Woke granddaughter of Disney World co-founder calls the American Dream a 'fairy tale' in her new documentary

  • Abigail Disney, 62, granddaughter of Disney co-founder Roy Disney, released a documentary in January that calls the American Dream a 'fairy tale'
  • Disney, whose inherited wealth was around $120 million as recently as 2019, uses Disney to expose what she views as America's broken economic system
  • In the documentary she asks Disney employees questions like  'How many of you know someone at Disney that's slept in their car in the last couple of years?'
  • This is only Disney's latest volley against the business her family started. In a 2019 interview with the Financial Times she called herself 'a traitor to my class'

By Alex Oliveira For Dailymail.Com

Published: | Updated:

Abigail Disney, the granddaughter and heiress of Disney co-founder Roy Disney, calls the American dream a 'fairy tale' in a new documentary that uses the Walt Disney Company to explore 'nightmare' wage gaps in America.

In 'The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales,' which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and is co-directed by Kathleen Hughes, Disney uses the company that made her a millionaire to explore what she views as America's broken economic system.  

'Disney looks at America's dysfunctional and unequal economy and asks why the American Dream has worked for the wealthy, yet is a nightmare for people born with less,' the film's website reads.

'As a way to imagine a more equitable future, Disney uses her family's story to explore how this systemic injustice took hold.'

Abigail Disney, 62, pictured here attending a Tony Awards gala, calls the American Dream a 'fairy tale' in her new documentary about the company she inherited millions from.

Abigail Disney, 62, pictured here attending a Tony Awards gala, calls the American Dream a 'fairy tale' in her new documentary about the company she inherited millions from. 

In a clip from the film, Disney, 62, sits among a circle of Disney employees and asks questions, including, 'By a show of hands, how many of you have someone you know that works at Disney that's on food stamps?' and, 'How many of you know someone at Disney that's slept in their car in the last couple of years?'

For each question, the employees knowingly laugh and raise their hands, and one employee of eight years ultimately dissolves into tears. 

Disney's inherited wealth hovered around $120 million in 2019, according to an interview she gave to the Financial Times that year. 

Disney (pictured right) teamed up with co-director Kathleen Hughes for the documentary, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.

Disney (pictured right) teamed up with co-director Kathleen Hughes for the documentary, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. 

In the documentary, the $120 million filmmaker asks Disney employees questions like 'How many of you know someone at Disney that's slept in their car in the last couple of years?'

In the documentary, the $120 million filmmaker asks Disney employees questions like 'How many of you know someone at Disney that's slept in their car in the last couple of years?'

A lukewarm review of the documentary in Deadline said Disney's latest work didn't add much to the conversation about income inequality beyond 'a high profile and well-heeled surname.'  

'The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales proves to be less an exercise for social and economic justice and more a vanity exercise with talking heads.' 

'It seems in far too many ways that the dividend anointed offspring is fueled by essentially getting the cold shoulder from Iger after sending him an email or two four years ago,' Deadline editor Dominic Patten wrote in January. 

This is not the first time Disney has taken a shot at her family company. 

In a 2019 interview for for the Yahoo News show 'Through Her Eyes,' Disney said she was left 'livid' after discussing workplace grievances with Disneyland employees.

'Every single one of these people I talked to were saying, "I don't know how I can maintain this face of joy and warmth when I have to go home and forage for food in other people's garbage,'" Disney told interviewer Zainab Salbi.

The Walt Disney Company called her comments 'a gross and unfair exaggeration of the facts' the company said in a statement.

In a 2019 interview with Yahoo News, Disney called out then-CEO Bob Iger's $66 million salary, saying that Iger needed to understand that his employees were entitled to human rights

In a 2019 interview with Yahoo News, Disney called out then-CEO Bob Iger's $66 million salary, saying that Iger needed to understand that his employees were entitled to human rights

'We generally avoid commenting on such baseless reports like this, but this one is particularly egregious and we won't let this stand.'

In the interview, Disney also took a shot at then-CEO Bob Iger's $66 million salary.

'Bob needs to understand he's an employee, just the same as the people scrubbing gum off the sidewalk are employees,' she said, 'They're entitled to all the same dignity and human rights that he is.'

Disney has become the face of a group called 'Patriotic Millionaires,' which consists of a number of ultra-wealthy members who advocate for higher taxes on the rich.

Abigail is the great niece of Walt Disney. Her grandfather was long-serving executive Roy Disney, Walt's brother. She is shown, second from left, with her parents and siblings, as a child. Now 62, she has given away more than $70 million

Abigail is the great niece of Walt Disney. Her grandfather was long-serving executive Roy Disney, Walt's brother. She is shown, second from left, with her parents and siblings, as a child. Now 62, she has given away more than $70 million

In a 2019 interview with The Cut, Disney told how she took a different view of wealth from her parents and that she realized once while flying alone on a 737 jumbo jet how wasteful they were being.

'My dad’s plane was a 737, and it was insane to have a 737 as a private airplane. It had a queen-sized bed with one big long seatbelt across it, and a shower, and it was ridiculous.'

She stopped flying on it after a journey in the 1990s when she had it summoned to take her across the country for work. She was on it alone.

Disney's older brother, Roy P. Disney, revealed that his step-child is transgender after current Disney CEO Bob Chapek remained quiet about Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill.

Disney's older brother, Roy P. Disney, revealed that his step-child is transgender after current Disney CEO Bob Chapek remained quiet about Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill.

'I was sitting there thinking about the carbon footprint and the number of flight attendants and the other pilot on-call and what it was costing, and I just wanted to be sick,' she said.

Disney is one of four siblings, including a younger brother Tim Disney, a screenwriter, and older brother Roy P. Disney, who this month revealed that his step-child is transgender after current Disney CEO Bob Chapek remained quiet about Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill. 

Abigail Disney tweeted earlier this month, blasting supporters of laws like Florida's so-called 'Don't Say Gay' bill and those who disagree with Disney's attempts to fight against the legislation. She called Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill, recently codified into law, 'culture war nonsense.' 

Disney workers walked out from various offices during their breaks to protest what they considered the company's 'slow response' to the 'Don't Say Gay'.

The Parental Rights in Education bill bars instruction on 'sexual orientation or gender identity' in kindergarten through grade three. Introduced by two Florida lawmakers and backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, they say the bill's aim is to 'empower parents' in their children's education, and make teachers recognize the distinction between 'instruction' and 'discussion.'

Company officials announced at first that they had worked behind the scenes with Florida lawmakers 'to achieve a better outcome,' Chapek told Disney shareholders a few days later. But he later admitted the efforts failed and apologized for the public response to the bill. 

Disney since has paused all political donations in the state last week following liberal outcry over the bill.

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