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Disney and the Second Red ScareDisney was a founding member of the anti-communist group Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals.Empty citation (help) In 1947, during the Second Red Scare,[87] Disney testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), where he branded Herbert Sorrell, David Hilberman and William Pomerance, former animators and labor union organizers as Communist agitators. All three men denied the allegations and Sorrell went on to testify before the HUAC in 1946 when insufficient evidence was found to link him to the Communist Party.[88][89]Disney also accused the Screen Cartoonists Guild of being a Communist front, and charged that the 1941 strike was part of an organized Communist effort to gain influence in Hollywood.[87]
Accusations of antisemitism and racismDisney was long rumored to be antisemitic during his lifetime, and such rumors persisted after his death. Indeed, in the 1930s he welcomed German filmmaker and Nazi propagandist Leni Riefenstahl to Hollywood to promote her film Olympia.[112] Even after news of Kristallnacht broke in November 1938, Disney did not cancel his invitation to Riefenstahl.[113][114][115]However, in 2006 Disney biographer Neal Gabler, the first writer to gain unrestricted access to the Disney archives, concluded that available evidence did not support accusations of antisemitism. In a CBS interview Gabler summarized his findings:“ That's one of the questions everybody asks me... My answer to that is, not in the conventional sense that we think of someone as being an antisemite. But he got the reputation because, in the 1940s, he got himself allied with a group called the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, which was an anti-Communist and antisemitic organization. And though Walt himself, in my estimation, was not antisemitic, nevertheless, he willingly allied himself with people who were antisemitic, and that reputation stuck. He was never really able to expunge it throughout his life.[116] ”Disney eventually distanced himself from the Motion Picture Alliance in the 1950s.[117] Gabler also claims in regards to Riefenstahl's visit, the invitation was suggested to Disney by Jay Stowitts and that although Walt knew who Riefenstahl was, he didn't know exactly what she represented in terms of politics, as he had no particular political leaning during the 1930s.[117]The Walt Disney Family Museum acknowledges that Disney did have "difficult relationships" with some Jewish individuals, and that ethnic stereotypes common to films of the 1930s were included in some early cartoons, such as Three Little Pigs and The Opry House however, the museum points out that he befriended many Jewish school mates;[117] donated to several Jewish charities (The Hebrew Orphan Asylum, Yeshiva College,[117] Jewish Home for the Aged, The American League for a Free Palestine[117]) and was named "1955 Man of the Year" by the B'nai B'rith chapter in Beverly Hills.[117][118]Disney was also rumored to be a racist. According to Gabler, although he was not, he would however occasionally make racially insensitive remarks that were commonly used by white Americans at the time.[119] For example during a story meeting on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs he referred to the scene when the dwarfs pile ontop of each other as a "[censored] pile", and while casting Song of the South he used the term pickaninny. Like many Hollywood film and cartoon producers of the time, Disney had engaged in racial stereotyping, and Disney cartoons of the period sometimes displayed racially insensitive material.[119] Examples include Mickey's Mellerdrammer in which Mickey Mouse dresses in blackface, the "black" bird in the short Who Killed [censored] Robbin, Sunflower the half donkey-half black centarette in Fantasia, the feature film Song of the South, King Louie in The Jungle Book, the Indians in Peter Pan, the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp and the crows in Dumbo (though they were made sympathetic to Dumbo's plight).[119] Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies director Bob Clampett, director of the controversial but highly acclaimed short Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs, claimed that“ Everybody, including blacks had a good time when these cartoons first came out. All the controversy developed in later years merely because of changing attitudes toward black civil rights that have happened since then. ”Despite Disney's occasional slurs, there is no evidence that he expressed any hatred or bigotry against any racial group, publicly or privately, and he hired employees of all racial backgrounds, religions, and nationalities throughout his career.[119] He also thoroughly enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird, a film dealing with racial justice, claiming "That's the kind of film I wish I could make."[117]
Disney has perverted scenes it its cartoon movies if you play close attention. It's like a subliminal message. They try to pervert children from a young age. Miley Cyrus and Britney Spears started out with them.
Topic: Is Disney a conspiracy? (Read 631 times)