The Genius of Walt Disney part 3

The Genius of Walt Disney - part 3

      So we've gotten through Disney's death now.  His death was mourned throughout the world, his movies and TV shows being popular all over the civilized world.  And no one really saw it coming.  Imagine working at the Disney animation studios or developing stuff for Disneyland or the new Florida project, and all of a sudden the guy you took orders from, the guy that gave the go-ahead, the guy who's name was attached all of this... was suddenly gone.  Jungle Book wasn't finished yet.  Groundwork had not yet begun on the Florida project.  Heck, even the primarily finished new attraction at Disneyland, Pirates of the Caribbean wasn't ready to open yet!  Thankfully, Walt worked on a far in the horizon fashion.  In other words, he planned things years in advance.  This meant that Disney could keep working on ideas that Walt had had for another ten years or so.  With this plan, the Disney company would develop things for the two theme parks that Walt had talked about wanting to do for the next many years.  Things like Space Mountain, which opened in Disney World first in 1975, and later in Disneyland in 1977, were planned by Walt in the early 60s, but put off due to new ideas or being too busy.  Same with the Haunted Mansion, which ended up opening in 1969 in Disneyland, 1971 in Disney World.  (The Disneyland facade was actually finished in 1963, 3 years before Walt died, and 6 before the attraction opened!)  It wasn't only Disney's death that postponed these attractions though.  For two years, 1964-1965, Walt had been heavily involved in the 1964 New York World's Fair.  It was here that he and his Imagineers perfected "audio animatronics".  It's A Small World was originally built for the New York World's Fair.  (The original is now housed at Disneyland.)  The Carousel of Progress debuted here and was then moved to Disneyland, and is now at Walt Disney World.  Also the animatronic show Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln debuted, and is still at Disneyland.  (It was basically an animatronic Lincoln doing a speech, and even standing up from a sitting position!)  

     The same considerations were made in regards to film-making.  When Disney had problems with P. L. Travers allowing him to make Mary Poppins, he bought the rights to the lesser known Bed-Knob and Broomstick, which was written by Mary Norton, author of The Borrowers book series.  Well, Mary Poppins happened, and did very well despite P. L. Travers hating it.  After Walt died, the same production crew and one of the main actors from that film got back together to have another go at a magical musical with animated parts to it.  The film did okay, but it's never been considered on the same level as Mary Poppins by most.  (I truly love Bedknobs and Broomsticks.)  The Aristocats, which premiered in 1971, was the last animated film to be approved to be made by Disney himself.  It's not held in such high regard today, and I think that's due to the animation on it.  They tried a new style that was just so garish and ugly...  The film's plotline is okay, even if it is just Lady and the Tramp meets The Jungle Book.  Sadly, Disney's animated films would go downhill from The Jungle Book and wouldn't get their stature back until 1989's The Little Mermaid, though if you ask me, The Rescuers (1977) is one of the best animated films they ever did.  That's right folks, Robin Hood (1973), Oliver & Co. (1988), The Fox and The Hound (1981),  and The Great Mouse Detective (1986) are not considered classics by critics.  Heck, 1985's The Black Cauldron was even disavowed by the company itself from 1985 until 2000!  It took that long for it to be even put on video or even discussed by anyone at Disney, as they considered it their worst mistake.  (It's not that bad, just their first PG rated cartoon.)  In fact, the Disney animation studios almost closed in the 1980s.  They weren't making much money anymore and were doing better with live action films, which were cheaper.  The theme parks were the big money makers during the 1980s, especially with the opening of Tokyo Disneyland in 1983 and EPCOT in Florida in 1982.  The theme park division brought in 70% of the company's profits at that time.  It didn't help the animation department when, in 1979, Don Bluth, one of their big animators, took half the staff with him to form another studio; a studio that would compete with Disney (and win) for much of the 1980s.  Disney almost died in the 1980s.  It's hard to think of, but they did.  If Michael Eisner hadn't have come in in 1984 and busted heads trying to get people to stop thinking "What would Walt have done?", Disney most likely wouldn't be a film company anymore.

    I guess the main thing to think about here is what would Walt think of today's Disney Company?  Well, I think there are things he'd love, and things he'd hate.  This brings me to Walt's shortcomings.  Let's face it.  Walt Disney, despite being a great innovator and seeing the inherent goodness in humanity, was a very socially conservative guy.  Men with long hair or beards couldn't get into Disneyland until the late 60s after Disney himself had died.  And oddly enough, once the ban was relaxed, the "Yippie Invasion of October 6" happened.  Basically a bunch of miscreants decided to go claim Tom Sawyer's Island in Frontierland as their own country and have a smoke-in.  Everyone knew they were coming though, and Disneyland had thousands of police ready if things got out of hand... which they did.   Here's a good article if you'd like to know more.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-hill/yippies-disneyland_b_919271.html

   Anywho, yes, Disney thought Disneyland was for a traditional Norman Rockwell family crowd.  Even the workers at Disneyland back then could have no facial hair and men had to have short hair.  (It was only a few years ago when they began to allow workers to have neatly trimmed mustaches.)  Walt was also big on anti-communism as I stated in the last installment, naming people he had grudges with to get them out of the business.  He was involved in the right wing MPAPAI, which was antisemitic as well.  (Most agree that Disney only found this out later, and that's when he left the group.)   Two early cartoons, the 3 Little Pigs and The Opry House include characters dressing and acting as Jewish pedlars and Hasidic Jews.  Mickey Mouse did blackface in one of his early cartoons as well.  Still, while these are racially insensitive, they were normal back in the 1930s.  Ever seen the natives in King Kong?  Ever seen 1927's The Jazz Singer?!   The hero of the story makes his living doing shows in blackface, and it was one of the most successful movies ever! 

     Okay, so maybe that wasn't one kids would see...  Okay, let's compare Disney's animated output with the ever popular Warner Bros. cartoons.  The worst Disney got?  A few blackface caricatures and mild Jewish jokes.  That's not great, but America was heavily anti-semitic before and even during WWII.  Let me show you some of the stuff Warner Bros (who no one really boycotts, unlike Disney) got into.  How about All This And Rabbit Stew from 1941?  If this isn't overbearingly racist, then what is?  And unlike Disney, which holds or redoes its mess-ups from those bygone days, WB let this fall in the public domain, which means back in the early days of video cassettes, you could get this cartoon and other embarrassing things on cheapo cartoon collections.

    Disney did have some bad relationships with some Jewish people, it's true.  However, even people like Art Babbitt who was fired by Disney during the Animators' Strike, sued Disney and won, and was forcefully rehired then quite, didn't consider Disney a racist.  There are some out there who will take a person's minority status and give that as a reason someone is disliked.  However, that's not always the case.  Some say Disney hated blacks.  There's no evidence of that.  He did use the "n word" on some occasions back in the 30s and 40s, this is true.  However, sadly, that word was widespread back then, especially among people that came from places in the south (Disney lived in Asheville, NC for a while) and the rural midwest (he lived in rural Missouri too.).  In fact, Disney campaigned very hard to get the man who played Uncle Remus in Song of the South, James Baskett, a Honorary Academy Award.  This is the movie the Disney Company refuses to release in America due to threats from the NAACP to publicize the fact that the movie is about happy slaves.  (The film is set, as is the book actually after the Civil War, but few people have seen the film or actually read the Uncle Remus stories to know that, but just want publicity.)  

    The thing about Walt that saddens me the most though is how he treated his young actors.  Bobby Driscoll (that's his picture just above) is the saddest one.  He played the main kid in Song of the South, So Dear To My Heart, and Treasure Island.  He also did the voice of Peter Pan.  His likeness was used as the visage of Peter Pan.  Sadly, after that film, Disney dumped him.  He'd gotten acne and Disney thought he looked more like an actor to play the part of a bully now.  Other studios wouldn't give him a chance as he was seen as "Disney's kid" and not a serious actor.  His parents were forced to remove him from a school just for actors and put him in public school where he was teased for being in Disney films.  His grades plummeted and he started using drugs, mostly heroin, which he could afford from back in his Disney days.  He got a few TV appearances, but that was all.  He moved to New York in the 1960s, still on drugs, and started to do artwork with Andy Warhol.  He disappeared in New York, and almost a year later, his mother contacted Disney to help find him.  Well, two young boys had found his dead body about 9 months ago.  No one knew who the body was until fingerprint matches were found by the NYPD.  The public didn't learn about his death until 1971 and Driscoll's body is still in a pauper's grave on Hart Island.  Then there's Tommy Kirk.  He played the older brother in Old Yeller, The Shaggy Dog, Swiss Family Robinson, etc.  Another one of Disney's favorite child stars.  Thankfully, he still lives to tell his tale.  And Disney may have had good cause to fire him when he did.  See, Tommy Kirk is gay.  That in and of itself in the 1960s was enough to get you fired on the spot.  However, this relationship he started when he was 23 was with a 15 year old.  And the mother found out and told Disney himself.  I can see how that could get one fired even today.  Back then the age difference wasn't a big deal like it is today, so it was probably just the gay thing and Disney wanting to keep the wholesome image of his company.  And to a Disney apologetic, he did keep it private.  He gave him one more movie part too, as The Misadventures of Merlin Jones was a huge hit.  And Tommy Kirk found success at American International Pictures doing beach party movies with Annette Funicello.  Around 1964, he too began using drugs.  So much so he doesn't really remember much of the 1960s.  And to be truthful, Kirk blames mainly himself for his career downfall.  "I don't blame anybody but myself and my drug abuse for my career going haywire. I'm not ashamed of being gay, never have been, and never will be. For that I make no apologies. I have no animosity toward anybody because the truth is, I wrecked my own career."

    So is Disney a bad guy?  No.  Not in the least.  I think he had some racially insensitive humor at times, as do I and many other people.  He treated child actors like all studios do.  Like cattle.  And it's a shame.  He had some dubious connections at times, but got out of them fairly quickly.  No, I think he's disliked by some these days just for being successful, for the path his company has taken since his death (all the litigation and stuff), etc.  No, in my opinion, Disney was one of the many great personalities we lost during the 1960s.   I think he'd love today's Pixar films...  They embody all that he strived for in his early animated films with great characters and storylines that the whole family can enjoy.  As an innovator, he'd have loved computer animation as well.  I'm not sure he'd like the modern day Disney Channel.  (Who does?)  I'm also sure he'd hate that Disney owns Marvel comics, as he probably would have thought them too violent and mean-spirited.  And besides, he didn't create them.  I'm sure he was rolling in his grave when Disney released the horrible animated films they did from 1997-2006 too.  We'll never know, I guess.