This shouldn't be a big surprise to you, dear reader, because it's one of the better-known juxtapositions between art and artist in popular culture: Walt Disney, creator of some of the most enduring and beautiful animations of our time and inventor of theme parks he aimed to be the "happiest place on Earth" for their pint-sized attendees, was not a nice man. Not a nice man at all. Not only was there all the rumoured anti-semitism and avowed racism on his part (have you seen Songs Of The South recently? Nope, because Disney have done their best to repress it, because it's SO OFFENSIVE), but also the period during the forties where he willingly and happily chose to spy on and rat out his fellow Hollywood luminaries. This was during the era of Joseph McCarthy, a crackpot senator who not only saw communism as the single biggest threat against America, but also saw possible reds behind every corner, and under every bed. As part of his campaign against Un-American Activities he enlisted the help of the FBI, who in turn looked to Hollywood for potential informants to bring attention to commies from the inside. Disney was one of those informants, ferreting out communists and sympathizers throughout LA. As a staunch right-winger who'd had his own trouble with labour unions, he was happy to help. In fact, blacklisting many innocent moviemakers and ruining their lives was something he saw as his patriotic duty. Then he went back to making Snow White, we guess.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
