When Mickey Covets Harry: Lapsed Disney Commandment

Around here Sunday means Disney commandments, as in can't get enough of them, not even after the popular hullabaloo last Thursday about JL Knopp's (she of TheDisneyDrivenLife) incomplete set of seven, few of which I bother to obey.

The original ten commandments, of course, were brought down by the Big M: no, not Moses, but Marty Sklar, Disney's former chief Imagineer and official Disney Legend. Hard-core fans will have heard of Marty Sklar and quite possibly have his ten commandments memorized and litanized.

For those still in the dark, you'll find a handy transcript (entitled "Your Fast Guide to Mickey's Ten Commandments") on BoingBoing, a site co-edited by author Cory Doctorow that pulls in nearly 5 million visitors per month on the basis of snark, pop culture, and demented humor. Love it there.

(Or for a small fortune you can hire Marty to lay down the law at your private event.)

Marty's commandments make good business sense - for example, "Know Your Audience". Everything he says has a safe, solid, corporate ring. "Avoid Overload." "Avoid Contradiction". "Keep It Up". (I wish they had kept up 20,000 Leagues.) But nothing about coveting thy neighbor's theme park attractions, a wise omission that green-lights the Mouse to drool over Universal's Harry Potter in good conscience.

Once Marty did Moses, however, everyone got into the act. You'll need a big secular stick to beat off the wanna-be commandments found on many Disney sites, including a whole pew of them on WDWForGrownups, where you can nod your head sagaciously as you process "Thou shalt eat ice cream" and "Thou shalt smile".

(Hope Robert Niles of ThemeParkInsider isn't reading this!)

I'm here to help. Let's boil the core beliefs down to a single commandment, all you need to satisfy your particular 'Disneity' (Disney + Deity): Thou shalt read the Disney Dispatch.

Which you've faithfully done. Blessings! (Now go eat some ice cream.)