I’m having trouble finding info on this. It’s been said that Disney, during the 30s, had fascist sympathies. A recent film on the making of Cirizen Kane (“RKO 180”, I think) depicts him as a raving anti-semite and admirer of European fascism. In the early 30s, many public figures of the time expressed admiration for Hitler–Churchill, among them–but then changed their mind’s when his intentions became clear. But Disney supposedly remained an admirer even in the early 40s. Needless to say, this would provide a whole new perspective on the Disney’s legacy and movies. Info appreciated.
The source of most of these allegations about Walt Disney is a 1993 biography titled Walt Disney – Hollywood’s Dark Prince, written by Marc Eliot. However, it has been widely criticized for the hearsay or unattributed nature of much of its assertions about Disney. The Urban Legends Reference Pages says that it “dwells unrelentingly on every salacious incident and rumor connected with Walt Disney’s name.” Proceed with caution.
A related question: Is Disney the company evil and right-wing? When I was visiting a friend in L.A. a few years ago he wouldn’t let me go to Disneyland because he didn’t approve of me spending my money there, but I wasn’t clear on why.
How does your friend’s not wanting you to go to Disneyland mean that it is evil and right-wing? There are a few chain links of logic missing there.
Sorry for not being clear. He said something about them being evil and right-wing, but I didn’t find out what he was basing his opinion on. Perhaps they donate money to right-wing causes?
By the way, I’m not saying that all right-wingers are evil, but many of their beliefs are very very bad.
Not in General Questions, they’re not.
Please open another thread in IMHO if you want to discuss Disney’s current corporate politics.
Here is a General Question on the subject.
Ummmm…chula? Did you know that fundamentalist christians have been boycotting Disney for years because of Disney’s perceived acceptance of gays? Disneycorp gives benefits for employees same-sex partners, allows the homosexual community to hold an informal “gay day” at their theme parks, and never requires Donald Duck to wear pants. Hardly a right-wing agenda.
Actually, they go after Disney because it’s a way to get their groups and causes mentioned in the papers. If you want to attract a reporter’s attention, you have to have a hook. A fundamentalist group who says “the Democratic party is full of left-wing atheists” will generate little more than an eye-roll from an experienced reporter. Been there, heard that. But go after something that many Americans consider to be wholesome and harmless and that’ll raise some eyebrows and get you some ink.
Likewise, if you were a member of a politically active gay group, saying things like “we’re opposed to the KKK” will generate, at best, a good “Duh!” But say “we’re opposed to Walker, Texas Ranger” and maybe someone will be curious enough to pay attention.
The movie the OP remembered was called RKO 281 (1999) and Walt Disney (played by Roger Allam) appears only once as far as I recall, at a meeting of studio bosses as they discuss a plan to buy up the rights to Citizen Kane and destroy it before William Randolph Hearst can make good on his implied threat to print hugely damaging stories about Hollywood. Disney initially shrugs off the threat, doubting that Hearst could have anything damaging agasint Mickey Mouse, but Louis B. Mayer (David Suchet) yanks him back to reality by saying (paraphrased) “Hearst has you tied so closely to J. Edgar Hoover and America First that you may as well put on a brown shirt and kiss the kiddies good-bye.” From the context, I gather America First was an isolationist outfit, not uncommon in pre-WW2 America.
Disney might have been fairly right-wing, but he’s so benign otherwise that he comes off like Ronald Reagan, falling asleep at lunch.
I meant to keep this as a factual question; that’s why I felt the need to comment on my slip of the word “evil.” I’m just interested in knowing what their policies are - I’ll make up my own mind as to whether they’re evil.
Qadgop, I do remember hearing about their gay-friendly policies. But that’s just one issue.
Here’s a sampling of the complaints against Disney by other groups that a search turned up:[ul]
[li]Offensive/stereotypical portrayals of Arabs, Native Americans, the blind, gays, blacks, and women.[/li][li]Support of “policeware” legislation[/li][li]Presentation of Jerusalem of Israel’s capital[/li][li]Illegal toxic waste dumping at theme parks[/li][li]Homogenization of culture and promotion of consumerism[/li][li]Threat to sue preschools for having murals of Disney characters[/li][li]Use of child and sweatshop labor[/li][li]Low pay, unsafe working conditions, discriminatory hiring practices, and other miscellaneous unfair labor pratices at theme parks[/li][li]Too greedy and too powerful.[/li][/ul]I think my friend was concerned about the last three.
Weird. My post is here, but I’m not showing up as the last poster. I’m bumping this.
Am I the only one who actually read this post? It was by a moderator, if you hadn’t noticed.
Since the OP’s General Question is discussed in a recently bumped older thread, I’ll close this one. I direct further comments to this thread, provided those comments do not involve the evilness of today’s corporation.
bibliophage
moderator GQ