A Film About How a Group of Virginians Stood Up To America’s Favorite Mouse
Thurs., Nov. 10 at 8 p.m. ET/PT Link TV nationwide will air the television broadcast debut of WHEN MICKEY CAME TO TOWN. In the 1990’s, The Walt Disney Company unveiled plans for a new theme park in the Haymarket, Virginia, near some of the most significant battlefields of the Civil War.
Originally, the state government officials hailed the plan as a boo to the state of Virginia. Soon, however, local residents, regional environmentalists and national Civil War historians came to realize that the promise of new jobs and the shine of the Disney brand were masking the many ways in which a multi-billion dollar development on historic ground on the edge of Washington D.C. metropolitan region was a bad idea.
Against an initial 75 percent public approval rating, a small team of residents and advocates joined forces to mount a campaign to convince Disney and the State of Virginia that these rural and sacred lands were not the appropriate sites for an American history-themed Disney park. In less than a year, in the face of mounting opposition, Disney withdrew its plans to build “Disney’s America” which would have leveled hundreds of acres of forest and farmland throughout Virginia’s northern Piedmont.
WHEN MICKEY CAME TO TOWN is produced and directed by Sam Sheline. Executive Producers are Chris Palmer and Kristin Pauly. The film won two awards at American University’s Visions Media Festival in May including Best Editing and Outstanding Thesis Film.
