Paper 2

The Disney Conspiracy

Growing up I had heard several conspiracies about the happiest place on earth,

Disneyland. A close friend of mine, Nathanial ******* is a huge Disney fan and a self-

proclaimed expert on all things Disney. I turned to him when looking for a conspiracy theory

involving Disneyland. For a good setting, Nate chose for us to meet at Disneyland where he

shared with me the several theories he had heard of. What was interesting about his narratives,

was that he did not attempt to convince me that they were true, nor did he subscribe to the belief.

Instead, he found them funny and entertaining; nevertheless, the conspiracy theories exist. This

can be defined as a legend since it involves human characters, and there are variations of the core

theory at the local and regional level (Dewan, 9/27).

There were several that revolved around Walt Disney himself. The conspiracy theory

legend Nate focused on was that Walt Disney was a racist and promoted his beliefs through

“racist subliminal messages” in his films. Walt Disney aimed to send these messages to the

young and vulnerable, to have more support. So, the films we thought were fun and happy were

to influence these developing brains on “how to be racist”. Examples include characters depicted

as part of a certain social group such as the Indians in Peter Pan which was said to mock Native

Americans. Lady and the Tramp and The Little Mermaid have been said to have purposely had

its characters have a specific look and speak a certain way to reflect a particular ethnicity.

As Walt Disney’s films exploded in the 1930s, he made earned his place in Hollywood.

Nate said that he had primarily heard the theory from elderly family members; his grandmother

was first who innately believed it to be true. In Peter Knight’s Conspiracy Culture, he says that

conspiracies are “marked by a routine air of cynicism as people are prepared to believe the worst

about the world they live in – even if they also show a nostalgic gullibility” (Knight 2000: 3).

Furthermore, people want to believe the worst, they want a scapegoat, and want to feel in

control. With this, it makes it a conspiracy theory because it is creating an “us vs. them”, we

being to doubt something that becomes so immersed in our world and start to seek out what we

think may be true. In this case, viewers watch a Disney film and pick apart any notion that may

seem racist, to justify the belief and then the conspiracy theory thrives (Dewan, 10/25). Knight

says that it is important to understand the historical context of times of paranoia (Knight 2000:

8). With its’ growing popularity, came a growing parental fear of the films effects on their

children. Other than what Knight says is the cynicism of the people, why did this theory of the

supposedly fun and happy children’s films have wicked, underlying motives emerge?

Another analysis could be that that presents the fear of losing agency by this unseen force

(subliminal messages) in the films.

This lies on a particular Western

notion of individualism, which I can

tie into what we discussed in class

that the creation of this conspiracy

theory is an attempt at trying to

reinforce agency (Dewan, 10/25). By expressing suspicion, parents are gaining their agency, in

other words, they are showing that they are in control of what an outside force is pressing on

their children. Nate told me that some parents that he had heard it from, refrained from showing

their children films such as Peter Pan and The Jungle Book. Being a parent at the boom of

Disney films could sprout all kinds fears and anxieties over protecting their children. Disneylore

does not end at Walt Disney being racist in his films, there are several other stories similar to this

and share an underlying cultural logic. Another common idea is the sexual advances and

innuendos which can speak to the underlying fear of not controlling our children’s sexual lives.

Nevertheless, in the mid 1900s, there was much racial insensitivity which is reflected in the

racist theories about Disney’s films. This conspiracy theory legend can be working to represent

the attitudes and beliefs of Americans at the boom of Walt Disney’s fame, picking apart

everything he does.