Walt Disney's Patriotism

On March 1, 1941 Walt Disney was the guest on the radio program "Our American Way of Living." This Showcase aired during the intermission of the weekly Metropolitan Opera Broadcast. The host, Lucy Richardson Milligan, created this series featuring prominent Americans discussing different aspects of American ideals in hopes of combating the communist, socialist, and fascist leaning entering the culture at that time. This was mere months prior to America's involvement in World War II and the famous Walt Disney Studios labor strike. Milligan was President of the National Council of Women and was an advocate for racial and gender equality, modesty in the public square, and was a volunteer in numerous pro-American groups. She also saw what was happening in the world and feared for the future of our country. Being one of the few proactive women in the radio format, she organized these speeches to air on one of the most popular radio shows of the time so more people would hear them. This was a similar tactic the autocratic leftists had used in Europe and were using in the United States. The theme of these speeches were that every American should educate him or her self on the Constitutional principles of freedom and be a shining light onto the world in the face of totalitarianism. Some of the notable guests included J. Edgar Hoover, Carl Sandburg, David Sarnoff, and Walt Disney. Topics covered included "Out American Freedom," "The Soul of the American People," "Women in America," "Why I Became an American Citizen," "Our American Tomorrow," and others. Walt Disney's speech is titled "Our American Culture." By 1941, Walt's creations were already a fixture unique in American culture and he was regarded as a "common man's" artist making him the obvious choice to discuss this topic. It was an already well-known part of his story that he had come from the Midwest and hailed from humble means. This was believed to be one of the secrets of his success; he understood what culture was to the average American. Walt's animated cartoons also occupied a unique place in global culture having become ambassadors of American ideal into the world. Although, often excerpted in text form, this audio has rarely been heard or quoted in its entirety since its initial 1941 airing. Walt Disney's words are just as relevant for us today in our time as they were to the world in his because they are principled. The faces and names may change, but the root issues never do. This clip is presented in its complete unaltered for, Walt's flubs and all just as it originally aired in 1941. Original airdate March 1, 1941 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

The American Adventure is an attraction at EPCOT Center. It has been revised in recent years, but this is a documentary about this attraction when it open and was constructed by Walt Disney's family. It opened October 1, 1982 along with the rest of the park. This promotional video was created to advertise what an achievement this production was at the time. It's a shame the show has been altered to become PC then Woke. Release date 1984 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

Actor Lloyd Bridges hosts this behind the scenes documentary for The American Adventure was created for The Disney Channel in 1987 and only ever aired a handful of times never to be seen again. The source for this video is from a master copy so you'll see some bars on the sides of the footage as this is the full magnetic tape image. At the time, The Disney Channel sometimes created documentaries about different aspects of the Disney Parks. by the 1990's this was dropped in favor of the occasional TV Magazine format. What's great about these longform documentaries is they chronicle the history of an attraction and celebrate it as it was built and not what it's been degraded into. Original air date July 4, 1987 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

On May 29, 1957 Walt's TV show aired the episode called the Liberty Story to promote the release of his film Johnny Tremain. The film is based on the book by Ester Forbes that was published during WWII and won the Newberry Medal in 1944. It is one of the twenty top-selling children's novels of the 20th century. Walt felt this story was important to tell at the height of the Cold War. In this Liberty Story excerpt, Walt briefly discusses man's history of freedom correctly tying it in with Robin Hood (which he'd made into a film in 1952) before revealing his plans to add Liberty Street to Disneyland. Liberty Street had been announced along with Edison Square but the plans for both were put on hold as Walt and his team focused on the 1964-1965 World's Fair. Neither land was built at Disneyland. Edison Square evolved into the General Electric Carousel of Progress and Liberty Street was re-imagined as Liberty Square at Walt Disney World. In fact, some of the audio for the Hall of Presidents had originally been recorded under Walt's supervision back in 1958. The film Johnny Tremain aired in two episodes of Walt's TV show in 1958. The Boston Tea Party on November 21 and The Shot Heard Around the World on December 5. We have included Walt's intros to these episodes as well. These two episodic versions of Johnny Tremain were also distributed in schools for decades. When the film bombed in the UK Walt opted to not release it in Europe. A few years later Walt would reach Europeans with another story on Independence set at the time of America's founding but not released theatrically in America, Dr Syn/the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh. Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

On May 30, 1956 this episode of Walt's TV show aired (Behind the Scenes with Fess Parker) to advertise the release of Walt's latest big budget film, the Great Locomotive Chase. The Great Locomotive Chase was filmed in Cinemascope and a very ambitious project. There were only a few Cinemascope lenses in existence at the time and only very prestigious productions were produced in this format then. The film told the true story of when Union spies were sent behind enemy lines to cut off Confederate communications as they stole a train headed north. The story evenly portrayed the Americans on both sides of the war and this TV episode demonstrated the great lengths Walt always went to in order to ensure historical accuracy in his films. This is also a story that doesn't end happily but Walt knew it was an important story for families to hear. In many cases, the stories Walt dramatized in film were either the first time they had ever been told in cinema or they became the definitive cinematic versions. In this excerpt is Walt's intro for this TV episode where he talks about how he knew veterans from both sides of the Civil War when he was a boy. The theme of Walt's intro and the film is about the nation healing and coming together. It's a message just as timely for today. You also see Walt show the well-worn copy of the book the film is based on from his family library when he was a boy. If you've not seen the Great Locomotive Chase it's a film worth seeing. Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

On May 29, 1941 a little over 200 members of Walt Disney's animation staff went on strike led by top animator Art Babbit. The communist influence on the Labor Movement is documented. Known communist Herbert Sorrell was the ring leader of this strike and it's what led to Walt Disney testifying before congress against communists in 1947. The strike went on across several months with the strikers threatening to murder Walt in effigy. (You can see footage of that in this montage. In one shot the strikers haul out a guillotine as they're dressed as executioners and behead a dummy of Walt over and over again.) It's no wonder this event was one of Walt Disney's pivot points. The strike affected Walt's health and he was sent on a tour of South America that eventually resulted in the films Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros. The strike ended on Sept 21, 1941 with the strikers getting nearly all of what they'd demanded. Many of the strikers left the Walt Disney Studios and founded UPA. Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

Walt Disney testifies against communists in Hollywood before congress on Oct 24, 1947. In the wake of the 1941 Studio Strike, Walt Disney testified against the communists behind the strike. Revisionist historians claim there were no communists in Hollywood and call this a witch hunt but the documentation proves otherwise. Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.