Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Disney's Attention to Detail: God Is in the Detail

By Randy Crane




If you were to ask a Disney Parks fan what it is that makes the Disney Parks unique and special, you may get several answers. World-class service. Fun for the whole family. Great storytelling. But one phrase that you’ll hear more than almost any other is, “Their attention to detail is amazing.” How does remembering that the Imagineers care about the design details of the Disney Parks help us to also remember that God cares about the everyday details in our lives? Author Randy Crane returns in today's new article to explain...

 Asking a Disney fan what it is that makes a Disney Park unique and special, will generates several different answers. World-class service. Fun for the whole family. Great storytelling. But one phrase that you’ll hear more than almost any other is, “Their attention to detail is like none other.” Just look at Tokyo DisneySea, the details are jaw-dropping...








It’s true. Whether it’s the details that support the story in a queue, or those that make what could be an ordinary play area exciting, or even the special touches in the landscapes and buildings that combine to tell a single story, Walt Disney Imagineering shows details that are unmatched in degree and scope.
For example, the Imagineers did not have to put a name tag on the “ticket seller” in front of the Main Street Cinema, and they certainly didn’t have to give her the hometown of Marceline, Missouri––Walt’s own boyhood hometown––but they did just that...




Name tag on the “ticket seller” in front of the Main Street Cinema




But why does this matter to park guests? One reason that comes to mind is our almost subconscious understanding that when the little details are right, we know the people behind them cared about and paid equal attention to the big picture too. They cared enough to craft a story for each balcony in New Orleans Square, to put many jokes and references in the Disneyland Cast Members’ window on Main Street, and to use authentic props in the queue for the Indiana Jones Adventure, so when we board the attraction we will be confident that it will be good.




Tony Baxter, in the queue for Disneyland's Indiana Jones Adventure in 1995




Architect Mies van der Rohe said, “God is in the details.” He may not have meant it in a Disney context, but van der Rohe was absolutely right. As the Imagineers care about the design details of Disney Parks, God cares about the everyday details in our lives.



 
Imagineers care about the design details





Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29–31)

Do you see what Jesus is saying? God cares for you so much that He’s numbered the hairs on your head (which some people estimate at 100,000). God is involved when a single sparrow falls to the ground, and you are worth more than many sparrows.

If God is involved in the details of a sparrow’s life, we can be assured that He’s also got the “big stuff” of our lives covered. At Christmas, we celebrate His coming to “dwell among us” as a baby born in a feed trough to a poor family. He descended from the majesty of heaven, fully God, to the most humble of beginnings, fully man. Or as Paul said of Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made Himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
He humbled Himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6–8)

There is no detail too small for God. There is no problem too big for Him. Jesus has been as low as one can be, and above all there is. There is no concern so insignificant that He doesn’t want you to tell Him about it. There is no triumph or success so enormous that it’s bigger than He is.




Just as the Imagineers shaped and designed their animatronic Lincoln, God shaped and designed you uniquely for His purpose




Those little details found throughout the Disney Parks each stand as a reminder that God is in the details, thus we know He’s also got “the big stuff” covered. He created the universe. He created all living things. He created you. He shaped and designed you uniquely for His purpose. He knows the number of hairs on your head and, for that matter, all the cells of your body and the 3 billion base pairs of your DNA. From the vastness of the universe to the microscopic genetic code, He’s in it all.


Takeaway: What is one “little detail” in your life that reminds you of something big about God?





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Randy Crane is a highly-regarded speaker and author, presenting engaging and thought-provoking messages on a variety of topics. He has a natural rapport and connection with audiences that makes them relate well to him, engage in his presentations, and come away with a fresh understanding of the subject at hand. Randy is also the host of the “Stories of the Magic” unofficial Disney podcast, where he interviews people from throughout the Disney company, from front-line Cast Members to Legends. Randy grew up in the church, but—like many others—wandered away from the faith for a time in high school. Now, he is an ordained minister, with both a Bachelor’s degree in Church Ministry (emphasis in Preaching) and a Master’s degree in Congregational Leadership from Hope International University in Fullerton, CA. He has been preaching and teaching since 1998, and has been a drummer/percussionist on church worship teams since 1992. He married his wonderful wife Faye in November of 2000 and had their first child, a daughter, in April of 2015. Randy is the author of two books, Once Upon YOUR Time and Faith and the Magic Kingdom.

You can find all of Randy's articles here.

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