Walt Disney’s Moby-Dick
WALT DISNEY’S MOBY-DICKTM
The heroic IshmaelTM!
The loyal QueequegTM!
The tragic AhabTM!
The beautiful AgathaTM!
The hilarious duo StubbsTM & StarbuckTM!
And the evil White WhaleTM, Moby-DickTM!
Now at last this DisneyTM animated classic is coming out of the Disney VaultTM, available on BetamaxTM, LaserdiscTM, and Region 1TM Digital Video DiscTM formats. From the classic wordplay of the “beefsteak and shared beds”TM scene to AhabTM’s famous song ‘When Beholding the Tranquil Beauty of the Sea,’TM from the romance between AgathaTM and IshmaelTM cut short by pirate blades, from the thrilling climax as AhabTM completes his self-destructive quest and dooms his crew — it’s all here in glorious TechnicolorTM and remastered Hi-Fidelity SoundTM!
Don’t miss out on any of this seminal DisneyTM event! From the grand ball within the EPCOT CenterTM (covered by D! RadioTM, the Disney TimesTM, and Fearon Television ConcernTM) to the twelve-part comic-book maxi-series tie-ins “I… Ahab”TM and “Queequeg and the Cannibals,” TM to the four waves of action figures, to the Starbuck’sTM Starbuck MugTM, to Disney’s Moby-DickopolyTM, to the 45-episode cartoon show Ishmael and His MatesTM, to the line of Disney’s Moby-DickTM infant sleepwear, children’s casual & activewearTM, plush toys, bedsheets, wallpaper, other home furnishings… this is the culturalTM event of the year!
But act fast, because all too soon Walt Disney’s Moby-DickTM will be disappearing once more into the Disney VaultTM!
Ahoy, matey! ‘Tis the White Whale!TM
Walt Disney’s Moby-Dick is copyright 1939 the Walt Disney Corporation. All rights reserved.
It would be beautiful, if it was not an airport.
It is a dome that rises majestically into heaven, all glass and steel and incandescent lighting. At sunrise the colors of morning turn it pink and yellow and it is a blooming flower. At noon the shadows fall away, and it is gleaming and white, a glass onion. At sunset the colors of evening turn it red and orange and it is a burning flame. It is one of the architectural wonders of the Second World. It is Stalingrad International Airport, and it would be beautiful.
It is not beautiful, because all airports are one airport, and no airport is beautiful. So to preserve its ontological integrity it has been made ugly. Yellowed propaganda posters cover its walls, just often enough and just awful enough to ruin the effect. Spills and mud are purposely left uncleaned until after stain sets in, and by degrees the once-golden carpet has become the color of Coca-Cola. The men’s restroom smells faintly of fish.
In addition to serving cargo (human and freight) transported throughout the Second World, SIA is the headquarters of those torchbearers of Marxism-Leninism, the Expanded Men and Women. Recruited from all corners of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the ninety-three Expanded Men and seventy-four Expanded Women train and refine their Doctrine of Ontological Unity here, a half-step from any airport in the world.
The still center of the SIA, the heart of the glass onion, is called simply the Chamber, because it is every room. Ontological Unity pervades the air of the chamber, purified by stately engines reinforced with the constant maintenance by highly-trained Expanded technicians.
The Chamber is not, strictly speaking, part of the functional airport, and yet it is its heart; this ontological paradox secures it more truly than any bar or bolt possibly could. Freed from the paean to ugliness which marks all airports, the Chamber is a marvelous place. Art treasures from five continents decorate its walls, the birds sing a pretty tune, and there is always music in the air. Its center — the very heart of the Chamber, and by extension the SIA, and by extension the USSR, and by extension the world — its center is a ring of beanbags, cushions, and other soft, comfortable chairs. Every fragment of this whole and unified chamber is devoted to making its guests comfortable.
This is where Paulie Walrus interrogates Americans.