Today in Labor History October 24, 1947: Walt Disney testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming many of his own employees as communists, including Herbert Sorrell, David Hilberman and William Pomerance, because of their activism as union organizers. In 1993, the New York Times wrote that Disney had been passing secrets to the FBI from 1940 until his death in 1966. In return, J. Edgar Hoover let Disney film in FBI headquarters in Washington and made Disney a "full Special Agent in Charge Contact."
In 1971, Ariel Dorfman and Armand Mattelart published “How to Read Donald Duck,” a book-length essay critiquing Disney comics as capitalist propaganda for U.S. corporate and cultural imperialism. It became a bestseller throughout Latin America and is still considered a seminal work in cultural studies. It was first published in Valparaiso, Chile when Allende was in power. Pinochet banned it and conducted public book burnings.
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