jordan 13 Ted Thomas on Walt & El Grupo - Intervie

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In this installment, Thomas talks about 'Coca-Cola' diplomacy, and how many vintage movies don't get the credit they deserve.
“In the case of Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros, at that time they were the most responsible, realistic depiction of Latin American culture by North American filmmakers, and they were heralded as such. Having said that, I think it’s important to emphasize that these were stories told through the prism of their experience. Now we’re getting into the issue of cultural ownership: a debate which never ends. Who owns certain stories and who has the right to tell them?
In 1941, Walt Disney and a select group of animators toured Central and South America as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Good Neighbor Policy. An attempt to ensure that those countries didn't fall under Axis influence during World War II [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], Disney also used the trip to develop the films Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros, and work on ideas techniques that would change the course of Disney's history.
S101: Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros have been lumped in with films like Song of the South as evidence that Disney had a very patronizing attitude towards other cultures and races. What’s your feeling on that? Is it legitimate?
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Ted Thomas: “It’s all in the eye of the beholder, and it depends on what point in history you look at it. In 1941 [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], the United States really were good neighbors to Latin and South America. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, things changed: governments had agendas that often pitted their people against each other. And now, things have changed again.
"I have to say that, when we were in Latin America, particularly in Argentina and Chile, you got a sense of rebirth in both those countries [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], a feeling of great vitality after some very hard years.”
S101: Do you feel this trip was an example of 'Coca-Cola' diplomacy? Was Ariel Dorfman right?
(Writer's note: Ariel Dorfman is a Chilean professor, best known for writing the scathing How to Read Donald Duck. A cultural advisor for the ill-fated Allende presidency, he fled Chile after the CIA-backed coup that installed the brutal General Pinochet.)
“I would urge people to do their homework and have a better understanding of the time of when these films were made. We’re very quick to judge works that were made many years ago by all that has happened between then and now. I think that’s tremendously unfair because, in some cases, those works played a role in changing the status quo. But today we blame them for perpetuating it.
“I think it’s fascinating to revisit these films with this added understanding of when and how and why they were made. Everybody will see them in a different way: both with more keen insight and perhaps with some added sympathy.”
Now director Ted Thomas (Frank and Ollie) has examined this trip from an artistic perspective in Disney's new documentary Walt & El Grupo. Chatting with Suite 101 in an exclusive interview, he discussed his personal view of Walt, and how Disney's tour of Latin America may not have been universally loved.