I’m writing this article about 5 minutes after I finished an online video lecture about children’s literature, and this lecture was specifically about the power of storytelling; which is very opportune, because I wasn’t quite sure how to articulate what I felt about this episode.  Every time I listen to an episode of The Season Pass Podcast in preparation to write these articles, I think, “What is it that speaks to me about this episode?”  And, when I first listened to the Marty Sklar episode (and most episodes involving those who worked with the incomparable Walt Disney) in the car on the way to school on the first day of the new semester two weeks ago, I was absolutely taken with the storytelling, to the point where I had to immediately pick up my phone and text Doug quotes from the show that I absolutely loved.

Storytelling is such a powerful tool.  We use it in the novel form as an escape from reality, and frankly, advertising agencies use it to manipulate us into buying crap we don’t need.  Great storytelling transcends generations, genres, and crosses boundaries.  Good storytelling touches us and compels us.  Well themed rides, parks, and environments are all about the storytelling and the creators conveying their story to us.  How else are we able to walk through the gates of Disneyland (I’m a Disneyland kind of girl) and feel unequivocal emotional connection?  Why else am I so excited to take my boys there, but to share with my kids the stories that I grew up enjoying, because someone else had shared those stories with me.

“This was all about story, and it was all about the details of story.”  Marty Sklar is a storyteller.  A trove of history.  What I love most about the episodes with these former Imagineers is the stories that they are willing to tell, the audaciousness of ideas, the tenacious will of creativity.  It is our nature, as humans, to tell and listen to stories.  May we never lose our sense of wonder and creativity.

WinsomeWench
Wife of Season Pass Podcast owner and producer, and co-host of Micechat podcast, Doug Barnes. Mom of three fledgling theme park and Disney enthusiasts, and supportive wife of a grown theme park and Disney geek.