What is interesting about the
Walt Disney Treasures releases, at least from the perspective
of someone like myself, who was not alive when Walt was
so visible on television, is that they are sometimes more
like historical texts than mere entertainment. So there
has been some controversy suggesting - and I am not saying
I agree - that perhaps a title like On the Front Lines is
potentially negative to the Disney brand. I have to admit,
it is shocking to see Donald Duck and a swastika
in the same cartoon!
We packaged this DVD collection - and all of the Treasures
editions - to aficionados. And not so much as a cartoon
collection for children, certainly not this one.
The other thing is, there is a historical aspect to this.
The argument about, should we see Donald with a swastika
is irrelevant, because you can find the image in a split
second on the internet. It is out there.
I actually had someone internally say to me that they were
completely against putting that short out, because they
didn't want Donald with a swastika on. She told me her parents
had been in a concentration camp and she completely did
not like this. I had a different view on it. I don't think
we should hide stuff like this. I think this is the kind
of stuff you want to discuss with your children and have
an intelligent conversation about. That is how you can get
beyond this.
Was there anything specifically you did in terms
of DVD presentation to ensure that these materials were
seen in the proper context?
The reason I think I was able to get this project done
was because I focused on making sure all of this material
was presented in the context of which it was made. If you
just swept these cartoons on a DVD with no introductions,
it would have been a disaster. You had to put this material
together and couch it within the historical perspective
in which it was made.
I did a lot of research on this project. It was just digging
up as much information as I could. I went into the corporate
files and dug out telegrams and letters and correspondence
between Walt and his brother Roy, and various people in
the military and government agencies. And artists. Joe Grant,
who still comes to work everyday - he's going to be 96 on
Saturday - was a tremendous resource. Every time I came
across something and had questions, I could walk down to
Joe's office and show him documents, even telegrams he had
sent to Walt. It was amazing - to be able to sit there and
talk with Joe and get a sense of what it was like at the
studio, and just in general, during those years.
We also took it a step further. On most Treasures editions,
you can do a "Play All." On this volume you can't
do that. You can play a certain all through, but the propaganda
and more sensitive cartoons, we actually default to Leonard
Maltin's introductions. You can't skip over it. That was
a conscious effort on our part, because again we wanted
to make sure that these were being viewed in the proper
historical context. That was very, very important.
And, by the way, the studio did not dictate that. That
was us. That was me, as a producer, saying we need to do
this.
There has also been a great deal of controversy,
especially on the internet, regarding a delay in the release
of On the Front Lines. Can you speak to what was the cause
for the postponements?
The initial release on this was going to be in December
of 2002. I am responsible for delaying it. No one else.
There was a lot of rumor about the studio canceling it,
but I went in to the folks at [Buena Vista] Home Entertainment
and asked them to delay it a year because we needed more
time to ready all the materials in the proper way. And they
agreed, and gave us the extra year.
Then, when it came time for the December of 2003 release,
the second delay was due to all of these big titles that
they had an enormous demand for. Finding Nemo, Pirates of
the Caribbean and The Lion King - there were millions and
millions of units being produced and the replicating facility
was maxing out its capacity. So they decided to move all
four [Walt Disney Treasures] volumes to May. That is the
reason behind it.
If Walt were alive today, do you think he would
be as politically active in terms of his work, especially
in light of what is going on in the world today?
It is always hard to second guess, to try and think of
what Walt would do. And there are certainly a lot of people
who like to do that. I like to think, based on all the research
I did on this project, that Walt was very patriotic. He
cared very much about supporting the war effort during World
War II. And he felt that Victory Through Airpower was his
greatest contribution. I think if he were alive today, I
think he would be open and receptive to helping out the
government if they asked.
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