Abigail Disney has been betting frequently over the past few years Bitter public campaign He called on the company bearing her name to the Walt Disney Company for what she considers to be terrible wage inequality.
In 2019, Disney created a viral Twitter thread that called the rewards of then-Disney CEO Bob Eiger, who exceeded $ 65 million in 2018, “insane.” That same year She testified Before the House Financial Services Commission at a hearing on strengthening workers’ rights.
Today, documentary film producers and philanthropists have been running the company founded by grandfather Roy O. Disney with her granduncle Walt for almost a century. She made a movie.
on Monday, Sundance Film Festival We premiered Disney’s ferocious new documentary, “American Dream and Other Fairy Tales.” Through the story of Disneyland workers on the brink of poverty and the perspective of labor experts and scholars, the film removes the hilarious veneers of “the happiest place on earth” and Disney is a corporate immoral. Reveal what you see as a culture. Only that heart is the heart of American capitalism as a whole.
Disney and co-director Kathleen Hughes make the film around four Disneyland caretakers. They all struggle to earn $ 15 an hour and can’t afford to buy their own home. This documentary is about the legendary shabby wealth story of the Disney family itself and the plight of Disneyland’s “cast members” who are sometimes forced to sleep in the car or choose between medicine and food. It draws a clear contrast in between.
The movie, which seeks distribution, accuses Walt Disney of putting more pressure on it. Tax cuts and subsidies from Anaheim On the other hand, the neighborhood of the urban working class has been ignored and has perpetuated the myth of American progress that has obscured the country’s exploitative and racist power structure.
Abigail Disney
(Lewis Cinco / Los Angeles Times)
“I’m really proud of what my grandfather and granduncle did,” Disney says early in the documentary. “They brought great joy to the world.” However, seeing the often difficult lives of workers helping to run theme parks, Disney’s heirs advocating tax increases for wealthy people said: She says she feels “collusion” with the system she believes in.
Two of Disney’s brothers, her sister Susan Disney Road and brother Tim, are executive producers of the film. Since the producer’s father, Roy E. Disney, resigned from the board in 2003, Disney’s family has played no role in running the company.
Walt Disney Co., recently Agreed to raise wages by 16% Repeatedly for some of its unionized California resort workers Oppose Disney’s criticism — And in response to the new documentary, I did it again.
A spokesman for the company said in a statement: “Employee and cast well-being and aspirations are always our number one priority. We include competitive wages and comprehensive benefits for cast members to grow their careers and care for their families. Offers a first-class, comprehensive employment package. It starts with fair wages and major immigration wages, but affordable medical insurance, free access to higher education, and for qualified employees. It also includes subsidized childcare and the path to personal and professional development. “
In a Q & A following the movie’s online premiere, Disney and Hughes were attended by two of the movie’s themes, former Disneyland workers named Ellie Gonzalez and Artemis.
“I hope this movie finds a way in the hearts of those who don’t usually talk about politics or the economics of income inequality,” Disney said. “We have the ability to rebuild this economy if needed. You don’t have to do this.”
“If we leave the movie thinking we have to reform Disney, we’re not working,” Hughes said. “I really hope people understand that this is a much bigger conversation that we all need to participate in.”
Artemis said he was grateful that the Disney movie gave her and other Disneyland workers a voice. “I was impressed that she was interested in hearing from us. Most of the people in her position listened to us and actually went down in the mud. He seemed interested in seeing what was happening to him. “
Despite the spotlight that her name brings, Disney said she didn’t want her own personal fight with the Disney Empire to draw attention from the bigger issues that the movie raises. She said, “I didn’t really want [the documentary] It’s a personal attack, “she said. “I don’t want to be a pitfall or a conflict. I just want to open the door to a lot of questions.”
At the same time, Disney said she had no intention of retreating the fight, no matter what the consequences for her or the Disney Empire.
“It’s clear that in the consciousness of this country, if you really succeed in concentrating a fairly harsh criticism of the company, there is a clear risk that the company will be seriously hurt. Let’s do that, “she said. “But isn’t that the essence of solidarity?”
