Posted on 07/01/2004 10:40:16 AM PDT by MadIvan
Walt Disney, which refused to distribute Michael Moore's controversial Fahrenheit 9/11, is using the Fourth of July holiday to launch a feelgood feature film about the American people.
Borrowing a tactic from the grassroots campaign that made Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ a surprise hit, the media giant has used early screenings for select groups and is encouraging people to "spread the word" about the patriotic film, with invitations, posters, and guidelines for group outings on its website.
America's Heart & Soul, which opens today on 100 screens across the US, offers a flag-draped look at the country. The 88- minute film, directed by Louis Schwartzberg, is told through the voices of "ordinary Americans with extraordinary stories": an Olympic boxer, a blind mountain climber, a dairy farmer and an aerobatic pilot.
Disney's support for America's Heart & Soul is in stark contrast to its treatment of Fahrenheit 9/11, a caustic and critical portrayal of the Bush administration which Moore hopes will motivate disenfranchised voters to help oust the president in November.
Michael Eisner, Disney's chief executive, last year told executives at Miramax, the company's independent subsidiary, that he would not approve the release of Moore's film. Shortly before the Cannes film festival, Eisner repeated his edict, sparking accusations of censorship and a row with Miramax's founders, Harvey and Bob Weinstein, all of which helped to fuel the publicity for Fahrenheit 9/11.
The Weinsteins eventually bought the rights to the film with their own money and distributed it through Lion's Gate and IFC films. Last weekend, Fahrenheit 9/11 raked in $24m (£13m) at the box office, a record for a documentary. By Wednesday the release had been widened from 868 to an estimated 1,200 screens, and total takings had expanded to almost $36m.
Despite the film's treatment of Bush, rightwing critics have generally kept quiet about it, not wanting to give Moore further ammunition for claims of attempted censorship.
In the new film, Disney says Schwartzberg has tried to capture "both the unparalleled beauty of the land and the incomparable spirit of the people".
Indeed, Disney is being anything but bashful about the spiritual aspects of the film. Telephone callers to its advance ticket sales office may order a free bible study guide designed to go with the film.
"It's a peek into someone's heart, a journey into the soul of another human being, and a thrill ride into the sights and sounds of our cultural diversity," adds Disney of America's Heart & Soul. Continuing with the Independence Day theme, Disney's Buena Vista Home Entertainment is promoting new DVDs for the holiday weekend, including Walt Disney on the Front Lines, including rare training and propaganda films created by Disney Studios during the second world war. Other new DVD releases include Miracle, the true story of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team, and American Legends, animated films about heroes of US history.
The heroes profiled in Legends include Johnny Appleseed, the American icon who planted trees across the country, and Casey Jones, the train engineer who delivered the mail in record time.
"All the little Disney characters must be out on ice, skating. LOL"
It would appear so!
I think I read of Herb Brooks' death here on FR soon after it happened.
I keep wondering how deeply Eisner had to be sedated at the thought of Disney handing out Bible study guides. Eisner musta went ballistic to think the nation's children might be exposed to Christian beliefs and good, strong American values.
No, child... "a half-baked and cynical smear-job on the Bush administration which Moore hopes will galvanize disENCHANTED voters to help oust the President in November."
If they were really "disenfranchized voters" their opinions would have exactly ZERO impact on the election.
*sigh* alas! poor editorial skill.
Ah, come on. It'll do you good to get off the farm and come into town.
Because if the right complains about something like this, it's censorship. If the left complains, it's free speech.
Come on now, you know the rules!
The combination of Versed and an iv narcotic might be the answer to your question:
"I keep wondering how deeply Eisner had to be sedated at the thought of Disney handing out Bible study guides."
Bought off, more like.
I doubt it. They are simply marketing to the target audience on 4th of July weekend. They are still devils in my book.
...that 30% of American men wear hair curlers to bed
...that 95% of Americans carry a gun "just for kicks"
...that 42% of Catholic priests pick their noses at stop lights
That's the fun thing about focus groups.
I wonder how many minutes of the film Disney Devotes to Gay Days?
A further study would have shown that after Disney catered to the 30% for so long, that now the other 70% hate Disney, in particular, Eisner. They won't pay a cent to help him out of the hole he's dug. It may even take a while for them to warm back up to Disney after he's gone.
Reaping what they sowed BUMP!
Maybe the Disney corporation is going back to what it does best -- feel good morality plays. As "The Passion" illustrated, there's a segment of American society that will lay down the dollars for "virtuous" entertainment.
The only real disenfranchized voters in the US in 2000 were the US military at the behest of Algore. I sincerely doubt they'll oust W.
The authors must mean "disfunctional" voters.
On another note, I probably won't watch this film, either, unless it's on TV. It's a too-obvious effort at damage control by Eisner, a transparent PR ploy. Disney only scrapped Moore's film because of pressure from Mainstream America, which happens to be Disney's only source of income. The naked, gay pride wackos only go to Disney world for the orgies. America's Heart & Soul isn't enough to make the 99.9 percent of us that Eisner dispises flock to theaters.
Another point: The Passion of Christ was not a "surprise" hit, nor was it a hit because of grassroots, word of mouth advertizing. Christians naturally gravitate to it. The left went to see if the tinfoil-hat Dem slams of the movie were anywhere near true. If not for the months of hate-ads and attempts to destroy Gobson prior to it's release, a lot fewer of us would have paid money to watch another rendition of a story we already know.
"A further study would have shown that after Disney catered to the 30% for so long, that now the other 70% hate Disney, in particular, Eisner. They won't pay a cent to help him out of the hole he's dug. It may even take a while for them to warm back up to Disney after he's gone."
That would be the possible/probable determination from these focus groups.
Then one could imagine what focus groups composed of these 70% which hate Disney revealed in their focus groups.
There are more than enough Americans who are neither liberals or conservatives who hate this nation - ex-McVeigh was one of them - so I won't consign a whole voting bloc to one group or another.
They still are highly suspect in my book.
However, we will try to see this film and vote with our $'s with the ticket stubs sent to the board noting that this first Disney film in a decade that we have seen in a theatre or on tv.
Hmmm...I didn't read past teh point where it became obvious the article was written by two leftist Moore fans.
Moore's film is not fact. He lied in it. The claim of Binny's family being evacuated by the Bush administration while our airspace was still closed was originally proved bogus by none other than the 9/11/01 commission.
He also took clips of President Bush speaking about Pali terrorism in Israel and stuck them in the film to make it look as though his statments were made about al Qaeda.
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