When You Wish....

You probably know by now that I'm a big Disney fan. My ideal vacation would be a week or two in DisneyWorld in Orlando, Florida. And believe me--with the way this winter has been going, Florida is sounding pretty good right about now.

My love affair with Disney should come as no surprise. I was born in the 50's, so I grew up on a TV diet of The Mickey Mouse Club during the week ("Mousketeer roll call, sound off now!") and Walt Disney's Wonderful World Of Color ("The world is a carousal of color....") on Sunday nights.

The Sunday show actually had a few different titles over the years. It was first called simply Disneyland. That was changed to Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, and eventually became The Wonderful World of Disney.

It was a pretty full viewing schedule, keeping up with Karen and Cubby, Jimmy and Roy, Tommy and, of course, everyone's sweetheart Annette Funicello. Then Sundays were filled with dramas such as Davy Crockett, Texas John Slaughter, the Swamp Fox, Scarecrow, or the cartoon antics of Mickey, Donald, Goofy and (my favorite) Professor Ludwig Von Drake.

Not too long after the DisneyLand theme park opened, my Mom and Dad planned a trip out West for a Summer vacation and the final destination would be Anaheim, California. I was probably bouncing off the seat cushions all the way. And as far as I was concerned, it was the most magical place I'd ever seen. I've been to Disneyland a couple of times over the years, and have been to DisneyWorld 3 times, and I can't even put into words the feeling I get when I'm there. It's a feeling of peace, and of comfort--a feeling that everything is going to be all right, and nothing bad can happen. Truth to tell, it feels like home.

I haven't been back to DisneyWorld in years, but another trip is certainly long overdue. Just thinking about it has me grinning.

I'm not the only one who feels this way, of course. And--lucky for us--one of the people Disney faithful is an artist by the name of Thomas Kinkade, "Painter Of Light".

Last year he started a series of Disney paintings depicting favorite scenes from the Disney movies he grew up with and enjoyed. The first one honored Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, and is called, "Snow White Discovers The Cottage".

You definitely should click on the picture to enlarge it. Snow White is in the foreground. The cottage looms invitingly over the bridge. Woodland creatures abound. Far in the distance, foreshadowing Snow White's journey, is the castle of the Prince.

In a touch of whimsey, Kinkade has hidden seven Mickey silhouettes in the picture--one for each dwarf. Good luck finding them all--I haven't been able to.....yet! Although the first one, I believe, is directly in front of Snow White--a circular rock topped with two other circular rocks. See it?

(An interesting side note: my Bantam Crossword Dictionary gives several definitions of the word whimsey. The last definition they give? "Fantasia".)

This picture is, of course, available for purchase at http://www.thomaskinkade.com/. I'm sooooo tempted....

The second of the series is in the works, and I came across this picture not too long ago. It's not the finished product--it's a color study--but I have to say, it looks amazing. It's called "Pinocchio Wishes Upon A Star".






Again, the main character is in the foreground while the star--or is it the Blue Fairy? It sure looks like that "star" has wings--blazes overhead. We also have a bit of foreshadowing in the distance. Surely that's Pleasure Island sitting out there in the bay, while Monstro the whale seems to be sizing up a sailing vessel.

I don't know how many of these Disney-based paintings Thomas Kinkade plans to do, but I can't wait to see them all. I feel like it's Sunday night, and the show is about to start.

The world is, indeed, a carousal of color.......and light!