PRPG:

The People vs. Disney

April 30, 2014

The Walt Disney Company has long been associated with harmless, family-friendly entertainment. Nevertheless, its wholesome image hasn’t prevented it from becoming embroiled in controversy.

  • The People vs. DisneyIn 1997 Disney-owned ABC began airing Nothing Sacred, an hour-long drama about a “cool” priest who sometimes doubted his faith and was more liberal than his contemporaries. The Catholic League organized a well-publicized boycott. ABC claims that low ratings were the cause, not the protest, but at any rate, Nothing Sacred was cancelled less than a season into its run. Two years later, Kevin Smith’s religious comedy Dogma (which features a plot about God being stuck in human form on life support, and needing to get unplugged so he can resume his godly form) was set to be released by Disney-owned Miramax. Catholic groups so thoroughly protested that Disney sold the distribution rights to Lionsgate Films.
  • A report published in 2005 by the University of Miami and the College of the Bahamas claimed that Disney really destroyed 90 acres of land in the Bahamas. The company had planned to turn the area into a resort called Treasure Island and invested $30 million in the project before ditching it due to logistical problems. Construction workers supposedly left behind everything from hazardous materials to invasive plants. That same year, two environmentalist groups filed a $1 billion lawsuit against Disney for allegedly using a “secret pipe” to dump pollutants from its movie studio in Burbank into the Los Angeles River. (The case was ultimately dismissed; the groups were ordered to pay Disney’s legal fees.)
  • Animal welfare groups took aim at Disney for using purebred Dalmatians in the 1996 live-action version of 101 Dalmatians and its 2000 sequel. They claimed that the movies inspired many families to adopt Dalmatian puppies even though they weren’t prepared for the breed’s energetic, aggressive behavior and numerous health problems. Animal shelters across the country reported an influx of Dalmatian puppies in the months following the release of both movies. (The 2003 Disney-Pixar film Finding Nemo inspired a similar rush on clownfish.)