In the end, enormous damage was done during the labor conflict. As Watts concludes: “Socially, the strike had destroyed the image of a workers’ paradise. . . . Creatively, the strike exploded the spirit of camaraderie, innovation, and participation that had inspired the wonderful creations of the 1930s. Financially, it blew a large hole in the studio’s profits, as production, already curtailed by the growing world crisis, was further reduced.”43
As labor troubles had surfaced at the studio, so had Disney’s more conservative nature. During the Depression, he had adhered to a type of populism that distrusted bankers and the monopolistic practices of big business. But increasingly, he moved from a sentimental to a more paranoid version of populism, becoming vehemently anti-communist. As Watts explains, he became “a conservative Republican whose intense patriotism, loyalty to the work ethic, suspicion of regulatory government, and support for American individualism had grown steadily more intense.”44
A lesser-known chapter of Walt Disney’s legacy is his role in the formation of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals (MPAPAI), the organization that set the foundation for the Hollywood blacklist. Disney served as the MPAPAI’s first vice-president and was featured prominently in publicity about the organization. The MPAPAI has been acknowledged as the inspiration for the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) investigation of Hollywood, which examined film industry notables on their adherence to the Smith Act of 1940, which made support of certain political parties illegal. The act was declared unconstitutional many years later, but not before the Hollywood Ten (a group of mostly writers who refused to cooperate with the committee) had been sent to prison, and hundreds of Hollywood workers had lost their jobs, sometimes for being “named” by those who chose to cooperate with the committee and the organizers of the blacklist.
Disney testified at the second set of HUAC hearings in 1947, along with other friendly witnesses such as Ronald Reagan, Gary Cooper, and Adolphe Menjou. Disney explained that the strike at his studio had been organized by communists, and “throughout the world all of the Commie groups began smear campaigns against me and my pictures.” He also stated that communism was “an un-American thing” and had infiltrated labor groups especially. The well-known Hollywood blacklist had already been established, but Disney’s testimony was said to have strengthened it. Meanwhile, the MPAPAI served as “the bulwark of anti-communism in Hollywood” through the 1950s, a period in which hundreds of Hollywood workers lost their industry jobs.45
Another aspect of Disney’s life that is neglected by most of his biographers is his collaboration with the FBI from at least the 1950s until the end of his life.46 Disney’s FBI file includes a 1954 memo offering the agency “complete access to the facilities of Disneyland for use in connection with official matters and for recreational purposes.” The file also includes evidence that Disney was on the agency’s Special Correspondents’ list. Watts generally downplays the relationships and explains that this was “a largely honorary designation given to friendly community leaders who were willing to talk with the agency’s special agent in charge for their region.” In other words, he did not serve as a spy but “simply endorsed the agency’s broader agenda of anti-communism during the tense days of the Cold War.”47 Whether or not Disney actively assisted the FBI, his well-documented cooperation with the agency clearly establishes his strong conservative credentials.
World War II: Disney and the US government
The bitter labor strike marked the end of what many have called “Disney’s golden age.”48 Both Pinocchio and Fantasia had entailed high costs and suffered at the box office in 1940 due to the loss of foreign markets because of World War II. Several other feature projects even had to be suspended.
And then the war hit home, for both the United States and the Disney operations. The day after Pearl Harbor, US Army troops took over the Disney lot, using the studio (the only one in Hollywood occupied by the military) as a repair and storage facility over the next eight months.49 But the company also became involved with the war effort via a large number of government films contracted during the conflict. By 1942, more than 93 percent of the studio’s production was devoted to government projects, including a wide range of animated and live-action films produced for at least six branches of the government.
Military training films included a series of aircraft identification films for the Navy, plus other titles such as High-Level Precision Bombing, Glider Training, as well as Dental Care and A Few Quick Facts about Venereal Disease. The studio also produced a number of educational films, such as Food Will Win the War, The Grain that Built a Hemisphere, and The New Spirit (encouraging Americans to pay income tax).50
The company also produced a few propaganda films, primarily satirical pieces such as Education for Death (1943) and Der Fuehrer’s Face (1943). Victory through Air Power (1943) was a full-length feature promoting long-range bombing as a key military strategy. However, it was Donald Duck who became the wartime hero at the studio and who was featured as a loyal, dedicated American citizen in short films such as Commando Duck and Home Defense (1943).51
The studio also released a few features during the war, including the South American films and Bambi (1942); however, the box-office grosses were disappointing. The government work during the war, while ultimately unprofitable, served to keep the studio alive, as well as to diversify the company’s filmmaking activities. The ongoing support from the company’s primary bank, the Bank of America, also helped the studio through these difficult years.52
Postwar period
Disney and his company were shaken by the war, as well as by the damaging labor strife earlier in the decade. In addition, the declining film markets at the end of the 1940s were taking their toll on the entire industry. Watts summarizes the postwar period, observing that “Creativity was blunted, profits disappeared, and the old spirit of joyful innovation nearly evaporated.”53
To gain some quickly needed revenue, the studio released a few “packaged” features, such as Make Mine Music (1946) and Melody Time (1948), consisting of recycled bits from previously released cartoons. Live-action productions also became more profitable than animation, although the first one – Song of the South (1946) – included some animation. Another economic move was the production of nature films in the True-Life Adventures series, beginning with Seal Island (1948), which made as much money at the box office as many of the company’s animated features.
Finally, the studio returned to animated interpretations of fairy tales with Cinderella (1950), the first new animated feature since Bambi in 1942. Other successes followed, with the live-action feature Treasure Island (1950), the first of 63 live-action films produced by Disney over the next 16 years. The late 1940s were a transitional period as the company recovered from the war and made necessary adjustments to a changing entertainment market. The changes that the Disney company made ultimately allowed them not just to survive but to prosper during the next few decades.
Diversification, Disney-style
During the late 1940s, Walt gradually pulled away from the day-to-day management of the studio, relying on his senior animators to develop most of the studio’s films. His enthusiasm was reignited, however, by a few projects that evolved during the early 1950s.
Television was becoming the hot, new medium, with 90 percent of American homes having sets by 1960. At first, the Disney company produced a few Christmas specials, beginning with One Hour in Wonderland, broadcast on NBC in 1950. In October 1954, the weekly series Disneyland appeared on ABC, moving to NBC seven years
