Derek Meister
06-30-2004, 09:39 PM
From the San Francisco Chronicle (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/06/30/ANTIMOORE.TMP):
In an irony even Mickey Mouse would find hard to miss, America is about to weigh two wildly contrasting versions of itself in theaters this weekend as the Walt Disney Co. debuts its own foray into documentary filmmaking right alongside Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" -- which the studio refused to release.
Disney officials insist their 88-minute film, "America's Heart and Soul" -- stitching simple, positive vignettes of everyday Americans with sweeping vistas and up-tempo music -- is neither a response to Moore's politically charged hit nor any type of political statement itself.
But the studio invited the Sacramento-based conservative group Move America Forward to a screening this week a block from the Capitol, allowing its members to make the comparison to Moore's film that the studio has refused to make. The political group's invitation to its members praised the movie's virtues, "unlike the negative and misleading story line of Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' "
"We want everybody to see our movie," said Dennis Rice, head of publicity for Walt Disney Studios. "By definition, it has to be seen as a nonpartisan approach. We are not teamed up with anyone, let alone Move America Forward. We just want our movie to be seen in its purest form."
Personally, I'm not convinced there's really all that harm in what's not really as much an overtly political product as both the right-wing supporters and left-wing detractors of the film would make it out to be.
If anything, the fact that Disney is releasing this film is more a blow against it than any potential political meaning assigned to it. It's not like they've been all that successful in the film world lately.
In an irony even Mickey Mouse would find hard to miss, America is about to weigh two wildly contrasting versions of itself in theaters this weekend as the Walt Disney Co. debuts its own foray into documentary filmmaking right alongside Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11" -- which the studio refused to release.
Disney officials insist their 88-minute film, "America's Heart and Soul" -- stitching simple, positive vignettes of everyday Americans with sweeping vistas and up-tempo music -- is neither a response to Moore's politically charged hit nor any type of political statement itself.
But the studio invited the Sacramento-based conservative group Move America Forward to a screening this week a block from the Capitol, allowing its members to make the comparison to Moore's film that the studio has refused to make. The political group's invitation to its members praised the movie's virtues, "unlike the negative and misleading story line of Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 9/11.' "
"We want everybody to see our movie," said Dennis Rice, head of publicity for Walt Disney Studios. "By definition, it has to be seen as a nonpartisan approach. We are not teamed up with anyone, let alone Move America Forward. We just want our movie to be seen in its purest form."
Personally, I'm not convinced there's really all that harm in what's not really as much an overtly political product as both the right-wing supporters and left-wing detractors of the film would make it out to be.
If anything, the fact that Disney is releasing this film is more a blow against it than any potential political meaning assigned to it. It's not like they've been all that successful in the film world lately.