Was Walt Disney a fascist?

[LoZoccolo]

The German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, whose documentaries in the mid-30s had helped to glorify the Nazis, claimed that "after Kristallnacht <1938>, she approached every studio in Hollywood looking for work. No studio head would even screen her movies except Walt Disney.

More here:
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdisneyfascist.html

[MrSlayer]

1. LOL! No.

Walt Disney was a liberal progressive in every sense of the word. Read up on him.

[marylanddem]

2. I thought he was a Republican... n/t

[scarletwoman]

3. You're kidding, right? Have you read his testimony to HUAC?

He was an anti-semite and a willing smearer of Hollywood "communists".

If you have evidence of his being a "liberal progressive", please post it. His HUAC testimony has already been amply documented here over the past few days.

sw

[Chimichurri]

15. very true. He also was more then happy to draw up propaganda

cartoons on behalf of the government to distribute to school children. the most famous is the one about how great and safe nuclear power was.

[LostInAnomie]

4. I guess if you count union busting and turning in workers to...

... HUAC as liberal. Disney was a disgusting social darwinist.

[mitchtv]

6. an aficionado of Franco

A liberal Fascist

[CarlVK]

18. What in hell is a "liberal fascist"?

[mitchtv]

24. see post 1

[mnhtnbb]

8. Apparently not see Snopes

http://www.snopes.com/disney/waltdisn/freedom.htm

Although Disney was unquestionably conservative in his standards, postmortem biographies have increasingly portrayed him as so rigidly conservative in his politics that he would publicly express contempt for anyone with whom he disagreed politically, including the president. (A similar rumor claims that after President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Disney refused to allow the flag at Disneyland to be lowered to half-staff.) Disney certainly had his share of faults, many of which were glossed over in his lifetime (and to some extent still are), but in today's climate no beloved public figure is allowed to have minor faults -- he has to have major faults, even if someone has to invent them. The quiet man who created fantasy films and theme parks that have entertained millions of children is thus cast as the tyrannical autocrat, so determined to have his way in everything that he would even thumb his nose the President of the United States.

[KingFlorez]

5. He did have some racist cartoons

[Nevernose]

11. One of the unfair accusations made

Most Americans, regardless of geographical location, thought racism was just dandy up until the 60s.

Whether or not he would have been a racist reamins to be seen. Personally, I think he would have been, due to his outgoing racist nature beforhand, but who knows?

What I'm saying is that things need to be taken in context. Applying modern rules to other times is unfair.

[KingFlorez]

16. Regardless of what people thought

Racism was still wrong. Anyone who would make racist cartoons is a questionable person.

[uppityperson]

12. Dumbo was his anti-racism cartoon

I never noticed this as a child, but watching with my own small child it struck me what was going on in that movie. What a wild movie. Yes, the crows are stereotyped, as are the elephants, and most all else, but what a tale against bigotry! Amazing to watch for the first time as an adult.

[AlienGirl]

14. I'm pretty sure Dumbo was about individual oddity, not race

After all, the bigots in it were other elephants, and they were making fun of one strange-looking baby, not a race of giant-eared elephants.

It can be used, in these more conscious times, to illustrate the damage racism does, but I doubt that was its intended message.

Tucker

[CarlVK]

7. Heil Walt! You better read this....

"In the immediate years before we entered the War there was a small, but fiercely loyal, I suppose legal, following of the Nazi party . . . There were open meetings, anybody could attend and I wanted to see what was going on myself. On more than one occasion I observed Walt Disney and Gunther Lessing there, along with a lot of prominent Nazi-afflicted Hollywood personalities. Disney was going to meetings all the time."

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mdisneyfascist.html

[mitchum]

9. He was an antisemite and a union-busting dirtbag

a real piece of shit

[uppityperson]

10. but those drugs... Dumbo=anti-racism, high satire.

rumor question, were they all high, doing cartoons they did? I love Dumbo, what a satirical look at racism.

[Proud2BAmurkin]

13. a filthy scumbag, yes

yes indeed

[bullwinkle428]

17. SNL's TV Funhouse did a hilarious look back at his life on a

segment they aired last season, I believe, where the premise was two kids mistakenly wandering into Disney's private vault, and looking at things the publice was never supposed to see. One of the things was the special version of "Song of the South" which Disney only showed at private parties, etc.

Here it is!

http://www.transbuddha.com/index.php/buddha/comments/tv_funhouse_disney_vault/

[Blue_Tires]

21. lol....brilliant!

[Jcrowley]

19. Walt

"Here is the confidential 1954 FBI inter-office memo that describes the promotion: ‘Mr. Walt Disney is the Vice-President in charge of production and the founder of Walt Disney Productions, Inc., 2400 West Alameda Street, Burbank, California. Mr. Disney is extremely prominent in the motion picture industry and his company is the foremost organization in the production of cartoons.’ Mr. Disney has recently established a business association with the American Broadcasting Company . . . for the production of a series of television show, which for the most part are scheduled to be filmed at Disneyland, a multimillion dollar amusement park being established under Mr. Disney’s direction in the vicinity of Anaheim, California. Mr. Disney has volunteered representatives of this office complete access to the facilities of Disneyland for use in connection with official matters and for recreational purposes. . . .

‘Because of Mr. Disney’s position as the foremost producer of cartoon films in the motion picture industry and his prominence and wide acquaintanceship in film production matters, it is believed that he can be of valuable assistance to this office and therefore it is my recommendation that he be approved as a Special Agent in Charge (SAC) contact.’

41.  "Being made an official SAC contact pleased Walt greatly, because it meant that in addition to continuing to supply his data to the bureau, other informants could now supply reports to him. It was Hoover’s Christmas present to Walt, the timing of which was no accident. Hoover, as he implied in his directive, wanted to capitalize on Disney’s involvement with network television. The FBI had thus far been unable to penetrate the middle echelon of the new medium’s power loop. What the Bureau wanted was someone it could trust on the inside. As far as J. Edgar Hoover was concerned, the man most qualified for that assignment was the Bureau’s proven Hollywood veteran, the man everyone, including the head of the FBI, called ‘Uncle Walt.’" (Ibid.; pp. 224-225.)

http://www.spitfirelist.com/f301.html

[-..__...]

20. The awful truth about Walt Disney...

"Journey to the Disney Vault"...

http://www.transbuddha.com/mediaHolder.php?id=1706

:smoke:

[rug]

22. Did Mickey wear little white gloves?

[Ravy]

23. I heard he was Goofy. (n/t)