Disney finally remembers something

During the Academy Awards, Disney aired a commercial that made people cry. Not in the manipulative, guilt-trip way that some advertising aims for, but in the way that good art does—by showing us something true and reminding us what we were made for.

The spot, called “Midnight Magic,” opens with a father walking the deck of a Disney cruise ship late at night, newborn son in his arms, doing what exhausted new parents have done since the beginning of time: pacing, soothing, willing a child back to sleep. The ship is quiet. The ocean is dark. It’s just a father and his boy.

Then time moves. The boy grows. The late-night walk becomes a ritual—a recurring scene across years of voyages, the son getting taller and the father getting older in real time, each cruise a chapter. Then comes the moment that lands hardest: the father is on the ship again, older now, standing with his wife at the railing at night—and the son isn’t there. He’s grown and gone his own way. The parents stand together looking at the sea, holding what all parents eventually hold: the memory of what was, and gratitude that it happened at all.

But then the turn: The adult son appears at his father’s door, his own child in his arms, ready to walk the deck at midnight. The ritual doesn’t end. It multiplies. And through it all we’re reminded of what is worth living for and left wanting to hug someone we love and thank them for loving us in return.

The advertisement is striking, in part, given who made it.

While it makes sense that Disney would be creating advertisements about family memories, the company has not been a reliable defender of the family in recent years. In 2019, it threatened to stop filming in Georgia if that state passed a law banning abortions once a baby had a heartbeat. It put Minnie Mouse in a blue pantsuit, apparently a statement in opposition to gender stereotypes. It aggressively opposed Florida legislation that prevents schools from teaching kindergartners about gender identity, and it inserted same-sex kisses into animated films aimed at children.

Internally, Disney ran a “diversity and inclusion” program called Reimagine Tomorrow that put employees through training on systemic racism, white fragility, and microaggressions. The company that built an empire on the family decided, for a stretch, that the family needed to be reimagined and alienated itself from a significant portion of its customer base.

The market responded.

Disney’s stock fell and theme park attendance softened. Like Target and Budweiser, Disney discovered what happens when a brand picks a side in the culture war. But then came the Oscars where the company told us something we all need to hear. It’s now glorifying fatherhood. Perhaps nothing could solve our cultural problems more effectively than a nation full of men longing to be very involved in the lives of their children.

It’s unclear if the latest advertisement from Disney is a conscious retreat from leftist activism or simply a nod to the company’s core constituency. But either way, “Midnight Magic” reminds us of what is possible when media is used the right way.

Media shapes what we want, what we value, and who we think we’re supposed to be. It shapes our understanding of the good life. Too often, this power is used to make us think the good life can be reduced to freedom from responsibility, an abundance of social activities, and irresistible sex appeal. But occasionally we get a glimpse of something better.

Media and media companies can make us want to be more than our impulses—more patient, more present. It can make us want to live for something bigger than ourselves and help us see the beauty of walking the deck at midnight with a colicky infant because real joy comes through sacrificing your own comfort for the benefit of others.

That’s the beauty of “Midnight Magic.” It makes you want to have a baby and call your dad. It makes you want to build a family and leave a legacy of presence. Good job Disney. Here’s to more of it.