The announcement that Disney is planning to acquire Capital Cities/ABC is not looked upon favorably by the Catholic League. Given the Disney-Miramax movie “Priest,” which slammed Catholicism, and given the Miramax-Excalibur movie “Kids,” which is so sexually exploitative of adolescents that it was released unrated-after first receiving an NC-17 rating- the news that Disney is purchasing ABC does not bode well.
The Catholic League issued the following statement to the press:
“If Walt Disney were alive and he announced that his company was buying ABC, we would be delighted. Catholics, as well as non-Catholics, could then look forward to the kind of wholesome entertainment that the Disney label once made famous. But unfortunately the Disney of the 1990s bears scant resemblance to the Disney of old.
“If Disney chairman Michael Eisner is content to allow its subsidiary, Miramax, to release a viciously anti-Catholic movie like ‘Priest,’ and if he is willing to sit back and allow Miramax to create a dummy outfit like Excalibur to release sexually exploitative movies like ‘Kids,’ then it is apparent that he is prepared to turn his head each time something offensive is about to be distributed under the Disney label. To be exact, it suggests that Michael Eisner is willing to offend some Americans in return for a fast buck.
“There is much on television that is already disturbing. With the Disney purchase of ABC, those who care about the quality of our cultural life now have another reason to be concerned.”
