Wallace the Lucky Rabbit

Today on my way out the door, I put on my Wallace the Lucky Rabbit T-shirt. I got it on deep discount at the Disney Store clearance rack. It was probably on clearance because a lot of people don’t know Wallace, which is a shame, because he paved the way for what might be the most famous cartoon character of all time. You see a long time ago a young animator got his big break. One of the largest animation studios around contracted him to begin making shorts of his original character, Wallace the Lucky Rabbit. I never believed in luck and the young animator shouldn’t have either. The studio made a shady deal with the young animator, and basically stole his beloved creation out from under him. Wallace turned out to be not so lucky after all. Legend has it the young animator pretty much decided at that point he would not work for anyone else ever again and set out to create another character. That character starred in a short called Steamboat Willie, but his real name was Mickey Mouse. The young animator of course was the legendary Walt Disney.

Why do I share this story? To show you that no one is truly an overnight success and the road to creative glory is usually littered with many bitter disappointments. The ones who succeed are the ones who jump right back in, maybe a little wiser, and keep going.

No one promised that the roads of creativity or faith would be easy. The race goes to the ones who persevere. Learn from your mistakes and your disappointments and keep going. Your next creation might be the one that opens the door, or it might not, but you’ll never know if you don’t create it.

There’s no such thing as luck. Keep working! (The above piece of art, is just a little fan art digital sketch I did, in case you’ve never seen Wallace.)

The Power of Story, The Up Side and the Down Side

So last night I was painting. I had create the piece for my next paint party at church. I got something I’m really happy with, by the way. I also did an experimental sketch portrait of Jesus. I got this sort of out there idea for a series of paintings and a big presentation, but first, I needed to do this sketch. I also saw some art that inspired me to try some new techniques and color ideas, so I was experimenting. I decided while I was painting I would listen to some movies on my Kindle fire. The first was Walt Before Mickey, the story of Walt Disney’s early years, and no surprises here, I loved it. I’ve long been an admirer of Mr. Disney’s work and this was a great story. Really inspirational. I wish I’d watched it last.

Instead I watched Founder, which is the story of Ray A Kroc, “founder” of McDonald’s. I’m trying to lost some weight and abstain from fast food, and this movie will help. If even a tenth of what this movie said was true, it could keep me out of McDonald’s for a very long time. The guy basically stole everything from two guys he met in California who were the true founders of McDonald’s. Every innovation, every idea, everything right down to their name. I mean the McDonald brothers basically invented fast food, and he took it all from them basically with no qualms at all. Again I have to keep in mind, Hollywood never lets the facts get in the way of a good story, and I should probably give Kroc the benefit of the doubt, but this thing really hit me and it led me to a pretty obvious conclusion. The way we live matters. The story our lives tell matters. Oh, Kroc became a very wealthy man, and his company has done some real good in the world, but at what cost. Someone very wise said something about winning the world and long your soul. I won’t speak the condition of Kroc’s actual soul, that’s up to his Maker, but he (at least as this movie portrays him) surely lost touch with his moral soul.

And that brings me to the other thing I’ve been dealing with lately. I saw this video of a young “comedian” (to be a comedian, you should actually be funny, hence the quotes) that’s making it’s way around the “inter-webs.” She was speaking at the White House Correspondent’s dinner. Now I know that thing is a roast, and I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, but it was just an awful, profanity laced diatribe, crude and vulgar and oh yes, not at all funny. Today I saw one of these hysterical memes saying the Republicans want her to be punished. I’ve learned a long time ago that if you want to gin up controversy where there is none, all you have to do is make a preposterous meme and post it to Facebook. About three quarters of the world will fall for it hook line and sinker. I for the record do not agree that she should be punished. The First Amendment is a two edged sword, step on someone else’s free speech and sooner or later they’ll come for yours. I don’t think she should be punished, or censored or anything of the kind. Instead, I will simply remember, public figures live and die on attention, and so I will do the one thing that always works. I will turn her off.

See the thing is, if I don’t like your story, there are a million other stories I can plug into and if enough people take that tactic, you have a choice, change your story or fade into oblivion. The story we live, for better or worse, matters. Live a better story.