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Sunday, August 2, 2015

100 NONSENSICAL QUESTIONS (WEEK SIX) ~ because I’m just too busy to blog something serious!


Question #6: 
Who had the greatest influence on children?

Walt Disney OR Dr. Seuss? 

This week’s argument comes from a fabulous guest blogger ~
Dennis Crosby from MyPoeticJustus
Welcome to the blog, Dennis!

The argument:

Before attempting to figure out how we’d finance our children’s college career, pay our cell phone bills, pay for our first car, or where to go on our first date…we were kids. We laughed, we asked questions, we scraped our knees and we had a social network that consisted of the other neighborhood kids. Our status’ were shouted from the front porch, we Tweeted from tree tops, Instagramed with a Polaroid, or pencil and paper…and we read Dr. Seuss and watched Disney movies and were creatively taught (without realizing it) how to become good people.
But which of these men had more influence on child development and learning?  
Dr. Seuss, the American born writer and artist gave us Horton Hears a Who!, The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. As the story goes, during a time when children were not learning to read because books were boring, Seuss was issued a challenge to write a children’s book that engaged kids and kept them coming back for more. To this day, no matter our age, we tell the story of Sam I Am as we try and teach kids to try something before saying they hate it. No matter the generation, Dr. Seuss has a story that relates to something kids need to learn. More than that, we carried those stories, those lessons and those morals into our adult life and actively practiced them when interacting with others.  
And what of this Walt Disney character? Well, he just created some of the most lovable characters ever and took classic stories and combined them with a brand new medium…film. Our favorite childhood characters had voices, became 3 dimensional and showed us how to overcome obstacles. They also got a huge playground and invited us in to play with them…for a price of course, but nobody can deny the fun and magic of Disneyland.
Both men have had and continue to have a powerful influence on children and their intellectual and moral growth and development. I had the Dr. Seuss collection as a kid, along with the Cat in the Hat carryall bag. I learned some things from him to be sure, but, I dare say I was influenced more by Disney and I think the same can be said of children and adults across the globe. Through film, music and theme parks alone, Disney captured my imagination and does the same for kids worldwide.
Bippity Boppity Boo!

Walt Disney it is. J

(But be sure to register your vote or post your own nonsensical question/suggestions in the comments below. Who knows? I might just run with it. J



And now, it's time to return to my day job: writing Dark Fantasy Fiction & Gothic Romance!


Please tune in next week for another utterly-mindless, nonsensical question!  

Until then...

Cheers!

11 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for guest blogging, Dennis! I loved your argument and your conclusion. :-) Believe it or not, I'm just old-fashioned enough to go with Dr. Seuss. In fact, when I went to Disney World, I spent a fair amount of time in the Dr. Seuss theme park -- the cat in the hat ride is wild. The one fish, two fish ride is for children, but I was still there! LOL

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    1. Then you'll have to visit San Diego at some point. He lived in La Jolla for many years and apparently, somewhere in this city, there is a Dr. Seuss museum and garden. You can see the flowers he illustrated in his books. :-)

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  2. very cool....you make a great argument for both but Disney wins for me hands down......Dr Suess is just to " HAT, CAT, GREEN, EGGS AND WELL TOO MUCH OVER AND OVER READING......and being a transplated New Yorker living in the WONDERFUL state of Florida for 17 years and only an hour and a half away Disney RULES!!!!

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    1. Very nice! If I could...I'd probably spend at least one weekend each summer at Disney World...lol.

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  3. My earliest childhood memory was going to the movie theater and seeing Sleeping Beauty! I do not remember DR. Suess as a child, I had other books to read tho.
    Now days I say Disney is the first for so many children. Dr. Seuss comes later to most children.

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  4. I've got to go with Dr. Seuss. He made me fall in love with words and nonsensical sounds. I read One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish multiple times a day to my 4 year old. You'd think I'd be sick of it. Nope. There's something about saying such nonsense out loud, that just brightens up my day.

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  5. Well I may sound unamerican but Disney never excited my imagination the way Dr Seuss did. I mean a very small world of little who's out there. A Grinch stealing Christmas in Whoville. Who would not want a 6ft cat in their house causing issues and bringing in his odd friends. Thing1 and Thing2. Yeah, I have to go with The Dr. Great job Dennis....

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    1. OMG - I actually have a stuffed "Thing One/Thing Two" in my bedroom. Not even kidding. :-)

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  6. I Love this post! Great job, Dennis. Fox in Sox is my favorite Dr. Suess Book. It sure does make the tongue numb! Disney Movie? Hmm... Beauty and the Beast..

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  8. Awesome argument Dennis. My favorite childhood memories are of learning to read Dr. Seuss so even though Walt Disney had an incredible vision I have to vote for Dr. Seuss :-)

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