upworthy

walt disney

Walt Disney and Ray Bradbury.

The world’s greatest innovators think and behave differently from us mere mortals. They have a unique view of the world and are dedicated to their craft in ways that most would deem obsessive. But without that type of dedication, Steve Jobs could never have given us the Macintosh, Michael Jordan would never have been able to fly, and Michelangelo would have never painted the Sistine Chapel.

It’s hard for the average person to understand what makes a cultural innovator tick, which is why an interview with groundbreaking author Ray Bradbury on Walt Disney is so inspiring. It lifts the veil on what great artists see in one another that most of us can’t. Bradbury is the acclaimed author of classics such as Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, who was a friend of Disney and worked with his legendary company as a creative consultant.

What did Ray Bradbury think of Walt Disney?

In a 2004 interview, Bradbury explained where the incredibly ambitious and creative Disney got his drive and determination.


“If there’s any secret at all, it’s because Walt, like myself, is not an optimist but an optimal behaviorist. Which means that every day of your life, if you behave well, you begin to feel well,” Bradbury said. “So that’s not false, that’s real. You get your work done every day, and at the end of a week, a month, a year, you’ll turn around and say, hey, look what I did. So you feel good. That’s real optimism. Optimal behavior.”

“He could look back at the end of each year and see his behavior, and it made him want to go on. A lot of people are pessimists because they’ve never done anything,” Bradbury continued. “If you go to bed every night having not done anything, you’re going to wake up unhappy, aren’t you? So the answer to that is do something every day. Be busy, for God’s sake, be busy.”

 walt disney, disney world, mickey mouse, disney company, disney theme parks, A statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse.via Paul Beattie/Flickr

What is a behavioral optimist?

Although “behavioral optimist” isn’t an official psychological term, it’s one that Bradbury often used to describe himself. “I’ve learned that by doing things, things get done. I’m not an optimist; I’m an optimal behaviorist. We ensure the future by doing it,” he said. “Optimists and pessimists are blind. But I’m not either. I’m an optimal behaviorist. In other words, I behave at the top of my lungs every day. There’s no guarantee, but you’re going to have a heck of a lot of fun. You’ll come to the end of your life with the secure knowledge that you tried everything.”

There are just two critical things in life, he said, “Being in love with your wife or husband and being in love with your work. And then everything’s fine.”

If you’ve always dreamed of living a life like Walt Disney, using your imagination to entertain and uplift humanity, you can start by looking at life in the same way. Big goals can often seem too lofty when we think about the finished product. Instead, take small, consistent steps every day towards achieving your goal. Writing a 300-page book may seem like too much work, but if you write a page a day, you’ll have a book before the end of the year. The key is to stay focused and consistent, just like Uncle Walt.

It’s not unusual for something made or written on a computer to be able to make you sad.

Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a somber, melancholy game about dealing with loss and defeat, for instance, and computer-generated Pixar characters — like Bing Bong in "Inside Out" and Hector in "Coco," for example — have made audiences cry for years.

Truly, 'tis like Hamlet. GIF from Disney/Pixar's "Inside Out."


But even though they were made on a computer, behind each of those emotional moments were human beings — be they musicians, directors, actors, or designers. In 2016, a computer wrote the "Sunspring" short film, but, well, it's a really interesting experiment but not the most inspiring story ever told.

In the future, though, a computer might be able to break your heart all on its own. Or at least offer its thoughts on how to do it best.

And the benefit for us? Better movies.

Researchers from MIT’s Lab for Social Machines and McKinsey’s Consumer Tech and Media Team recently taught artificial intelligence to identify emotional moments in popular movies and dissect exactly which lines of dialogue, musical cues, or visuals tugged at the viewers' heartstrings.

This, for example, is how the computer perceived the opening sequence of Pixar’s "Up." The high points represent happier moments while the troughs represent sadder ones.

The researchers taught the AI how to do this by asking volunteers to review thousands of movie sequences then write down their emotions and the triggering moments. The researchers translated this into numbers the computer could understand.

According to researchers, the long-term goal is to create intelligence that can help human filmmakers by suggesting specific shots, lines of dialogue, or musical cues as they’re making the film. Imagine something akin to Microsoft's Clippy saying, "It looks like you’re writing a touching death scene between the protagonist and their mother. Maybe don't go with a chiptune cover of 'All About That Bass' as the background music?"

Though some have reacted to the news with warnings about some pretty science-fiction-esque implications, I, for one, welcome anything that brings robots closer to feeling human emotions. After all, if we have to suffer, so should they.

And if you personally feel like having a trip down the ol' feels-trip lane, we've oh-so-helpfully provided the "Up" official trailer below. Enjoy.