Why do people think Walt Disney was anti-semitic?

by OceansOnPluto

With Henry Ford, there is a ton of evidence that, atleast at some points in his life, he was very anti-semetic. Yet Walt Disney gets brought up in the same breath, and I can't find out why.

Is there just something I'm missing here? I keep looking for evidence that he was anti-semitic or pro-Hitler, or anything, and I can't find it. Maybe I'm just overlooking something or am not aware of something?

If there IS no evidence for it, then when did that myth start and why do people believe it?

freeogy

This is something that's always fascinated me. I'm a huge fan of animation and that comes with a love of much of Disney's library.

As far as I know there are no direct sources that attribute any abnormally anti-Semitic quotes or leanings to Walt Disney as a person. However, there are a couple things to keep in mind:

  • Supposedly, Art Babbitt (creator of Goofy) accused Disney and various employees being involved in pro-Nazi or pro-fascist organizations. I've seen this quote around, but I've never been able to actually find where the quote originally surfaced. It's also worth noting that Babbitt and Disney had a very contentious professional relationship. Babbitt was a strong supporter of the Disney Animators' Strike, which led to a falling out between the two.

"In the immediate years before we entered the War there was a small, but fiercely loyal, I suppose legal, following of the Nazi party . . . There were open meetings, anybody could attend and I wanted to see what was going on myself. On more than one occasion I observed Walt Disney and [Disney's lawyer] Gunther Lessing there, along with a lot of prominent Nazi-afflicted Hollywood personalities. Disney was going to meetings all the time."

  • Walt Disney was associated with the MPAPAI, which has been accused of being antisemitic in the past. However, it's not that simple. It was also an openly anti-Nazi organization, which wouldn't line up with Babbitt's accusations.

  • There are examples of insensitive, vaudevillian depictions of Jewish stereotypes in Disney's early work -- most notably Mickey Mouse's black-face-esque caricature of a chassid in the short film The Opry House.

It's probably safe to say that Walt Disney exhibited what would be considered racist or antisemitic tendencies by modern standards, but various bigotries -- especially in the entertainment business -- were endemic during Disney's lifetime. Certainly, many older Disney films are very hard to find or heavily edited because of insensitive content. However, there's no evidence that can support an image of Disney as any more antisemitic than any other white business man or entertainer.

Searocksandtrees

hi! there's lots of room for more input on this, but meanwhile, there have been a couple of related posts; check these out for previous responses

Could Disney's perceptions of race in animated movies have been considered progressive for their time?

Was Walt Disney a bad person?