Pollan v. Disney

John Chapman, more commonly known as Johnny Appleseed, is depicted in contrasting ways in the first chapter of Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire and in Disney’s animated short film Johnny Appleseed. Within the first minute of the film, Disney depicts Johnny as very jolly, singing young man who loves picking apples whereas Pollen introduces Chapman as a man sleeping in a canoe somewhere along the Ohio River. Immediately, Disney is illustrating Johnny as a hard working individual who genuinely loves what he does whereas Pollan reveals Chapman as a restful man traveling to plant more trees for business purposes only. In Disney’s version, Johnny’s guardian angel (sings a sugary coated song and) convinces Johnny to grow trees to enrich the land with apples so the people moving west can feed on them; Pollan’s version of Chapman explains that he would travel ahead of the settlers moving west, sell apples to them, have a local boy look after the apple trees, and continue the cycle. Disney portrays Johnny Appleseed as a role model to its audience of young children. Johnny worked from the goodness of his heart; he traveled for forty years, never in need of thanks from the pioneers and Native Americans that would unite together to enjoy delicious apple desserts made from his apples. Disney’s goal is to show young children that selfishness will get someone nowhere; by giving you will be rewarded by seeing the results of your good work. However, Pollan’s version paints a different depiction of “Johnny Appleseed.” Chapman made a profit out of his work, and the apples provided alcohol, not apple desserts, to the pioneers. Pollan’s audience is older than Disney’s and thus focuses more on facts, not life lessons. Pollan does not sugar coat Chapman and allows certain flaws about him to be revealed. Chapman was arranged to be married to a ten year old girl; he made visits to her and she later broke his heart by flirting with boys her own age. This image of Chapman is the polar opposite of the image depicted in the Disney version since Disney’s audience is young children more interested in a fun story than facts whereas Pollan’s audience is adults more interested in facts than a fun story. The version that is more realistic is Pollan’s since it is not sugar coated with songs and cheery forest creatures helping Johnny for forty years straight; instead, it provides a well rounded look of who John Chapman really was and why he was transformed into a hero for young children. Pollan goes into an analysis of Dionysus, a mythical god, and explains that Chapman is a watered down version of Dionysus suitable to be a role model for a young audience. Since John Chapman planted millions of apple seeds, and these apples changed the way of America, “Johnny Appleseed” landed in American mythology, only slightly altered, of course.