A Spirited Perfect Ten

[PhotoDave219]

Disney, the company, has been turning Walt into a character, not unlike a Colonel Sanders. You can only really go about that if you have the opportunity to make the case that Walt Disney, the man, is "problematic" and thus needs to be recontextualized as just some guy and not connected to the legacy of the modern day Disney Company and the BRAND. This is one of the key reasons why the fan community, and anyone who cares about history, should be outraged that the Disney company, after shutting its archives to academics for almost ten years, uses it as a means of endorsing projects which legitimize opinion based interpretations of Walt with the goal of discrediting him.

Well he shares the same labor views as Bob Iger....

 

[Cesar R M]

What truth? If I am not mistaken, the TRUTH was crucified.

truth as in based on unbiased facts.
not sure where your crucified thing comes from.

 

[the.dreamfinder]

Well he shares the same labor views as Bob Iger....

The wages and benefits Walt's successors gave to CMs suggests otherwise. Bob's perfectly fine with homeless CMs and fixing the wages of animators.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

The wages and benefits Walt's successors gave to CMs suggests otherwise. Bob's perfectly fine with homeless CMs and fixing the wages of animators.

It's not Iger's fault that people are dumb enough to work for Disney.

And as such, it would be morally wrong not to take advantage of their stupidity.

 

[PhotoDave219]

The wages and benefits Walt's successors gave to CMs suggests otherwise. Bob's perfectly fine with homeless CMs and fixing the wages of animators.

I meant the absolute disparity. Where in they are perfectly fine making tens of millions of dollars as corporate executives and are perfectly fine with having minimum-wage and homeless employees…

 

[zooey]

Disney, the company, has been turning Walt into a character, not unlike a Colonel Sanders. You can only really go about that if you have the opportunity to make the case that Walt Disney, the man, is "problematic" and thus needs to be recontextualized as just some guy and not connected to the legacy of the modern day Disney Company and the BRAND. This is one of the key reasons why the fan community, and anyone who cares about history, should be outraged that the Disney company, after shutting its archives to academics for almost ten years, uses it as a means of endorsing projects which legitimize opinion based interpretations of Walt with the goal of discrediting him.

If they really thought he was problematic I feel like they would stop using him altogether, not try to shift his image through MORE information getting out about the real man, true or untrue. It just seems like such a strange way to go about that.
Also, I think it's inevitable for historical figures to turn into characters in popular culture. It's just what happens whether a corporation pushes it or not. Lincoln vampire hunter, Picasso action figures, mark twain Halloween costumes. I guess my overall point is that I see Disney still holding onto Walt as a legacy figure and if it were true that they're distancing themselves from him we would see more of his disappearance than I'm personally seeing.

 

[Andrew C]

It's not Iger's fault that people are dumb enough to work for Disney.

And as such, it would be morally wrong not to take advantage of their stupidity.

Yep. Insult thousands of people you don't know. That's the ticket.

 

[Phil12]

Disney, the company, has been turning Walt into a character, not unlike a Colonel Sanders. You can only really go about that if you have the opportunity to make the case that Walt Disney, the man, is "problematic" and thus needs to be recontextualized as just some guy and not connected to the legacy of the modern day Disney Company and the BRAND. This is one of the key reasons why the fan community, and anyone who cares about history, should be outraged that the Disney company, after shutting its archives to academics for almost ten years, uses it as a means of endorsing projects which legitimize opinion based interpretations of Walt with the goal of discrediting him.

Walt Disney discredited himself with his illegal and unethical businesses practices. TWDC has spent years attempting to erase his poor behavior while polishing the "Uncle Walt" creative genius image. The name "Walt Disney" and the brand have gone hand in hand since Walt changed the name of the studio and starting taking a percentage of profits for the use of his name.

And his illegal and unethical behavior are not based on opinion. They are documented facts.

 

[Andrew C]

Walt Disney discredited himself with his illegal and unethical businesses practices. TWDC has spent years attempting to erase his poor behavior while polishing the "Uncle Walt" creative genius image. The name "Walt Disney" and the brand have gone hand in hand since Walt changed the name of the studio and starting taking a percentage of profits for the use of his name.

And his illegal and unethical behavior are not based on opinion. They are documented facts.

I would like to see these facts you speak of...

 

[Phil12]

I would like to see these facts you speak of...

I'll start here: http://www.joshuakennon.com/wed-enterprises-inc-the-private-family-holding-company-of-walt-disney/

 

[Andrew C]

I'll start here: http://www.joshuakennon.com/wed-enterprises-inc-the-private-family-holding-company-of-walt-disney/

Lots of opinions in that article mixed in with some facts. If I am to take the authors word shall I also take his word in the comments section where he says everything Walt did was legal?

 

[Phil12]

Lots of opinions in that article mixed in with some facts. If I am to take the authors word shall I also take his word in the comments section where he says everything Walt did was legal?

Yes, Walt actions concerning WED were legal but highly unethical.

 

[Andrew C]

Yes, Walt actions concerning WED were legal but highly unethical.

So where are his illegal and unethical behavior documented?

 

[ctrlaltdel]

My head hurts.

 

[Phil12]

So where are his illegal and unethical behavior documented?

Here's one: http://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/2d/127/213.html

Here's another that I posted earlier in this thread: http://www.awn.com/animationworld/disney-strike-1941-how-it-changed-animation-comics

 

[the.dreamfinder]

I'll start here: http://www.joshuakennon.com/wed-enterprises-inc-the-private-family-holding-company-of-walt-disney/

I understand you have your viewpoint on this topic, but please use valid links and sources that aren't papers written by college students, speculation or links to articles which do not contain the information to back up your claims.

 

[TeriofTerror]

If (and I think this is a very big "if") the goal of the documentary was to vilify Walt or make him less sympathetic, in my view they failed miserably. I still bawled like a baby when he died. And deny it all you want; I'll bet some of you did, as well.

 

[HMF]

I don't think he is saying that the company and PBS were in collusion.
More along the lines of the company knowing the tone of the piece and unofficially condoning it by not getting involved. Thereby continuing their agenda of promoting the BRAND over the man.

At least that's how it has been communicated to me...

Well considering all the effort Disney is putting into removing Walt's name from everything, I can believe it.

 

[Phil12]

I understand you have your viewpoint on this topic, but please use valid links and sources that aren't papers written by college students, speculation or links to articles which do not contain the information to back up your claims.

The link provides solid evidence of unethical business conduct. Even Walt's brother Roy thought the WED deal was a scam. You're not doing a good job of dodging the facts. And you know that Walt was successfully sued for diverting funds from the publicly held company to WED.

And you also know that Roy and Walt had a very divisive disagreement over how Walt ran WED and Walt was forced to sell WED back to TWDC under fear of additional lawsuits.

 

[HMF]

Disney, the company, has been turning Walt into a character, not unlike a Colonel Sanders. You can only really go about that if you have the opportunity to make the case that Walt Disney, the man, is "problematic" and thus needs to be recontextualized as just some guy and not connected to the legacy of the modern day Disney Company and the BRAND. This is one of the key reasons why the fan community, and anyone who cares about history, should be outraged that the Disney company, after shutting its archives to academics for almost ten years, uses it as a means of endorsing projects which legitimize opinion based interpretations of Walt with the goal of discrediting him.

I do think the KFC ads are an example of exploiting your founder in the lowest possible way.