When a problem in a protocol causes a message to be erroneously reproduced a number of times, the large numbers of messages can shut down a whole system. The term is derived from a traditional story, retold by Goethe and set to music by Paul Dukas. Walt Disney popularized the story by animating it in Fantasia, in which a young Mickey Mouse (the sorcerer's apprentice) creates a large number of animated buckets and brushes which cause a huge flood.