Walt Disney: Art and Politics in the American Century
Author(s): Steven Watts
Source: The Journal of American History, Vol. 82, No. 1 (Jun., 1995), pp. 84-110
Published by: Organization of American Historians
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WaltDisney:Artand Politics
in the AmericanCentury
StevenWatts
centhemostinfluential
American
ofthetwentieth
hasbeen,arguably,
WaltDisney
entertainment
in
his
immense
and
multifaceted
tury.Beginning thelate 1920s,
films,comic
live-action
animations,
feature-length
cartoons,
enterprise-short
colossalthemeparks
shows,
television
documentaries,
nature
booksandrecords,
world,and beyond.At the
theUnitedStates,muchof theWestern
inundated
had
merchandise
andDisneyconsumer
deathin 1966,Disneycreations
founder's
ofpeoplewho
muchoftheglobe.FromChileto China,tensofmillions
flooded
or MartinLuther
D. Roosevelt
orWilliamFaulkner
had neverheardofFranklin
Andoverthis
Mickey
MouseorDonaldDuckinaninstant.
King,Jr.,couldidentify
thesmall
withthewarmchuckle,
gentleman
theavuncular
empire
presided
leisure
imagination.
large
andthe
mustache,
sense
Threebarriers
tomaking
withDisney
isnoeasymatter.
Yetcoming
toterms
loomparticularly
large.First,
inmodern
American
culture
ofthismassive
presence
in critical
circles.
to hisdismissal
has contributed
popularity
Disney'senormous
culture
haveassumed,
standsin
ofAmerican
Commercial
success,
manystudents
floodofDisney
moving
Second,a swiftly
significance.
tocultural
proportion
inverse
TheoutputoftheDisneyStudiohas
atanalysis.
attempts
hasengulfed
productions
decadesthatitresists
insomany
oversomany
interpretive
beensoextensive,
venues,
have
the
reactions
to
polarized
Disney
legacy
contrasting
violently
Third,
synthesis.
venerate
SaintWaltas the
andoutsideit.Disneydisciples
opinionintheacademy
anduplifting
bitterly
Disneydenouncers
fantasy;
ofinnocent
imagination
purveyor
ofcultural
andcommercial
formulas.
Huckster
Waltas a cynical
manipulator
decry
forthosewhowish
minefield
andideological
hascreated
an emotional
Suchstrife
revelation
nor
but
neither
damnation, understanding.
toapproach
Disneyseeking
ofDisneyand
overviews
several
scholars
haveattempted
Overtheyears
synthetic
D. Feildmade
arthistorian
Robert
hiscultural
role.In 1942theHarvard
University
of historyat the University
of Missouri,Columbia. He is the authorof The Magic
StevenWattsis a professor
fromBasicBooks,on whichthepresentarticle
Kingdom:WaltDisneyandModernAmericanCulture,forthcoming
draws.
in offering
on thisessay:JeanAgnew,
comments
I wouldliketo thankthefollowing
peoplefortheirgenerosity
JoanShelley
Ken Cmiel,RobertCollins,NoraleeFrankel,
JacksonLears,GeorgeLipsitz,LaryMay,Dave Roediger,
alsogoesto David Thelen,
Myappreciation
and Eli Zaretsky.
Rubin,JonSperber,CeceliaTichi,RobertWestbrook,
fortheirskillfuleditorialworkon thisessay,and to David R. Smith,Robert
and Patrick
SusanArmeny,
Ettinger
fortheirgracious
in Burbank,California,
Tieman,BeckyKlein,and ColletteEspinoat theWaltDisneyArchives
and helpfulresponsesto myendlessrequestsforresearchmaterial.
84
The Journalof AmericanHistory
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June 1995
85
WaltDisney's
ArtandPolitics
theinitialattemptin TheArtof WaltDisney,a bookthatpraisedthefilmmaker's
expression
everdevised."About
workas "perhapsthemostpotentformof artistic
filmcriticRichardSchickelcame in with
twenty-five
yearslater,the distinguished
presentedDisney'sproduca lessflattering
verdict.His book,TheDisneyVersion,
denounced
tionsas reflecting
theworstimpulsesofmassculture,and he scathingly
them, as well as theirpopular audience, as "vulgar....
tasteless....
crasslycom-
sentimental,
crudelycomic."Severalrecentcollectiveassessmercial,sickeningly
culturaltheory.Disney
mentslook at theirsubjectthroughthe lensof high-tech
mostly
offers
fromthehumanities,
Discourse,a 1994collectionofessaysbyscholars
of
the
its
impact,
global
"MagicKingdom"and imperialist
disapproving
analyses
politics,and efforts
to controlthereceptionofitsproducts.
conservative
corporate
"The Worldaccordingto Disney,"a special1993issueoftheSouthAtlanticQuarbyscholarsfromculturalstudies,that
terly,containspostmoderncommentaries,
the
influence
of
the
Disneyempire.'
condemn
historically
Suchinterpretations,
roomforthinking
however,
leaveconsiderable
on Americanculture.Twoculturaltrendsin modern
aboutDisneyand hisinfluence
Americanlife- modernism
and populism- suggestusefulwaysofmakingsenseof
the artisticand politicalimpulsesin Disney'swork.Disney'saestheticendeavors
duringthe 1930sand the subtlepoliticalpatinathathe thenappliedto his work
trendsthathad surfaced
duringtheGreatDepresengagedpopulistand modernist
and
sion.Thesecategories
open windowson Disney,providingcriticalventilation
freshwaysof thinkingabout thismostfamiliarof modern
lightand suggesting
ofThomas
Americans
andhisculturalsignificance.
LookingatDisneyin thecontext
HartBentonand HueyLong,AaronCopland and Will Rogers,New Deal public
on Un-American
Activities
artand fireside
(HUAC) and
chats,theHouse Committee
the red menace and the
Hollywood,tradeunion organizationand surrealism,
actor.2
him as a historical
Americannuclearfamilyforcesus to reconsider
The Sentimental
Modernist
as an artist.
thatWaltDisneywasoncetakenquiteseriously
It is hardto remember
he alsoearned
the1930s,whilemillionsofconsumers
cheeredhisfilms,
Throughout
A daranimatedfantasies.
circlesforhisinnovative
widespread
praisein intellectual
1 RobertD. Feild, The Artof WaltDisney(New York,1942), 53-57; RichardSchickel,
The Disney Version:
TheLife,Times,Art,and Commerceof WaltDisney(New York,1968),361;EricSmoodin,ed., DisneyDiscourse:
to Disney,"
ed. Susan
ProducingtheMagicKingdom(NewYork,1994);and thespecialissue"TheWorldaccording
see Bob
biography,
92 (Winter1993). Forthe basic,detailed,nuts-and-bolts
Willis,SouthAtlanticQuarterly,
completelistingoftheenormous
Thomas,WaltDisney:An AmericanOriginal(NewYork,1976).Fora reasonably
(Westport,1993).
see KathyMerlockJackson,WaltDisney:A Bio-Bibliography
literature,
2 Thisessay
in progress:TheMagicKingdom:WIalt
drawnfrommymanuscript
conclusions
offers
preliminary
Myapproachto Disneyhas been
Disneyand ModernAmericanCulture(New York,BasicBooks,forthcoming).
-amusement parks,bookclubs,adverbythegrowinganalysesofmanyculturalactivities
particularly
influenced
to takepopular
nightclubs,movies,popularmusic-that havemade it necessary
tising,fairs,cheap literature,
consumer
culturewithitsvaluesofmaterialconsumpstudyofpost-Victorian
and theproliferating
cultureseriously
WarrenSusmanservedas theintellectual
leisureethic,and a personalcreedofself-fulfillment.
tion,an expansive
essays,manyofthemcollectedinWarrenSusman,Culture
forthesenewapproacheswithhispioneering
godfather
Century(New York,1984).
ofAmericanSocietyin the Twentieth
as History:The Transformation
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TheJournalof AmericanHistory
86
June 1995
.._..:..
.t...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
g ...............
..............................
.I'.
j::_
Be;_
'S
oh,
*
afyalae,
A %ourhifi AWIalt Disneyckat
fims
nate. Dine'
who providedhis
on MickeyMIouSe, the animatedcharacter
'work
SUCCeSv
breakthrou~gh
in 1n28. C
The Wa'/t
DisneY ComnPany.
as ThreeLittlePi' s, Micey Mouse shorts
Ihig of the criticsforSillySvmzphoniesstsuch
and
Band' C-oncelrt,and feature-lengthanimationssuch as SnoweW~hite
such as Th/)e
and Pinocchio, hieelicited acclaim fromwritersof nearlyevery
th~eSeven Dwar/,_v
stripe.David Low, forexample, described Disney,in the 1942 New Republic as the
mos
n igrei
gahi( art since Leonardo da Vinci and trumpetedhis
signf f
arrival"at the foothillsof the New,Art of the Future."By the late 1940s, however,
criticalmisgivingshad begun to mount. A growingperception of Disney's pandering to popular tastesled to a new portrait:the innovativeartistwho squandered
his talent to become a hack. Barbara Deming, forexample, contended in the 1945
ParliyanReview that the filmmakerhad become an expertin "artlessness,"creating
works that were "monstrous . .
.
a nightmare of these times." Manny Farber,
,he argued, had degenerated into
writingay r tewas nsirDseysfl
the people who do printingon
a
will
mode
satisfy
"bon-bon
art,"1
[that]
"lollvpop
the
Mother's
invented
who
those
people who writetheirnames
Day,
wedding cakes,
witha Rurryand end themwithflouncesand curliCUes."3
1'
,
ts'
::c
el
'
P.'g,Ic
dir. Bert (Gi11ett(A"4It Dis'eyv Prod9u ions 1;;
IkteBand Concert, dir. WilfredJackson
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ArtandPolitics
WaltDisney's
87
and
in searchof laughs,innovation,
giftedentertainer
Disney,an enormously
artand becamean experimenter
sales,had stumbledintothe arenaofmodernist
continuedto beat
withitsformsand techniques.His trueaestheticheart,however,
senrealism.His Victorian
sentimental
ofnineteenth-century
rhythm
toan internal
but neitherimto an audaciousmodernism,
sibilitygrappledwiththe attraction
produceda hybrid"sentimental
Thisinternalconflict
triumphed.
pulsecompletely
in twentieth-century
modernist"who helped mediate a keyculturaltransition
America.4
emergedin directoppositionto theprinciples
In theUnitedStates,modernism
Adherentsof modernismVictorianism.
of nineteenth-century
and sensibility
AlfredStieglitz,painterAlfredH. Maurer,poet Ezra
includingphotographer
William
FrankLloydWright,philosopher
Pound,writerGertrudeStein,architect
bourgeoisculJames,and composerCharlesIves- challengedan older,hierarchical
a moralcreedbasedon repression
severalofitskeybulwarks:
turebyundermining
a "genteel
a systemof intellectualinquirybased on "formalism,"
and rationality,
modernism
realismin the artsand letters.Morepositively,
of narrative
tradition"
separatedby
soughtto recombinethe elementsof human experiencestrictly
and animal,civilizedand savage,reasonand emotion,inVictorianism-human
thetotality
-in orderto reconstruct
consciousand unconscious
tellectand instinct,
and genteel
ofhumannature.Bysmashingthrougha brittlesurfaceofrationality
a turbulent
ofperception,
subjeca fluidity
hopedto recover
beauty,itsenthusiasts
Modernism
motivation.
thatlay in instinctual
vitality
tivity,
and a long-repressed
an
in thehope ofcapturing
aestheticexperimentation
also endorsedwide-ranging
modernlife.No
of experience"thatseemedto characterize
elusive"simultaneity
musical
and thechromatic
realism,visualperspective,
thatliterary
longersatisfied
and confusionsof an advancedindustrial
the complexities
scale could represent
abstract
paintnarrative,
embracedstream-of-consciousness
artists
world,modernist
theyborrowed
as wellas moralrelativism,
ing,and atonalmusic.Adoptingaesthetic
and indusartifacts
cultures,adaptedtechnological
"primitive"
fromnon-Western
ortried
trialmotifs
aroundthem,dippedintoEuropeanand Americanfolkculture,
of
all
in
the
interests
to dismantlebarriersbetween"high"and "low" culture,
theysaw at
and dynamism
variety,
withthefluidity,
expression
revitalizing
artistic
Thus,as DanielJosephSingalhassuggested,
thecoreofmodernhumanexperience.
modernismmight be viewed most clearlyas a wholistic"culture....
[that seeks]
no matterhow incompleteand
to know'reality'in all its depthand complexity,
paradoxicalthatknowledgemightbe, and no matterhow painful."Everywhere
ofreason
theascendancy
Victorianhierarchies-challenging
subverted
modernism
1935);Snow Whiteand theSevenDwarfs,dir.David Hand (WaltDisneyProductions,
(WaltDisneyProductions,
1937); Pinocchio,dirs. Ben Sharpsteenand HamiltonLuske (Walt Disney Productions,1939). David Low,
ofWaltDisney,"
NewRepublic,Jan.5, 1942,pp. 16-18;BarbaraDeming,"The Artlessness
"Leonardoda Disney,"
Review,12(Spring1945),227; MannyFarber,"MakeMineMuzak,"NewRepublic,May27, 1946,p. 769.
Partisan
withhisdescripofmyargument
paper,WarrenSusmanpointedin thedirection
4Years ago,in an unpublished
The Legacy
"AbundantCulturalHistory:
See RobertWestbrook,
modernist."
tionofWaltDisneyas an "ambivalent
of WarrenSusman,"Reviewsin AmericanHistory,13 (Dec. 1985),481.
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88
TheJournal
ofAmerican
History
June1995
and judgmentoverimpulse,of educatedtasteoverfolkand popularpreferences,
of the adult overthe childish,of the consciousoverthe preconscious
mind.5
Muchof thisseemsfarremovedfrompopularentertainment
and the theaters
fulloflaughing,cheeringfansofMickeyMouseand Donald Duck. But theculture
of modernism,
it seemsclearin hindsight,
createdmuchof the atmosphereenfoldingWaltDisney'spioneeringworkin animation.As a commercial
entertainer
at themarginsofseriousart,he encountered
working
modernism
and appropriated
elements,eventually
emergingas a kindof popularPicasso.With its enthusiasm
forfolklore,
theamorphous,
thechildlike,
and thenonrational,
moderismseemed
tovalidatetheunsophisticated
tastesofthisprovincial
midwesterner.
It foundmany
in Disney'sworldof
echoesin his films.Modernistimpulsesflowered
everywhere
as hisanimationconstantly
and reality
fantasy
blurredthelinebetweenimagination
to producea wondrousuniversewhereanimalsspoke,plantsand treesactedconsurand inanimateobjectsfeltemotion.Such impulseshad occasionally
sciously,
facedat themarginsofVictorianculture,forexample,in children's
literature,
but
the dominantethosof rationality
and repression
keptthemmarginal.Now fluid
and a yenforsimultaneous
perception,
free-flowing
fantasy,
experience
movedto
centerstage.Moreover,
withthedreamstatein Disney'searlyfilms
a preoccupation
revealeda fusionofintellectand emotion,superegoand id as warmfairy
talesoften
encapsulateddark,nightmarish
visions.And throughout
his movies,a consistent
whole.Thisenblendingofhighand lowculturalformsproduceda vibrantartistic
withmodernism
and wasneverarticulated,
butit begagement
unfoldedhaltingly
came an important
partof the Disneyappeal.
the influenceof artisticmodernism.
Some of Disney'searlyefforts
illustrated
forinstance,appearedas fantastic
ManyMickeyMousecartoons,
rompsthroughan
cartoontalkie,Mickey
imaginative
playland.In SteamboatWillie(1928), thefirst
performs
a concertby"playing"tuneson variousanimals:he squeezesa duck'sneck
ofsqueaks,and
to getpercussive
effects,
pullsthetailsofsucklingpigsfora variety
on a cow'steeth.Mickey'sGarden(1935)features
playsthexylophone
hallucinatory
to
eventspromptedbythe inhalationof a sprayforgardenpests.Aftershrinking
bug size,Mickeyand hisdog Plutocareenthrougha jungleofgiantgardenplants
as theyarepursuedbyinsectsandwormsbenton revenge.
Disneyalsolovedtotranswithinculturalboundariesbymockinghigh-culture
gresstraditional
pretensions
5 Fora glimpseof the varyingcriticalresponsesmodernism
has inspired,see MalcolmBradburyand James
(CamMcFarlane,eds., Modernism,1890-1930(New York,1976); RobertKiely,ed., ModernismReconsidered
in Power,"
in History,
Modernism
ibid., 229-45; IrvingHowe,
bridge,Mass.,1983); BruceRobbins,"Modernism
In theAmericanProved., TheIdea oftheModernin Literature
andthe Arts(New York,1967);David Hollinger,
Jameson,"Reflecince:Studiesin theHistoryand Historiography
ofIdeas (Baltimore,1985),74-91; and Frederic
tionsin Conclusion,"
in ErnstBlochet al.,Aesthetics
and Politics,trans.RonaldTaylor(London,1977).Thisrough
toa specialjournalissueon American
modsynthesis
reliesuponseveralscholarly
works,
includingtheintroduction
AmericanQuarterly,
39 (Spring
ernism,DanielJosephSingal,"Towardsa Definitionof AmericanModernism,"
(1949; New York,1976);
1987),7-26; MortonWhite,Social Thoughtin America:TheRevoltagainstFormalism
America(Chapel Hill, 1987);Marshall
CeceliaTichi,Shifting
Gears:Technology,
Literature,
Culturein Modernist
TheCondiBerman,"WhyModernism
StillMatters,"
Tikkun,4 (Jan.-Feb.1989),11-14,81-86;and David Harvey,
An Enquiryintothe Originsof CulturalChange(Oxford,Eng., 1990), 10-38.
tionofPostmodernity:
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WaltDisney's
ArtandPolitics
89
spiredslapstick
humor.Mickey's
Amateurs(1937),forinstance,
solemnly
introduces
a warpedconcert
venuewheresingerClaraCluckand pianistClarabellCowperform
a painfullyfunnyoperarecitalcomposedof shrieking
animalnoises.Symphony
Hour (1942) followsa similarpath. Goofy,Mickey'sinept sidekick,accidentally
dropsorchestra
instruments
downan elevatorshaft,and theyarepartially
crushed.
Whentheclassicalmusicianstrytoplaythedamagedinstruments,
a torrent
ofcomicalsoundspoursforththatturnstheperformance
intoa farce.The crowd,ofcourse,
lovesthe showand showersthe stagewithflowers.6
The fullemotionalspectrum
ofDisney'smodernist
vision-fromwarmfantasies
- appearedin twocontrasting
to terrifying
dangers
shortfilmsfromtheearly193Os.
of Disney'sSillySymphonies
in color,told the
Flowersand Trees(1932), the-first
story
oftwoyoungtreeswhofallinlove.Aidedbytheirforest
friends,
thewildbirds,
to marry,witha glowworm
fora weddingringand a
theyovercomeadversity
TheMad Doctor(1933),in contrast,
celebrating
audienceofwildflowers.
emerged
fromthenetherregionsofdreamlifeto formone ofDisney'smostfrightening
animations.In thisdarkstory,
Plutois kidnappedand hauled offto a castlewherea
crazyphysician
andvivisectionist
willusehisbodypartsformacabremedicalexperiments.WhenMickey
followsto therescue,he is chasedbyskeletons
and ghostsbeforebeingcapturedand strappedto a cart.He is about to be horribly
cut up by
a powersawdescending
fromtheceilingwhenhe awakens;ithas beena nightmare.
Thesetwofilmsseemto embodythepost-Freudian
viewof themind-libidinous
instincts
and superegorestraints
existingside byside in a precariousbalance-as
ithad seepedintopopularculture.Similarmodernist
visionsmultipliedin thespectacularanimatedfeatures
thatbeganto pourforthfromthe WaltDisneyStudio
bythelate 1930s:SnowWhite'shorrifying
escapethroughthewoods,whereevery
treeor animal seems to be a monster,Pinocchio'smotifof misbehavingboys
surrealist
Dumbo'sspectacularly
earsand tailsas theyturnintodonkeys,
sprouting
"pinkelephant"hallucination
thatfollowsthebabyelephant'saccidentalimbibing
of somefermented
water.7
Criticsrespondedto such effortswith a rapturouschorusof affirmation.
Numerousreviews
and essaysfromthe 1930sand early1940stermedDisneyan artisticgenuisand a modernist
GilbertSeldes,forinpioneer.The notedfilmwriter
created"masterpieces"
stance,becamea greatadmirer,
arguingthatthefilmmaker
thatpivotedon thefascination
thatcomesfrom"seeingthe impossiblehappen."
PeytonBoswell,editorofArtDigest,wrotethatthe animatorhad createda wonderful"newartform"thatbrought"abstract
art"to life.EmilyGenauer,artcritic
6 SteamboatWillie,dir.WaltDisney(WaltDisneyProductions,
Jackson
1928);Mickey'sGarden,dir.Wilfred
dirs.PintoColvig,WaltPfieffer,
and Ed Penner(WaltDisney
Amateurs,
1935);Mickey's
(WaltDisneyProductions,
1942).
Hour,dir.RileyThomson(WaltDisneyProductions,
Productions,
1937); Symphony
1932);TheMad Doctor,dir.David Hand (Walt
7Flowers and Trees,dir.BertGillett(WaltDisneyProductions,
ofmany
1941).Fordescriptions
(WaltDisneyProductions,
1933);Dumbo,dir.Ben Sharpsteen
DisneyProductions,
Disney:FromMickeyMouse to theMagicKingdom(New
Finch,TheArtof Wlalt
ofthesefilms,see Christopher
York,1975); and LeonardMaltin,TheDisneyFilms(New York,1984).
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ofAmerican
History
TheJournal
90
June1995
sharpcharacterization
forthe New York World Telegram,provideda particularly
as brilliantmodernartist."We haveno need to talk
of the Hollywoodcartoonist
againof the substanceof abstractart,"she wrote.
and
to theBachToccata
AlongcomesDisneywithhisvisualaccompaniment
clear.... One or
Fugue-the first
numberin Fantasia- and it'sall miraculously
Therewereseveral
twoof[theanimated
recallKandinsky
especially.
segments]
of
Miro.Andtheopening
nightaudience-many
closely
related
tothesurrealist
whom,doubtless,raiseup theirhandsin horrorat abstractpaintings-lovedit.8
SergeiEisensteinprovideda more extensiveand illuminatingevaluationof
Writing
in theearly1940s,aftera visitto theHollyDisney'smodernist
aesthetics.
he breathlessly
wood filmmaking
declaredthatDisney'sworkoffered
community,
"thegreatest
oftheAmericanpeople to art."Thispraiseflowedfrom
contribution
ofthecartoonist's
culture.The keyto
to modernist
a keenperception
relationship
believed,lay in an almost"frightDisney'sartisticpower,the Russianfilmmaker
ofthehumanpsycheand uncovering
ening"capacityforboringintosecretrecesses
itsmostbasicurges.EisensteinexplainedDisney'sappeal to thelatentprimitivism
in modernconsciousness.
in therealmoftheverypurestandmostprimaldepths.
He creates
somewhere
levelof
ofnature.
He creates
on theconceptual
There,whereweall arechildren
man notyetshackledbylogic,reason,or experience.... Forthroughhis whole
ofdevices,
andsubjects,
Disneyconstantly
givesus prescriptions
system
themes,
forfolkloric,
pushing
prelogical
thought-butalwaysrejecting,
mythological,
lifeless
asidelogic.... [O]rdinary
objects,plants,beasts,all areanimatedandhu-
manized.
ofprimitive
In otherwords,wroteEisenstein,
Disney'sartcaptured"thestructure
contactwith
ofmodernism,
reestablished
thought"and thus,in thebesttradition
the repressed"lower"elementsin the humanpsyche.9
was quite incidental.
In manyways,such highfalutin
aestheticachievement
in
followedhisinstincts
Havingbutlittleeducationand training art,Disneylargely
in marshaling
and musicto createmassentertainpictorialimages,humor,comedy,
realism
and greater
he had begunto seekgreater
ment.Moreover,
bythemid-1930s
in his studio'sanimations.Increasingly,
the objectof Disney'saestheticquestwas
a sunny,
naturalistic
century.
Northrop
stylewithrootsin theVictoriannineteenth
Fryehas describedthisaesthetictraditionratherunkindlyas "stupidrealism":"a
attractive
or
kindofsentimental
idealism,an attemptto presenta conventionally
Herewasa "realistic"
depicimpressive
appearanceas an actualorattainablereality."
8Gilbert Seldes,"Disneyand Others,"
New Republic,June8, 1932,pp. 101-2;GilbertSeldes,"No Art,Mr.
ArtDigest,Dec. 1, 1940,
Disney?,"
Esquire,8 (Sept. 1937),91, 171-72;PeytonBoswell,"The WonderofFantasia,"
RangefromBeautifultoBanal,"New YorkWorldTelegram,
p. 3; andEmilyGenauer,"WaltDisney'sMusicPictures
Burbank,Calif.).
Nov. 16, 1940,clipping,PublicityScrapbookF2 (WaltDisneyArchives,
9JayLeyda,ed., Eisensteinon Disney,trans.Alan Upchurch(Calcutta,1986), 1-3, 23, 42-43, 54-56.
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WaltDisney'sArtand Politics
91
tionofpeople,objects,and sceneswheredarkor messydimensionsof realityhad
been wiped away.10
in thestudio'sanimationincreasedwiththemidThe pushforsuchnaturalism
in theevening
It germinated
1930smovefromcartoonshortsto animatedfeatures.
byDon Grahamofthe Chouinard
-taught originally
artclassesfortheanimators
Art Institute,theywereheld at the old HyperionStudio sound stage-before
boost.The multiplanecamera,thebrainchild
technological
receiving
a tremendous
mechcreatedtheillusionofdepththrougha ten-foot-high
ofthestudioengineers,
ofpaintedcelswerestackedone on top oftheotherwith
anismwherea succession
shotsthrough
a cameramountedat the top. The camerathenmade consecutive
cels.Theseimages,whenstrungtogetherin thefilm,suggestedthreerearranged
filmThe Old Mill (1937), it was
Firstused in the SillySymphony
dimensionality.
Snow Whiteand Pinocfeature-length
pictures,
in thestudio'sfirst
usedextensively
realismcamein thepreparations
ofthisdriveforevergreater
chio.The culmination
forBambi (1942), when Walt broughtin live deer forhis artiststo studyand
As Ken Anoftheirnaturalmovements.
demandedan exact,animatedreplication
derson,one ofDisney'sassociates,laterrecalled,"Waltwas alwaysimpatientwith
formoreand morerealism,morenaturalism
ofa cartoon.He strived
therestrictions
in the features.""
in the 1930sproducedthematureDisneystyleofanimaferment
Thisaesthetic
fromthe 1920s- namely,Otto Mesmerwithhis character
tion.Othercartoonists
Out oftheInkwellserieswithhis experimental
Felixthe Cat and Max Fleischer
modernist
in developinga fantastic
Midwesterner
had precededthe transplanted
Disney'suniqueconimagery.
stylethatoftenveeredintoa darkrealmofsurrealistic
tributionwas to appropriatethisaestheticparadigm,meld it witha sentimental
and thusmakeit
illustration,
ofnineteenth-century
realismdrawnfromtraditions
ani"personality"
morepalatableand popular.He beganto develophisdistinctive
in his
depictionswhileendeavoring,
mation,whichencouragedmorenaturalistic
are live,individual
own words,"to createthe feelingthattheselittlecharacters
to temperthefanthus
sought
animated
Disney
drawings."
-not just
personalities
and
withnostalgic,anthropomorphic,
tastic,jarringimagesof artisticmodernism
ofan earlierera.The resultwasa hybridaes"cute"imagesrootedin theaesthetics
modernism."12
theticof "sentimental
10
NorthropFrye,The AmericanCentury(Toronto,1967), 26.
oftheDisneyMultiplaneCamera,"in TheArtoftheAni11David R. Smith,"New Dimensions:Beginnings
matedImage:An Anthology,
ed., CharlesSolomon(LosAngeles,1987),37-49; TheOld Mill,dir.WilfredJackson
1942);Ken Andersoninter1937);Bambi,dir.David Hand (WaltDisneyProductions,
(WaltDisneyProductions,
p. 1 (DisneyArchives).On Disney'sdriveforrealism,see Schickel,
viewbySteveHulett,May4, 1978,transcript,
Disney Version,193-95.
see LeonardMaltin,Of Miceand Magic:A HistoryofAmericanAniand MaxFleischer,
12 On Otto Mesmer
andJ. B. Kaufman,Waltin Wonderland:
matedCartoons(New York,1987),22-25, 84-105;and RussellMerritt
animation,see WaltDisneyto KnowlesBlair,
TheSilentFilmsof WaltDisney(Rome,1992),34. On "personality"
interview
byChristopher
OllieJohnston
file(DisneyArchives);
May13,1937,WaltDisneyHistoricCorrespondence
byRichardHubler,Feb.
p. 10,ibid.; MiltKahl interview
June2, 1972,transcript,
Finchand LindaRosencrantz,
pp. 3-4, ibid.
by Hulett,July25, 1978,transcript,
p. 15, ibid.; WilfredJacksoninterview
27, 1968,transcript,
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92
History
ofAmerican
TheJournal
June1995
MusicLand (1935),forexample,appearedin theheartofDisney'smostproductiveand creativeperiodforshortcartoons.One of the famousSillySymphonies,
and the"Land
piece tolda storysetin the"LandofSymphony"
thiseight-minute
kingdomsseparatedbythe"Sea ofDiscord."The princess
ofJazz,"twoantagonistic
fromthe formerrealmfellin lovewiththe princefromthe latter,and whenhe
secretly
visitedher,the youngman was capturedand imprisonedinsidea giant
warbrokeout,and in themidstofbattlethetwolovers
Consequently,
metronome.
was
escapedand fledin a smallboat.Whentheirperilbecameevident,a cease-fire
called,and harmoniousrelationswereestablishedfora happyending.
taleskippeddowna moderpun-filled
On theone hand,thisclever,fast-paced,
nistpath. With greatwit,it satirizedthe tensionbetweenpopularand classical
and jazz stylesthatclosedthe
symphonic
music,and in themedleyofintertwined
film,it suggesteda fusionof highand low culturalforms.The cartoonunfolded
composedofgiantorganpipesand welded
images:architecture
modernist
fantastic
a languageconwhoappearedas musicalinstruments,
characters
brassinstruments,
warsceneconsisted
voices.Eventheclimactic
orstringed
brassy,
sistingonlyofreedy,
hurledfromone islandand blastsofthe"1812
ofjazz riffs
barrages
ofmock-heroic
Overture"fromthe other.On the otherhand, MusicLand clearlyreliedupon
love storybased on thatof
a sentimental
nostalgicculturalelements.It offered
themarhappyendingthatfeatured
RomeoandJuliet.It presenteda conventional
thejoiningofthe"KingofJazz"and the"Queen
riageoftheprinceand princess,
betweentheirislands.
ofa "BridgeofHarmony"
ofSymphony,"
and theconstruction
depicrealisticand anthropomorphic
The drawingpresentedratherconventional
form.13
tionswhereinsaxophonesand violinsweremoldedand shapedintohuman
a
artistic
project,offered
Fantasia(1940),perhapsDisney'smostself-consciously
betightwire
agenda.It walkedan aesthetic
fullerversionofthisaesthetic
lengthier,
featuresbecame
realism.The film'smodernist
and sentimental
tweenmodernism
obviousin the film'sopening,whereJohannSebastianBach'sToccataand Fugue
Splashesofcolorandswirling,
abstractions.
inD Minorinspireda seriesofnear-pure
objects
withonlythebaresthintsofsuchidentifiable
meltingformspredominated
The
bold
forms.
beginning
musical
to
represent
of
which
aimed
as violinbows,all
images:the
bizarremodernist
occasionally
wasfollowedbya paradeof delightful,
Suite,"thedarkmagicofthe
in the"Nutcracker
charmofthedancingmushrooms
Apprentice,"
broomswiththeirpailsofwaterin the"Sorcerer's
relentless
marching
the hilarityof the daintyhippo ballerinasin the "Dance of the Hours."All the
theminglingofunlikelyimages
elementswerethere-the abstractions,
modernist
and emotion,thejuxtapofromhighand lowculture,thecontactbetweenintellect
and humoroussatire.
sitionof highseriousness
of
thisdominantaestheticmelodywithflourishes
But Fantasiacounterpointed
conby
and,
challenged
they
and naturalism.
Croppingup periodically,
sentiment
themodernist
agendaofthefilm.The "Riteof Spring"section,
trast,highlighted
1935).
Jackson(WaltDisneyProductions,
13 MusicLand, dir.Wilfred
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ArtandPolitics
WaltDisney's
93
famouspiece witha fanciful
Stravinsky's
IgorFedorovich
forinstance,illustrated
and bioearthquakes,
ofthevolcanoes,dinosaurs,
re-creation
realistic
yetstrikingly
the earth'searlyevolution.In the "Nutcracker
logical traumataaccompanying
"milkweedballerinas,"
"frostfairies,"
Suite,"segmentsshowing"dewdropfairies,"
natureinto an idealized wonderlandof sentransformed
and "dancingflowers"
timentalbeauty.To accompanyLudwig von Beethoven'sPastoralSymphony,
themes.The
Disney'sanimatorsattempteda realisticdepictionof mythological
and faunssetthestageforvisualizaunicorns,
horses,centaurs,
offlying
frolicking
tionsofBacchus,Vulcan,Iris,and Zeus. The ElysianFields,toweredoverbyMount
Olympus,providedthe physicalsettingforthissegment,and the mountainaprealism.
pearedon screenwitha Breughel-like
Disney'ssentimental
highlighted
sectionofFantasiaparticularly
The concluding
piecesofmusic- ModestPetrovich
different
Combiningtwodrastically
modernism.
AveMaria-the segNzghton Bald Mountainand FranzSchubert's
Moussorgsky's
mentdramatizedthe cosmicbattlebetweengood and evil. It also inadvertently
dramatizedthe tensionwithinDisney'saesthetics.The piece beginswithCherappearsoutofthemountain
nobog,theblackgodofeviland death,as he magically
them
in a furiousdancebeforeflinging
demons,and vampires
witches,
and gathers
to an
gives
way
vision
then
modernist
otherworldly
pit. Thispowerful,
intoa fiery
realism.Withthedawninglightofmorningand the
fake-medieval
almostcloying,
pilgrims
tollingof churchbells,we see throughthe foga line of candle-carrying
forest.As theyemergeintoa bright,
advanceacrossa bridgeand througha shadowy
beautifulmeadow,thefilmendsto thestrainsofAve Mariaand thecameramoves
sun.The aesthetictensionofDisney'ssentimental
to focuson thebrilliant
skyward
is resolvedthroughan apotheosis.14
modernism
A long studiomemo of December23, 1935,givesa rareglimpseof Disney's
realism,and fantasy.
thoughtson the aestheticweb of modernism,sentimental
Don Graham,thisdocumentexploredthe aesthetic
Writtento the artinstructor
theclosestthing
theanimator'sart.The memorepresented
principlesunderlying
everproduced.It demonentertainer
toa treatise
thisseat-of-the-pants
commercial
even
to quality,butitbetrayed
and commitment
Disney'slustforpopularity
strated
of
moreclearlyhishybridaestheticimpulsesand his awarenessofthepossibilities
appeal to theunconsciousand
movingwide audiencesbya modernist-influenced
the nonrational.15
norrealismprovidedthegoalforanimation,
Disneyinsisted,
Neitherabstraction
providedthe key:
but a combinationof the two.The deviceof "caricature"
realactionorthings
orduplicate
Thefirst
is nottopicture
dutyofthecartoon
on
oflifeandaction,topicture
happen,buttogivea caricature
as theyactually
14 Fantasia,
1940). Forinsighton themakingofthis
et al. (WaltDisneyProductions,
dirs.SamuelArmstrong
film,seeJohnCulhane,WaltDisney'sFantasia(New York,1983). On the tensionbetween"stupidrealism"and
see JacksonLears,"UneasyCourtship:ModernArtand
advertising,
"magicrealism"in early-twentieth-century
39 (Spring1987), 135-36.
AmericanQuarterly,
ModernAdvertising,"
15 WaltDisneyto Don Graham,memo,Dec. 23, 1935 (DisneyArchives).
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94
History
ofAmerican
TheJournal
June1995
Thefigures
inthismodelsheet
forFantasia(1940)reflect
thedark,
evenmenacing,
sideto
? TheW~alt
WaltDisney's
sentimental
modernism.
DisneyCompany.
thescreen
thathaverunthrough
theimagination
oftheaudience,
tobring
things
tolifedreamfantasies
andimaginative
fancies
thatweall havethought
ofduring
ourlives...
Thepointmustbe madeclearto thementhatourstudyoftheactualis not
so thatwemaybe abletoaccomplish
theactual,butso thatwemayhavea basis
which
to
into
the
the
fantastic,
unreal,theimaginative-and
upon
go
yetto let
it havea foundation
offact,inorderthatit maymorerichly
and
possess
sincerity
contact
withthepublic.. .. I definitely
feelthatwecannot
do thefantastic
things
basedon therealunlesswefirst
knowthereal.
association"withintheauCaricature,
Disneyargued,promoteda "subconscious
dienceas it invokedsituationstheyhad "felt,or seen,or dreamt."It involvedthe
audiencein perceiving
theseverallayersofmotivation
thatmightlie behindmovement:"thepersonality,
theattitudeof thecharacter'"
'reactionto stimulithatare
orsimply"instincts.Caricature,
tothemindbythenerves,"
forDisney,
telegraphed
also unlockedan audience'sinstinctive,
of
music.
preconsciousgrasp
People's
itprimitive"~
attraction
to melodyand timereflected
"thevariousrhythms
thatenter
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ArtandPolitics
WaltDisney's
95
the bodyreallyis-how well balancedthe
theirliveseveryday-how rhythmical
bodyreallyI'S.'16
aesthetic-theuse of
CriticsdiscernedtheoutlineofDisney'shybridmodernist
the appeal to the aurealismto makefantasypersuasive-and,throughfantasy,
spells,
mentallife.Whentheywroteoftricks,
and preconscious
dience'snonrational
theirverylanguageevokedthe nonrational
potions,illusions,and enchantments,
realmsaccessiblethroughdrugsormagic.The ArtDigestpraisedPinocchioforits
notingthat
abstract
sequences"withpassagesof"solidrealism,"
blendof"essentially
to do
significant
something
have
-they
function
definitely
withDisney"'abstracts'
a reviewofSnow White
and theydo it."At theotherend ofthecriticalspectrum,
inthepopularmagazineFamilyCircleassertedhappilythat"Mr.Disneyhastricked
us- hascasta spelloverus- to suchan extentthatwe cannottelltherealfromthe
New Yorknewspapercritic,arguedthat
Pegler,an influential
unreal."Westbrook
Disneycould"drugyouwitha potionwhichpreparesthespiritto acceptthelovethat
in theNewRepublic,perceived
writing
OtisFerguson,
liestillusionsas reality."
"Disney'sfantasy.
.
which
. startsfroma firmbase in the realismof the everyday,"
as hiscreationunfolds.GilbertSeldesmarveledthat
worksto "steadythefantastic"
oncethe"Disneyuniverse"establisheditselfin "a reasonableway,themindofthe
offantasy."
is so enchantedthattheartistcan go to thewildestextremes
spectator
fortheBirmingham
News-AgeHerald,put
a moviereviewer
CyrusLeRoyBaldridge,
thematterwithsuccinctinsight.Disney'sartisticappeal to popularaudiences,he
thatwere"realand yetunreal."
flowedfroman abilityto createcharacters
asserted,
notso unrealistic
ofphotography,"
as to be merely"an imitation
Not so naturalistic
the
that "the fairytale would have brokenaltogetherwithfolkloretraditions,"
compromise
filmmaker's
worknegotiatedbetweentheseimpulses."Bya successful
Baldridgeconcluded,"WaltDisneycan giveus
betweenrealismand abstraction,"
has failedto provide."17
muchthatthe motionpicturescreen[heretofore]
in animationwanedas he inIn the post-World
WarII years,Disney'sinterest
televinaturedocumentaries,
movies,
his
to
live-action
turned
attention
creasingly
animated
amusementpark.The studio's
sion,and the planningof his innovative
filmscontinuedto appear,mostlyunderthe managementof Disney'sunofficial
of"senThisworkcontinuedthetradition
"NineOld Men,"a boardofseniorartists.
thatdefinedtheDisneystyle.Featurefilmssuchas Ladyand
timentalmodernism"
theTramp(1955)and One HundredandOne Dalmatians(1961)blendedmodernist
stoodin for
domestictaleswhereanimalstransparently
withsentimental
fantasy
humans.Othermoviessuchas Cinderella(1950) and SleepingBeauty(1959) used
imageryas they
lovestorieswithfantastic
familiar
fairytalesto blendsentimental
16
Ibid.
FamilyCircle,
SnowWhiteand the SevenDwarfs,"
ArtDigest,Feb. 15, 1940,p. 13; "Starring
"Pinocchio,"
Pegler,"FairEnough,"Knoxville
Feb. 2, 1938,clipping,PublicityScrapbookS26 (DisneyArchives);Westbrook
Jan. 15, 1938,clipping,PublicityScrapbookS25, ibid.; Otis Ferguson,"WaltDisney'sGrimm
News-Sentinel,
New Republic,Jan.26, 1938,pp. 339-40; GilbertSeldes,TheMoviesComefromAmerica(New York,
Reality,"
[Alabama]News-Age
Birmingham
1937),46-47; CyrusLeRoyBaldridge,"SnowWhiteand the SevenDwarfs,"
Herald,Feb. 13, 1938,clipping,PublicityScrapbookS26 (DisneyArchives).
17
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96
TheJournal
ofAmerican
History
June1995
trodin thewell-worn
pathsofcomforting
An occasionalexDisneyentertainment.
perimentalprojectappeared,such as Toot,Whistle,Plunk,and Boom (1953), an
animatedshortthatsurveyed
ofmusicalinstruments
thehistory
usingtheflat,stylized linesof "limitedanimation,"
or theingeniousNoah'sArk(1959),whichused
a "stopmotion"techniqueto manipulatestickfiguresand commonobjects.But
as theDisneyStudioincreasingly
focuseditsenergieselsewhere,
thatold war-horse,
the animationsection,becamsesomethingof a relic.18
The SentimentalPopulist
WaltDisneynevercaredmuchforpolitics.Once, whenaskedifhe wasinterested
in holdingpoliticaloffice,he dismissedthe idea witha shrugof the shoulders,
saying,"I would just be mad all the time."Nonetheless,a strong,if unacknowledged,politicalsensibility
pervadedhisworkand providedanotherkeyto its
Likehisart,it developedsomewhathaphazardly
popularity.
fromthe 1930sto the
1960sand tendedto look simultaneously
forwardand backwardforinspiration.
In Disney'slateryears,whena politicalturndid emerge,hisoppositionto labor
in Hollywoodseemedto crystallize
organizingand supportforanticommunism
a
visceralconservatism
thatmovedhim into the camp of such politiciansas Barry
Goldwater.As a result,Disneyhas been portrayed
as a reactionary.
Corroborating
storiesabound:a sourWaltshowingup at theWhiteHouse to acceptan awardfrom
LyndonB. Johnsonwhilewearinga Republicancampaignbuttonunderhis lapel,
his largemonetarycontributions
to right-wing
Californiacandidatesincluding
RonaldReaganand GeorgeMurphy,
hisfriendly
beforetheHouse Comtestimony
in 1947,rumorsabout privateoutbursts
mitteeon Un-American
Activities
against
AfricanAmericans,
Jews,and politicalleftists.19
Thisportrayal
offers
glimpsesoftruth.Disneywasa conservative
Republicanby
the 1950s,but thisfacthidesmorethanit reveals.The realcoreofhis politicslay
in a "sentimental
populism."He carriedintoadulthoodan ideology-likehis aes- that
and emotionalratherthansystematic
and articulate
thetics,itwasinstinctive
glorified
ordinary
Americans,
blendeddemocratic
and culturalconsersympathies
fromrootsin hisrural,midwestern
This"politics
vatism,and flowered
background.
ofnostalgia"assumedan egalitarian
castin the1930sbeforeshifting
intoan increasinglydefensive,
suspiciousmodebythelate 1940sand thereafter.
Thislargerframeworkofpoliticalassumptions
remainedinplacethroughout
Disney'slifeand helped
18 Ladyand the Tramp,
(WaltDisneyProductions,
dirs.HamiltonLuske,ClydeGeronimi,and WilfredJackson
1955); One Hundredand One Dalmations,dirs.WolfgangReitherman,
HamiltonLuske,and ClydeGeronimi
(WaltDisneyProductions,
1961);Cinderella,dirs.WilfredJackson,HamiltonLuske,and ClydeGeronimi(Walt
1959); Toot,Whistle,
DisneyProductions,
1950);SleepingBeauty,dir.ClydeGeronimi(WaltDisneyProductions,
1953);Noah'sArk,dir.Bill
Plunk,andBoom, dirs.CharlesNicholsand WardKimball(WaltDisneyProductions,
Justice(Walt DisneyProductions,1959).
19 Forthefirst
157-58.Twosomewhat
treatment
ofDisney'spoliticalconservatism,
see Schickel,
DisneyVersion,
sensationalrecentpopularbiographies
portray
Disneyas a bitterpoliticalreactionary.
See LeonardMosley,
Disney's
(New
World:A Biography
(New York,1985);and MarcEliot,WaltDisney:Hollywood'sDark Prince:A Biography
York,1993).
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WaltDisney's
ArtandPolitics
97
fromthe era ofthe GreatDepressionthroughthe Cold War,
shapehis enterprise
but outsidepressuresand internalshiftsof emphasischangedits orientation.
path as
remainedstrong,but it followedno straight
Disney'spopulistsensibility
it evolvedduringhis career.20
becamea spokesThe formofthepopulistpersuasionforwhichthefilmmaker
fromnineteenth-century
man can be tracedto ideologicalinfluencespersisting
America-thePopulistrevoltin the late 1800swithits ruraloppositionto urban
workethic,and theheriindustrial
societyand the"moneypower,"theProtestant
withits ideologyof civicobligation.
"republicanism"
tage of eighteenth-century
ofmodernfinanceand its
Thispettybourgeoiscreed,suspiciousofthemachinery
and incashmatrix,demandeda moralvaluationoflaborthrough"producerism"
ownershipand personalindependenceprovidedthe keyto
sistedthatproperty
thispersistent
elegantdescription,
Accordingto RichardHofstadter's
citizenship.
impulsein Americanpoliticalcultureattempted
entrepreneurship
life,tosavepersonal
toholdontosomeofthevaluesofagrarian
andtomainandthecharacter
typetheyengendered,
andindividual
opportunity
theidealofa
taina homogenous
Yankeecivilization....[Populism
promoted]
ofcountry
fortheprimary
contacts
andthesoil,theesteem
lifelivedclosetonature
man,even
andself-reliant
imageoftheindependent
andvillage
life,thecherished
anethnically
itinspired)
tomaintain
thedesire
andhatreds
(forallthesnobberies
morehomogenousnation.21
Evokingan imageof thevigorous,virtuouscommonman,Disney's1930sfilms
ofMickeyMouseand thelibidiwherethedoggedpersistence
presentedscenarios
citizen'scapacityto survive
theordinary
ofDonald Duck reaffirmed
nousoutbursts
In part,the themewas an ideologicalresponseto the
and conquerall adversity.
political,
GreatDepression- broadlypopulist,moreimplicitly
culturalthanovertly
and morevisceralthandoctrinaire.
It defendedthe dignityof the commonman
massiveassaultand
and elevatedthewisdomofthefolkwhenbothweresuffering
trauma.
Disney did not stand alone in such a culturalpolitics.Similarsentiments
Lasch's
as "petty-bourgeois
populism,"to use Christopher
sproutedeverywhere,
in the1930s.It appearedin thevillagesenresurgence
phrase,enjoyeda widespread
NormanRockwelland the democratic
optimism
ofpopularillustrator
timentality
offolksingerWoodyGuthrie.It surfacedin politicianHueyLong's"everyman a
king"rhetoricand in composerAaronCopland'smusic,such as Fanfarefor the
thecriticism
ofVan
CommonMan,AppalachianSpring,and Rodeo.It influenced
Makers
and
cohort
whose
America
WyckBrooks,a refugeefromtheradicalYoung
Schickel,Disney Version,157.
TheAge ofReform:FromBryanto FD.R. (New York,1959), 11-12.Forsome of the
RichardHofstadter,
of Populism,see ibid; LawrenceGoodwyn,DemocraticPromise:The PopulistMoment
leadinginterpretations
(NewYork,1969),104-20.
TheBurdenofSouthernHistory
inAmerica(NewYork,1976);and C. VannWoodward,
History,
thePopulists,"JournalofAmerican
"Understanding
ofPopulism,seeJamesTurner,
On thehistoriography
ofPopulism,see Sean Wilentz,"PoxPopuli,"New
67 (Sept. 1980),354-73. On recentpoliticalmisappropriations
Republic,Aug. 9, 1993,pp. 29-35.
20
21
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98
History
TheJournal
ofAmerican
June1995
of
tradition
Findersseries,whichbeganto appearin 1936,exaltedthedemocratic
Americanletters.It floweredin the neorealismof such regionalistpaintersas
whosecanvasesdepictedthe
ThomasHartBenton,GrantWood,and SteuartCurry,
ArchibaldMacLeish'scalls
It influenced
heroismofruralMidwesterners.
workaday
Mumford's
agendaforreinLewis
and
speech"
forpoetryin the mold of "public
withthe"cultureofthefolk."As Laschhas pointed
technology
industrial
tegrating
tookplaceundertheleft-wing
populartradition
ofAmerican
out,thisrevitalization
auspicesofthePopularFront.Overall,as WarrenSusmanhas arguedconvincingly,
theneopopulistupsurgeofthe 1930shelpedshapethemajorideologicaltrendof
with
ofan AmericanWay,"a "fascination
self-consciousness
theperiod:"a growing
withall of
identification
a "collective
the folkand its culture,past and present,"
populismwas at once egalitarianand
Americaand its people." Depression-era
nostalgic,democraticand defensive.22
permeatedDisney'searlycartoonshorts.Mickey
Justsucha politicalsensibility
ofa populistheroas he facedritualhumiliabecamesomething
Mouse,forinstance,
In MovingDay
to emergetriumphant.
tionin storyafterstorybutalwayspersisted
(1936),forinstance,Mickeyand thegangaresixmonthsbehindin therentwhen
But a gas
Pete,appearsto evictthemand selltheirpossessions.
thebrutishsheriff,
esearsas thegleefulrenters
leak blowsthehouseintorubblearoundthesheriff's
on theenduringunderdogthemeapAnothervariation
capewiththeirbelongings.
pearedin The WormTurns(1937),whereMickeythe chemistconcoctsa courageupside down.A flywho swallowsthe liquid
buildingpotionthatturnshierarchy
mouseclobbersa cat who
beatsup a spiderwho is tryingto eat him; a fortified
Pluto whenthe dog triesto chase him. In
has a similargoal; the cat terrorizes
who had no
abrasivecharacter
Donald Duck, Disneypresenteda moreboisterous,
qualms about assertinghis capabilitiesand defendinghis place in society.In
of
recitation
Amateurs(1937),forexample,Donald givesan inspirational
Mickey's
his
bythe audienceforforgetting
his favorite
poem. When he is hootedoffstage
lines,he fliesintoa rage,rushesbackwitha machinegun,and firesa fewrounds
intothe crowdwhilesquawking"Twinkle,Twinkle,LittleStar"at the top of his
and theHare (1935)and The
lungs.EventheartierSillySymphonies-TheTortoise
UglyDuckling(1931)are examples-oftenfeaturedunderdogswhosepersistence
and moralcourageled themto triumph.In all ofthesefilms,Disneyseizedupon
it into
and translated
discourseofthecommonman'sresilience
thedepression-era
humor.23
of
and
an idiom fantasy
This Disneyfiedpopulistimageryappearedwithparticularforcein twoenormouslypopularfilmsfromthe 1930s.ThreeLittlePigs(1933),themostacclaimed
22
TheAmerican
in RichardHofstadter,
Lasch,"Foreword,"
Susman,Cultureas History,150-210;Christopher
VoicesofProtest:Huey
and theMen WhoMade It (New York,1973),vii-xxiv;Alan Brinkley,
PoliticalTradition
Long,FatherCoughlin,and the GreatDepression(NewYork,1982);ErikaLee Doss, "TheArtofCulturalPolitics:
America:Cultureand Politicsin theAge ofCold War,
in Recasting
Expressionism,"
to Abstract
FromRegionalism
ed. LaryMay(Chicago,1989), 195-213.
1936); The WormTurns,dir.Ben Sharpsteen
(WaltDisneyProductions,
23 MovingDay, dir.Ben Sharpsteen
1935);
and theHare,dir.WilfredJackson
(WaltDisneyProductions,
1937);TheTortoise
(WaltDisneyProductions,
1931).
The UglyDuckling,dir.WilfredJackson(WaltDisneyProductions,
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ArtandPolitics
WaltDisney's
99
of all the Silly Symphonyshortfilms,rejuvenatedaudiencesthroughoutthe
country.
Itshighlysymbolic
tune,"Who'sAfraidoftheBigBad Wolf?,"
proclaimed
whileitsmoraltalepromisedsafety
hopein thefaceofoverwhelming
adversity,
and
prosperity
forcommonpeoplewhopracticed
hardworking
diligence.The sober,industriouslittlepig saved his backslidingbrotherpigs by returningthem to
producerism
and prudential
habits.In 1937,SnowWhitemadenationalcelebrities
minerswho bentto theirtasksinging"HeighHo, It's Offto
of thesevendwarfs,
and dignityof(literWorkWe Go." It subtlycelebratedthevirtue,independence,
flawsand a rough-and-tumble
ally)"thelittleguy"who,despitecharacter
life,works
hard,maintainsan uprightcharacter,
and pullsthroughtheworsttravailsoffered
takesa beatingthroughout.
The Wicked
bynatureor thesocialorder.Aristocracy
a princess,gainsviewersympathy
and the protagonist,
Queen destroys
herself,
by
her
no-nonsense
habitsof hardwork.
herpositionas a servantgirland
Disney'spersonalfilmstatement
fromtheperiod,a little-known
SillySymphony
shortentitledTheGoldenTouch(1935),elaboratedthispopulisturge.Apparently
miffed
bywhispers
thathe wasmerelya managerwhileothersweredoingthecreativework,he sequestered
thestudio'stwotopanimators,
FredMooreand NormFerguson,and personally
produceda filmwithoutthe usual collectivestoryconfer- the cartoonbombedwithaudiences
- but its
ences.The resultwasunsuccessful
storyresonatedpoliticallyas Walt admittedan attemptto "put some social
meaning"intothefilm.DrawinguponthetaleofKingMidas,Disney'sfilmfocused
on a fat,bald old monarchforwhomwomenand winemeantnothingin comparisonwith"Gold, gold,gold,I worshipit, I loveit."When an elfgrantshim "the
he touchesturnsinto
thenhorrified
as everything
goldentouch,"he is overjoyed,
thevaluablemetal.Growingsteadilymorehysterical,
he tearfully
offers
all of his
for
forsomefood:"Mykingdom a hamburger!"
Whenhiswish
earthly
possessions
is granted,everything
he owns-his treasure,
the royalcastle,evenhis clothesvanishesas a hamburger
on a plateappearsin frontofhim.Clad onlyin hisundertheaudiencethatthisdelightful
wear,he chompsdownand happilyinforms
prize
film
found
camecomplete"withonions!"This
suggestedthathappinesscould be
in neithermoneynorelevatedsocialstatus,but onlyin themodest"hamburger"
pleasuresofordinary
people.LikeSnow White,The Golden Touchfocusedon the
washumiliated,
and elitesgained
kingly
class,butthestoryreadthesame:hierarchy
truenobilityin proportionto theirhumble acceptanceof the commonman's
values.24
influenced
the culturalpoliticsof his earlyfilms.Bornin
Disney'sbackground
Chicago,he spenthis formative
boyhoodyearson a farmnearthe smalltownof
Marceline,Missouri,and carriedgoldenmemoriesof ruralvillagelifeintoadult"therewas somethingabout the
hood. His wifeonce observedto an interviewer,
farmthatwasveryimportant
to him. He workedhard[there]but he enjoyedthe
work.He liked the animalsand he liked being close to the soil." His father's
24
1935); "Mouseand Man,"Time,Dec. 27,
The Golden Touch,dir.WaltDisney(WaltDisneyProductions,
1937,p. 21.
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100
June1995
History
ofAmerican
TheJournal
- also exerted
an influence.
politics- EliasDisneyhad been an unabashedsocialist
Walt grewup making sketches,in his words,of "the big, fatcapitalist .
.
. withhis
footon theneckofthelaboringman,"an imageinspiredbythesocialistnewspaper
Appeal to Reason. ManyyearslaterDisneyspokeof his "dad's socialisticideas,"
man.... He wasverymuch
recallingthatEliaswas"a greatfriendoftheworking
carriedwithhiminto
for'em. I grewup believinga lotofthat."Thusthecartoonist
politicalradicalism.25
his adult careermuchof the baggageof midwestern
A lifelongdislikefor bankers,for example,may have stemmedfromthis
and a friendfor
one ofDisney'sseniorstudioexecutives
Ben Sharpsteen,
influence.
severaldecades,notedthatwhilehis boss realizedbankersmade motionpictures
forthem."Disneylikedto playthenaive"boy
possible,he "neverhad anyreverence
put pressureon him. He wouldinquireif the
whenfinanciers
fromthe country"
whenassuredthatit was,he wouldask innocently
studiowaspayingitsinterest;
if thatwasn'thow banksstayedin business.In 1928,Disneyhad his firstcontact
deal
to workout a distribution
withNew Yorkbusinessculturewhenhe wastrying
homerevealedhisprofounddisforhisnewsoundcartoons.A longseriesofletters
Roythat"noneof
he assuredhis brother
to negotiatea contract,
taste.Struggling
desktellingus what
ourprofits
[are]goingto someleechsittingat a bigmahogany
to do."A shorttimelater,Waltdenouncedthewholefinance"game"as "thedamndest mixed-upaffairI have everheard of" and offereda blunt evaluationof
and justfullof tricksthatwould
businessmen:
"Theyare all a bunchof schemers
fool a greenhorn.... [I feel] like a sheep amongst a pack of wolves."26
the
A populistsensibility
permeatedmuchofDisney'spersonallife.Throughout
in
he
culD. Roosevelt,
and laterdecades
1930s,forexample,he supportedFranklin
tivateda self-consciously
imageamongtheHollywoodelite,appearingatparfolksy
tiesin hishomedressedin denimoverallsand plaid flannelshirts.In thewordsof
animatorand closefriendWardKimball,"he tooka delightin lettingthemknow
praisedmanual
thathe wasa commonman."Thisfamousproduceralsohabitually
"he was reallyquite humble about it," one of his cartoonists
craftsmanship
recalled- and oftentoldassociatesofhisenormousrespectforthestudiocarpenters
consistently
polished this
and cabinetmakers.
Disney'spublic pronouncements
as
a
heroic"little
populistimage. As earlyas 1930 he promotedMickeyMouse
becauseeveryone
pickedon him.
fellow"who,likeall suchtypes,arousedsympathy
he concluded,"thepublic
overthebiggercharacters,"
"So whenhe finally
triumphs
under
suffering
rejoiceswith"him. ThreeLittlePzgsappealedto averageAmericans
moral:
of
its
few
because
a
simple
the depression,Disney asserted
yearslater,
and
"wisdomand courageis enoughto defeatbig,bad wolvesofeverydescription,
hisallethestudiochiefreaffirmed
sendthemslinkingaway."Ateveryopportunity,
25 LillianDisneyinterview
WaltDisneyinterp. 1 (DisneyArchives);
byBob Thomas,April19,1973,transcript,
viewbyPete Martinand Diane DisneyMiller,1956 (reel 11,pp. 9-10; reel 12, pp. 26, 28), ibid.WaltDisney's
ofitisindexed
tapes,and thetranscript
on twelvereel-to-reel
withMartinand Millerwasrecorded
massiveinterview
at the DisneyArchivesaccordingto reelnumberand page number.
p. 14,ibid.;WaltDisneyto RoyDisney,Sept.
26 Ben Sharpsteen
byHubler,Oct. 29, 1968,transcript,
interview
25, 1928,ibid.;WaltDisneyto LillianDisney,Oct. 20, 1928,ibid
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WaltDisney'sArtand Politics
La
a40~~~~~
-
=
-
-x
1 , {~
Iji
s
101
_
~~~~~~~~
or.-
d~~~~~~~~~~~I
~ ~ ~ I
'
ThreeLittlePigs (1933), Walt Disney'sdepression-era
hit film,made celebrities
of its
who demonstrated
thatthroughhardwork,prudential
porcineprotagonists,
habits,and solidarity,
people could triumphagainstadversity.
. The WaltDisney Company
"I'm not interested
in money,exceptforwhat
gianceto an ethicof producerism.
I cando withit to advancemywork,"he told an interviewer
in late 1933. "Work
in life.Moneyismerelya meansto makemoreworkpossible."927
istherealadventure
of Disney'spopulistpersuasioncame on
Perhapstheclearestpublic expression
March1, 1942. Speakingbyradiohookupto the audienceat intermission
during
a performance
at the New YorkMetropolitan
lecture
Opera- havinga cartoonist
tohighbrow
devoteesoftheoperasuggesteda modernist
mixof artistic
stylesand
-he addressedthe topic"Our AmericanCulture."Aftera self-deprecating
levels
disclaimer
that"Dopey is as wellqualifiedas I am to discussculturein America,"
heplungedahead. The veryword"culture,"'Disney
began,had an "un-American"
connotation
about it thatseemed"snobbishand affected.
As if it thoughtit was
better
thanthe nextfellow."This attitudecould lead to a kindof tyranny,
where
self-appointed
guardiansof traditionerectedand patrolled"a fence around
27WaltDisneyinterview,
reel12,pp. 28-29,ibid.; WardKimballinterview
byHubler,June4, 1968,transcript,
pp.47-48, ibid; Ollie Johnstoninterview
byThomas,May 17, 1973,transcript,
p. 2, ibid.; ShellyFord,"He
Wanted
a LittleFellow,"
HollywoodQuarterly
(June1930),clipping,PublicityScrapbookMl, ibid; WaltDisney,
"Three
LittlePigs' ChristianScienceMonitor,
Jan. 10, 1934,p. 6; WaltDisneyquoted in AliceT Tildesley,"A
SillySymphony
BecomesAmerica'sSlogan,"LincolnStarJournal,Dec. 24, 1933,clipping,PublicityScrapbook
Ml (DisneyArchives).
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102
TheJournal
ofAmerican
History
June1995
paintingor artor musicor literature."
ForDisney,suchelitismwasintolerablebecause culturebelonged"equallyto all of us." In America,he insisted,easyaccess
to culturalmaterialsexistedfor"richand pooralikein greatabundance"through
radioand the movies,magazinesand newspapers,
symphonies
and ballets,poetry
and painting,writingand illustration.
ForDisney,therealtradition
ofAmericanculturerestedon a centralidea: "faith
in thediscrimination
oftheaverageperson."He preachedrelianceon thejudgment
of the commoncitizenand the need to protectchoice.
As I seeit,a person's
culture
represents
hisappraisal
ofthethings
thatmakeup
I believe,
life.Anda fellow
becomes
cultured,
byselecting
thatwhichisfineand
inlifeandthrowing
asidethatwhich
ismediocre
beautiful
orphony.
Sortofa series
offree,
itfollows
very
personal
choices,
youmight
say.Ifthisistrue,thenI think
that"freedom"
isthemostprecious
wordtoculture.
Freedom
tobelieve
whatyou
choose
-and [to]read,think,
weare
say,and be whatyouchoose.In America,
Itistheconstitutional
guaranteed
thosefreedoms.
ofevery
American
to
privilege
ortojustgrow
becomecultured
thatthisspiritual
up likeDonaldDuck.I believe
and intellectual
freedom
whichwe Americans
enjoyis our greatest
cultural
it seemsto me thatthefirst
is to defend
blessing.
Therefore,
dutyofculture
freedomand resistall tyranny.... I thankGod and Americafortherightto live
andraisemyfamily
undertheflagoftolerance,
andfreedom.
democracy,
"Our AmericanCulture"summarized
theoptimism,
and egalitarian
inclusiveness,
of Disney'sdepression-era
instincts
populism.28
Manypolitically
sensitive
critics
graspedDisney'spopulistappeal. Somefocused
on the recurring
underdogtheme,payinghomage to severalof his animated
kinto littleDavid, alwayswinsagainsteveryGoliath,"summacharacters.
"Mickey,
rizedone essayist."Donald Duck, thecholericknight,fights
courageously
against
a malevolent
world,and the'ThreeLittlePigs'eventually
put to flightthebig bad
wolf."AnothercriticpraisedDisneyas a politicalantidoteto the "dictators
and
oftheage byvirtueofhis drivingprinciple:"The persecutors
tyrants"
ofthesmall
areroutedbythesmall."A hostofwriters
and reviewers
connectedthisceldirectly
luloidpopulismto theGreatDepression.ThreeLittlePzgsattracted
specialattentionbecause,in thewordsofa typicalcommentary,
it attackedsocialgloombyinstilling"thephilosophy
thatifwe havedone theverybestwe possiblycouldunder
thecircumstances
whichwerebad at best,we need haveno health-destroying
fear
of the big bad wolf."Some saw Disneyas an allyof Rooseveltand his New Deal.
His filmssymbolized"thisnewAmericanNRA spiritin someway-the American
powerto defydisaster,to laughand singin thefaceof dangerand trouble."As a
fortheDes MoinesRegister
columnist
wrotein 1938,"itis abouttimethatwerealized thatWaltDisney,creatorof MickeyMouse,is one of thegreatpoliticalforces
of our times."29
March1, 1942 (DisneyArchives).
WaltDisney,"Our AmericanCulture,"radiospeechtranscript,
See RichardL. Plant,"Of Disney,"Decision,2 (July1941),84; EdwardG. Smith,"St. FrancisoftheSilver
Screen,"ProgressToday(Jan.-March1935),43-44; Spa Engroto editor,DaytonNews,Oct. 22, 1933,Publicity
Oct. 11, 1933, clippings,ibid.; Jay
ScrapbookM8 (DisneyArchives);"Who's Afraid?,"WarrenTimes-Mirror,
28
29
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WaltDisney's
ArtandPolitics
103
The WorldWarII era,however,
inaugurated
a sustainedcrisisthatseverely
tested
Disney'ssentimental
populismand ultimately
twistedit hardin a newdirection.
The problemsofthisperiodhighlighted
thelatentnaiveteand paternalism
in the
filmmaker's
politicsand createda devil'sbrewofresentment.
MostofDisney'spoliticalcrisisstemmedfrompersonalexperiences
thattorpedoedhispopulistoptimism.
A bitterlaborstrikeat the DisneyStudioin 1941-literallya case of suspended
animation-providedthe firstand mostdisillusioning
encounter.
The studiohad
paid mostof its employeesgood wagesthroughout
the depression-thetop animoviestars- butcomplaints
matorswerepractically
had begunto wellup fromthe
ranks.Miserly
wagesforlow-level
"inkers"
and "in-betweeners,"
loominglayoffs
beof the reportedly
cause of marketsdepressedby the Europeanwar,resentment
disdainfor
enormousrevenuesgeneratedbySnow White,and Walt'spaternalistic
first
organizedlaborcreatedtension.Eventsescalated.Whenmanyemployees
agitoforma company
union.
tatedfora labororganization,
Disneycountered
bytrying
When theyinsteadadoptedan AmericanFederationof Laborunion,he avoided
seriousnegotiationand refusedto meet theirdemands.Manyemployeesfinally
wenton strikein July1941,but the studiohead triedto breakit and angrily
Afterone of his contractoffers
was rejectedby the
denouncedthe participants.
strikers,
forinstance,
Disneytookouta full-pagead in Variety
thatsaid: "I am positivelyconvincedthat Communisticagitation,leadership,and activitieshave
As a highlypublicizedpicketlinenearlyclosedthestudio
aboutthisstrike."
brought
gatesforsometwomonths,an embarassedand angryDisneyunburdenedhimself
in a privateletter.The strikeleader,he insisted,was "a tool of the Communist
were"malcontents,
theunsatisfactory
oneswhoknewthattheir
group";thestrikers
dayswerenumbered."For the embitteredstudiochief,the strikesignaledthat
had givenwayto pressure-group
Americantraditions
ofparticipatory
government
is
agitation."To me, the realfightforDemocracy righthereat home,"he wrote.
thatfederallabor
"Gutsand not gunswillwinit."Disneyprovedso intransigent
wereable to settlethestrikeonlywhenhe lefttownon a goodwilltour
mediators
of SouthAmericasponsoredby the StateDepartment.30
Disney'spoliticaldisillusionment
deepenedwithhis experienceduringWorld
WarII. On thedayaftertheattackon PearlHarbor,theUnitedStatesArmycommandeeredtheDisneyStudioas a supplybase-apparently it wastheonlyHollywoodstudioso treated-and turnedhis soundstageintoa repairshop.The army
movedout aftera seven-month
stay.Disneyjoined the wareffort
by producing
CarrierLandingSzgnalsand propaganda
numeroustrainingfilmssuchas Aircraft
cartoonssuchas TheNew Spirit,whichfeaturedDonald Duck urgingcitizensto
paytheirtaxes.Overall,however,
Disneyfoundthewartime
experience,
particularly
his encounters
withthe government,
extremely
frustrating.
The studiowas never
Feb. 22, 1938,clipping,PublicityScrapbook
"Hope fortheWorldin SnowWhite,"Des MoinesRegister,
Franklin,
S26, ibid.
July2, 1941,1941StudioStrikeFolder(DisneyAr30 Advertisement,
"To MyEmployeeson Strike,"Variety,
file,ibid.
Pegler,Aug. 11, 1941,Walt DisneyHistoricCorrespondence
chives);WaltDisneyto Westbrook
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104
TheJournal
ofAmerican
History
June1995
and Walthad a disputewithSecretary
paid forseveralproductions,
oftheTreasury
ofDonald Duck as thestarof
HenryMorgenthau,
Jr.,whenthelatterdisapproved
film.A tight-lipped
the tax-payment
DisneyinformedMorgenthauthat"at our
studio,thiswas the equivalentof givingyouClarkGable out of theMGM stable."
Suchdifficulties
reinforced
and itsconnection
Disney'ssuspicionsofbiggovernment
tonationalfinancial
power.Whenanothermajorproblem thedrastic
wartime
loss
of revenuefromthe destruction
of overseasmarkets
-was added to the list,the
studioreacheda nadir.Debt-ridden,suffering
a loss of direction,and politically
frustrated,
Disneybeganto adopt whatassociateswouldcall his "woundedbear"
persona.3'
in thehodgepodgeofcreative
Disney'sdisarray
wasreflected
workthatemerged
fromhisstudioin thedecadeafter1941.Filmsthatblendedanimationand liveaction or glued togetherlooselyconnectedcartoonshortswerethe normforthe
DisneyStudio duringthatperiod. These productionsincludedSaludos Amigos
(1943) and The ThreeCaballeros(1944)- thispair resultedfromWalt's South
Americantripduringthe strike-as well as the musicalanimationsMake Mine
Music(1946),Fun and FancyFree(1947),and MelodyTime(1948). Evenmoreimportant,the crisisof the 1940spromptedDisneyto revamphis earlierpopulism.
oftheoverweening
Embittered
bya growing
perception
bureaucratic
poweroflabor
unionsand biggovernment,
bytheend ofWorldWarII he had mobilizedtheantibureaucratic,
anti-intellectual,
provincialelementsof his populistcreed while
shovingthe egalitarianelementsdeeperinto the background.32
Thishardenedpoliticalviewpointcameto thesurfacein Disney'stestimony
beforetheHouse Committee
on Un-American
Thiscongressional
Activities.
bodyhad
cometo Los Angelesin 1947at the urgingof the MotionPictureAllianceforthe
ofAmericanIdeals-Disney wasa foundingmemberalongwithSam
Preservation
Wood,GaryCooper,King Vidor,and AdolpheMenjou,and the group'sprimary
wasthewriter
theinfluence
spokesperson
AynRand- to investigate
ofcommunism
in theentertainment
industry.
Disneyappearedas a friendly
witnesson theafternoon of October24.
His testimony
provedrevealing.Speakingas a producerand studiochief,he asin hisorganization
suredHUAC thatalthougheveryone
wasnow"100percentAmerican,"thathad not alwaysbeen the case. The DisneyStudiostrikeof 1941,he announced,had involved"a Communistgrouptryingto takeovermyartists."
The
strike
had beensupportedby"Commiefront
organizations,"
while"throughout
the
worldall of the Commiegroupsbegansmearcampaignsagainstme and mypic31 Aircraft
1942);TheNew Spirit,dirs.Wilfred
Jacksonand
Signals(WaltDisneyProductions,
CarrierLanding
DisneyStudio
1942).RichardShale,DonaldDuckJoinsUp: The WUalt
Ben Sharpsteen
(WaltDisneyProductions,
II (Ann Arbor,1982). ForDisney'sprivateexperiences
duringthewar,see Thomas,American
duringWorldWUar
269-76.
Original,175-87; and Schickel,Disney Version,
32 SaludosAmigos,dirs.BillRoberts,
(WaltDisneyProducJackKinney,HamiltonLuske,and WilfredJackson
1944);MakeMineMusic,dirs.
tions,1943); TheThreeCaballeros,dir.NormFerguson(WaltDisneyProductions,
JackKinney,ClydeGeronimi,HamiltonLuske,Bob Cormack,andJoshMeador(WaltDisneyProductions,
1946);
Fun and FancyFree,dirs.JackKinney,Bill Roberts,HamiltonLuske,and WilliamHorgan(WaltDisneyProduc(WaltDisney
tions,1947);MelodyTime,dirs.ClydeGeronimi,HamiltonLuske,JackKinney,and WilfredJackson
Productions,
1948).
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Artand Politics
WaltDisney's
105
tures."Disneythennamedpeople involvedin the strikewhomhe believedto be
"hadno religion"
Communists
-the animator
David Hilbermanwho,suspiciously,
and had studiedat the MoscowArtTheater,the labororganizerHerbertSorrell,
and union agentsWilliamPomeranceand MauriceHoward.His earnest,folksy
revisedpopulist
In Disney'spost-depression,
in a warning.
culminated
commentary
vision,communismhad replacedculturalelitismas the deadliestthreatto the
Americanfolk:
I believe
thing.ThethingthatI resent
themostisthatthey
itisanun-American
totheworldthat
andrepresent
takethemover,
areabletogetintotheseunions,
a groupof peoplethatare in myplant,thatI knoware good,100-percent
to theworldas
Americans,
aretrappedbythisgroup,andtheyarerepresented
ought
anditisnotso,andI feelthattheyreally
allofthoseideologies,
supporting
outandshownup forwhattheyare,so thatall ofthegood,free
to be smoked
can go out
thatreallyareAmerican,
causesin thiscountry,
all theliberalisms
withoutthe taintof communism.... I feel if the thingcan be provenun-
I thinkin somewayit shouldbe done
American
thatit oughtto be outlawed.
thatwillbe done.I have
without
withtherights
ofthepeople.I think
interfering
thatwe
I mean,withthegood,American
rights
interfering,
thatfaith.
Without
all havenow,andwantto preserve.33
sporadically
impulseinDisney'spopulismcontinuedtosurface
Theold insurgent
form.For
mutedordiffuse
WarII films,althoughin increasingly
in hispost-World
example,the Song of the South (1946) has been unable to escapethe burdenof
more
Yetthepicturerevealsanother,
UncleTomracialstereotypes.
itsembarrassing
alliance
of
"outsiders"
(Uncle
rural
of
a
Black/white
subtledimension:itssuggestion
whohas been isolatedbyhisseparatedparents,thepoorlittle
Remus,littleJohnny
ofBrerRabbit,thefolk
whitegirlGinny)thatis held togetherbythe inspiration
The Storyof
outwitmorepowerfulantagonists.
character
whoseclevermaneuvers
"bandits"
rural
therevoltofvirtuous
RobinHood (1952) dramatizedmoreovertly
Thouagainstthecapriciouseconomicand legalpowerofan evilmonarch.Twenty
adventure
sand Leaguesunderthe Sea (1954) leaped offthe screenas a fantastic
bureauindividualin oppositionto a corrupt,
butitalsoposedtheself-reliant
story,
a
silly
particularly
(1961),
craticpowerstructure.
EvenTheAbsent-MindedProfessor
modernworld,wheretheavfilm,includeda subtleprotestagainsttheimpersonal
and
bureaucracy,
to breakfreeoffinancialelites,government
eragemanstruggled
anxiety.34
machine-age
In thepost-World
WarII world,Disney'spopulismwas channeledintoa fullpervaded
WayofLife."Thisideologicalinfluence
fledgeddefenseofthe"American
a waveof vaguelyhistoricalDisney films.Disney'sversionof historyreviveda
culthemwitha defensive
populistimageoftheAmericanWASP"folk,"surrounded
33 U.S. Congress,
Activities,
HearingsRegardingthe
Committeeon Un-American
House of Representatives,
80 Cong., 1 sess.,Oct. 20-24, 27-30, 1947,pp. 280-86.
oftheMotionPictureIndustry,
Infiltration
Communist
34 Song of the South,dir.Wilfred
1946); The Storyof RobinHood, dir.
Jackson(WaltDisneyProductions,
ThousandLeaguesunderthe Sea, dir.RichardFleischer
1952); Twenty
Ken Annakin(WaltDisneyProductions,
(WaltDisneyProductions,
dir.RobertStevenson
1954); TheAbsentMindedProfessor,
(WaltDisneyProductions,
1961).
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106
TheJournalof AmericanHistory
June1995
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of
life,
Main
Street
U.S.A.
at
Disneyland
in.
.
.on
h
or
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~;
....-;
... .... I..i
Marceline.Used bypermission
from The WaltDisney Company.
of the
and homogenizedthe social normsand characteristics
turalembankment,
viewof thefamily,
a
defendeda sentimental
groupwithin.This culturalstructure
traditionalgenderideologyof separatespheres,and an ethicof ruggedindividulabor.Such deeplyfeltfilmsas So Dear to MyHeart (1949)
alismand productive
historical
and Pollyanna(1960)-among Walt'sfavoriteproductions-construct
ofthisidealizedworldview.Disneytolda reporter,
"So Dear wasespearchetypes
ciallycloseto me. Why,that'sthe lifemybrotherand I grewup withas kidsout
film.
in Missouri."DirectorDavid Swiftnotedthat"Po/lyanna
wasWalt'sfavorite
Because it made him cry.I rememberI showedhim the roughcut of Pollyanna
Bothfilms
to see himcryingrighttherein thesweatbox."
. .. and I wassurprised
didacticand nostalgic.The former,
wereself-consciously
detailingthe adventures
to gethis belovedblacksheepto thecountyfair,evokes
ofa youngboystruggling
an
virtuousrurallifeon theKincaidfamilyhomesteadin 1903.The filmfeatures
socialfigures:a pious,stern,but gentlegrandmother,
a hardarrayofcomforting
uncle a crankyvillagestorekeeper
witha heartof
workingand kindlyblacksmith
in
a
small
a
who
unites
villagecommunity
portrays youngorphan
gold. Pol/yanna
of
oldFaced
with
a
anotherturn-of-the-century
setting.
depressingatmosphere
fashionedfatalism,
Pollyannainjectsjoyintothetownwithwhatshecalls"theglad
game,"herknackforseeingthe good thingsin life.Her influencetriumphsas a
herinvalidism,
overcomes
an eccentric
old hermitbecomes
lonelyhypochondriac
This content downloaded from 80.50.231.122 on Thu, 09 Apr 2015 11:21:43 UTC
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WaltDisney'sArtand Politics
107
? The Wlalt
MainStreet
U.S.A., Disneyland.
DisneyCompany.
hima congenialmemberofsociety,
and a fire-and-brimstone
preachertransforms
selfintoa discipleofChristian
In
in
these
as
two
others,
films,
Disney
charity.
many
a historical
re-created
people,
imageofthevirtuousAmericanfolk:hard-laboring
culture."5
stablefamilies,community
cohesion,a God-fearing
ManyofDisney'spostwarmoviesalso legislateda kindofculturalMarshallPlan.
therestofthe
thatmagicallyoverran
Theynourisheda genialculturalimperialism
United
middle-class
of
a
and
with
the
values,expectations, goods
prosperous
globe
cashedin on
States.Davy Crockett:(1955), forinstance,
King ofthe WildFrontier
the success of the television characterwith a full-scale movie that glorifiedthe
American:Indianfighter,
heroas a prototypical
wilderness
ponineteenth-century
and conquerorof thecontinentwhosedeathat theAlamoplaced
liticalreformer,
himat the cuttingedge ofsouthwestern
expansion.SwissFamilyRobinson(1960)
on thistheme.Herea familystrandedon a Pacificislanddemonoffered
a variation
ethicand solid kinship.The hardstrates
the superiorpowerof the Protestant
1949);Pollyanna,dir.David Swift(Walt
35So Dearto MyHeart,dir.HaroldSchuster
(WaltDisneyProductions,
1960); Maltin,DisneyFilms,89; Mosley,Disney'sWorld,260. ForotherDisneyfilmsofthe
DisneyProductions,
Ho the Wagons!,dir.WilliamBeaudine(Walt
see Westward
erathatpromotea senseof culturalhomogeneity,
dir.RobertStevenson(WaltDisneyProductions,
1956);JohnnyTremain,
DisneyProductions,
1957); Old Yeller,
1957);and TheLightin theForest,dir.HerschelDaugherty(Walt
dir.RobertStevenson
(WaltDisneyProductions,
DisneyProductions,1958).
This content downloaded from 80.50.231.122 on Thu, 09 Apr 2015 11:21:43 UTC
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
108
ofAmerican
History
TheJournal
June1995
"civilize"their
working
parentsandtheirthreesonsdevelopingenioustechnologies,
naturalsurroundings,
enjoya life of materialabundance,and finallyconquer
a thinlydisguised"yellowperil."36
maraudingOrientalpirateswho constitute
Disney's1950s-style
populismeventuallyescaped its cinematicconfinesand
homein Disneyland.Opened in 1955,thisremarkable
founda permanent
theme
witha combination
offairy
hordesofeagervisitors
parknearLosAngelesattracted
and sanitizedhistale imagesderivedfromDisney'searlieranimatedmasterpieces
toricalimagesfromhis live-actionfilms.Some areas of the park-Main Street,
Adventureland-presented
a vastdisplayof the totemsof
U.S.A., Frontierland,
Americana.FromtheJungleCruisewithits playfulconquestof the "darkcontithroughthe American
nent"to the steamboatMarkTwaincruisingsymbolically
heartlandon its man-maderiver,fromthe EnchantedTiki Room withits harto GreatMomentswithMr.Lincolnwithits
moniouschorusof ethnicstereotypes
theparksentfortha barrage
roboticizedacclaimfordemocratic
constitutionalism,
ofconsensual
moviespresented
vignettes
oftheAmermessages.IfDisney'spostwar
ican Wayof Life,Disneylanderecteda monumentto it.37
Neartheend ofhislife,Disneydroppedanchorat a finalideologicalport,embodyingin the DisneyWorld/EPCOT projectin Floridaa kind of technocratic
populism.Stillenamoredof the Americanfolk,he nowsoughtto engineertheir
and to assuretheirdominancethroughexpertise.
contentment
throughtechnology
and channeldreamlifethrough
highlysophisticated
DisneyWorldwouldstimulate
ProtoExperimental
ridesand managementtechniques,whilethe accompanying
ofTomorrow
a nourishing
urbanenvitypeCommunity
(EPCOT)woulddemonstrate
experts.Throughsuchstructures,
Disneyberonment
programmed
bytechnocratic
alienation,
lieved,muchoftheindustrial
residuein Americanlife-crime, poverty,
and grime- couldbe cleansedaway.
inefficient
publicservices,
urbanovercrowding,
witha longtraditionof
Here Walt'sold concernforthe commonman converged
as Edward
Americantechnological
utopianismearlierarticulatedby suchwriters
social
science
and
expertise populism,social
Bellamyand LewisMumford.
Uniting
and nostalgia,Disney'sfinalpoliticsof technocratic
populismenviengineering
America.38
sioneda new "cityon a hill" forlate twentieth-century
36 DavyCrockett:
1955); SwissFamily
dir.NormanFoster(WaltDisneyProductions,
Kingofthe WildFrontier,
of Disneyas a cultural
1960). Fora scathingindictment
Robinson,dir.Ken Annakin(WaltDisneyProductions,
Ideologyin the
How to Read Donald Duck: Imperialist
imperialist,
see ArielDorfmanand ArmandMattelart,
DisneyComic(1971;New York,1991).
37 Forcontrary
assessments
of Disney'sthemeparks,see RandyBright,Disneyland.InsideStory(New York,
thePastat DisneyWorld'"RadicalHistoryReview,
1987); and MikeWallace,"MickeyMouse History:Portraying
32 (March1985),32-57. FortellingcritiquesofDisneyland'sculturalmeanings,see GeorgeLipsitz,"The Making
of Disneyland' in TrueStoriesfromtheAmericanPast,ed. WilliamGraebner(New York,1993), 179-96; and
1991),169-207.
Karal Ann Marling,"Disneyland1955,"AmericanArt,5 (Winter/Spring
38 RichardBeard,WaltDisney'sEPCOT Center:Creating
(New York,1982); StephenM.
a Worldof Tomorrow
Fjellman,VinylLeaves: WaltDisney Worldand America(Boulder,1992).
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WaltDisney'sArtand Politics
109
Mediationand HistoricalChange
mass culturemagnate,and engineerof enchantment,
As historicalchronicler,
change.He laboredas a culturalmediDisneywasa popularmediatorofhistorical
A committed
he helpedclearthepath
producerist,
atorat severalcrucialjunctures.
ethic,
character
A firmbelieverin the self-controlled
foradvancingconsumerism.
An advoofa culturedevotedto leisureand self-fufillment.
he becamean architect
intoan embrace
he helpedeasemillionsofhisfellowAmericans
cateofself-reliance,
art,he helped
sentimental
ofselfhood.A fanofnaturalistic,
ofcorporate
definitions
withthe vitalismof artisticmodernism.
shape a popularaccommodation
with
Disneywasable to do thispartlybecausehe enjoyeda specialrelationship
and
genuinely
Deeply
"Mr.
Average
American."
himself
He
styled
audience.
hisvast
concernedwiththe valuesand needsof his popularaudience,he reachedout to
tohisassembled
showedworksinprogress
them.He regularly
graspand understand
sheetstohelpguide
and suggestion
questionnaires
andthendistributed
studiostaff
filmsat local theaters,
sneaking
previewed
the processof production.He secretly
made
Disney
reactions.
toviewmoviegoers'
artists
intothebalconywithhiscreative
hiscareerthatifthepublic"doesn'tlikewhat
throughout
hisloyalties
clear,insisting
you'vedone, in ninecasesout of ten you'vedone the wrongthing."39
The enthusiastic
embraceofDisney'screationsovermanydecadessuggeststhat
Perhapsit washiswork'semcommonto manyAmericans.
he spoketo something
-and itspopulistsubvertendencies
and sentimental
bodimentofbothmodernist
oftheAmericanfolk-thatgaveitsuchresonance.
sionofhierarchy
and celebration
to reunitewhatmodernizing
fantasies
strove
Or perhapsitwasthatDisney'sartistic
societyhad separated:innocentchildhoodand cynicaladulthood,dreamsand
in utilizing
visionsand ideologicaldesires,workand play.Ironically,
reason,artistic
rationDisneyreliedon corporate
thecultureindustry
to sendhismagicalmessages,
movingto undermineits authority.
alizationwhilesimultaneously
a modernsocietygrownincreasingly
to reanimate
His worksattempted
magically
to use Max Weber'sword,underthe influenceof rationalization.
"disenchanted,"
soughtto keep
nightmarish,
althoughoccasionally
Disney'scinematizedfantasies,
pushedto themarginsofa bureaucratic,
aliveplayful,magical,childlikeinstincts
thisimpulseand
The youngproducerhad highlighted
industrial
society.
scientific,
ofhiscareer:
he
his
films
near
the
beginning
appealas discussed
itsalmostuniversal
change,
in theworldwasoncea child.Wegrowup. Ourpersonalities
Everybody
but in everyone of us somethingremainsof our childhood.. . . [This] knows
allofusaresimpleandnaive
It'swhere
anddistinction.
ofsophistication
nothing
anditjustseemsthatif
andtrusting
without
andbias.We'refriendly
prejudice
it'sgoingtohitthatspotin almost
hitsthatspotwithoneperson,
yourpicture
seeKen Andersoninterview
byHubler,March
as "Mr.Average
ofhimself
39 ForDisney's
American'"
description
"MickeyMouse
ForthequotationfromDisney,see FrankDaugherty,
p. 2 (DisneyArchives).
26, 1968,transcript,
Comesof Age,"ChristianScienceMonitor,Feb. 2, 1938,p. 9.
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110
History
TheJournal
ofAmerican
June1995
oneofus that
spotdowndeepinevery
... thatfine,clean,unspoiled
everybody
canhelprecall.40
andthatmaybeourpicture
hasmadeusforget
maybetheworld
age,
hismediatingmagicin theartand politicsofa rapidlytransforming
Working
populistdrewupon thepastto make
and sentimental
modernist
thissentimental
In suchfashion,WaltDisneybecame
thepresentpalatableand thefutureinviting.
Americanthanevenhe everknew.
moretypically,
fantastically
Mills,eds.,FromMax Weber:Essaysin Sociology(NewYork,1974);WaltDisney
40 H. H. Gerthand C. Wright
pp. 1-2 (DisneyArchives).
byCecil B. DeMille, radiobroadcast,Dec. 26, 1938,transcript,
interview
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