana." I'll never be Hannah Montana.
"I want to be CEO of Disney." It could happen, but it's doubtful.
"I want to be taller." Not gonna happen.

I think that Walt had a dream and wasn't going to be satisfied until his dream came true.

Actually Yeah you could be taller if you think tall, having doubts about what you want obviously won't let you grow any more.
I have come across an unusual physical change with hypnosis, I wanted to see if it was possible to drop the melanin of the my iris (eye pigment) just by listening to the hypnosis, which led my brain to believe that I've got the exact color that I wanted, it's not a dramatic change but having dark brown eyes turn light brown, is an amazing experience to me because it showed me just how powerful my subconscious mind is !
And if you don't believe me on that you can go to http://www.instant-hypnosis.com and try the "change your eye color" session for yourself.
I understand your skepticism and doubt but I had the same feelings before, but what if God wants us to be happy in our lives, wouldn't it make sense for Him to make our dreams come true, He was kind enough to give us life, why should we doubt that and be cynical?

[PatrickvD]

SNL did this insanely funny sketch about Oprah and the author of "the secret" telling this fugitive from Darfur via satellite that he wasn't "thinking positive enough". good stuff.

obviously, the secret is crap. You can think positive all you want, it's not gonna stop war, hunger or cancer.

[Jack Skellington]

You can believe or choose not to coz honestly it's up to you and I respect that, but can you please at least respect my thoughts about this. I used to be such a cynical and down-hearted person but now I'm really happy and positive after reading those books, I know a lot of people hate the idea (some of my friends included), but we don't all have the same beliefs and religions.

[Escapay]

And if you don't believe me on that you can go to http://www.instant-hypnosis.com and try the "change your eye color" session for yourself.

I perused the site, and listened to the sample mp3 of its hypnosis, and Jack, I have to say, be very wary of sites like these. Anyone can call themselves professional on the 'net, and these hypnosis mp3's could be very dangerous if they're done the wrong way. I personally am a bit skeptical about hypnosis, but I understand how some people use it and trust in it. But I have to warn you, be CAREFUL of sites like that. I mean, even our very own Aaron Wallace could just as easily record a Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Pod in the same mannerism and tone and pass it off as a hypnosis mp3 to someone none the wiser.

Scaps

[Billy Moon]

I think that Walt had a dream and wasn't going to be satisfied until his dream came true.

And the dream darn well didn't come true by him just believing in it. It took a lot of hard work.

[Jack Skellington]

Thanks Scaps , I only tried one hypnosis session, I was amazed by the results, but I stopped later after one of my friends said that there's a possibility that one might catch cancer or become delusional sometimes.
I really appreciate your advise, and I agree that one must be very careful, but I have noticed that the site is a little more sincere than others they're helpful, friendly, and offered a money-back guarantee if I was dissatisfied with the results in any way, so it was hard for me not to trust them on it.

[PatrickvD]

You can believe or choose not to coz honestly it's up to you and I respect that, but can you please at least respect my thoughts about this. I used to be such a cynical and down-hearted person but now I'm really happy and positive after reading those books, I know a lot of people hate the idea (some of my friends included), but we don't all have the same beliefs and religions.

oh I have total respect for the concept. In fact, in my opinion, having a positive attitude towards life is the only way to live a healthy live at all. I mean, that is exactly how I feel.

What I cannot believe however, is how someone writes this down in a book, calls it a "secret" and makes millions off of it.

Sure, I'm glad you've changed your life for the better after reading the books.

But simple concepts like this are no secrets. It's like Madonna explaining her whole Kabbalah thing as if everyone else is stupid and only she gets "it". Being nice to other people and then receiving more positive energy back is like the first rule of kindergarden. It shouldn't take some weird madonna-fueled hype to figure this out.

the same, in my opinion, holds true for the Secret. It's nothing more than an Oprah book club selection. And in this genre of books, there are better ones. MUCH better ones.

[Jack Skellington]

I don't believe that I can get anything just by sitting on my sofa and waiting for it to appear by itself, it's out there and I have to work hard to live my dreams, but everything starts with a thought, if something seems out of reach to me, positive thoughts will always motivate me and negative thoughts won't get me anywhere, I don't believe in everything I read, there are some things that are true and some things are exaggerated.
I'm starting to think that Rhonda picked her title according to what she thought would make big business, which would explain why a lot of my classmates at school even bothered to ask me what my book (The Secret) was talking about, when they would be less than interested if the cover had "The Alchemist" or "The Lord of the Flies" written on it, there's definitely something about secrets that makes you die of curiosity !

[Chernabog_Rocks]

I'm on the fence for this, I think this could work in some situations and yet not work in others like Ichabod and Blackcauldrons examples. However, if you were to say things that could be actually achievable then it could very well work to an extent. I'd have to read the actual book itself before deciding which side of the fence I'm on.

[PeterPanfan]

I plan on reading this book to see what all the hype is about. I can't state any opinions on it yet,but I will soon!