History 'Fantasia' called “A ‘Nazi’ Abuse” by reviewer

[Tom Morrow]

Reviewer calls 'Fantasia' "a 'Nazi' abuse"

'Fantasia' (1940) - Review "A 'Nazi' Abuse" The Cowan Collection A review of “Fantasia” by Dorothy Thompson, copyright New York Tribune, November 25, 1940. “A ‘Nazi’ Abuse” — The negative review notes that “Altogether Mr. Disney’s later films, and above all the films in Fantasia, are a caricature of the Decline of the West. They are cruel, and in the latest work brutal and brutalizing.” continue to SCAN of review by Bob Cowan complete article and SCAN

Sent from Ezra

[Disney_Guy]

People love trying to spark controversy...

[Ezra]

Most of the reviews for Fantasia were bad. Music critics were particularly cruel. The general attitude was one of snobbery: How can this petty cartoonist dare to paste his vulgar images all over our classical music?

These reviews lead to the initial failure of Fantasia. Because of the new 10 channel sound system that had to be installed to play the movie, Fantasia did not have a wide release. Instead it traveled from town to town as Disney installed the sound hardware in one theatre after another.

These horrible reviews sabotaged the whole plan. When investors got wind of them, they pulled the plug on the distribution costs, and the show folded.

So how is this one review, written in 1940, interesting on its own?

I think that Ezra was on the right track. I think that a collection and analysis of all of the reviews would be far more interesting. But pulling this one review because it used the word "Nazi" in its title is kind of silly. "Nazi" is just such a sensationalist word to have used at the time. I'd call it desperate headline writing. In other words, a cheap gimmick used to get people to look at her crummy review.

[ctdsnark]

What in BLAZES was this LOONEY talking about??!!??

All I know is that Walt had a revolutionary idea for stereo sound in movie theaters,LONG before anyone would ever hear of THX,or even Dolby,and people like this narrow-minded pinhead killed it.Nice going,Miss Thompson.

[Wedbliss]

Dorothy Thompson was quite famous in her day as a newspaper columnist. She was a foreign correspondent in Germany when Hitler was getting ready to make his move on world domination and was among the first journalists to be thrown out of that country. I guess this explains why she seems to be obsessed with Nazism.

Thompson loved to rant and rave about the "decline of the west" and wrote hyterically about the threat that Facism posed to the world. While the threat was obviously real, her over-the-top style caused her to wear out her welcome the the American public and her influence faded away.

Maybe Rush Limbaugh would be a modern parallel.

Anyway, I think the interesting thing here is not the fact that she is dissing on Disney, but the way she did it. Do you think her method is just a tad contrived, a little extreme maybe? Just a little bit? No wonder people got sick of her.

Not to worry though. People will be enjoying Fantasia for generations to come while Dorothy Thompson will be.....wait....who was she again?

[felicity7579]

This article just goes to show how much time some people have on their hands.

[Palm Desert Babe]

wwwwwooooooowwwwwww........thts stupid.

[Kileli]

Yeah? Well I don't believe in Oreos anymore!

People write what they want to get attention. If these guys were still alive, I would love to laugh in their face, considering how popular Fantasia was.

[Wedbliss]

What in BLAZES was this LOONEY talking about??!!??


Ctdsnark, that cracks me up.