The Walt Disney Company, racked with righteous guilt for being successful, American, popular with middle-class white people and known for attractive and heterosexual princesses and princes, continues to shoot itself in the foot.
Its latest act of self-destruction was to drop the short speech, made Walt Disney himself at the 1955 opening of Disneyland, from the park’s 67th anniversary celebration this year. Fans immediately noticed the omission of the brief address:
To all who come to this happy place; welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past…and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America…with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world.
What’s so offensive about that?
According to one Twitter user, the speech invokes “the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created America.” The speech had to be cut “because it mentions both history and facts, two things that are taboo to the woke agenda.”
Walt Disney has been condemned for alleged anti-Semitic and racist views that did not stand out at the time the park was created. There is debate over those claims in recent years, but the company has made sure to distance itself from anything even remotely “intolerant.”
The social-media attack came quickly, with Disney remaining aloof and not responding to requests for comment.
“Terrible. Today the company seems to only use Walt as a marketing opportunity and not as a guiding force. What reason they had to cut this speech? I have no idea. @Disneyland do better,” wrote another user.
The company recently decided to scrub the use of “ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls” from its theme parks to make them more “inclusive,” and to change its dress-code policy. Theme park workers can now come to work with visible tattoos and pretending to be a different gender if they want.
“Walt is rolling over in his grave. Wokeness has infected and damaged Disney,” another Twitter member wrote.
Disney has had a bad year, with CEO Bob Chapek attempting to steer clear of the U.S. culture wars but “woke” employees forcing him to speak out against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ Parental Rights in Education law. Disney has subsequently lost billions of dollars in value and lost its self-governing status in Florida.
Here is Walt Disney’s 1955 Opening Day Speech:
