By Marlene Gillette
The death of Walt Disney in 1966 meant the end of the early Disney era. The arrival of Michael Eisner at the Walt Disney Company in 1984 marked the beginning of a Disney period darker than anyone could have ever imagined.
Since Eisner took over, the Walt Disney Company has been tarnished by the following: allegations of erotic messages in its animation films Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas and Who Framed Roger Rabbit; subtle anti-Catholic elements in The Hunchback of Notre Dame; and New Age imagery in Pocahontas. Similarly, in a June 12, 1994, New York Times interview with actors Ernie Sabella and Nathan Lane who lent their voices to the characters Timon and Pumbaa in The Lion King, the actors claimed that these are “the first homosexual Disney characters…” Disney is also alleged to have resisted efforts by local law enforcement to identify and prosecute pedophiles out of fear of negative publicity. It is also said that Disney has sacrificed its legendary excellence in training and safety in its theme parks in order to save on costs, and that Disney subsidiaries have contracted with factories in Burma, China, Haiti and Vietnam that engage in child and sweatshop labor.
One of the most stark examples of Disney’s decline was its acquisition of Miramax, now a Disney subsidiary. Miramax, a film company started by Harvey and Robert Weinstein, was experiencing a serious financial crisis when Disney purchased it. Disney gave Miramax full license to continue making films filled with sexual depravity and coarse violence. Miramax has released Priest, an anti-Catholic movie that slanders the priesthood; Dogma, an anti-Christian movie that distorts and profanes the teachings on the life of Jesus Christ; and Cider House Rules, a film that showcases abortion as a positive act and made with the assistance of Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Rights Action League.
Among the many assets owned by the Walt Disney Company is Capital Cities/ABC, Inc., whose largest shareholder is Warren Buffet, one of the wealthiest men in the United States. Warren Buffet, in fact, is the largest investor in the Walt Disney Company. In 1964, he established the Buffet Foundation that has given millions of dollars to population control organizations. Curiously, according to the Population Research Institute, in 1968 the Walt Disney Company launched a population control film directed at families in developing countries and featuring Donald Duck as the film’s spokesman. It is also worth mentioning that the American Broadcasting Company, known for its pro-homosexual programming, also transmitted the series Nothing Sacred — another attack on the Catholic priesthood.
A look at Disney book subsidiaries only confirms the company’s disturbing agenda. Hyperion Books, owned by Disney, has published materials promoting homosexuality, such as Growing Up Gay, Lettin’ It All Hang Out and Separate Creation. Hyperion Books for Children published Name Me Nobody, which discusses teenage lesbianism. Name Me Nobody is also promoted in the book section of Disney’s website.
And now, enter Artemis Fowl. Written by Eion Colfer, this disturbing children’s book is being distributed this year in the United States by Talk Miramax Books and Hyperion Books. Miramax Films will soon turn it into a motion picture. So who is this Artemis Fowl that children will soon meet?
Artemis, the main character and “anti-hero,” is despotic and cruel. That he was given a girl’s name — Artemis, the Greek goddess and twin sister of Apollo — is also disconcerting, as is the dark and brooding language used throughout the book. Artemis stands in stark contrast to the Walt Disney’s Davy Crockett 1950 television series. Crockett instantaneously became a national hero. At that time, it was explained that children’s strong attraction to Davy Crockett was due to the fact that they “require tangible evidence of human beings…able to battle the problems of their time.” Unlike Davy Crockett, Artemis Fowl is a tortured character on a misguided quest.
The Disney website, disney.go.com, is also disconcerting. The website’s history section contains a link to a “Distinguished Women” website. Listed as “distinguished women of past and present” are: Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood; Nafis Sadik, former executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which promotes world-wide abortion; and Gloria Steinem, an infamous leader in the radical feminist movement.
In 1998, when the U.S. Congress passed the Child Online Protection Act to protect children from access to commercial websites featuring pornography, the Walt Disney Company asked to be exempted from the federal statute, asserting that its primary business is not Internet access service. Several organizations filed a complaint against the federal statute in the United States Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania, which declared the statute unconstitutional. In 2000, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Pennsylvania upheld the district court decision.
To no one’s surprise, the Walt Disney World theme park in Florida is a “Gay Days” location. Disney has also reportedly stepped-up recruitment of homosexual/lesbian employees and offers same-sex “domestic partnership” employee benefits. Michael Eisner serves on the board of trustees of “Hollywood Supports,” a major homosexual advocacy group.
The Life Decisions International Corporate Funding Project Boycott List cites the Walt Disney Company as a Planned Parenthood supporter. The Eisner Foundation — a family foundation established by Michael Eisner — has also made donations to Planned Parenthood Los Angeles in California.
On 15 September 1987, during his visit to the United States, Pope John Paul II addressed the representatives of the nation’s entertainment industry, stating: “Humanity is profoundly influenced by what you do. …Your work can be a force for great good or great evil. … (Y)our profession subjects you to a great measure of …accountability to God, to the community, and before the witness of history.”
Walt Disney Company, take heed.
(Marlene Gillette is an Associate in Development at HLI. This article courtesy of HLI Reports, published by Human Life International.)
