There’s that old rumor that Walt Disney was frozen to be revived at a later date when technology would allow it. That rumor is, of course, false. Walt’s remains were cremated. There is also a cast member refrain that I heard often during my Disney career, “Walt would be rolling over in his grave if he could see what the Walt Disney Company is doing now.”

Putting those two points together, and in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I wondered what Walt would be thankful for if he, some 50 years after we lost him, magically reappeared today in place of the statue snapped above. There are four things I think he would be especially thankful that his company has done.

The purchase of ABC – Walt had to obtain financing in order to build Disneyland. ABC provided a quarter of that funding in exchange for a Disney television show. I suspect Walt would enjoy the fact that an organization he had to get money from is now owned by his company.

Building Disney’s Animal Kingdom – When his team was designing Disneyland's Jungle Cruise ride, Walt wanted his guests to encounter live animals. Instead, he had to settle for Disney audio animatronics. In Animal Kingdom, and especially the Kilimanjaro Safaris ride, Walt finally got what he wanted. He would be very pleased.

Disney animation and characters – Walt would delight in the number of movies and characters that have been introduced since 1966. He would enjoy the Little Mermaid, the Lion King, Tangled Frozen, Zootopia and many others. He also would also appreciate the great storytelling of the Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars offerings.

The vast size of his company and its global reach – Walt loved travel. He visited Europe and especially France several times. He would be astonished at the global reach of his company today. Expansions like the Paris and China theme parks, the Disney Cruise Line and the ownership of 21st Century Fox would amaze him.

There are, however, four things I don’t think he would be pleased about.

Ticket prices – It is fashionable to say that the Disney parks are too expensive, but Walt excelled at making money: he recognized that it takes money to create new offerings. His opinion today is hard to determine. He did, however, say that he wanted Disneyland to be affordable and that, for instance, he didn’t want to make a profit from food sales. It is therefore likely he would think prices are too high.

Underbuilt offerings  – Walt would be upset at the under-built parks like Disney's California Adventure and Hong Kong Disneyland and he would identify all sorts of ways to improve everything else the company currently does. Plussing things was his particular genius and he would have plenty to focus on today.

Epcot – Although Epcot is a wonderful place, it’s not the city of tomorrow Walt wanted. It is likely that, If he had remained alive, he would have ended up building something similar to what Epcot became, but a newly awakened Walt, plucked down today and without the benefit of the Epcot development journey, would be disappointed.

Finally, I did not list as a disappointment those Disney Company films that aren't Disney squeaky clean. Walt had one foot firmly planted in the past and the other just as firmly planted in the future. He was a man of his times and, whatever his 1950s era opinions, it is not hard to imagine a modern day Walt having different standards. His nephew, Rot E. Disney summed it up best. “The thing about Walt was that he did it different each time. To go around asking, ‘What would Walt have done?’ was contrary to the essence of Walt Disney’s genius and creativity.”

The lessons I take away from this exercise in thankfulness fantasy is that a leader with a clear vision can achieve amazing results ... even beyond his or her lifetime. Walt once described his vision as “making inanimate objects move” to “tell a story” that “makes people happy.” Disney still does that, and we are all the richer for it.

Will people be able to say that about you and your business in 50 years?

Happy Thanksgiving!