1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,920 Speaker 1: Hey, Latino USA listener, here's a great show from our 2 00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 1: archives from Fudro Media and PRX. It's Latino USA. I'm 3 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:16,760 Speaker 1: Maria in no Hosa. Today Latino USA is exploring the 4 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:22,479 Speaker 1: long standing and surprisingly political history between the Disney Company 5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 1: and Latin America. 6 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 2: Maria, let me set a scene for. 7 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:32,480 Speaker 1: You, Producer Antonia Serejidro. 8 00:00:36,840 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 2: It's a crisp October night. It's nineteen forty three. We're 9 00:00:41,479 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 2: in the Hollywood Bowl, which is this beautiful outdoor amphitheater, 10 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,360 Speaker 2: and that night they're hosting a Latin American fiesta. And 11 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 2: so the performers on stage are playing rumbas and mambos. 12 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 2: So people are sitting under the stars, they're watching this concert. 13 00:00:58,360 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 2: Musicians like Desi Arnaz, who you know who that is? 14 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: Of course, Well, actually he was the most famous Latin 15 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:08,399 Speaker 1: American actor, musicians, singer, and husband of Lucille Ball. 16 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,480 Speaker 2: He was famous on I Love Lucy. And there was 17 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:13,919 Speaker 2: Jaber Gugat right. 18 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 1: Right right, Javier Gougat. He was a band leader, of course. 19 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,480 Speaker 2: So yeah, there was these big Latin jazz names on stage. 20 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,440 Speaker 2: And then there was a guess that you might not. 21 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:34,759 Speaker 1: Expect, Donald Duck. Yeah, or should I say it, Pat Donald. 22 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 2: Pat Donald was randomly one of the people at this 23 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:44,119 Speaker 2: Latin Fiesta Night at the Hollywood Bowl. And it wasn't 24 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 2: actually Donald Duck but the man who voiced Donald Duck, 25 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 2: Clarence Nash. And so you might be like, why is 26 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 2: Donald Duck. 27 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:54,520 Speaker 1: At the Hollywood Bowl when they're playing Latin music. 28 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 2: And it's because there was just a movie that was 29 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:01,120 Speaker 2: put out called Salulos Amos. It was a Disney film 30 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 2: set in Latin America. And we're actually going to get 31 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 2: into the story behind the movie. But back to the 32 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 2: Latin American Fiesta Night at the Hollywood Bowl for a moment. 33 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 2: It was more than just a fun Latin night. It 34 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 2: was being held by the government, and not the US government, 35 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:18,239 Speaker 2: but a collection of Latin American country's consulates in Los Angeles, 36 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 2: because this was wartime, and the aim of the concert 37 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,080 Speaker 2: was to strengthen ties between the US and Latin America. 38 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:27,919 Speaker 2: And as it turns out, Disney has played a surprisingly 39 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:30,920 Speaker 2: involved role in not just the culture but the politics 40 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:31,800 Speaker 2: of Latin America. 41 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: And so on today's show, we're going to explore this 42 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: relationship between Disney, both the man and the company and 43 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:41,799 Speaker 1: Latin America. We're going to start with the story of 44 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: a trip that Walt Disney himself took to Latin America 45 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: during World War Two, where he was literally deployed as 46 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: a weapon against the Nazis. Then we're going to talk 47 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 1: about a book that was burned in Chile during the 48 00:02:54,680 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: nineteen seventies and the book is called how to Read 49 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 1: Donald Duck. And finally a look into Disney Pixar's film 50 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 1: Gocom which is set in Mexico about the Day of 51 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: the Dead. And we're going to ask the question, so, 52 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: just how much has Disney impacted Latin America. 53 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 2: To answer that question, we need to go back to 54 00:03:13,800 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 2: nineteen thirty three, the year Franklin D. Roosevelt became president. 55 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:23,200 Speaker 3: I would dedicate this nation to the policy of the 56 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 3: Good Neighbor. 57 00:03:25,200 --> 00:03:25,359 Speaker 4: Right. 58 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: So this idea, this good Neighbor policy was really FDR's 59 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: attempt to actually build a close relationship between the United 60 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: States and Latin America. 61 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 2: And the good Neighbor policy had two goals, one which 62 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 2: was more immediate to stop the spread of fascism in 63 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 2: Latin America worth World War two looming, and the second 64 00:03:43,360 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 2: goal was to unite North and South America to make 65 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 2: the Western hemisphere its own power, especially its own power 66 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 2: that is separate from Europe. 67 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 3: We have been seeking to a firm of faith in 68 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:56,880 Speaker 3: this Western world of ours. 69 00:03:57,560 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 2: One of the things that the US government did at 70 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 2: the time to remote the good Neighbor policy was to 71 00:04:01,600 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 2: create this special unit that was in charge of essentially 72 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 2: propaganda these movies that featured Latin America and were supposed 73 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 2: to make Latin Americans feel more appreciated and cared for 74 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:17,039 Speaker 2: by Hollywood specifically, and their first attempts fell totally flat. 75 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 2: They were failing miserably. 76 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:21,600 Speaker 1: Because they were like badly made propaganda. 77 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 2: They didn't get it. There was a movie called Argentine Knights, 78 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 2: which is actually the first movie that Andrew sisters were 79 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 2: ever in, and they were singing like Cuban style songs. 80 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:32,600 Speaker 2: They had like fruits on their head, and it was 81 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 2: so bad Argentine people got so offended that there was 82 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:39,320 Speaker 2: a riot. They had to bring serious They had to 83 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 2: bring riot police in to stop the pandemonium because people 84 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,520 Speaker 2: were so upset with how they were being represented on screen. 85 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:48,560 Speaker 2: And so at that point the US government officials who 86 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:51,280 Speaker 2: were behind this propaganda were like, who can we turn 87 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,360 Speaker 2: to who we know can reach out to people. 88 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: Who could it be I'm getting the picture here, So 89 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 1: it's Walt Disney obviously, So like they pick up the 90 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: phone and they call Walt totally. 91 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 2: This was the peak of Walt Disney's popularity. Guess what 92 00:05:06,200 --> 00:05:07,599 Speaker 2: movie like really launched. 93 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:11,920 Speaker 1: Him into whytheusmell? Okay? Was it Donald Duck? 94 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 2: No? 95 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: Was it Fantasia? 96 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 2: No? 97 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:15,400 Speaker 1: Was it Dumbo? 98 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:15,920 Speaker 2: No? 99 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:23,160 Speaker 1: It was snow White? Okay, all right? 100 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:27,000 Speaker 2: So Snow White had like catapulted Disney to the next level, 101 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 2: and he had gone from being this guy who had 102 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:31,599 Speaker 2: the small shop that was turning out to be really 103 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:35,320 Speaker 2: popular to the owner of a major studio when he 104 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,039 Speaker 2: had to hire thousands of employees all of a sudden, 105 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:42,040 Speaker 2: his relationship to his animators changed dramatically. And so even 106 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:44,560 Speaker 2: though Walt Disney became really popular, the animators at the 107 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:47,279 Speaker 2: studio were being paid the same amount, and so they 108 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:50,720 Speaker 2: decided to unionize, and when Walt Disney didn't react too 109 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 2: kindly to this, they went on strike. The banks weren't 110 00:05:56,120 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 2: as willing at this point in time to give him 111 00:05:58,160 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 2: loans to make his movies, and he had huge ambitions. 112 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:02,880 Speaker 2: He wanted to make two feature films in one year, 113 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:05,479 Speaker 2: which at that time was unheard of, not to mention 114 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:08,600 Speaker 2: that the World War had closed off his access to 115 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 2: European markets. So the banks were like, Oh, we don't know, 116 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 2: we don't really want to pay for your stuff. But 117 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:15,119 Speaker 2: do you know who did want to pay for Disney stuff? 118 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 1: I know it has something to do with Latin America. Oh, 119 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 1: it has to do with the government totally. 120 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 2: So they were like, hey, Disney, you're in a situation 121 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:29,599 Speaker 2: right now, and we have these very specific political needs. 122 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 2: What if we offer to pay for your next couple 123 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:35,200 Speaker 2: of movies, and we'll pay for you to go to 124 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:37,600 Speaker 2: Latin America. They had asked him just to go like 125 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:39,720 Speaker 2: shake hands and like talk to people, and he was like, no, no, 126 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 2: I'm going to make some movies out of this. I'm 127 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 2: gonna go get material and I'm going to make films 128 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:45,560 Speaker 2: out of what I learned when I'm in Latin America. 129 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:51,200 Speaker 2: And so then he, like Ocean's eleven style, collected this 130 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:55,359 Speaker 2: group of storyboarders and animators and pr people that worked 131 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,840 Speaker 2: at the Disney studios, and they went on a trip. 132 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 3: And I went down with a staff to see if 133 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,720 Speaker 3: I couldn't make some films about the ABC countries down there. 134 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 3: You know, there's a Argentine, Brazil, and Chile. 135 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 2: So that's Disney himself. That audio is from a documentary 136 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:14,880 Speaker 2: called South of the Border about Disney's trip to Latin America. 137 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 2: And so the first place they went to was Rio 138 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,720 Speaker 2: de Janeedo in Brazil. At the time, Brazil was in 139 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,679 Speaker 2: a place where they were really vacillating between the Allies 140 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 2: and the AXIS. On the one hand, Germany was their 141 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,400 Speaker 2: largest market for cotton, but on the other hand, as 142 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:33,480 Speaker 2: the war was starting, they were seeing that it was 143 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 2: probably more beneficial for them to trade more with the US. So, yeah, 144 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 2: the US was freaking out and that's part of why 145 00:07:39,840 --> 00:07:40,600 Speaker 2: Disney was sent there. 146 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 3: Judio we set up in Rio di Genio, Brazil, an 147 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 3: improvised studio in the hotel. It was a clearinghouse for 148 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 3: all our sketches, notes, and music, the record we were 149 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 3: keeping of our trip. 150 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: I kind of like love this image of like a 151 00:07:55,440 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 1: crew of white folks from Hollywood in Brazil and they're 152 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:03,560 Speaker 1: all walking around with their little sketch books. Like what 153 00:08:03,640 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 1: are they sketching? You know, like ooo, color mangoes, wooh, 154 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:11,000 Speaker 1: I don't know. It just seems really funny. 155 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:12,560 Speaker 2: That's exactly what happened. 156 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 3: The artists spent hours in the botanical gardens and they 157 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:20,640 Speaker 3: found an amazing variety of strange exotic plants orchids, for instance, 158 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 3: grow wild in Brazil's forests. 159 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 2: Also in Brazil's where they got their nickname the bell hop. 160 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 2: At the hotel they were saying at every time you 161 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 2: had to order a taxi for them or something. Who 162 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 2: to go wal Disney El grupo, so they would in 163 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:37,000 Speaker 2: Portuguese it actually would be o Grupo, but somehow in 164 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 2: Brazil they got El Grupo and it stuck. So the 165 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 2: first place that they were afraid was going to go 166 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 2: to the axis was Brazil, so they spent a lot 167 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:46,720 Speaker 2: of time there, and then the next country that they 168 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:49,160 Speaker 2: were sort of worried about was Argentina. 169 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:52,520 Speaker 3: Buenos Aires is the third largest city in the Western Hemisphere, 170 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:55,200 Speaker 3: a city of beauty and hospitality. 171 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:58,160 Speaker 2: The reason why Argentina and Brazil were these two countries 172 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 2: that they were particularly worried about is because they were 173 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:05,080 Speaker 2: sizeable groups of German immigrants in both countries. As fascism 174 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:08,959 Speaker 2: spread in Germany, it also spread within those communities, and 175 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:11,680 Speaker 2: so those were the two main targets of their trip. 176 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 2: The other thing that's of note is that they had 177 00:09:14,760 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 2: spent time in Winosyitis. But the thing that really kind 178 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 2: of captured their imagination wasn't the city. It was the 179 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 2: life of the gauchos. 180 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 3: And we learned a lot more about the Argentine from 181 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:31,000 Speaker 3: segor f Molina Campos, famous artist and authority on the gaucho, 182 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:32,680 Speaker 3: the Argentine cowboy. 183 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:35,679 Speaker 2: How exotic, No, Maria, you have no idea. There are 184 00:09:35,760 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 2: pictures of Walt Disney dressed up as a gaucho, and 185 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:42,040 Speaker 2: as you know, I'm Argentinian, I was freaking out. I 186 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:45,240 Speaker 2: was like, what is this bizarre picture? So in that 187 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 2: picture Waltsneys drinking Mate, the popular Argentine tea, and he's 188 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:50,599 Speaker 2: wearing this handkerchief around his neck, and he's wearing the 189 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 2: big one batchas the writing pants, and he has this 190 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 2: goofy smile and it's just totally surreal. 191 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:57,760 Speaker 1: So he was not the ugly American that was coming 192 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: and saying, God, you guys are doing wearing red clothes, 193 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:04,760 Speaker 1: eating strange fruits and doing strange dances. He was like, ooh, 194 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: this is really cool. 195 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that was the whole mode of the 196 00:10:08,160 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 2: trip was like them like being like, we want to 197 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 2: learn so much about you guys. We want to like 198 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:14,640 Speaker 2: really find out about what you're all about. And yeah, 199 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:19,600 Speaker 2: there's videos of him dancing folk dances, him singing along tunes, 200 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:22,640 Speaker 2: like he really got involved. And so after these two countries, 201 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 2: the Lurupam split up and they covered a lot of grounds. 202 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:28,400 Speaker 2: They visited a lot of different countries in Latin America. 203 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 3: Our collection, the picture ideas continued to grow as we 204 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 3: started homework Ecuador with this remarkable Calumbria, It's coffee and 205 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:39,559 Speaker 3: banana plants, the city of Bogata, Venezuela, the birthplace of 206 00:10:39,640 --> 00:10:42,600 Speaker 3: Simon Bolivar, the Liberate. We found our visit much too 207 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:45,840 Speaker 3: short to do full justice to all of these attractive places. 208 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 2: So the whole trip only lasted a couple months. It 209 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:51,680 Speaker 2: wasn't that long, but they did a lot of research. 210 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:53,240 Speaker 2: They covered a lot of ground, and when they all 211 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 2: got back to Burbank, back to the studio, they kind 212 00:10:55,920 --> 00:10:57,599 Speaker 2: of looked at all of their sketches and they were like, 213 00:10:57,679 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 2: what are we gonna do with all of it? This 214 00:11:00,360 --> 00:11:03,439 Speaker 2: is so much stuff, And what came out was this 215 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:05,880 Speaker 2: movie Saalul Sannios. 216 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:13,839 Speaker 5: So the opening credits are designed to put everybody in 217 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:18,680 Speaker 5: a good mood. It's pure nineteen forties Hollywood bustling strings 218 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:21,520 Speaker 5: and they're fortified by a trumpet motive and then these 219 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:23,320 Speaker 5: descending scales in the brass. 220 00:11:23,679 --> 00:11:26,320 Speaker 2: This is Carol Hess. She's a professor of musicology at 221 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:29,199 Speaker 2: UC Davis who has done extensive research on the film. 222 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:35,880 Speaker 2: And then what they end up doing is they break 223 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:38,720 Speaker 2: down the movie into four different segments, like they couldn't 224 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:40,560 Speaker 2: decide on which character they wanted to do. 225 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:41,880 Speaker 6: So they have. 226 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:47,960 Speaker 2: Bolivian Lama, who's friends with Donald Duck in Lake Titicaga, seeing. 227 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:49,800 Speaker 3: The land of the Incas through the eyes of a 228 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:51,560 Speaker 3: celebrated North American tourist. 229 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:57,800 Speaker 2: Then there's Gaucho Goofy, this colorful co. 230 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:00,559 Speaker 3: Hand of the Great West as his part in the 231 00:12:00,640 --> 00:12:01,800 Speaker 3: South American Gacho. 232 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 2: There is Pto the plane, a baby airplane named Little 233 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 2: Pedro Wayne Poo. I swear to you, Petritil the plane 234 00:12:12,600 --> 00:12:14,480 Speaker 2: is because they only went to the airport and cheated, 235 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:17,960 Speaker 2: Like I don't think they actually saw cheatingh Why would 236 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:21,000 Speaker 2: they pick a plane that's so random? And the fourth 237 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:26,560 Speaker 2: one that's definitely the most popular one was the section 238 00:12:26,679 --> 00:12:29,680 Speaker 2: in Brazil that has a talking parent named jose Ka Rioka. 239 00:12:30,040 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 2: Don't know. 240 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:33,319 Speaker 1: I will show you the lend of this somba. 241 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 7: What this olba? 242 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:42,320 Speaker 8: All right? 243 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:44,800 Speaker 1: So what did people say when the film finally came out. 244 00:12:45,200 --> 00:12:47,800 Speaker 2: American critics actually loved it. 245 00:12:48,559 --> 00:12:51,599 Speaker 5: One critic wrote that quote, Disney has been careful that 246 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 5: in getting his laughs, the gags are not on our 247 00:12:54,480 --> 00:12:57,559 Speaker 5: good neighbors, but rather on the Yankees. Donald Duck and 248 00:12:57,679 --> 00:12:59,840 Speaker 5: Goofy are portrayed as the fall guy. 249 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:04,960 Speaker 2: They actually were incredibly impressed by the amount of research 250 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,199 Speaker 2: that went into the film and also how Donald Duck 251 00:13:08,280 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 2: is sort of like a bumbling American idiot. And there's 252 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:14,040 Speaker 2: one scene in the film that comes to mind which 253 00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 2: I was shocked by. Donald is like walking around like Titicaka, 254 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:20,280 Speaker 2: like sort of like this tourist, and he snaps a 255 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:22,719 Speaker 2: picture of like an Indian baby on his mom's back, 256 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:25,400 Speaker 2: and immediately the kid takes out a camera and snaps 257 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:25,800 Speaker 2: one back. 258 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:30,040 Speaker 1: I thought you were going to say, immediately the kid 259 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: reached out and took the camera from him. 260 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:35,600 Speaker 2: No, but it's almost even better because he's like cleverly 261 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:37,559 Speaker 2: making fun of the Duck. And it was sort of 262 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 2: this like Oh, wow, the people. The joke is at 263 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:43,600 Speaker 2: the expense of Donald Duck and not of the Andyan people, 264 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:46,200 Speaker 2: which people were very surprised by. 265 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:48,319 Speaker 1: What about the critics in Latin America? 266 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:52,080 Speaker 5: So I took a look at the Latin American press myself, 267 00:13:52,320 --> 00:13:54,160 Speaker 5: and sure enough, it was pretty positive. 268 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:56,959 Speaker 1: There's a love affair that's going on here. That's a 269 00:13:57,040 --> 00:13:58,320 Speaker 1: little to me unexpected. 270 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:01,480 Speaker 2: I think it's very important to remember that this was wartime. 271 00:14:01,760 --> 00:14:03,960 Speaker 2: It was a time of unity because they were fighting 272 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:07,640 Speaker 2: a common enemy. The other thing that is of note 273 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:09,320 Speaker 2: about the film is that. 274 00:14:09,640 --> 00:14:14,360 Speaker 5: Salulos Amigos premiered not in Hollywood, but Salulas Amigos premiered 275 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 5: in Latin America. It was first shown in Rio de 276 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 5: Janeiro as Alo Amigos on the twenty third of August 277 00:14:21,400 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 5: nineteen forty two, and this was no ordinary night at 278 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:28,360 Speaker 5: the movies. The previous day, after years of vacillating between 279 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:32,760 Speaker 5: the Allies and the Axis, the Brazilian president, Dictator Dulio Varagas, 280 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:34,680 Speaker 5: declared war on Italy and Germany. 281 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,120 Speaker 1: So does that mean that in the end the trip worked? 282 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: It was successful? 283 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:42,800 Speaker 2: So I asked Carol that question and she told me 284 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 2: about what this one critic of the time said. 285 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:50,600 Speaker 5: And this critic called Donald Duck more effective than Joseph Gibbels, 286 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:52,760 Speaker 5: who was Hitler's minister of propaganda. 287 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:55,000 Speaker 2: And so in terms of a good will trip for 288 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 2: World War two, yeah, it worked. But did it work 289 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 2: in terms of helping Pan Americanism? Like, did this Disney 290 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 2: film all of a sudden change the relationship. 291 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:09,960 Speaker 5: When the war ended? Good neighbor enthusiasms faded, the United 292 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 5: States was now a formidable superpower, and onto other things. 293 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:17,800 Speaker 1: It wasn't really a love affair. It was political propaganda. 294 00:15:18,080 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 5: So within a few years it was as if Disney's 295 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:25,880 Speaker 5: frolicsome cartoon characters and friendship cementing music had never graced 296 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 5: the screen. 297 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:35,280 Speaker 1: Coming up on Leating New Usa, the unlikely story of 298 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:37,880 Speaker 1: a Chilean man who put his life on the line 299 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,320 Speaker 1: by criticizing Donald Duck. 300 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:43,960 Speaker 6: And they stoned our house and began shouting, long Live 301 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 6: Donald Duck. 302 00:15:44,800 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: Stay with us, Hey, We're back. Before the break, we 303 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:29,920 Speaker 1: were hearing about how Walt Disney and a team of 304 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,080 Speaker 1: creatives took a trip down to Latin America basically to 305 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:36,840 Speaker 1: help fight the spread of Nazism in the nineteen forties. 306 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:40,240 Speaker 1: Now that trip was part of the Good Neighbor Policy, 307 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:44,640 Speaker 1: which was President Roosevelt's plan to strengthen ties between North 308 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:48,880 Speaker 1: and South America. Almost immediately after World War Two ended, 309 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: a new ideology was gaining global strength and quickly became 310 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:55,720 Speaker 1: number one enemy to the United States. 311 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 6: Communism. 312 00:16:57,400 --> 00:16:59,400 Speaker 3: I believe at that time when mister Sorel was a 313 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 3: Communist because of all the things that I had heard, 314 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:03,240 Speaker 3: and that was. 315 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,840 Speaker 1: Walt Disney himself outing a Hollywood union leader as a 316 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: Communist in front of the House Committee on Un American Activities. 317 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:16,520 Speaker 1: Many Hollywood actors, writers and directors were under fire during 318 00:17:16,600 --> 00:17:20,120 Speaker 1: that time when Senator Joseph McCarthy made it his personal 319 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:23,679 Speaker 1: mission to get rid of all communists in the United States. 320 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:27,800 Speaker 1: At the same time, communism was becoming more and more 321 00:17:27,960 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: popular in Latin America. Fiel Castro was in Cuba, Socialism 322 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:37,120 Speaker 1: was gaining favor in Venezuela, and then in nineteen seventy 323 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:49,760 Speaker 1: Chile elected its first socialist president. Da Sinde becomes the 324 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:56,200 Speaker 1: first democratically elected Marxist. And here is when once again 325 00:17:56,720 --> 00:18:01,199 Speaker 1: this guy somehow gets involved in US and La American diplomacy. 326 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: Our producer Antonia Silhido brings us a story about Chile, 327 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:09,600 Speaker 1: book burning and El Pato Ronald. 328 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:15,639 Speaker 2: When Adeird Dorfmann was in his twenties, he was an 329 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:17,679 Speaker 2: idealistic writer who loved Marx. 330 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 6: There was a sense of achilaration as I cannot describe. 331 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 2: As a dreamer and thinker ad Chile as a nation 332 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:27,480 Speaker 2: of endless possibilities. 333 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:30,560 Speaker 6: There's the idea that you can change everything, that the 334 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:33,320 Speaker 6: world that is being, that has been narrated for you 335 00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:38,000 Speaker 6: and by others about you, is no longer valid, that 336 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:41,080 Speaker 6: you can tell your own story. And I can remember 337 00:18:41,200 --> 00:18:44,919 Speaker 6: being in the midst of enormous crowds that were marching 338 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 6: the night again they won the election. 339 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:57,400 Speaker 2: Really soon after the election, major changes were already underway. 340 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:00,280 Speaker 2: The national government was going to take back Chilia's natural 341 00:19:00,359 --> 00:19:03,800 Speaker 2: resources from big corporations. The land that peasants had previously 342 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:06,160 Speaker 2: worked on was now going to belong to them. 343 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 6: A real liberation of our country. 344 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:11,159 Speaker 2: And Adie saw that a political and economic revolution was 345 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:13,560 Speaker 2: happening in Chile. But as a writer, he thought the 346 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:16,120 Speaker 2: revolution needed to go one step further. 347 00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:19,359 Speaker 6: Revolution in the culture itself. Because most of the cultural 348 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 6: products of Chile were all imported from abroad. 349 00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:24,719 Speaker 2: It was time for Cheetah to create its own cultural 350 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:27,640 Speaker 2: products and for Chilean artists to take their own work seriously. 351 00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 2: And it was Walad Yet was thinking about how to 352 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:33,119 Speaker 2: do this that he met Armann Mattelert, another young rabble 353 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,480 Speaker 2: rousing writer. They met at a cocktail party, and immediately 354 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:38,879 Speaker 2: they hit it off and bonded over what all adult 355 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:40,679 Speaker 2: men bond over at cocktail parties. 356 00:19:40,800 --> 00:19:42,280 Speaker 6: Walt Disney. We're interested in Walt Disney. 357 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:45,240 Speaker 2: They were particularly into Disney comic books. 358 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:49,200 Speaker 6: Millions and millions of comic books in particular were being 359 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:53,359 Speaker 6: imported from outside Chile, and we thought, well, let's target 360 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 6: Walt Disney and particularly Donald Duck, this very popular character, 361 00:19:57,080 --> 00:19:59,879 Speaker 6: and let's read him. Let's show what are the hidden 362 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,600 Speaker 6: values and systems behind this. 363 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:09,639 Speaker 2: For the next ten days, Adriel Rmand devoured Donald Duck 364 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,920 Speaker 2: comic books and they started to write about what they noticed. 365 00:20:13,160 --> 00:20:16,440 Speaker 2: They identified what they saw as problematic characters, like this 366 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:17,960 Speaker 2: one Vietnamese rat. 367 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:22,760 Speaker 6: Jan Bigrat, who happened to be a Vietnamese revolutionary who 368 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:25,879 Speaker 6: was throwing bombs at the Ducks. 369 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:30,000 Speaker 2: Right, so this Vietnamese rat is threatening the ducks Donald 370 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:33,439 Speaker 2: Donald's family. He has nephews named Huey, Dewey and Louis 371 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,479 Speaker 2: for the Disney philisteins out there. But Adil doesn't think 372 00:20:36,520 --> 00:20:38,600 Speaker 2: the Ducks are upstanding citizens either. 373 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:42,159 Speaker 6: Huey, Dewey and Louis saying, well, boys, when you grow up, 374 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:43,439 Speaker 6: what are you going to be. I'm going to make 375 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 6: a lot of money. I'm going to be a capitalist. 376 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:46,960 Speaker 6: I'm going to exploit people in general. 377 00:20:47,160 --> 00:20:50,919 Speaker 2: He was dismayed by the values the comics promoted, let's say. 378 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:56,880 Speaker 6: Greed versus solidarity, or competition versus the idea of self reliance. 379 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 2: So Adilanmann compiled all of these thoughts about the Disney 380 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,359 Speaker 2: animal heroes, and the final product was this one hundred 381 00:21:03,359 --> 00:21:06,480 Speaker 2: and twenty page book slash essay called how to Read 382 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 2: Donald Duck or par. 383 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:12,040 Speaker 6: And the book became a runaway best seller in Chile. 384 00:21:15,440 --> 00:21:19,000 Speaker 2: Chilean's were hungry for a book that had the irreverent 385 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:22,480 Speaker 2: tone of the revolution itself, and Nadiel was already a 386 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:25,720 Speaker 2: pretty established writer. He even worked as a cultural advisor 387 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 2: to sal in this administration, and so he had a 388 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 2: perspective that people were immediately drawn to. The book was 389 00:21:31,920 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 2: really sarcastic. One passage titled instructions on how to expel 390 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:39,080 Speaker 2: someone from the Disneyland Club started with the line the 391 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:41,800 Speaker 2: authors of this book are to be defined as follows 392 00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:47,639 Speaker 2: indecent and immoral. Yet not everyone in Juliet found the 393 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 2: book insightful or funny. 394 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:51,000 Speaker 6: There was a situation where I was crossing the street 395 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:53,239 Speaker 6: and somebody tried to run me over in his car, 396 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:55,960 Speaker 6: shouting Vivan Patland, which is really crazy. I mean, it 397 00:21:56,280 --> 00:21:58,439 Speaker 6: sounds funny, but it's it's it's not funny if they 398 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:00,560 Speaker 6: try to run you over. We lived in a semi 399 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:04,840 Speaker 6: bourgeois neighborhood and they stoned our house and began shouting 400 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:06,160 Speaker 6: long lived Donald Duck. 401 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:12,080 Speaker 2: Outside of Adia's world, there was a growing tension in Chile. 402 00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:16,159 Speaker 2: The economy started to decline, and officials, including Supreme Court judges, 403 00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:19,520 Speaker 2: began to complain that the government was ineffective at enforcing 404 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:23,080 Speaker 2: the law. I In this popularity nationally still managed to 405 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:27,200 Speaker 2: stay relatively high, but many right wingers, particularly military personnel, 406 00:22:27,359 --> 00:22:32,120 Speaker 2: were losing patients and so. On September eleventh, nineteen seventy three, 407 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:37,399 Speaker 2: Chile's military armed forces storms Lamonida. La Moneda is basically 408 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:40,640 Speaker 2: the Chilean White House, and they demanded that President Ayin 409 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:45,480 Speaker 2: they surrender. The country ended up dying in Lamonida and 410 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:47,840 Speaker 2: military leader Agusta Pinocchet took over. 411 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 6: I wasn't there at the palace when Allende died, and 412 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 6: when so many of my other friends either died or 413 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 6: or disappeared, and so I went on the run. I 414 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,520 Speaker 6: was told that I should go clandestine, and I was 415 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:03,760 Speaker 6: at a friend's house when she put on the television set, 416 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:09,359 Speaker 6: and live on television, there were a series of soldiers 417 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 6: who were burning books. I mean, I thought this was 418 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,800 Speaker 6: impossible that you could burn books after the Nazis had 419 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:19,480 Speaker 6: done something similar so many years before, you know. And 420 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:21,920 Speaker 6: then the camera goes forward a little bit and it 421 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:25,159 Speaker 6: shows my own book being burnt. So I found this 422 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:29,400 Speaker 6: very strange situation in which I was witnessing my own 423 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:32,040 Speaker 6: book being burnt on television live. I think probably I 424 00:23:32,080 --> 00:23:34,120 Speaker 6: may have been the first person to watch his own 425 00:23:34,119 --> 00:23:41,240 Speaker 6: book being burnt live. Of course, this was a coup 426 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:46,800 Speaker 6: which was fomented and helped by the United States, the 427 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:47,679 Speaker 6: Land of Disney. 428 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:52,480 Speaker 2: The Nixon administration was vehemently opposed to in this term, 429 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:55,120 Speaker 2: and the CIA had actually been working for three years 430 00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:58,600 Speaker 2: to help organize the coup. The dream of a socialist Chile, 431 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 2: one that wasn't in us by superpower like the United States, 432 00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:03,639 Speaker 2: died overnight. 433 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,600 Speaker 6: So we thought that we were roasting Donald Duck, and 434 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:08,840 Speaker 6: Donald Duck was roasting us all the time. It would 435 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 6: much stronger than we thought he would be. 436 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:11,399 Speaker 1: And part of what. 437 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,160 Speaker 2: Died was a whole edition of How to Read Donald Duck. 438 00:24:14,320 --> 00:24:18,400 Speaker 2: It was thrown into the ocean, five thousand copies, completely 439 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 2: destroyed by the Chilean military government. So after this Adid 440 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,600 Speaker 2: had to go into exile and somewhat ironically ended up 441 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:32,440 Speaker 2: in the US and in this new land. He wanted 442 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:33,760 Speaker 2: his manifesto to survive. 443 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:35,119 Speaker 6: One of the things that I wanted to do as 444 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:37,040 Speaker 6: soon as I went into exile was I want this 445 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:39,119 Speaker 6: book to be published in the land of Disney. 446 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:42,400 Speaker 2: I did felt that Disney wasn't just exporting oppressive values 447 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,159 Speaker 2: to the world, but it was oppressing its own people 448 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:49,360 Speaker 2: by instilling those values within the United States. Because, according 449 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:51,879 Speaker 2: to Idia, the whole notion of Donald Duck, it. 450 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 6: Had come out of the special idea of American innocence, 451 00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:59,120 Speaker 6: on American goodness and American fund Disney. 452 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 2: Was presenting an income fleet and sanitized version of the 453 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:02,879 Speaker 2: US to itself. 454 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 6: There was no racism, for instance, in Disney's comics. That 455 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:11,200 Speaker 6: didn't exist. Hiroshima didn't exist in Disney's comics, et cetera. 456 00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:11,960 Speaker 6: I could go on or not. 457 00:25:12,280 --> 00:25:14,920 Speaker 2: And this is the big thing Ididn wanted to expose. 458 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:18,240 Speaker 2: The biggest issue he took with Disney's animations is that 459 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:23,320 Speaker 2: they spread a false narrative of American innocence. US publishers, however, 460 00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:25,720 Speaker 2: did not want to help him spread that message, but 461 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 2: not because of the book's politics, but rather good old 462 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:30,200 Speaker 2: fashioned copyright infringement. 463 00:25:30,400 --> 00:25:34,880 Speaker 6: An army of lawyers was going to contest our copyright 464 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:36,320 Speaker 6: because one of the things we had done in the 465 00:25:36,359 --> 00:25:40,200 Speaker 6: book was we had filled it with Disney cartoons without 466 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:43,240 Speaker 6: asking permission. So we published it in London and we 467 00:25:43,400 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 6: imported four thousand copies to the United States, which were 468 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:49,000 Speaker 6: immediately impounded by the US Treasury Department. 469 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,480 Speaker 2: The case was taken to court. The argument was that 470 00:25:51,640 --> 00:25:54,159 Speaker 2: because how to Read Donald Duck was a critique, the 471 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 2: inclusion of the comics in the book was fair use, 472 00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 2: and IDI had actually won, but. 473 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,160 Speaker 6: The Treasury Department only allowed us to import one thousand, 474 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:05,760 Speaker 6: five hundred copies of those books because of an arcane 475 00:26:05,840 --> 00:26:09,840 Speaker 6: law from the eighteen nineties or something like that with copyright. 476 00:26:10,119 --> 00:26:12,080 Speaker 2: The few copies that did make it into the US 477 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,320 Speaker 2: have since become collector's items, going for hundreds of dollars. 478 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:18,760 Speaker 2: But How to Read Donald Duck was not widely circulated, 479 00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,080 Speaker 2: and it wasn't the household name that I had hoped 480 00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:29,639 Speaker 2: it would be in the States. Regardless, Idiot has had 481 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:32,000 Speaker 2: a long career here in the US. He became a 482 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,200 Speaker 2: professor at Dartmouth and is now retired, but in Latin 483 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,000 Speaker 2: America he's still mostly known for his thoughts on the Duck. 484 00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 6: Now in Latin America, this book became a classic, and 485 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:43,119 Speaker 6: we sold a million copies, and it was published I 486 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:46,720 Speaker 6: don't know, like twenty thirty languages around the world. So 487 00:26:47,240 --> 00:26:50,240 Speaker 6: our Duck has grown, But I must say that Disney's 488 00:26:50,280 --> 00:26:52,200 Speaker 6: Duck has grown even more than ours has. 489 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:57,800 Speaker 2: After four decades, Idia has finally found a publisher in 490 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:01,119 Speaker 2: the US who is willing to publish How to Read Donald. 491 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:12,760 Speaker 1: Dutt producer Antonia Sarehido. So at this point we've heard 492 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,480 Speaker 1: about Latin America's relationship to Disney from the nineteen forties 493 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:20,399 Speaker 1: up to the nineteen seventies. But a lot has happened 494 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:23,800 Speaker 1: within the Disney Company since the nineteen seventies. In fact, 495 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:27,880 Speaker 1: the studio helm by Walt Disney himself is a very 496 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:31,560 Speaker 1: different place than the Disney of today that's releasing the 497 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:36,080 Speaker 1: film Goco, and so in order to understand how Disney 498 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:40,560 Speaker 1: has evolved and shifted, I spoke to Aisha Harris. Aisha 499 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:43,720 Speaker 1: is a writer and she hosts the podcast represent for 500 00:27:43,960 --> 00:27:48,000 Speaker 1: Slate dot com. She also wrote the article Moana makes 501 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:52,960 Speaker 1: it official Disney has entered a progressive, inclusive third Golden Age. 502 00:27:53,359 --> 00:27:55,719 Speaker 1: Aisha Harris, Welcome to Lettino USA. 503 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:57,040 Speaker 4: Thank you for having me. 504 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:00,639 Speaker 1: I'm excited. So, Aisha, you are an expert on diversity 505 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:04,680 Speaker 1: in Disney, this kind of very specific thing. Yes, and 506 00:28:04,800 --> 00:28:07,960 Speaker 1: you've actually you've broken it down to begin with these 507 00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:11,920 Speaker 1: kind of three different golden ages of Disney. So break 508 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: down these three golden ages. 509 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 6: Well, you have the. 510 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:19,400 Speaker 4: First Golden Age, which is the beginning of Disney, really 511 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 4: the beginning of the Disney brand as we know it today. 512 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:25,560 Speaker 4: You have Walt Disney creating these stories based off of 513 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:28,800 Speaker 4: fairy tales. And you have snow White, which is the 514 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:32,040 Speaker 4: very first feature length animated film to be released, and 515 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:34,120 Speaker 4: that period continued for a little while for a few 516 00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:36,560 Speaker 4: years after that, but there's sort of a break once 517 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:39,480 Speaker 4: World War Two hit. It was a period that was 518 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:44,720 Speaker 4: very white. Okay, So we had a second period, which 519 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:48,520 Speaker 4: was the sort of renaissance period. That renaissance started right 520 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 4: around Little Mermaid in nineteen eighty nine and went into 521 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:55,760 Speaker 4: the mid nineties. You have a Little Mermaid, Aladdin beating 522 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:59,280 Speaker 4: the Beast Lion King. And one of the things that 523 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:01,400 Speaker 4: is the marker of that period is that you see 524 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:06,720 Speaker 4: the Disney brand sort of pivoting into bigger music holes 525 00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:10,600 Speaker 4: and taking cues from Broadway. And in this third period 526 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 4: they're innovating in other ways, and those ways are mainly 527 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:17,600 Speaker 4: i think in terms of its progressive politics. It starts 528 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:20,440 Speaker 4: around the time of The Princess and the Frog, in 529 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 4: which we have the very first black Disney princess, and 530 00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:28,320 Speaker 4: more recently they're digging even harder into it. You have 531 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:32,880 Speaker 4: frozen these two princesses and their relationship being not about 532 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:36,520 Speaker 4: men but building this sisterly bond, and that sisterly bond 533 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 4: is not something you really ever saw in Disney movies, 534 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:40,760 Speaker 4: and that was its own progression. 535 00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:44,240 Speaker 1: Give us kind of like the process where Disney says, 536 00:29:44,640 --> 00:29:47,160 Speaker 1: you know what, we understand now that it's not about 537 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:51,480 Speaker 1: white princesses with blonde hair being saved by the man. 538 00:29:52,120 --> 00:29:53,080 Speaker 1: So how did they get there? 539 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:56,440 Speaker 4: I think that they were realizing that people were looking 540 00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:00,400 Speaker 4: for something new. I don't want to discount the Obama effect. 541 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:03,080 Speaker 4: I think to some extent that had a huge impact 542 00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:08,240 Speaker 4: on the way America saw itself and the desire to 543 00:30:09,240 --> 00:30:12,320 Speaker 4: see more diversity. You have all these people who are 544 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:15,640 Speaker 4: start for representation and they finally get some that is 545 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:20,760 Speaker 4: actually not terrible. Then you see your box office, you 546 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:23,840 Speaker 4: see your returns do really well, and then from there, 547 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:26,960 Speaker 4: like Hollywood is in Disney, they're naturally they want to 548 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:30,800 Speaker 4: repeat themselves, and so they're trying to I think the 549 00:30:30,880 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 4: cynical way to look at it as they're ticking off 550 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,240 Speaker 4: all their boxes one by one with each new film. 551 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:39,160 Speaker 1: So you're talking about the content that Disney is putting out, 552 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:42,200 Speaker 1: but what about the history of who's actually making that content. 553 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:44,480 Speaker 1: I mean, we know that there was a black animator 554 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:47,800 Speaker 1: Disney his name is Floyd Norman in the nineteen fifties, 555 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:50,840 Speaker 1: but have there been other poc animators. 556 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,040 Speaker 4: Floyd Norman I actually interviewed on my podcast because a 557 00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:57,520 Speaker 4: very interesting documentary was made about his life, and before 558 00:30:57,600 --> 00:30:59,840 Speaker 4: that documentary, I had not even known he was there, 559 00:31:00,360 --> 00:31:01,920 Speaker 4: who he was. I didn't know that there was a 560 00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:04,760 Speaker 4: black animator as far back as when Sleeping Beauty was 561 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:07,520 Speaker 4: being made. That was very surprised, I think dizzy. Now 562 00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:12,240 Speaker 4: they are very much being open for their benefit. They're 563 00:31:12,400 --> 00:31:16,480 Speaker 4: having more inclusivity on the consulting side and telling these stories. 564 00:31:16,600 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 4: But the fact that he was there, and I think 565 00:31:19,280 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 4: most people didn't know that there was a black animator 566 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:25,800 Speaker 4: there as far back as the fifties is kind of ridiculous. 567 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:28,480 Speaker 4: And then there was also a Tyro song. He actually 568 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:30,800 Speaker 4: passed away at the age of I think one hundred 569 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,800 Speaker 4: and one, one hundred and two last year. He was 570 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:37,040 Speaker 4: a animator on Bambi and is largely credited as being 571 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:39,520 Speaker 4: like the voice behind Bambi. He is the one who 572 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:43,640 Speaker 4: created the animation style that they use, and that style 573 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:46,480 Speaker 4: has been praised for ever since it came out. It's 574 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:49,720 Speaker 4: considered like a classic animation style. But he didn't really 575 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:51,920 Speaker 4: get the property credit for that movie. 576 00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:55,080 Speaker 1: At the time. Aisha Harris, thank you so much for 577 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:56,440 Speaker 1: joining us. I'm lating the USA. 578 00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:57,120 Speaker 4: Thank you. 579 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 1: Coming up on Latino Usay we hear from the filmmakers 580 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:48,400 Speaker 1: behind Goco. Stay with us notes. Hey, here's the rest 581 00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: of our podcast. The film Goco is about a boy 582 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:55,360 Speaker 1: named Miguel who wants to be a musician, but his 583 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:59,880 Speaker 1: family disapproves. I know, I'm not supposed to love music, 584 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,640 Speaker 1: long nize. So Miguel runs away from his family and 585 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:07,560 Speaker 1: he finds himself in the Land of the Day. Welcome 586 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,400 Speaker 1: to the Land of the Day Now. Goco has a 587 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:12,880 Speaker 1: lot of the themes and trappings that are pretty commonly 588 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,400 Speaker 1: found in Disney films, But Goco's different in that, since 589 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:19,200 Speaker 1: it's set in Mexico, it's filled with a lot of 590 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:24,760 Speaker 1: Mexican art and very specific Mexican references. There are flying, 591 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:30,240 Speaker 1: colorful ale briques everywhere. The characters insert Spanish expressions like 592 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:34,960 Speaker 1: no matchus, and they're voiced by beloved Mexican actors like 593 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:39,480 Speaker 1: Gayel Garcia Bernal. So how exactly did Pixar no to 594 00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:44,040 Speaker 1: include all of these very minute details. Well, the answer 595 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:47,120 Speaker 1: is they didn't know, so they hired consultants to make 596 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:49,760 Speaker 1: sure that they would get it right. And one of 597 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:53,760 Speaker 1: these Consultants is cartoonist la loore Garas. Now Lalo is 598 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:57,240 Speaker 1: a friend of Latino USA, and Lalo is also someone 599 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,959 Speaker 1: who has come after Disney several times with his cartoons 600 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:05,240 Speaker 1: and also on Twitter. So how exactly did Lalo Algarez 601 00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:09,080 Speaker 1: go from being a very big Disney critic to now 602 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:12,680 Speaker 1: being a Disney insider. Well, it all started back in 603 00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:17,399 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety four when the majority of California voted yes 604 00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:21,480 Speaker 1: on something known as Proposition one eighty seven, which denied 605 00:34:21,600 --> 00:34:26,480 Speaker 1: basic public benefits to undocumented immigrants. Now, the Republican governor 606 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:29,280 Speaker 1: at the time who was running for reelection, Pete Wilson, 607 00:34:29,760 --> 00:34:33,080 Speaker 1: was an avid supporter of prop one eighty seven. So 608 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:36,840 Speaker 1: Lallo decided to make a statement of his own directed 609 00:34:36,880 --> 00:34:40,120 Speaker 1: at one very particular and formidable foe. 610 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:45,279 Speaker 7: The Disney Company had donated money to Pete Wilson, who 611 00:34:45,360 --> 00:34:48,840 Speaker 7: was anti Mexican immigrant, when at the time Disney was 612 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:52,959 Speaker 7: dubbing their movies into Spanish and really promoting them into 613 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,360 Speaker 7: the Latino community. So I just thought that that was 614 00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:59,920 Speaker 7: a little uh ironic and funny, and I spoofed it. 615 00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:05,400 Speaker 7: I drew Mickey Mouse in a Border patrolman uniform in 616 00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:08,960 Speaker 7: front of a wall. He's happily pointing you back across 617 00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:12,200 Speaker 7: the border. And that cartoon went viral before there was 618 00:35:12,239 --> 00:35:19,239 Speaker 7: the internet, you know, it just went everywhere and it 619 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:21,680 Speaker 7: was used in marches and people would redraw it and 620 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:32,720 Speaker 7: build paper mache masks of it. And then in twenty thirteen, 621 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,759 Speaker 7: the Disney Company tried to trademark the term the Other 622 00:35:36,840 --> 00:35:40,120 Speaker 7: Those Mortos or Day of the Dead because they're working 623 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:42,960 Speaker 7: on a movie which I didn't know was a Pixar 624 00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:45,399 Speaker 7: movie with the theme being the Day of the Dead 625 00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:48,920 Speaker 7: or the Other Those Mortos. But when the Chicano community 626 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:54,040 Speaker 7: found out, all their collective heads exploded, including mine. Some 627 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:58,440 Speaker 7: startup petition against the move, and I drew a cartoon. 628 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:02,840 Speaker 7: My cartoon, Mortal Mouse is a giant galla vera monster 629 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:07,000 Speaker 7: sized mouse rampaging through the streets, coming to trademark Yorkupura 630 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:10,520 Speaker 7: is the catchwort. So by the third day, Disney had 631 00:36:10,600 --> 00:36:14,719 Speaker 7: withdrawn the trademark because of all the bad press, and 632 00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:18,920 Speaker 7: they recently acknowledged that it was a mistake and kind 633 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:24,640 Speaker 7: of apologize for it. So migram Mouse, Mortal Mouse. I'm 634 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:27,080 Speaker 7: pretty much done with the mouse. I think I've milked 635 00:36:27,120 --> 00:36:34,040 Speaker 7: that mouse. People at Disney would have copies of my 636 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:37,440 Speaker 7: Migram mouse in their offices because everybody loves to tweak 637 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:42,000 Speaker 7: the big mouse, you know. So what happened was my 638 00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:45,920 Speaker 7: now colleague contacted me and asked if I would want 639 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:49,360 Speaker 7: to meet with the producer of the film Coco to 640 00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:53,040 Speaker 7: talk about possibly working with them on the film. And 641 00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:56,160 Speaker 7: I said, yes, of course. In Hollywood, I mean, my 642 00:36:56,560 --> 00:37:01,160 Speaker 7: philosophy is take every meeting because you never know, they 643 00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:05,200 Speaker 7: seem to be very you know, ready to listen to 644 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:09,600 Speaker 7: people from the community and get feedback, including the hiring 645 00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:14,200 Speaker 7: of consultants to make sure that they do the movie right. 646 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,320 Speaker 7: So I talked to them, and I asked them a 647 00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:21,120 Speaker 7: bunch of questions. I interviewed them, and they reassured me 648 00:37:21,600 --> 00:37:26,520 Speaker 7: with their answers, and so they offered me a consulting gig. 649 00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:38,440 Speaker 7: So then when people found out, the response was overwhelmingly 650 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:42,560 Speaker 7: positive from the community, and it was almost the biggest 651 00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:45,239 Speaker 7: thing that I had ever announced. I mean, just so 652 00:37:45,360 --> 00:37:48,840 Speaker 7: many people shared it and congratulated me. But there was 653 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:52,160 Speaker 7: a group of people that chided me and called me 654 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:55,880 Speaker 7: names for daring to work with the mouse, you know. 655 00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:59,160 Speaker 7: But my philosophy is, you know, they're going to make 656 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:03,480 Speaker 7: the movie anyway, So if they're offering to get my input, 657 00:38:03,760 --> 00:38:06,719 Speaker 7: you know, one of the biggest critics of Disney, I'm 658 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:11,799 Speaker 7: happy to help. They are a giant corporation that takes 659 00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:14,040 Speaker 7: up a lot of oxygen. So I mean, there's always 660 00:38:14,120 --> 00:38:17,880 Speaker 7: going to be problems with any big cultural force like that. 661 00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:29,520 Speaker 1: Laalol Caraz cartoonist and a consultant Encore. Just like the 662 00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:33,080 Speaker 1: movie Saludos Amigos, which we talked about earlier in the show. 663 00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:37,040 Speaker 1: Goco first premiered in Latin America, and this is something 664 00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:41,080 Speaker 1: I asked co director of the Coco film, Adrian Molina, 665 00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:41,680 Speaker 1: all about. 666 00:38:42,440 --> 00:38:45,759 Speaker 9: It's kind of a strange experiment. We wanted to have 667 00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:48,880 Speaker 9: this policy of, you know, think of Mexico first. We 668 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:52,239 Speaker 9: really wanted in Mexico to have it release, you know, 669 00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:55,320 Speaker 9: in time for the celebration in Mexico, because the people 670 00:38:55,600 --> 00:38:58,200 Speaker 9: know the traditions and they'll be with their families and 671 00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:00,760 Speaker 9: for them to be able to experience them in conjunction 672 00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:04,800 Speaker 9: with the actual celebration felt like it was culturally appropriate 673 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:07,360 Speaker 9: and it was a thank you for all of the 674 00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:11,000 Speaker 9: warm and the opening of the doors that we experienced 675 00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:12,279 Speaker 9: as we were creating this film. 676 00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:15,120 Speaker 8: I had many many people coming up to me, and 677 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:18,120 Speaker 8: Adrian had people coming up to him wanting to hug 678 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:21,719 Speaker 8: us after the screenings, genuinely appreciative of what we had done. 679 00:39:22,000 --> 00:39:24,400 Speaker 1: Lee Unkrich, the director of the film, who's known for 680 00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:28,520 Speaker 1: other popular Pixar movies like Toy Story three and Finding Dory, 681 00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:31,240 Speaker 1: was also at the premiere. 682 00:39:31,120 --> 00:39:35,760 Speaker 8: And they were really happy that a company like Pixar 683 00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:38,239 Speaker 8: would tell a story like that. I get emotional just 684 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:41,319 Speaker 8: thinking about that, because I spent a lot of time 685 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:45,440 Speaker 8: making the film worried that the Latino community and that 686 00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:50,279 Speaker 8: people of Mexico would not accept this film and would 687 00:39:50,280 --> 00:39:52,319 Speaker 8: see it as something made by outsiders. 688 00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:56,279 Speaker 1: Lee is not Mexican and he's not Latino, but he 689 00:39:56,400 --> 00:40:00,120 Speaker 1: wanted to make this movie as authentic as possible. Oh, 690 00:40:00,920 --> 00:40:04,560 Speaker 1: just like Walt Disney did decades ago. Lee gathered up 691 00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:06,280 Speaker 1: his crew and went to Mexico. 692 00:40:10,080 --> 00:40:14,560 Speaker 8: I really wanted to embed ourselves, me and my crew 693 00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:17,960 Speaker 8: who was traveling with me, with families in Mexico. So 694 00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:21,600 Speaker 8: we went to sometimes some very rural areas out outside 695 00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:24,520 Speaker 8: Wahaka and other parts of the country, and we would 696 00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:28,160 Speaker 8: just spend entire days living with families, having them feed us, 697 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:32,040 Speaker 8: having them share their traditions of Dia ede muertos, and 698 00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:35,680 Speaker 8: in some cases we visited families that had livelihoods that 699 00:40:35,719 --> 00:40:37,279 Speaker 8: were similar to what we were trying to do in 700 00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:39,360 Speaker 8: the movie. You know, we have a family in the movie. 701 00:40:39,719 --> 00:40:42,440 Speaker 8: Our main character, Miguel, is a twelve year old boy 702 00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:45,560 Speaker 8: leaving in a family of shoemakers. So we did visit 703 00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:48,840 Speaker 8: some shoemakers, and we visited families that had many other trades, 704 00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:53,600 Speaker 8: making ala rejes, making mescal, making papelle picado mole and 705 00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:55,560 Speaker 8: we would just spend time with them. And as we 706 00:40:55,640 --> 00:40:57,719 Speaker 8: spend time with them, I tried to really watch the 707 00:40:57,840 --> 00:40:59,640 Speaker 8: dynamics going on within the families. 708 00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:02,759 Speaker 1: So you started thinking about this six years ago, how 709 00:41:02,800 --> 00:41:05,120 Speaker 1: did that happen? Where you were like, I want to 710 00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:06,719 Speaker 1: do a story about the day of the dad. 711 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:11,359 Speaker 8: Basically, yes, I had long been interested in Dia damuertos 712 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:14,000 Speaker 8: as an outsider, and I was introduced to it the 713 00:41:14,080 --> 00:41:17,960 Speaker 8: way many non Latinos are through the through the artwork, 714 00:41:18,360 --> 00:41:22,400 Speaker 8: and I wanted to learn more. So I started to 715 00:41:23,200 --> 00:41:26,160 Speaker 8: research and do a lot of investigation. We started to 716 00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:30,840 Speaker 8: bring in some different cultural experts on the celebration. You know, 717 00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:33,000 Speaker 8: I was always conscious from the very beginning of this 718 00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:36,879 Speaker 8: project that, you know, I'm not Latino myself. I knew 719 00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:39,719 Speaker 8: that this was going to be a huge responsibility on 720 00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:45,400 Speaker 8: my shoulders to tell this story authentically and respectfully. I mean, 721 00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:48,719 Speaker 8: I just from the very beginning that was paramount. We 722 00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:52,080 Speaker 8: had a lot of Mexicans and Mexican Americans on our crew. 723 00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:54,960 Speaker 8: We also have many other Latino people within the company 724 00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:58,040 Speaker 8: who we regularly brought in to kind of look at 725 00:41:58,080 --> 00:42:00,200 Speaker 8: what we were up to with our storytelling. And there 726 00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:02,279 Speaker 8: was a lot of adjustment along the way as people 727 00:42:02,360 --> 00:42:04,880 Speaker 8: told their own personal stories about their own abuelas and 728 00:42:06,239 --> 00:42:09,320 Speaker 8: people within their family, and that slowly shaped the story 729 00:42:09,520 --> 00:42:12,120 Speaker 8: and slowly brought it to this more truthful place. 730 00:42:17,480 --> 00:42:21,120 Speaker 1: And another major step in making this film credible was 731 00:42:21,200 --> 00:42:24,680 Speaker 1: bringing on Adrian Molina as his co director of the film. 732 00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:27,759 Speaker 8: When I started working on Coco, Adrian really wanted to 733 00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:30,920 Speaker 8: be a part of it, and he came on very early. 734 00:42:31,200 --> 00:42:33,720 Speaker 8: And about midway through the process of making the film, 735 00:42:34,520 --> 00:42:37,960 Speaker 8: we hit some story roadblocks, and one day Adrian came 736 00:42:38,000 --> 00:42:40,560 Speaker 8: to me and he handed me script pages that he 737 00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:42,480 Speaker 8: had written. He had just taken it upon himself to 738 00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:44,160 Speaker 8: work on the screenplay. 739 00:42:43,880 --> 00:42:46,080 Speaker 9: And a lot of that was motivated by the fact 740 00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:49,560 Speaker 9: that I couldn't go home at night and let this 741 00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:54,480 Speaker 9: film not exist. You know, sometimes movies get really far 742 00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:57,440 Speaker 9: and then they don't happen, and on this film, I 743 00:42:57,640 --> 00:43:00,200 Speaker 9: wanted so badly for it to happen, and. 744 00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:04,080 Speaker 8: So I read his pages and they were incredible. I mean, 745 00:43:04,120 --> 00:43:06,759 Speaker 8: there were as good as any professional screenwriter that I 746 00:43:06,920 --> 00:43:09,560 Speaker 8: had worked with in the past, and so we gave 747 00:43:09,640 --> 00:43:12,840 Speaker 8: him the role of screenwriter. He took over screenwriting and 748 00:43:13,440 --> 00:43:15,600 Speaker 8: held that position all the way till we finished the film. 749 00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:18,279 Speaker 8: It had become so invaluable to me that I asked 750 00:43:18,360 --> 00:43:21,160 Speaker 8: him to be my co director on the film. The 751 00:43:21,239 --> 00:43:25,320 Speaker 8: fact that he is Latino didn't enter into the decision. 752 00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:28,480 Speaker 8: It was because he's an incredibly talented guy with a 753 00:43:28,520 --> 00:43:30,239 Speaker 8: bright future, and I really wanted him to be a 754 00:43:30,280 --> 00:43:33,040 Speaker 8: part of this film. But the fact that he is 755 00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:38,800 Speaker 8: Mexican American brought an incredible richness to the storytelling, and 756 00:43:39,200 --> 00:43:41,360 Speaker 8: he was able to tap into his own family history 757 00:43:41,520 --> 00:43:44,960 Speaker 8: and in a way that I don't think the film 758 00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:47,400 Speaker 8: never would have gotten to the same place had I 759 00:43:47,520 --> 00:43:49,759 Speaker 8: not been working with a Latino screenwriter. 760 00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:53,880 Speaker 9: So much of the deep core of this family story 761 00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:57,840 Speaker 9: was informed by my own experience, and if there was 762 00:43:57,920 --> 00:44:00,959 Speaker 9: ever a film that played in my strengths, this would 763 00:44:00,960 --> 00:44:01,160 Speaker 9: be it. 764 00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:05,279 Speaker 1: So what's your relationship to indell Doos Mortos. Did you 765 00:44:05,400 --> 00:44:07,880 Speaker 1: grow up kind of celebrating it or knowing about it 766 00:44:08,080 --> 00:44:09,759 Speaker 1: or talking about it or was it something that you 767 00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:12,320 Speaker 1: came to as an older Latino? 768 00:44:13,239 --> 00:44:17,080 Speaker 9: Yeah, it was something that I learned about in high school. 769 00:44:17,360 --> 00:44:20,359 Speaker 9: So my mother is from Hallisco, but it was when 770 00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:22,799 Speaker 9: I was taking Spanish classes because I didn't grow up 771 00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:26,719 Speaker 9: speaking Spanish. I took classes in high school that we 772 00:44:26,760 --> 00:44:30,320 Speaker 9: would get the lessons on different, you know, cultural events. 773 00:44:31,040 --> 00:44:35,920 Speaker 9: But the things that I recognized about the culture surrounding 774 00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:41,440 Speaker 9: death and what your relationship to it is was very 775 00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:44,120 Speaker 9: similar to what I saw Every time when I was 776 00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:47,880 Speaker 9: growing up that someone close to us passed away. We 777 00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:52,360 Speaker 9: would do the funeral, but then it just became laughter 778 00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:57,800 Speaker 9: and stories. Everyone recounted the funny times and the crazy 779 00:44:57,880 --> 00:45:01,440 Speaker 9: things and the quirky things, and and that relationship to 780 00:45:02,520 --> 00:45:06,400 Speaker 9: the idea of someone passing but not passing them surviving 781 00:45:06,600 --> 00:45:09,600 Speaker 9: by the memories we keep of them was something that 782 00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:10,880 Speaker 9: was very intuitive to me. 783 00:45:14,440 --> 00:45:18,000 Speaker 1: In fact, much of that authenticity in this film comes 784 00:45:18,040 --> 00:45:19,960 Speaker 1: from Adrian's personal experiences. 785 00:45:20,280 --> 00:45:25,040 Speaker 9: There's two spots that I know came from my own experiences. 786 00:45:25,760 --> 00:45:30,000 Speaker 9: One of them is this idea of Miguel's blessing and 787 00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:33,600 Speaker 9: that he needs his family's blessing in order to return home. 788 00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:36,719 Speaker 9: But the moment was inspired when I was heading off 789 00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:39,800 Speaker 9: to college to art school, and my parents, after we hugged, 790 00:45:39,880 --> 00:45:43,120 Speaker 9: they said, we want to give you our blessing before 791 00:45:43,160 --> 00:45:46,160 Speaker 9: you head off, And you know, they just said, we 792 00:45:46,719 --> 00:45:49,320 Speaker 9: pray that you know that we love you and that 793 00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:52,360 Speaker 9: we support you, and all the good things that we 794 00:45:52,440 --> 00:45:54,480 Speaker 9: could wish for you come your way. I didn't know 795 00:45:55,080 --> 00:45:57,040 Speaker 9: that that was a feeling that could mean so much 796 00:45:57,120 --> 00:46:00,680 Speaker 9: until it happened to hear your parents say we love 797 00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:04,200 Speaker 9: you and we support you, and whatever you do in 798 00:46:04,320 --> 00:46:07,279 Speaker 9: this life, you go with our blessing. The other one 799 00:46:07,640 --> 00:46:11,280 Speaker 9: is this idea of the final death. You die three deaths. 800 00:46:11,480 --> 00:46:15,000 Speaker 9: One is when your heart stops beating, one is when 801 00:46:15,120 --> 00:46:19,160 Speaker 9: you're interred into the ground, and the last and final 802 00:46:19,239 --> 00:46:21,800 Speaker 9: death is when no one in the living world remembers you. 803 00:46:22,640 --> 00:46:25,360 Speaker 9: And that's perhaps the most sad and you know, ultimate 804 00:46:25,520 --> 00:46:26,040 Speaker 9: of them all. 805 00:46:29,920 --> 00:46:33,640 Speaker 1: So let's talk about the music, because obviously music is 806 00:46:33,760 --> 00:46:37,360 Speaker 1: central to the story of this movie, and was that 807 00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:41,000 Speaker 1: kind of from the beginning. Was that decided very early on? 808 00:46:41,320 --> 00:46:43,719 Speaker 9: You know, Miguel wanted to be a musician and his 809 00:46:43,840 --> 00:46:47,520 Speaker 9: family disapproved. So we knew that earlier than any other 810 00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:49,560 Speaker 9: Pixar film we'd ever made it we would need to 811 00:46:49,600 --> 00:46:50,920 Speaker 9: think of the music. 812 00:46:51,440 --> 00:46:51,560 Speaker 2: You know. 813 00:46:51,640 --> 00:46:55,279 Speaker 9: When I started writing, we had one song that we 814 00:46:55,440 --> 00:46:59,680 Speaker 9: knew was kind of emblematic of so many things in 815 00:46:59,680 --> 00:47:04,800 Speaker 9: the film, and that was remember Me, Remember that had stuck. 816 00:47:04,920 --> 00:47:08,080 Speaker 9: That was something that really was in line with the 817 00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:11,480 Speaker 9: traditions of the celebration and also with the themes of 818 00:47:11,520 --> 00:47:14,279 Speaker 9: our storytelling. And I really wanted to as much as 819 00:47:14,320 --> 00:47:17,280 Speaker 9: we could lean on Mexican musical style. 820 00:47:17,800 --> 00:47:22,239 Speaker 7: Remember no, I have to travel far, remember me. 821 00:47:23,200 --> 00:47:25,000 Speaker 5: Each time you here guitar. 822 00:47:26,160 --> 00:47:28,879 Speaker 1: Now, if after listening to all of this, you're saying 823 00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:32,200 Speaker 1: to yourself, hold on, I think I've seen a movie 824 00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:36,080 Speaker 1: just like this before, well you're not wrong. In fact, 825 00:47:36,280 --> 00:47:40,920 Speaker 1: there was another animated film specifically about Ilia dels Mortos, 826 00:47:41,440 --> 00:47:44,279 Speaker 1: and we asked about that. So a couple of years 827 00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:47,120 Speaker 1: ago we interviewed the directors of the film Book of Life, 828 00:47:47,200 --> 00:47:51,359 Speaker 1: which was the first movie that dealt with the Day 829 00:47:51,400 --> 00:47:54,680 Speaker 1: of the Dead. So were you at all inspired by 830 00:47:54,760 --> 00:47:59,359 Speaker 1: Book of Life? I mean, there are some similarities, there are, 831 00:47:59,480 --> 00:47:59,840 Speaker 1: I'll tell you. 832 00:48:00,160 --> 00:48:03,360 Speaker 8: I'm actually friends now with Jorge Gutierrez, who directed a 833 00:48:03,560 --> 00:48:06,840 Speaker 8: Book of Life, and he's been a huge supporter of 834 00:48:06,960 --> 00:48:07,640 Speaker 8: what we're doing. 835 00:48:09,840 --> 00:48:14,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, so there's no fighting going on, no heart and zero. 836 00:48:14,800 --> 00:48:17,239 Speaker 8: We get along very very well, and we were both 837 00:48:17,280 --> 00:48:18,760 Speaker 8: supportive of each other's projects. 838 00:48:20,239 --> 00:48:20,400 Speaker 6: You know. 839 00:48:20,719 --> 00:48:23,200 Speaker 8: Sometimes there's just something in the water, I guess, and 840 00:48:23,719 --> 00:48:26,200 Speaker 8: two ideas kind of come out in near proximity. I 841 00:48:26,239 --> 00:48:29,759 Speaker 8: think it happened with asteroid movies a few years back. 842 00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:32,600 Speaker 8: At the time that I thought to do this film, 843 00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:35,440 Speaker 8: one of the things that attracted me was that in 844 00:48:35,520 --> 00:48:38,640 Speaker 8: the entire history of cinema, I couldn't think of a 845 00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:42,560 Speaker 8: single film other than an unfinished film by Sergei Eisenstein, 846 00:48:42,719 --> 00:48:46,600 Speaker 8: that had anything to do with Diademertos. So I was 847 00:48:46,719 --> 00:48:49,000 Speaker 8: very excited that I felt we were doing something unique. 848 00:48:49,280 --> 00:48:52,640 Speaker 8: So when I found out that Jorge was making his film, 849 00:48:53,280 --> 00:48:57,640 Speaker 8: my initial thought was one of dismay, I'll admit, because 850 00:48:58,560 --> 00:49:01,600 Speaker 8: I knew that his film coming out before us would 851 00:49:01,600 --> 00:49:06,239 Speaker 8: automatically render us render Coco less original but once I 852 00:49:06,280 --> 00:49:09,759 Speaker 8: got past that, I felt that we were telling a 853 00:49:09,840 --> 00:49:12,520 Speaker 8: good story that was worthy of being in the world, 854 00:49:13,320 --> 00:49:16,560 Speaker 8: and by and large, we were telling two very very 855 00:49:16,600 --> 00:49:20,080 Speaker 8: different stories that happened to both be set against diadem wertos. 856 00:49:25,200 --> 00:49:28,440 Speaker 1: I mean for this film, was it for you, Adrian? 857 00:49:28,600 --> 00:49:31,280 Speaker 1: Was it just about a great story and great visuals? 858 00:49:32,560 --> 00:49:35,520 Speaker 1: Was there something else that you wanted to make happen 859 00:49:35,840 --> 00:49:37,160 Speaker 1: with this particular film. 860 00:49:37,680 --> 00:49:39,840 Speaker 9: I think it's important. I think it's important beyond this 861 00:49:39,920 --> 00:49:42,640 Speaker 9: story that's being told. I think it's important for the 862 00:49:42,800 --> 00:49:47,880 Speaker 9: way in which it represents a culture that is beautiful 863 00:49:47,960 --> 00:49:52,560 Speaker 9: but maybe doesn't always get recognized as such. I think 864 00:49:52,640 --> 00:49:56,840 Speaker 9: it's important because it is a character in Miguel and 865 00:49:56,920 --> 00:50:00,719 Speaker 9: a family in the Riveras that I think have a 866 00:50:00,800 --> 00:50:04,919 Speaker 9: lot to show the world, have a lot to teach 867 00:50:05,040 --> 00:50:08,600 Speaker 9: the world through their experience, and I wanted the world 868 00:50:08,719 --> 00:50:10,440 Speaker 9: to give them a chance. I wanted them to have 869 00:50:10,520 --> 00:50:14,319 Speaker 9: the opportunity to do that. So, yeah, it's your heart 870 00:50:14,360 --> 00:50:15,359 Speaker 9: gets wrapped up in all. 871 00:50:15,320 --> 00:50:21,399 Speaker 1: These things, Adrian Lee. Congratulations on your film and thanks 872 00:50:21,400 --> 00:50:22,400 Speaker 1: so much for speaking with me. 873 00:50:22,760 --> 00:50:24,759 Speaker 8: Well, thank you. I'm so happy that you enjoyed it. 874 00:50:25,120 --> 00:50:26,480 Speaker 9: It's been a pleasure. Thank you. So much. 875 00:50:33,239 --> 00:50:36,440 Speaker 1: Well, to wrap up our entire show about Disney, I've 876 00:50:36,480 --> 00:50:39,080 Speaker 1: got Antonia s Dhiel back in this studio. So, okay, 877 00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:40,200 Speaker 1: what's the big takeaway? 878 00:50:40,560 --> 00:50:42,960 Speaker 2: Two things have really stuck out to me now that 879 00:50:43,040 --> 00:50:46,320 Speaker 2: the reporting is done. The first is that I was 880 00:50:46,360 --> 00:50:49,279 Speaker 2: sort of surprised to realize that Disney used to work 881 00:50:49,360 --> 00:50:53,520 Speaker 2: with and even for the US government for decades, and 882 00:50:53,880 --> 00:50:56,040 Speaker 2: the Disney Company has very little to do with US 883 00:50:56,239 --> 00:50:58,840 Speaker 2: government institutions today. In fact, it has nothing to do 884 00:50:58,920 --> 00:51:02,719 Speaker 2: with US institutions today. And now that there's this sort 885 00:51:02,719 --> 00:51:06,640 Speaker 2: of separation, I'm curious whether we could still consider Disney 886 00:51:06,800 --> 00:51:09,120 Speaker 2: an American company or whether it should be thought of 887 00:51:09,200 --> 00:51:11,359 Speaker 2: as a global company, and what does that mean? 888 00:51:11,520 --> 00:51:14,520 Speaker 1: And there's another point, right, And the other thing is. 889 00:51:14,600 --> 00:51:18,440 Speaker 2: That Disney, for many kids is the first time they 890 00:51:18,640 --> 00:51:22,600 Speaker 2: encounter any kind of story or narrative, and stories and 891 00:51:22,680 --> 00:51:26,480 Speaker 2: narratives they instill values and morals, and so these films 892 00:51:26,560 --> 00:51:30,120 Speaker 2: are literally shaping people's perspectives. And that's why it's really 893 00:51:30,160 --> 00:51:32,600 Speaker 2: important to understand the context and the history of a 894 00:51:32,680 --> 00:51:35,520 Speaker 2: company like Disney that's shaping people's lives. 895 00:51:35,640 --> 00:51:52,600 Speaker 1: Great reporting, Thank you, Antonia, Thank you madam. This episode 896 00:51:52,760 --> 00:51:56,120 Speaker 1: was produced by Antonia Sirihido and edited by Marlon Bishop. 897 00:51:56,520 --> 00:52:00,880 Speaker 1: The Latino USA team includes Andreal Lopes Crusado, Arta Martinez, 898 00:52:01,280 --> 00:52:06,719 Speaker 1: Daisy Contreras, Mike Sargent, Julia Ta Martinelli, Victoria Estrada, Rinaldo, Leanos, 899 00:52:06,800 --> 00:52:10,920 Speaker 1: Junior Alejandra Salassar, Patricia Sulbaran and Julia Rocha, with help 900 00:52:10,920 --> 00:52:14,600 Speaker 1: from ra Upes. Our editorial director is Julio Ricardo Varela. 901 00:52:14,960 --> 00:52:18,400 Speaker 1: Our director of engineering is Stephanie Lebau. Our senior engineer 902 00:52:18,560 --> 00:52:22,239 Speaker 1: is Julia Caruso. Our associate engineers are Gabriel Abayez and 903 00:52:22,320 --> 00:52:25,960 Speaker 1: jj Carubin. Our marketing manager is Luis Luna. Our theme 904 00:52:26,040 --> 00:52:29,000 Speaker 1: music was composed by Sanger Robinos. I'm your host and 905 00:52:29,080 --> 00:52:32,759 Speaker 1: executive producer Marieo Jsac Guerdayas, and we'll see you on 906 00:52:32,840 --> 00:52:34,399 Speaker 1: our next episode. Ciao. 907 00:52:37,760 --> 00:52:42,000 Speaker 4: Latino USA is made possible in part by the Ford Foundation, 908 00:52:42,640 --> 00:52:46,600 Speaker 4: working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide, 909 00:52:47,120 --> 00:52:51,120 Speaker 4: the John Dee and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the 910 00:52:51,239 --> 00:52:56,240 Speaker 4: Heising Simons Foundation unlocking knowledge, opportunity and possibilities. 911 00:52:56,880 --> 00:52:59,359 Speaker 2: More at hsfoundation dot org.