One of the most famous quotes attributed to Walt Disney – “If you can dream it, you can do it” – is noteworthy not only because it succinctly summarizes Walt’s modus operandi for his company, but also because he never said it. That one can find this quote attributed to Walt on all kinds of merchandise only shows the easy elision of this manufactured philosophy with many Disney fans’ (and Americans’) self-understanding.
This paper, excerpted from a larger project, places this quote and the Disney legacy within the context of American religious thought. Drawing on examples from Disney’s stories, films, and parks, the paper argues that Disney is best religiously understood as a new form of American New Thought, bolstered by American Dream ideology and traditional Protestant virtues. To say Disney is religion is to acknowledge the way Disney braids together familiar American idioms, creating a distinctly American religious imagination.