We live in a house of mouse

I never appreciated the monopolizing quality of the Walt Disney Company until I became a mother. Not that it’s a bad thing. The shows mesmerize my son and are bearable for me (some are even entertaining – I’m looking at you, Phineas and Ferb). But I didn’t realize how hooked my son was on the Disney drug until I tried to put in a Thomas the Train DVD today. As the DVD went through its twelve-million piracy warnings, Suttie showed his usual level of excitement – lots of squealing and “giving it up to Jesus,” a motion in which he raises his arms up and looks to the heavens (patent-pending). But as soon as he figured out that this was NOT a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD, he picked up a nearby wooden block, threw it down with all his might, and looked at me with more contempt than his father ever has…and believe me, that’s saying something.

Needless to say our TV stays on the Disney Channel…which is why I noticed something pretty interesting. Disney is launching a new cartoon called “Chuggington,” which is about…trains. Now, I am willing to bet anyone any amount of money that my son will watch that Disney-sponsored train show without the least hesitation, despite his earlier rejection of poor Thomas. And, in thinking about these two train shows, I started to recognize other Disney rip-offs. My son has never looked twice at Bob the Builder, but Handy Manny is a can’t miss. The Wiggles creep me out, but no more so than the Imagination Movers. There is just something about Disney that pulls you in, that makes you side with the mouse every time…no matter how many of his ideas are borrowed.

What was that theory about Disney and subliminal messaging? Was that ever disproven?