Transcription
You were told that Walt Disney was a man with many prejudices against women, Jews, people of color, and even gay people. As proof of these claims, the people who told you this have shown you little clips and images of things often taken out of context and never fully explained because they're hoping that you'll just accept what you see without question. I'm going to provide you with the context of those things so that you can make a more informed opinion about whether or not you actually believe Walt Disney was a hateful man.
This video is for historical and educational analysis. [music] I do not condone nor defend any images or speech designed to spread hatred of any kind. This [music] video is meant to provide further context.
The first accusation we'll cover is that Walt Disney was misogynistic and despised women. There are many separate accusations within this subject, but one of the more prominent situations was that of Miss Mary Ford. [music] In 1938, Mary Ford was denied consideration for employment as an animator. And this letter to her from the company states that women do not do any creative work in connection with preparing [music] cartoons for the screen. It's sad to see a demeaning letter like this be sent to someone who deserved an equal opportunity.
In 1938, no animation studio would have hired women for this kind of skilled labor. It wasn't just a Disney [music] thing. The animation industry in general was very male-dominant. But that being said, the letter written in response to Mary Ford wasn't even accurate because in 1938, that same year the letter went out to Mary Ford, Walt Disney handpicked a woman named Miss Reetta Scott to become a female animator. Not only that, but one of the art directors credited on the world's first animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was a [music] woman named Hazel Suil, a woman in a position of power, and she [music] was in charge of the ink and painters.
In the early years, many women who hired into the studio were placed as ink and painters. [music] Both jobs are rather repetitive tasks. An inker would trace the animator's drawings onto clear cells, a job with a lot more skill [music] and responsibility than you might think. The drawings were traced with a paintbrush and the lines had to be perfect and without deformity. After the tracing was done, a painter would mix pigments to the exact specifications, a job similar to chemistry, and then apply that paint onto the clear cells with precision and care. The images were painted in reverse so that they would appear correctly when flipped over. If you don't think what the ink and painters did was even remotely as important as the animators, then consider how challenging it was to paint Snow White with her rosy cheeks and delicate eyes and know that it was painted in reverse. And while the ink and painters were not considered animators, they did operate under the umbrella term of animation artist because what they did was art.
One of Walt Disney's best artists and friends, Ward Kimball, supposedly once joked, "He didn't trust women or cats. All his villains are either women or cats." But Ward Kimball had a cheeky sense of humor. He was obviously joking. However, this quote is often misinterpreted or taken out of context.
In 1939, the year after that letter went out to Mary Ford, Mildred Rossi began her career at Disney. First as an inker, but then soon after became what was called an in-betweener, [music] which is a person that draws the animation frames in between the key frames that an animator draws. [music] An in-betweener was a job position held for men until Mildred Rossi. Also, famous artist Mary Blair joined Walt's team the next year in 1940. You may have also heard of a woman named Ruthie Thompson [music] who moved up the ranks during this time and during the Second World War. So, as you can see, Walt did allow women to work directly with animation. I don't have much time to go down the list, so instead on screen, I'll provide a list of female management and creative talent in Disney during these times.
In the year 1941, women from the ink and paint department were invited to submit their drawings of Donald Duck so that they could be considered for a promotion to animator. Walt said, "If a woman can do the work as well, she is worth as much as a man. The girl artists have the right to expect the same chances for advancement as men, and I honestly believe they may eventually contribute something to this business [music] that men never would or could."
It's also important to mention that more women [music] by percentage worked in the non-ink and paint artistic positions at the Disney studios while [snorts] Walt was alive than any other animation studio in the world. Also, in 1939, after hearing of reports of misconduct [music] to women, Walt ordered a memo sent out to the employees in his studio. "Attention has been called to the rather gross language [music] that is being used by some members of the IBT department in the presence of some of our female employees. It has always been Walt's hope that the studio could be a place where girls can be employed without fear of embarrassment or humiliation. Your cooperation in this matter will be appreciated." Let me remind you that this memo was sent out in 1939, [music] which makes Walt Disney one of the first advocates of equal rights and proper treatment of women [music] in a major industry.
And when Walt Disney started working on Disneyland, he recruited many artists from his movie studio to become the first Imagineers, people who blended imagination with technical know-how. One of the very first Imagineers handpicked by Walt Disney was a woman named Harriet Burns. Imagineer Alice Davis had something to say about all this. [music] "I get angry reading negative things about Walt. He was a joy to work with and for. Meeting Walt and working for him was one of the pleasures of my life. He was the best boss you could [music] have. My husband would agree and said it best. Working for Walt Disney was the best school he ever [music] attended."
Another accusation is that Walt hated Jewish people. Occasionally, in the first two decades of the studio's existence, there was imagery in some of his cartoons that depicted Jewish stereotypes. Sadly, the reality is that stereotypes made for easy [music] jokes. And whenever a cartoon studio needed a quick gag to make the audience laugh, they turned to racially insensitive material. Frankly, the use of stereotypes as jokes still exists in the world today. Whether you like or dislike Family Guy, it remains a show that is famous for this kind of humor.
In the original version of the Silly Symphony cartoon, The Three Little Pigs, the wolf at one point knocked on the door dressed as the stereotype of a Jewish peddler. This type of imagery is insulting [music] and should have never been used at all. So why did they? The joke was that the wolf hoped the three little pigs might not think his peddler disguise was a threat because they would know that people of Jewish faith don't eat pork. So, the stereotype image [music] wasn't entirely the butt of the joke, but it was also there so audiences could quickly distinguish that the peddler was Jewish. That explanation does not make it all okay, but it does add context [music] to help you to understand the intent behind it.
Rabbi J.X. Cohen, the director of the American Jewish Congress, wrote to the studio denouncing this kind of imagery in Walt's cartoons. Walt invited the rabbi to lunch at the studio to discuss the matter. In 1948, when the cartoon was re-released, Walt had the sequence reanimated to remove the offensive stereotype, and he never put any offensive Jewish stereotypes [music] in his cartoons or movies again. Walt and Rabbi Cohen remained good friends after that.
When I have told people that putting things in context is important, sometimes they argue that context makes [music] no difference. But here's a solid argument to prove that context is everything. There have been images floating around the internet of Donald Duck dressed in a Nazi uniform and even saluting Hitler. Out of context, this image makes people assume that Walt Disney was anti-Semitic. But the cartoon those images come from paints a very different picture.
During World War II, the Disney studios were under the control of the military, and they used the soundstages for their manufacturing of ammunition. Walt was allowed to keep producing cartoons [music] designed to help support the war effort and help inspire the nation to be patriotic. That cartoon imagery of Donald Duck is actually from a cartoon called Der Fuehrer's Face, [music] where he has a nightmare that he's forced to work on a munition assembly line under the oppressive Nazi regime. The cartoon was meant to show the negative sides of Hitler's regime and to reaffirm the importance of being a free American. So, as you can see, context is paramount to understanding truth.
There are also articles that state that senior animator Art Babbitt accused Walt Disney of attending a meeting at the German American Bund just prior to the war. The GAB was an organization dedicated to creating sympathy with Nazi Germany. However, Art Babbitt is the only person who claims to have seen Walt there. There's no evidence that Walt Disney attended the meeting. He hated politics and hated listening to public speakers.
On another note, Walt Disney was a founding member of the Motion Picture Alliance, which was accused of being anti-Semitic. People today use this as evidence to condemn Walt, but let's look at the facts. The Motion Picture Alliance was formed to help fight the threat of communism in Hollywood. While Walt was one of the founding members, so was Morrie Ryskind. Ryskind was a Jewish screenwriter of classic movies and he defended the Motion Picture Alliance from those accusations.
One event that I cannot defend is when Walt Disney hosted the German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl at the studio in early November 1938. Riefenstahl, known for her Nazi propaganda film Triumph of the Will, was in Hollywood seeking distribution for her new film Olympia about the Olympics. An associate of Walt's had set up the tour of the studio. Witnesses recalled that Leni and Walt discussed filmmaking. Supposedly, Walt had become very uncomfortable during her visit and ended the tour early. Soon after she left, news of the events of Kristallnacht reached the US and Walt denounced Riefenstahl and made his stance against Nazism quite clear. It is believed that her visit was done as a favor to Walt's associate, J. Stoitz. Walt claimed he didn't know who Riefenstahl was until after her visit, and many researchers agree that he was likely telling the truth.
Legendary storyman and concept artist Joe Grant, who was a Jewish employee of the Walt Disney Studio, said, "As far as I'm concerned, there was no evidence of anti-semitism. [music] I think the whole idea should be put to rest and buried deep. He was not anti-semitic. Some of the most influential people at the studio were Jewish. It's much ado about nothing. I never once had a problem with him in that way. That myth should be laid to rest."
There's a long-standing rumor that Walt was a Freemason, but that stems from when Walt was 19 years old and a member of the Order of DeMolay, a sort of boy club that prioritizes family, friendship, courtesy, and patriotism. The founder of the Order of DeMolay claimed to be a leader of a Masonic group, and he structured DeMolay similarly. However, it was not affiliated with the Freemasons, and neither was Walt. Walt aged out of the group when he turned 21.
Walt Disney frequently donated money to Jewish charities and organizations such as Yeshiva College and the Jewish Home for the Aged. In 1955, he was named Man of the Year by the Beverly Hills chapter of the B'nai B'rith, a Jewish service organization dedicated to fighting anti-semitism. [music] In 1958, he was given a Distinguished Service Citation from the Kansas City, Missouri chapter of the B'nai B'rith. Walt Disney was also awarded a Recognition of Achievement from Hadassah, a Jewish women's organization for empowering youth.
Many of Walt's closest friends and work buddies, [music] household names among Disney fans, were Jewish. On the screen is a list of the most influential Jewish employees within the Disney company during Walt's time. Well-known people such as Marc and Alice Davis, Marty Sklar, and the famous songwriting duo the Sherman brothers. Richard Sherman said, "Walt was sensitive to people's feelings. He hated to see people mistreated or discriminated against. [music] One time, Richard and I overheard a discussion between Walt and one of his lawyers. This attorney was a real bad guy. Didn't like minorities. He said something about Richard and me, and he called us these 'Jew boys' writing [music] these songs." Well, Walt defended us, and he fired the lawyer. Walt was unbelievably great to us. Richard and Robert Sherman spent the rest of their lives defending the late Walt Disney against people who accused him of hating Jews.
So, we come to [music] the next topic of prejudice, the ongoing argument that Walt Disney hated African-Americans and other people of color. It's no secret that Mickey has been seen dressed as a Native American or depicted in blackface. Not to mention, there were other Disney cartoons that featured racial stereotypes, such as Fantasia and even [music] the now infamous Song of the South. Let's face it, between all of these things, there's no excusing it. You can't brush it off and try to forget about it. [music] So, let's open the conversation. Let's talk about it and learn how to avoid the mistakes [music] of the past.
Before the start of the major civil rights movements, which happened between the 1940s and the 1970s, it [music] was commonplace for racial stereotypes to be used for easy jokes. We briefly went over this in the segment about anti-semitism. [music] Mickey was featured in a cartoon about a minstrel show where he played in Uncle Tom's Cabin. I cannot condone this type of entertainment, nor make excuses for it, but the context of things is key to understanding the bigger picture about Walt Disney. Uncle Tom's Cabin was a story originally written by Harriet Beecher Stowe [music] and it was an anti-slavery novel and it helped change people's view of slavery during and prior to the American Civil War. So when Mickey and his friends perform the story on stage, he does it in blackface. Again, I do not condone that fact, but the audience is rooting for Mickey as Uncle Tom, and [music] they cheer and applaud when his character finds freedom.
Let's briefly touch on Song of the South. It was a series of stories originally passed down by black slaves, but documented by a man named Joel Chandler Harris. Walt Disney grew up with the stories and loved them. He wanted to make them into a movie called Song of the South. And in the classic Disney way, like he did with his fairy tale stories, he put them through the Disney filter to give them a more happy and cheerful meaning with little thought to how it might be perceived decades later. Before I continue, for some context, let's also remember that the movie takes place in the Reconstruction Era and not during the days of slavery. Watching Song of the South is difficult for many, and while there was opposition from the NAACP, it's also important to mention not every African-American was against the movie. Academy Award-winning actress Hattie McDaniel, who played the family maid in the movie, said, "If I had for one moment considered any part of the picture degrading or harmful to my people, I would not have appeared therein."
Walt Disney had developed a friendship with James Baskett, the actor who played Uncle Remus. Walt Disney used his powerful Hollywood influence to get James an honorary Oscar for his performance, [music] making him the first black actor to receive an Academy Award. Walt cared for the Baskett family in the last years of James's life. Baskett's widow, Margaret, once said that Walt Disney had been a friend indeed, and we have certainly been in need.
Walt Disney's cartoons also started to show signs of change after that. By the last decade of Walt Disney's life, his movies and cartoons showed evidence of the positive impact that the Civil Rights Movement made. He once had a controversial character in the film Fantasia, but at his own expense, he had the sequence reanimated to remove the racial stereotype character. Many people also say that Walt didn't hire black animators, but that is also not true. Animators Floyd Norman and Frank Braxton were the first two black men in the animation industry, and they were both employed by Walt in the early 1950s. Floyd Norman said, "Walt would have hired more black animators if any had applied. The jobs were there, but no other black animators applied. Walt didn't really care who or what you were. He cared about your talent and your ability."
I should also say that there's a persistent rumor that black people were not allowed in Disneyland in the early years. Well, that's not true either. You can find vintage pictures and video of people of color visiting Disneyland. There's also a rumor that Disneyland didn't hire black cast members, but that is also untrue. The most notable black cast members in Disneyland's earliest years were Trinidad Ruiz and Eileene Lewis. Trinidad's job position was that of a whitewing, a custodial job, while Eileene Lewis played the role of Aunt Jemima, the mascot of the Aunt Jemima Pancake Company, today known as the Pearl Milling Company. Walt Disney loved to talk to Trinidad because he had amazing stories and because Trinidad took his job very seriously, often visiting the park on his day off to make sure his replacement was doing his job correctly. And at Walt's request, Trinidad received extra pay. Walt often had breakfast in Frontier Land so he could sit and chat with Eileene. They enjoyed each other's company and shared smiles.
Some folks might think that perhaps other minorities weren't allowed in Disneyland, but this is also not true. Again, there is photo and video evidence of them visiting the park and even being photographed with Walt himself. He even loved to have Disneyland decorated to celebrate major cultural holidays with representatives of those cultures around to teach people. Frontier Land's Indian Village was an area where Walt invited various Native American tribes to come to Disneyland and educate visitors about their culture and how their ancestors would have lived. It was a very important experience at a time when Hollywood movies often vilified American natives as savages. I know that might sound contradictory given that the movie Peter Pan features several stereotypes of Native Americans. But even in that movie, [music] the natives are friends of Peter Pan and watch out for the lost boys.
In the last couple of years on the internet, it's been quite popular to point at the crows from the animated movie Dumbo [music] and claim that it is clear evidence of Walt's prejudice. After all, the lead crow [music] is named Jim and they do the Jim Crow dance. But the segment is meant to be satire aimed at the Jim Crow laws. Floyd Norman explains it perfectly. "The reason the head crow is named Jim is Disney taking a cartoony jab at the oppressive South."
"Over the years, a number of people have asked me that same question about Walt being anti-semitic [music] or anti-black. I would uh respectfully have to disagree. That was not the man I knew. Spike Lee, who I respect a great deal as a filmmaker, made a [music] comment once uh about Walt being a racist. And uh I'd have to say, Spike, [music] you never met Walt. Uh I did."
There isn't much to go on in terms of Walt Disney and his views on gay people. But from what I have found, despite the fact that he held close to his religious beliefs, [music] he was never specifically hateful or against gay people. Imagineer Bob Gurr occasionally speaks about what it was like to be gay and work for Walt. According to Bob, he didn't know for certain that Walt knew he was gay, but rumors did swirl around the workplace. It was very possible Walt heard the rumors, but in any case, Walt never said a thing to Bob about it.
One could make the argument that [music] Walt was a devout Christian, but I think the word devout is a stretch. He never attended church and never spoke about his beliefs. I think it's important not to politicize Walt Disney. He was conservative by technicality, [music] but it's no secret that he was extremely progressive and doesn't really fit any political mold we might attribute him to. Walt didn't believe in telling other people how to live their lives. And he didn't think he was better than anyone else around him.
If you really want to know the true story of Walt Disney, to know him as best as you can without any sugar coating, I suggest you read the book Walt Disney: An American Original by author Bob Thomas. Thomas had actually interviewed [music] Walt Disney when he was alive. Not only was he given full access to Walt Disney archives between 1973 to 1976, [music] but he was also allowed full access to interview the living friends, family, and peers that Walt [music] Disney personally knew. And he was allowed to speak to the Disney family whenever he pleased. In my [music] opinion, that book is the only definitive study of Walt Disney's life in biographical novel form.
One of my favorite stories about Walt that I think pertains to this video quite well [music] is when evangelist Billy Graham was given a tour through Disneyland by Walt Disney himself. He asked Billy what he thought about the park being a place that brings people together. [music] And Graham responded with what he thought was a compliment. "I think it's a wonderful fantasy world you've created [music] here." This did not sit well with Walt and he fired back saying, "Billy, look around you. Look at all the people, all nationalities, all languages, all smiling, all having fun together. This is the real world. The fantasy is out there outside the park gates [music] where people have hatreds and prejudices. It's not real." That's an authentic quote witnessed by the former park operations manager, Dick Nunes. It shows that Walt enjoyed that his park was visited by people from around the globe and that he cared that they were all mixing together. When he said that Disneyland was the real world, he [music] meant that when you strip away all the things that divide us the way Disneyland did, people got along together. He felt that at Disneyland, humanity could be seen in its purest form.
You might have heard that Walt's niece Abigail Disney has spoken out against her uncle. This might seem very compelling evidence towards Walt Disney being a prejudiced man, but let's remember that Abigail Disney was only 6 years old when her uncle died. If you have a 6-year-old child, [music] grandchild, or a niece or nephew of that age, can you honestly say that they understand the complicated parts of your life so well that they can form an accurate opinion of your character? Could they look at the moments of your life you aren't very proud of [music] and accurately say that you're a bad person?
So, I guess the last question you might ask is, if all this information is public knowledge, why doesn't the company defend Walt? Why do they let people go on thinking he was a man with various prejudices? The truth is that while they acknowledge Walt as their founder, they know he's dead and they don't see any point in wasting energy trying to defend him. People will believe what they want to believe. The modern Disney company knows that Walt wasn't a prejudiced man. If he was, they wouldn't have enshrined him into a brand new animatronic [music] show at Disneyland.
Floyd Norman had an idea about the people who want [music] to believe Walt was irredeemable. He said, "I think it's the old thing where people like to tear down heroes. [music] Walt was such a unique individual, such an exceptional gentleman. People often say, well, that's too good to be true. It sounds like an American fairy tale. Like he couldn't have been that good. [music] He couldn't have been that nice. He couldn't have been that smart. He couldn't be all those things. So, they look for flaws and they look for imperfections."
Walt Disney was well aware he was not by any means a perfect man. You know, he'd be the first to tell you that. That being said, he was not all of the things he's been accused of. He was not a racist. He was not an anti-Semite. [music] He was not against women. And it's difficult for me to find negative things to say about him. Walt Disney was a man of his time, but he was determined not to be imprisoned by it. He dreamed of a better world and even had the audacity to try and build it. Hardly an American to be vilified, Walt Disney deserves to be celebrated.