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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Profits, profits, profits,
By
This review is from: Disney: The Mouse Betrayed (Hardcover)
It all boils down to the 'bottom line', doesn't it? For me, the underlying theme of this book was profits, profits, profits. Whatever it takes to increase profits, that's what Disney will do.Walt Disney was a different kind of man than Michael Eisner. Walt wanted to create good, wholesome family entertainment - he knew if he did that, the money would come. Eisner, playing off Disney's well-earned reputation, used the profits from Disney classics and theme parks to bankroll projects that Walt would have been embarrassed to mention publicly. There was a lot of anecdotal evidence in this book, and some reviewers claim that these two authors essentially had 'an axe to grind', or were pushing a conservative agenda. That thought occurred to me too, though I've discovered through other sources that Eisner and his people never really liked Walt Disney's "family values". Disney is a business, and shareholders are entitled to a return on their money. Given the success of G-rated movies and wholesome family entertainment, the book makes you wonder why Disney would invest heavily in other forms that are certainly less profitable. But this book isn't trying to answer that question; it just sticks to providing insight into the new direction Disney is going, and the causes its management supports. Some of the 'behind the scenes' goings-on will surprise and shock you. The Mouse has its fingers in many pies, some quite unsavory. Ooops, careful, we must be 'tolerant'. Upon finishing the book, you'll never look at Disney the same.
70 of 86 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Magic Kingdom or An Evil Empire?,
By
This review is from: Disney: The Mouse Betrayed (Hardcover)
While much hoopla has been made over the past ten years regarding the Walt Disney Company's departure from everything its founder embodied, few exposes have probed as deeply or turned up a fraction as much dirt as this work offers. In fact, the Schweizers explore some new territory in their frontal assault on what may be America's most dishonest company. Many works of this nature rely heavily on anonymous sources, second-hand guessing, or other questionable inferences. Whatever one think of this thorough expose, it should be commended for corroborating nearly every charge with a named first-hand source. From the slaves who toil in Asian sweat shops making Disney merchandise to the Disney employees who identify their pedophilia-practicing or voyeuristic co-workers to the law enforcement authorities citing company cover-ups of homicides and fatal accidents occurring on Disney property, every specific allegation is supported by a one or more credible identified accuser.The conglomerate's lust for profits regularly puts patron in harm's ways at its theme parks. Rides that once closed during electrical storms, now routinely stay open, and named Disney employees are quoted as saying they are told to lie to inquiring customers asking if it is safe to board. Whenever anyone is injured-even seriously--at a Disney park, face-saving policy dictates that Guest Relations is called before 911. This allows park ambassadors to schmooze victims before they can receive treatment. Compared to these physical dangers, the debauched entertainment of the new Disney seems tertiary. Despite the widespread sleaze that it puts out under its various pseudonyms, The Walt Disney Company still claims to be family-friendly. With subsidies offering pay-per-view porn, satanic--drug-glorifying--pro-suicide heavy metal music, and movies among Hollywood's most depraved, that boast is seen to be nothing more than public relations prevarication. Even its allegedly family fare has undergone a massive transmogrification. From the politically correct fascism of "Pocahontas" which slandered the reputation of many real people of integrity, to the plagiarism behind "The Lion King," Disney animated features are not quite up to the standards of old. In Disney's Hall of Presidents diorama, the revisionist approach is also seen. A patriotic speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln was the exhibit's featured attraction for years. The new liberal mindset at Disney has replaced such deleterious nationalism with a more inclusive sounding talk. But the real kicker is that Lincoln is no longer the only president to speak; Bill Clinton's robot (and I don't mean Al Gore) is now given an oration to present! Perhaps the most hateful aspect of this remade company is virtual contempt shown to the memory of it founder. Jeffrey Katzenberg and a handful of Michael Eisner's other camarilla seem to delight in disgracing his name. Remarks like "I haven't been out to his gravesite so I don't know if he's spinning" pepper their conversations. Objective readers will acquire at least a more suspicious view of the mega-corporation, and even the most ardent devotees should never allow their children on to Disney property without the supervision of a trusted adult. While some will dismiss this extensively researched work as the screed of "Disney-haters," the Schweizers maintain powerful credibility by being former long-time Disneyites, and they obviously still carry tremendous respect for Walt Disney the man. He was a remarkable talent who brought much joy to the world. Tragically, his legacy is now routinely betrayed by the empire he created and the obnoxious coterie that runs it.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Good, Yet Biased Critique of Disney,
By Mark A. Symmonds (Roswell, GA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Disney: The Mouse Betrayed (Hardcover)
If anything can be honestly said about the Disney Corporation, the truth would be that it is not the company founded by Walt Disney. Michael Eisner has definitely looked at Disney as more as a profit machine than as a family entertainment entity, and in many cases I agree with the authors that Disney has gone to far in the issues of crime and safety, although I have to disagree with the homophobic and righteous stand taken by the authors concering morality.The Schweizers beg the question "Whose morality?" at one point in the book, and I would ask the same question of the authors. I think that if Walt were alive today, he would not agree with the albums produced or sexual inferences being condoned under the Disney umbrella, but I don't think he would disgree because of "moral issues". Interpretation of morality is in the eyes of the viewer, and it appears the authors would hate any company for what they perceive as anti-fundalmentalist ethics, so the criticism of Disney in this regard is actually part of an ulterior motive which is one of Christian and conservative ethics. Walt himself did not ascribe to any religion and viewed the Christian question as a moral dilemma. I cannot disagree that Walt would have hated the direction of his company now, but that is simply because he valued family entertainment and not adult entertainment. The cases surrounding sex crimes, safety, and fatalities on property are true, and Disney prefers to govern these on their own rather than become a public spectacle. This portion I believe the authors covered very well and provide aquequate documentation to support their claims. I believe that Eisner has become more interested in profits and short term gains to please finicky shareholders and is merely interested in prevention and safety as long as it does not cost much. All in all this is a good book. As long as one looks past the obvious conservative and puritanical overtones and sees the facts for what they are, one will see Disney is not at all what it appears to be.
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