Walt Disney
Most of the time, the FBI made files on celebrities they believed to be Communists or at least Communist sympathizers. But Walt Disney’s massive FBI file was different. This time, the Hollywood superstar was actively working with the Agency to weed out ‘un-American’ elements in the entertainment industry. What’s more, Disney reported directly to the top man, J. Edgar Hoover himself.
The vast majority of the 750 pages of information the Agency had on Walt Disney were compiled between 1954 and 1966. Some of the more intriguing documents include one from 1955, the year in which Disney opened his first theme park. It was ‘Uncle Walt’ himself who proactively offered the FBI free rein of the entertainment complex and even mooted a special zone or exhibition celebrating the work of the G-Men. What’s more, the file also shows just how close Disney and Hoover became over the years. They would regularly speak over the phone, sharing their thoughts on the movies and TV shows of the day.
Over the years, Disney dedicated several episodes of the hugely-popular Mickey Mouse Club children’s TV show to the FBI, promoting the Agency in a good light and even attempting to instil ‘true American values’ in its young viewers. Other revelations from the file include the fact that Hoover managed to get some Disney content altered, most notably a movie called “That Darn Cat”, which was changed to show the Agency in a better light. Before long, Disney was submitting film ideas and scripts to agents for feedback and even approval.
Once again, it was a Freedom of Information request, this time submitted by the writer and biographer March Eliot, which uncovered the giant dossier the FBI compiled on one of America’s most famous businessmen and entertainers in the early 1990s. However, some 200 pages of the whole file were heavily redacted, meaning we will likely never know just how closely Disney worked with Hoover, and whether he named names and had careers – maybe even lives – ruined due to suspicions of ‘anti-American’ beliefs.