Meryl quoted a letter written by the Walt Disney Company in 1938 to an aspiring female animator which said, “Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that task is performed entirely by young men.” Although the letter says there are no women in creative work, Meryl failed to quote the part where they do say that women are involved in inking the cells seen in the films and that this woman is welcome to apply. A little more than two years later, this all changed when artist Mary Blair started working at the company. She worked on classic movies such as Cinderella and Peter Pan and created character designs for attractions at Disneyland. Additionally, Walt’s wife Lillian originally worked at the Walt Disney Studios before they became romantically involved and they later had two daughters, to whom he was a loving father.
The actress also discussed Walt being an anti-Semite. During the 1940s, Walt made a cartoon called De Fuehrer’s Face which was a propaganda short that railed against the Nazis and their actions. Robert and Richard Sherman, Mary Sklar, Ed Soloman. All Disney legends, all Jewish. If Disney had something against
With all this information, it is easy to say: Meryl Streep, you are wrong. Walt Disney was not an anti-Semite or a gender bigot. Taking a look back at the era in which he lived, he could easily have been one but there is no proof in the magic he put out to the world that he was racist or a misogynist. What really matters about his legacy is the magic and happiness he has brought to people young and old. Through Disneyland and Walt Disney World and the movies he created, people of all ages can take a day or an hour to go back and find the happiness in their inner child. ~Brie Davis