When Abigail Disney was growing up in Los Angeles, she was told never to publicly disparage her family business. Her grandfather, Roy O. Disney, founded the company with his brother Walt. She followed those instructions for most of her life, but in 2018, she opened a Facebook message from a Disneyland worker pleading with her to visit him and his fellow cast members, as Disney calls its park employees, to hear their stories. When she got to Anaheim, she was so struck by their hardships that she decided to make a documentary film, The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales. Through the stories of Disneyland cast members and of her own family, Disney (a philanthropist who previously made several other documentaries) explores how and why today's political and economic system keeps workers in poverty while enriching executives — both to levels unthinkable a generation ago.
In one scene Disney is shown sitting in a circle with a group of Disney workers. "How many of you know someone who has slept in their car in the last year?" she asks. Hands go up. "How many know somebody who has gone without medical care because they can't afford it?" More hands.
