Disney: The Mouse Betrayed 'Greed, Corruption and Children at Risk'

[mergatroid]

Has anyone else read this book and if so what are your thoughts? My wife bought it me a number of years ago as I'm really interested in books relating to Disney World and although very negative, I found it a fascinating read. Whilst the most shocking parts were the bits concerning thorough criminal background checks not being conducted on individuals being employed to work in the parks and perhaps the alleged abuse in the firehouse , I got the impression there was a lot of negative 'filler'.

The bits concerning the alleged sexuality of cartoon characters and also the fact that the corporation bought other companies such as record companies that had bands on their labels that swore and sung about drugs etc seemed a little bit controversial for the sake of it? Many of these smaller companies purchased weren't even known by the public to be connected to Disney.

For those familiar with this book, do you feel it was fully justified a rather just a sensationalist way of trying to pick faults from the outset (something the authors deny from the start) :shrug:

 

[MAGICFLOP]

It sounds interesting, but how much is true and how much is exaggerated?

Disney employs 10,000 workers.

In that many people you are going to have criminals, pedophiles and maybe murderers..

Look at what Universal hired (Casey Anthony)

 

[Tip Top Club]

Not sure where any of this information comes from...but just to clear things up...

Disney does indeed do criminal background checks on everyone who works for parks and resorts (I can't speak for third party vendors, but knowing Disney's Lawyers, I would be willing to wager that they conduct background checks on their teams as well)

Also just for clarification purposes the number is closer to 62,000 cast members at the Walt Disney World resort.

Not at all familiar with the book though, care to elaborate?

 

[LilSuzy]

Disney does background checks, I remember waiting on results to come back so that I can work...though...it could happen AFTER employment I suppose . I don't even want to think about that....What about reading Kingdom Keepers.....a little more light hearted yes?

 

[Zummi Gummi]

This book is nothing more than propoganda from the religious right.

 

[mergatroid]

It sounds interesting, but how much is true and how much is exaggerated?

Disney employs 10,000 workers.

In that many people you are going to have criminals, pedophiles and maybe murderers..

Look at what Universal hired (Casey Anthony

Not heard about him :shrug:

Not sure where any of this information comes from...but just to clear things up...

Disney does indeed do criminal background checks on everyone who works for parks and resorts (I can't speak for third party vendors, but knowing Disney's Lawyers, I would be willing to wager that they conduct background checks on their teams as well)

Also just for clarification purposes the number is closer to 62,000 cast members at the Walt Disney World resort.

Not at all familiar with the book though, care to elaborate?

The book tells various 'stories' (I assume they're real as it's still available and they've not been sued) about ______ offenders who got jobs at Disney. One guy was released from prison and within days was helping kids onto ponies at Fort Wilderness (?) where he was noticed behaving inappropriately whilst lifting little girls onto the animals. The claim was that Disney refused to pay the extra few dollars for a 'complete fast tracked' record check and instead went for the cheaper option claiming the costs prohibitive. The other 'claim' from the book (things may have changed?) was that Disney was the only park that refused to allow special police undercover teams to enter the parks to covertly watch for paedophiles saying their own security was capable of handling it. There were several reports of flashers working at the hotels exposing themselves to guests who when caught by Disney security were sacked but not reported to the police.

Another tale is of the castle in the MK and the changing rooms for the performers. Apparently a 'peeping hole' was drilled in the wall and various people would watch the cast members changing and one guy videoed it and then passed the tape around at staff parties . He was caught and reprimanded but the a'accusation' was that it wasn't taken seriously enough by management.

Hopefully as this book is a few years old things have changed. It also contains lot's of filler and leaked reports about the injury reports on casts members and guests and how they have allegedly increased since staffing has been reduced on various attractions. Another 'claim' was that scenes from The Lion King were stolen from another cartoon and that Pocahontas was somehow politically incorrect. As I say it's an interesting read as you find about many ways Disney operates backstage, however it does have some stuff in not suitable for minors. I'm not a Disney basher rather somebody interested in the parks and just wondered what others thought.

Disney does background checks, I remember waiting on results to come back so that I can work...though...it could happen AFTER employment I suppose . I don't even want to think about that....What about reading Kingdom Keepers.....a little more light hearted yes?

Will have a search for that on the net, love Disney books thanks

 

[cymbaldiva]

While you're searching on the net - google Casey Anthony. While I'm not sure of her work history, at least you'll have an idea of whom the previous poster was talking about.

 

[puntagordabob]

Disney is a beacon of light in our dear old USA.... its a shame that there will always be people out to destroy that! It does not sound like a book that I would find worth my time....but to each their own I guess.

 

[EvanAnderson]

Disney employs 10,000 workers.

WDW is the largest single site employer in the world with over 60,000 Cast Members working for them.

 

[LilSuzy]

Will have a search for that on the net, love Disney books thanks

There are a set of 4, I believe, of these books by Ridley Pearson. If your a Disney fan, you will enjoy them. :animwink:

 

[Oddysey]

It sounds interesting, but how much is true and how much is exaggerated?

Disney employs 10,000 workers.

In that many people you are going to have criminals, pedophiles and maybe murderers..

Look at what Universal hired (Casey Anthony)

I thought it was testified that she was unemployed, and lied about working at Universal. :shrug:

 

[mergatroid]

Disney is a beacon of light in our dear old USA.... its a shame that there will always be people out to destroy that! It does not sound like a book that I would find worth my time....but to each their own I guess.

On a positive note a book you would love (if you don't already own it) is 'Since the World Began: Walt Disney World - The First 25 Years'. A quite beautiful book with some great pictures about Disney World and the joy it has brought, a wonderful read. Got mine free as part of a UK travel package around 1997 and have treasured it ever since

 

[CaptainJackNO]

Has anyone else read this book and if so what are your thoughts? My wife bought it me a number of years ago as I'm really interested in books relating to Disney World and although very negative, I found it a fascinating read. Whilst the most shocking parts were the bits concerning thorough criminal background checks not being conducted on individuals being employed to work in the parks and perhaps the alleged abuse in the firehouse , I got the impression there was a lot of negative 'filler'.

The bits concerning the alleged sexuality of cartoon characters and also the fact that the corporation bought other companies such as record companies that had bands on their labels that swore and sung about drugs etc seemed a little bit controversial for the sake of it? Many of these smaller companies purchased weren't even known by the public to be connected to Disney.

For those familiar with this book, do you feel it was fully justified a rather just a sensationalist way of trying to pick faults from the outset (something the authors deny from the start) :shrug:

There are many reasons why books come out to tear down the Disney mystique. The biggest reason is that Disney is the strongest, largest media corporation in the world. The smaller ones want to destroy it. Plain and simple.

Who cares about the sexuality of characters? a gay person dressed as Mickey Mouse? does that matter?

And "alleged" abuses in the firehouse??? Puuuhlease. Totally false. If this were true, it wouldn't be concealed in a book read by 12 people, worldwide. Don't buy it, mergatroid. More false propaganda aimed at tearing down the American way of life.

 

[CaptainJackNO]

On a positive note a book you would love (if you don't already own it) is 'Since the World Began: Walt Disney World - The First 25 Years'. A quite beautiful book with some great pictures about Disney World and the joy it has brought, a wonderful read. Got mine free as part of a UK travel package around 1997 and have treasured it ever since

I own that book. And, you are right. Its is amazing. Also, the 15 years of magic book is awesome too.:wave:

 

[Bravo 229]

I thought it was testified that she was unemployed, and lied about working at Universal. :shrug:

That's what I thought too. As stated in the trial, she was escorted to the offices in Universal by Detectives, and when they reached a certain point, she put her hands in her back pocket and said "I lied, I don't work here" or something to that effect.

 

[The Mom]

I would never tell someone to not read a certain book. But, if you are reading a "history" investigative journalistic, or any other non-fiction type book, or article, I would caution you to do a little research on the author. The same with movies, editorials, etc. As my mother always said "Consider the source." Of course, she would usually say it when I felt someone had said something mean about me, or my friends, but I think it's a wise piece of advice in general.

Everyone has a certain bias that s/he brings into any work. That doesn't make everything s/he says automatically true or false, but always keep it in mind. And remember that even someone you generally disagree with can be right once in a while, just as someone you respect can be wrong. Don't let either your support, or opposition, to another 's POV blind you to the facts.

 

[mergatroid]

I would never tell someone to not read a certain book. But, if you are reading a "history" investigative journalistic, or any other non-fiction type book, or article, I would caution you to do a little research on the author. The same with movies, editorials, etc. As my mother always said "Consider the source." Of course, she would usually say it when I felt someone had said something mean about me, or my friends, but I think it's a wise piece of advice in general.

Everyone has a certain bias that s/he brings into any work. That doesn't make everything s/he says automatically true or false, but always keep it in mind. And remember that even someone you generally disagree with can be right once in a while, just as someone you respect can be wrong. Don't let either your support, or opposition, to another 's POV blind you to the facts.

Very well said. I've tried researching the authors but can't find too much about them to be honest. I know that some of the crimes in the book are true due to the copies of the police reports filed (how much Disney could have done is open to interpretation obviously). Some of the stuff is as much about morality and how Walt would have operated differently and I do believe that there is a point where the authors stretch things to justify filling a book so they could publish it.

 

[draybook]

This reminds me of the two books that I just read, Mouse Tales and More Mouse Tales, by David Koenig. I'm sure that a handful of the statements in the books are bound to be true, but most of it is unbelievable. It's entertaining to read though.

 

[SMRT-1]

I thought it was testified that she was unemployed, and lied about working at Universal. :shrug:

she wasn't hired by universal. she was hired by kodak; who was a 3rd party vendor at the time. typically universal just does the training after they are hired.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

It sounds interesting, but how much is true and how much is exaggerated?

And that's just the thing, for some reason there are people out there that want to destroy the name of something good or something that makes people happy. Look at a simple movie like "Song of the South". It can't even be SOLD anymore. And why? Because it doesn't bring slavery to the forefront which is something you don't want in a kids movie to start.

We've all been to Disney many times, and we all love it and we all grew up normal and didn't turn into axe murderers right? It is impossible for a company this big not to have some bad apples but they are the minority