Posted on 10/29/2007 6:39:18 AM PDT by Squawk 8888
WASHINGTON - Oh, Canada! The USA is closer than ever.
The Bush administration appears to have annexed a major Canadian landmark as part of a slick new campaign to promote U.S. tourism and welcome foreign visitors to America.
A Disney-produced promotional video released last week by the departments of State and Homeland Security highlights majestic American landscapes, from New England's colourful fall foliage and the Grand Canyon to the Rocky Mountains and Hawaii's pounding surf.
Backed by a soaring orchestral soundtrack, shots of those attractions are interspersed with the smiling images of people of all creeds and colours.
The video, "Welcome: Portraits of America," is to be played at select airports in the United States - starting at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., and George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston - and at U.S. embassies abroad.
About four minutes into the seven-minute production, viewers are treated to the impressive sight and sound of water roaring over Niagara Falls before the screen shifts to the Lincoln Memorial.
In showing the natural wonder, Disney's filmmakers, however, chose the Horseshoe Falls, the only one of Niagara's three waterfalls to lie on the Canadian side of the border separating western New York state from southern Ontario province.
Making matters worse, a visitor to the U.S. would not even be able to get the same view of the falls in the video because the scene was shot from a vantage point in Canada, according to Paul Gromosiak, a Niagara Falls, N.Y., historian and author.
Also, he said the video leaves out the two cascades that actually are on U.S. territory, the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls.
"This is not the United States, this is 100 per cent Canada, shot from the Canadian side. This is an insult," Gromosiak said after reviewing the video at the request of The Associated Press.
Although brief, the appearance of the Horseshoe Falls in a U.S. tourism promotion effort is likely to also vex Canadians, who long have fought to distinguish themselves from their larger and more powerful neighbour to the South.
The political boundary is not marked with a line through the Niagara River that divides the two countries and connects Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The distinction, however, is clear to most who have visited the Falls looking for a picture postcard photo to take home.
But it seems to have escaped the notice of the producers and those at the State Department and Homeland Security Department's Customs and Border Protection agency who presumably vetted the video before endorsing it and posting it to their websites.
In a separate "making of" video, Jay Rasulo, the chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts, speaks over the falls footage about the importance of showing would-be tourists "the great sites, the great vistas that they dream about all their lives when they dream about America."
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack could not speak to the scenery in the short film. But he stressed that Niagara Falls "is a shared natural wonder, a gateway for both our countries and anyone looking at the video will understand how proud America is to share it with Canada."
Karen Hughes, the undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, said in a posting to the department's blog Thursday that the production has the administration's blessing.
"This video clearly says: 'We want you to come to America, you will be most welcome,"' she said.
Hughes said she commissioned the work, which Disney shot and produced at no charge and donated in a move to overcome the pervasive post-Sept. 11 perception abroad that America is hostile to foreigners. She said the video is to be given maximum exposure.
"We have already sent the video and associated posters to embassies and consular offices across the world, where it will greet aspiring visitors long before they arrive on our shores," Hughes said.
"We're going to play it in waiting rooms and at embassy events - and we hope it will inspire many who otherwise might not have thought about travelling to America to come and see it for themselves." she wrote.
Or maybe Canada.
-
On the Net:
Video available at Discover America: www.discoveramerica.com
Video available at State Department: www.travel.state.gov
Manifest Destiny?
54 40 or fight
Manifest Disney.
And the folks at Foggy Bottom need to brush up on their geography.
Heh! To cheap to pay for it? The dollar just doesn’t go as far as it used to.
Maybe FEMA can do a fake news report from there too.
All your waterfall are belong to US.
Well, it’s nice to see the State Department taking away someone else’s sovereignty for our benefit instead of giving away ours.
“We’re going to play it in waiting rooms
-
play it at canadian waiting rooms and you’re going to annoy them for a very very very long time
ping-a-roo
Is right.
Bet the Disney brainstems responsible for this whopping 8 minute long epic could talk all about recycling and Heather's two mommies, but geography?
HA!!!
They didn't need no stinkin' geography, so we get none, nada, nyet.
Nice job, NEA.
...real *nice*.
To get the postcard view of the American and Bridal Falls you’d also have to be in Canada.
Seems to me, we (the American Taxpayer) have spent our treasure protecting these socialists for the last sixty years. Without our muscle, our army, our defense spending, Canada would now be speaking Russian. The least they could do to repay us would be to loan us the Falls for promotional purposes.
We DO let you use some of that water in your powerplant...
Very true. The Scenic Parkway on our side is a wonderful ride or drive and it’s just 90 minutes away from where I live.
I wonder if Canada will attack to take it back. Do you think they’ll send what’s left of their submarines?
The submarines would have a tough time negotiating those falls. :)
Blame it on Global Warming.
Niagra Falls!!!!
Slowly I turned... step by step... inch by inch....
Could they see Joseph Cotton on the staircase?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.