Walt Disney always said, that “it was all started by a mouse” and while there’s certainly a lot of truth to that, Walt Disney himself, along with Ub Iwerks, was one of Mickey’s creators, essentially a father figure for the iconic character. This past weekend, during the fall Dapper Day event at Disneyland, Mickey was “reunited” with Walt once again, and the result is something truly special.
This past Sunday was Dapper Day at Disneyland Resort, an unofficial event where guests to the park dress up in various forms of formal attire and hit the parks in style. Many use the opportunity to cosplay or Disneybound, but Bill Burns and his wife Jane took things to another level by dressing as Walt and Lillian Disney. Then, when Mickey Mouse saw them in the park, something truly special happened Check out the video below.
Quand Mickey croise Walt après de longues années… Et non, je n’ai absolument pas la larme à l’œil, c’est faux 🥹 pic.twitter.com/sUvlMzsyTINovember 7, 2022
Even without the “When You Wish Upon A Star” music that was added in this video that captured the exchange, this is quite heartwarming. The two shake hands and Mickey, somehow even though the mask never changes, looks absolutely awestruck, like he was surprised by an old friend that he hadn’t seen in ages. Then he gives Burns, or Walt, a hug, and puts his head on the man's shoulder. It's a reaction that was clearly unexpected.
Usually, it's the guests that want to give the Disney Parks' characters a hug, but it seems Mickey just couldn’t help himself. One has to wonder what the Cast Member inside this costume was thinking and feeling. It’s possible they were just playing along, but we know that working at Disney Parks means a lot of many of the people who show up every day. This might have been a genuine emotional reaction by the person playing Mickey, who was feeling something like what so many people are feeling watching this.
Fans who have found these images on social media are getting about as emotional over them as Mickey seemingly did here. It’s just really quite sweet. Just the idea of Mickey being able to see Walt again will get any Disney fan emotional, and the fact that this happened on Main Street U.S.A. at Disneyland, the one Disney park that Walt actually stepped foot in, just makes it that much more perfect.
It’s perfectly common to see guests show up at Disneyland Resort on Dapper Day dressed as a formal version of their favorite Disney character. True costuming is generally frowned upon inside the parks, but of course, there’s nothing wrong with simply wearing a suit to Disneyland, and if you happen to have the right sort of haircut and mustache that suggests you look like Walt Disney, so be it. Burns shared images of the interaction to his own Instagram account as well.
Disneyland has always been a place steeped in nostalgia. That’s exactly what Walt Disney wanted and so it’s little surprise that Walt himself, via cosplay, is now part of that tradition.
