How many kids can actually say that they grew up without watching a Disney cartoon? I am sure not many. Growing up in the 80s, Disney cartoons were the primary source of entertainment. All the kids I knew wanted to go to Disney World in Orlando and meet all the characters ‘in person’. I watched all the classic episodes, even the ones in black and white.
I loved those cartoons because besides being entertaining, they also gave me life lessons. Lessons like the importance of being honest, the value of loyalty and doing honorable deeds were some of the ones that really stuck with me for many years. One of the most important values that they taught me was being fair. Being fair with people that I knew and with strangers.
I learned that life would present different situations where your values would be tested, and it did. One day I was walking to school when I saw something on the sidewalk. When I got closer I saw that it was a wallet and it was full of money. I counted about $1,500 and for a kid, it was like a dream come true. Of course, at the time, that could buy a lot of stuff that I wanted.
Imagine, the action figures that I wanted were like $5 each and I only wanted like three of them. I started thinking of everything I could buy with that until I realized that it was someone else’s wallet. The person that lost it probably needs that money for something important or else, he would not have had it there. I realized that it wasn’t mine and that I should be finding the owner.
The wallet didn’t have any IDs, but it did have a piece of paper that said “mom” and had a number attached to it. I called that number, but no one was answering. I found an old library card and decided to search that name in the phone book. It took me about 3 hours, but I found the man. I called the number and said that I had found a wallet with that name. The guy was so relieved, and I felt much better than if I had spent the money. Everything thanks to what I learned in those Disney cartoons.
The following video is not about doing the right thing, but of the impact that our favorite Disney characters have. The parents of this baby have taken him to meet his favorite character, “Snow White.” The parents know he has a little crush on Snow White, but they didn’t know this was going to happen when he got to meet her. See for yourself!
