Why did Tolkien dislike Disney?

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

But even Priscilla was 13 in 1940. I didn't see Fantasia other than clips on "Screen Test" until I was grown up and wasn't that bothered. My mother loathed and vetoed cartoons however I know she was taken to see Snow White as a very young child (had a Doc model to prove it- merchandising is not a new thing!!!). I don't know if that put her off...

Same here. I never saw Fantasia until I had the Internet at home. Disney classic animation things just aren't shown on UK TV even now. You can get a Sky sub to their channels or buy DVDs (and even then they are only available for a few months before being discontinued), but you just won't see them on BBC or ITV. The only way a child can get 'into' Disney in this country is if their parents make a conscious decision to do so.

I wasn't exactly starved for animation when I was a child. There were endless things to watch that meant I was barely aware of Disney until I was a teenager. Hanna -Barbera's Top Cat; The Flintstones; Whacky Races; and Scooby Doo. European stuff like Barbapapa and Ulysses 31, or action from Battle of the Planets, Godzilla and Spider-Man. And the classic series made by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin - Bagpuss, The Clangers, Ivor the Engine and Noggin the Nog - I'd venture to say that if you randomly sampled 100 middle aged Brits to find out which animation they felt a strong sentimental attachment to, anything by Postgate/Firmin would be mentioned by the majority, Disney not so much. And that's because once TV came along, Disney chose not to be part of it here, not even on video cassette, and there was just so much more available (they have certainly caught up since - there can't be a kid alive who hasn't seen Nemo/Toy Story/Cars).

But...I think Tolkien was highly likely to have seen Disney at the cinema though. Priscilla may have been a young teenager but they grew up more slowly back then (and Priscilla was keen on cuddly toys until she grew up), and from what I hear Snow White was enjoyed by all ages. I wonder if there is anything in the Hammond/Scull books or the letters? Maybe his cinema visits were too trivial to be noted?