Aaron Goldberg - Disney Declassified: Tales of Real Life Disney Scandals, Sex, Accidents and Deaths

Disney Declassified

Tales of Real-Life Disney Scandals, Sex, Accidents, and Deaths

Aaron H. Goldberg

Copyright 2016 Aaron H. Goldberg

All rights reserved.

Quaker Scribe Publishing

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and journals.

This book makes reference to various copyrights and trademarks of the Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney; this book is in no way authorized by, endorsed by, or affiliated with Disney or their subsidiaries.

The mention of names and places associated with Disney and their businesses are not intended in any way to infringe on any existing or registered trademarks but are used in context for educational purposes.

The author and publisher are neither affiliated with nor a representative of the specific companies, organizations, or authorities in this book. The opinions and statements expressed in this book are solely those of the author and/or people quoted by the author and do not reflect the opinions and policies of the specific companies mentioned.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, neither the author nor publisher assumes responsibility for errors or omissions.

First Print: 2014

Media inquiries and comments:

Dedicated to my late mother, Susan

Thank you to Walt Disney for his creations and to you, the reader, for buying this book!

Introduction

The word Disney means different things to different people. For most, the Walt Disney Company stands for all things wholesome, family centric, moral, and entertaining. For others, the cynics and the haters, they feel the company sustains and promotes unrealistic images and story lines to children. Their view is the company isnt healthy for children but is rather a self-perpetuating global consumerism machine interested only in profitsyour uncle Walt Disney doesnt love you; he loves only your money.

As for Walt Disney, the man, he too still garners much attention nearly fifty years after his passing. There are millions of people who still love him. Not only did he change our childhoods with movies, television, and how we vacation with our family but also his fingerprints are all over American culture.

For the millions who still embrace Walt, his voice is like music to their ears. The grainy black-and-white and early color-television footage of him is almost magical. He still looms larger than life as he stands watch over his vast entertainment empire. This is due to the prolific Disney-marketing machine. This machine keeps Walt both relevant and in the hearts of millions of childrenso much so, that in one survey, many children didnt know Walt Disney was a real person and thought he was a character created along the lines of the Pillsbury Doughboy.

Since Walts death, there is another public persona of his that has grown and evolved into mythical proportions as well. Walt has been called everything from a bigot, racist, chauvinist, anti-Semiteeven his own grandniece lobbed this matzo ball out into the public eye in 2014and a micromanaging ass of a boss.

Clearly the Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney, the man, can be very polarizing topics. Disney and their theme parks, television shows, movies, and the man, have been analyzed six ways to Sunday; even yours truly is guilty from time to time. This book really isnt about the analysis or judgment (although there is a smattering of social commentary here and there) of the Walt Disney Company at a deeper or philosophical levelits actually quite the contrary.

Disney Declassified at its core is an interesting collection of real-life stories with Disney being the setting or catalyst in a situation that is usually very un-Disney like. Some of the situations are heartbreaking, others are head scratching, and probably all of them are tales the company would rather you not hear.

Wherever your point of views may lie, whether you are a Disney lover or hater, this book will be interesting to you. It isnt an attempt to sully the companys name but to give you the glimpses of reality that does seep into one of the most prolific, entertaining, and omnipresent companies in American culture and history.

C H A P T E R

Mickey Mania

In 1998, the United Kingdoms maximum-security prison, Whitemoor, home to murderers, sex offenders, and IRA terrorists, paid their inmates five pounds a week to assemble and package Disneys The Lion King lamps that went on sale in the country.

I n late 2013, Disney launched a new marketing campaign and slogan: Show Your Disney Side. According to Disney, Its the side you simply cant wait to share. Its the side of you that laughs more, screams more, and just plain lives life to the fullest. Its the side of you that comes out to play the moment you and your family step through the gates of a Disney theme park.

Sounds like fun, right? Surely everyone has captured the excitement of Disney at some point on his or her trip to visit Mickey Mouse. The stories in this chapter are of people showing a different side of Disney, a side that is, well, a bit crazy. Im pretty sure when Disney rolled out their campaign, this wasnt the Disney side they were talking about and imploring people to embrace. These are the stories that may make you want to screamnot in joy and excitement but in horror and disbelief.

Oftentimes Disney is the catalyst or setting for people to do crazy, irrational things. This is what Mickey Mania is all aboutgoing crazy with, for, and about Mickey. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your views and sense of humor, there are an enormous number of stories that are noteworthy enough to be included in this chapter. While all of them cant be covered, a considerable number of them can be and are classified for our purposes into several sections.

This chapter is composed of the following sections: (1) Plain Crazyhere the heading speaks for itselfis about generalized batty behavior and antics, (2) Theft and Fraud that is pretty self-explanatory, (3) Dying for Disney that narrates the stories about faking cancer to get a trip to Disney, (4) Dubious Disney that speaks of the moves that the Walt Disney Company has made over the years, and lastly, a couple of good, heartwarming stories show that Walt Disney does bring out the good in people, after all.

Plain Crazy

Plane Crazy was Walt Disneys first animated short featuring Mickey Mouse in 1928. The six-minute cartoon helped countless people around the world fall in love with Mickey Mouse. However, no one loved him more than Walt himself; he loved him like a family member. Over eighty years later, the words Plane Crazy still resonate with some Disney family members. In their case, youll have to add an i and drop the e in the word Plane, to fully describe their situation.

Its only fair that stories featuring erratic behavior with an element of Disney start with a story involving some Disney drama in its purest form: real Disney drama with real Disney family membersno, not Donald or Goofy but Walts former son-in-law and Walts grandchildren.

Economic Research Associates (ERA) was the firm that Walt utilized to research the best location for Disneyland. In the early 1960s, Walt utilized the firm once again for selecting a site for his Florida project. In 1963, William Bill Lund worked for ERA and traveled to Florida to research the best locale for Disneys East Coast enterprise. We all know the story. Bill was obviously successful, as the land was selected, deals were made, and Walt Disney World came to fruition in October of 1971.