One Mouse to Rule Them All/ One Mouse To Find Them/ One Mouse To Bring Them All/ and In The Darkness Bind Them

(Barad-Mickey, courtesy of these people)

At some point (I believe it is the chapter "A Shadow of the Past" in The Fellowship of the Ring), Gandalf remarks that many kings and warriors walk in the daylight, even as their spirits are already under the dominion of the Dark Lord.

And so it is.

This morning, as I was getting ready to leave for work, one of our friends stopped by to drop off a couple of those "Insider's Guide to Disney" books.

I have had three separate conversations today with people eager to impart their knowledge of which upgrades to ask for, what times to get in line and the best attractions at each separate theme park.

A colleague from down the hall just asked me to buy him a particular Disney poster while I'm down there in order to augment the collection he keeps in his office.

Truly, the Shadow has grown long.

UPDATE: Truly.

UPDATE DEUX: Speaking of the Mouse of Sauron (get it? Oh, I slay me), Steve at Secure Liberty picks up on an NYTimes article on how Barad-Mickey is planning to pitch its release of the movie The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe without offending a) Christians (by playing down Lewis's Aslan/Christ allegory), b) non-Christians (by playing it up) or c) both (by devising a wobbly compromise that puts everyone's nose out of joint).

I am beginning to have some doubts about this movie. For one thing, it seems time is going to be wasted on portraying the Luftwaffe bombing of London, something that is barely mentioned in the story. For another, it appears the producers are going to play up the battle at the end of the story in an effort to grab the attention of the LOTR zombie fan crowd. And, as the article notes, God only knows what they are going to do in terms of jazzing up all the minor supporting characters, both good and bad, just so that McDonalds can pass out more plastic dolls with its kids' happy meals.