The American dream and other fairy tales: screening and Q&A with Abigail Disney

Join us for a screening of The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales, followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Abigail Disney. In this feature-length, personal essay documentary, Disney examines America’s profound inequality crisis, drawing on her own family story to explore how systemic injustice took hold and imagine a way towards a more equitable future.

The story begins in 2018, after Abigail encounters workers at the company that bears her name struggling to put food on the table. Could she, a descendant with no role in the multinational conglomerate, use her famous last name to help pressure Disney and other American corporations to treat low-wage workers more humanely? Believing her conservative grandfather, Roy Disney (Walt’s brother and company co-founder), would never have tolerated employee hunger at “The Happiest Place On Earth”, Abigail re-examines the story of modern American capitalism from the middle of the last century, when wealth was shared more equitably, to today, when CEOs earn upwards of 800 times more than their average employees. What happened? What Abigail learns – about racism, corporate power and the American Dream – is eye-opening, unexpected, and inspiring in that it begins to imagine a path to a fairer future for everyone.

Filmed over a two-year period, The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales expertly weaves together Abigail’s family story and the stories of Disneyland workers with commentary from historians, authors, and academics. The film artfully employs archive footage, animation, and never-before-seen Disney family movies. From the boardroom to the union hall, the film will no doubt jump-start urgently needed conversations about how to make American capitalism work for everyone. As Abigail concludes, it won’t be easy, “but with imagination and courage it can be changed”.

Meet our speaker and chair

Abigail E. Disney (@abigaildisney) is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, philanthropist, and activist. Her films include The American Dream and Other Fairy Tales, the Emmy Award-winning The Armor of Light - both co-directed with Kathleen Hughes – and Pray the Devil Back to Hell. As a philanthropist and activist, she has championed peacebuilding, gender justice, and systemic cultural change.

Andrés Velasco (@AndresVelasco) is Professor of Public Policy and Dean of the School of Public Policy at LSE. In 2017-19 he was a member of the G20 Eminent Persons Group. During 2015-16 he co-chaired the Global Panel on the Future of the Multilateral Lending Institutions. In 2013-16 he was a member of the Global Oceans Commission.

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