Finest Hour – July 2019

that night privately, and Roosevelt was much excited

by the way Disney’s aircraft masterfully wiped ships

off the seas. It was run again the next day, and then

F.D.R. invited the Joint Chiefs to have a look at it.

This played an important role in the decision, which

was then taken, to give the D-Day invasion sufficient

air power.

A good many years later Lasker heard about the

details of all this, and naturally he was pleased and

impressed.^6

(^) Gunther was a respected journalist and would have
had no reason to fabricate the story. My search for the
truth took me to Jon Meacham, author of the bestsell-
ing Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an
Epic Friendship (2003) and a member of the Interna-
tional Churchill Society’s Board of Advisers. In our cor-
respondence, he explained that he trusted Gunther’s
account: “Gunther was a journalistic insider—one of the
great foreign correspondents of his time—who could get
in to see the Roosevelts and clearly had excellent sources
in the Roosevelt circle.” I asked if Meacham had uncov-
ered anything in his research to support the claim that
Roosevelt and Churchill viewed Victory in Quebec. “That
story is news to me,” he replied, “but it seems in character:
FDR and Churchill often watched movies together, and
often recommended films to each other.”^7
After Walt

I

nterviews with Disney old-timers are replete with

versions of how Walt saved the day when Victory was

shown at the conference. Walt was proud of the film

and was not shy about telling the story to those involved.

Director H. C. Potter told film historian Leonard Maltin:

“Walt told me this story, and swore this was what hap-

pened. When Churchill came over to the Quebec Con-

ference, they were trying to get Roosevelt interested in

this long-range bombing idea, and Roosevelt didn’t know

what the Hell they were talking about. Churchill said,

‘Well, of course you’ve seen Victory Through Air Power...’

and Roosevelt said, ‘No, what’s that?’ Air Marshal Ted-

der and Churchill worked on Roosevelt until Roosevelt

put out an order to the Air Corps to fly a print of Victory

Through Air Power up to Quebec. Churchill ran it for him,

and that was the beginning of the U.S. Air Corps Long

Range Bombing.”^8

(^) Even “after Walt” the story has life. It has surfaced in
numerous Disney books and articles but always without
citation, each retelling built on previously published ver-
sions. No one ever questioned the source.
Now that I am at the end of my journey, after all the
research I have done and countless hours of contempla-
tion, I honestly feel that this should be considered “ac-
cepted Disney historical truth.” As a professor and histo-
rian, however, I must conclude there is no documented
evidence that Churchill and Roosevelt viewed Victory
Through Air Power during their 1943 meeting in Quebec.
As with many legends, it may not have been the way it
was, but it’s the way it should have been. ,
ARTIST AND AVIATOR
Paul F. Anderson is founder of the Disney History
Institute, which focuses on Walt Disney’s creative legacy,
and has worked and consulted for the Disney family
and company on numerous historical projects.
Endnotes

1. Walt Disney and Alexander P. de Seversky, “A Joint State-
   ment about the Motion Picture ‘Victory Through Air Power,’”
   New York Herald Tribune, 29 July 1943.


2. Murray Green, “Interview with Alexander P. de Seversky,”
   16 April 1970, p. 24.


3. Churchill and Roosevelt to Stalin, 23 August 1943, in Wil-
   liam C. Fray and Lisa A. Spar, eds., The Avalon Project:
   The Quebec Conference, Yale Law School: Documents in Law,
   History and Diplomacy, New Haven, CT.
   4.Walt Disney in conversation with Pete Martin, “Walt Disney
   Oral History, Reel 9,” 1956, Disney History Institute.


4. Alexander de Seversky, “Walt Disney: An Airman in His
   Heart,” Aerospace Historian, spring, 1967, p. 5.


5. John Gunther, Taken at the Flood: The Story of Albert D.
   Lasker (New York: Harper, 1960), pp. 285–86.


6. Jon Meacham to author, 19 April 2004.


7. Leonard Maltin, The Disney Films (New York: Hyperion,
   1995), p. 61.

that night privately, and Roosevelt was muchexcited

by the way Disney’s aircraft masterfully wipedships

off the seas. It was run again the next day,andthen

F.D.R. invited the Joint Chiefs to have alookat it.

This played an important role in the decision,which

was then taken, to give the D-Day invasionsufficient

airpower.

A good many years later Lasker heardabout the

details of all this, and naturally he was pleased and

impressed.^6

Gunther was a respected journalist and wouldhave

had no reason to fabricate the story. My searchforthe

truth took me to Jon Meacham, author of thebestsell-

ing Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an

Epic Friendship (2003) and a member of theInterna-

tional Churchill Society’s Board of Advisers.Inourcor-

respondence, he explained that he trusted Gunther’s

account: “Gunther was a journalistic insider—oneofthe

great foreign correspondents of his time—whocouldget

in to see the Roosevelts and clearly had excellentsources

in the Roosevelt circle.” I asked if Meachamhaduncov-

ered anything in his research to support theclaim that

Roosevelt and Churchill viewed Victory in Quebec.“That

story is news to me,” he replied, “but it seemsincharacter:

FDR and Churchill often watched movies together,and

often recommended films to each other.”^7

After Walt

I

nterviews with Disney old-timers are replete with

versions of how Walt saved the day when Victory was

shown at the conference. Walt was proud of the film

and was not shy about telling the story to those involved.

Director H. C. Potter told film historian Leonard Maltin:

“Walt told me this story, and swore this was what hap-

pened. When Churchill came over to the Quebec Con-

ference, they were trying to get Roosevelt interested in

this long-range bombing idea, and Roosevelt didn’t know

what the Hell they were talking about. Churchill said,

‘Well, of course you’ve seen Victory Through Air Power...’

and Roosevelt said, ‘No, what’s that?’ Air Marshal Ted-

der and Churchill worked on Roosevelt until Roosevelt

put out an order to the Air Corps to fly a print of Victory

Through Air Power up to Quebec. Churchill ran it for him,

and that was the beginning of the U.S. Air Corps Long

RangeBombing.”^8

Even “after Walt” the story has life. It has surfaced in

numerous Disney books and articles but always without

citation, each retelling built on previously published ver-

sions.No one ever questioned the source.

Now that I am at the end of my journey, after all the

research I have done and countless hours of contempla-

tion, I honestly feel that this should be considered “ac-

cepted Disney historical truth.” As a professor and histo-

rian, however, I must conclude there is no documented

evidence that Churchill and Roosevelt viewed Victory

Through Air Power during their 1943 meeting in Quebec.

As with many legends, it may not have been the way it

was, but it’s the way it should have been. ,

ARTIST AND AVIATOR

Paul F. Anderson is founder of the Disney History

Institute, which focuses on Walt Disney’s creative legacy,

and has worked and consulted for the Disney family

and company on numerous historical projects.

Endnotes

1. Walt Disney and Alexander P. de Seversky, “A Joint State-
   ment about the Motion Picture ‘Victory Through Air Power,’”
   New York Herald Tribune, 29 July 1943.


2. Murray Green, “Interview with Alexander P. de Seversky,”
   16 April 1970, p. 24.


3. Churchill and Roosevelt to Stalin, 23 August 1943, in Wil-
   liam C. Fray and Lisa A. Spar, eds., The Avalon Project:
   The Quebec Conference, Yale Law School: Documents in Law,
   History and Diplomacy, New Haven, CT.
   4.Walt Disney in conversation with Pete Martin, “Walt Disney
   Oral History, Reel 9,” 1956, Disney History Institute.


4. Alexander de Seversky, “Walt Disney: An Airman in His
   Heart,” Aerospace Historian, spring, 1967, p. 5.


5. John Gunther, Taken at the Flood: The Story of Albert D.
   Lasker (New York: Harper, 1960), pp. 285–86.


6. Jon Meacham to author, 19 April 2004.


7. Leonard Maltin, The Disney Films (New York: Hyperion,
   1995), p. 61.