W pułapce utopii. Walt Disney i socjalizm

Abstrakt

The first part of the text is devoted to Walt Disney’s involvement in the struggle against communism, including his testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Activities and breaking a strike in his Burbank studio in 1941, allegedly inspired by the Communist Party. I also try to find out, if his suspicions ware reasonable and how to explain Disney’s aversion to the communism. The second part of the text is devoted to Walt Disney’s fascination with socialism, derived from his family home and the Great Depression times. I also focus on Disney’s relations with Soviet filmmakers and Soviet film market, trying to find traces of these fascinations in animated cartoons (especially in those who are considered to support president Roosevelt’s leftist policy). Third part of the text relates to the business strategy of The Walt Disney Company after 1989, when the head of the studio tried to reconcile the communist ideology with the capitalism, especially on Chinese market, where Disney films and artifacts are distributed.