Franklin D. Roosevelt Was An Unexpected Fan Of This Landmark Animated Movie

There's no movie theater in the U.S. more prestigious than the White House screening room. Even the President sometimes needs to unwind with a movie night, and there've been some cinephiles in the Oval Office over the last century plus. John F. Kennedy was a James Bond fan, while Richard Nixon had a mild obsession with 1970's "Patton," a film about the eponymous General George S. Patton (as played by George C. Scott). 

The acclaimed Gary Cooper-starring 1952 Western "High Noon" was similarly loved by both Dwight Eisenhower and Bill Clinton. That movie is all about a sheriff (Cooper) trying in vain to rally his town when an old enemy comes knocking; it's not hard to see how a politician might relate to that. But it's not all action movies, Westerns, and war films for our commanders-in-chief. 

Longest-serving U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt or "FDR" was, per his wife Eleanor's writings, a fan of Walt Disney's cartoons. In a 1934 letter, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote that FDR specifically enjoyed Mickey Mouse shorts. In a May 1938 entry in her "My Day" column, she also discussed her husband's love for "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," Disney's first feature-length animated picture. FDR, who'd already seen the movie once, screened it again at the White House for Eleanor and some dinner guests.

"I have never seen anything as enchanting as the animals, the color is beautiful, and so is the music," wrote the first lady. Keep in mind, the Roosevelts were both born in the 1880s, a time without movies; even if "Snow White" is a children's tale, the technical achievement of a full-length animated film would've been mind-boggling in 1938. At the time, Disney was making a big gamble with "Snow White," but he pulled a winning hand.

"I can quite understand why little children find the old witch and Snow White's flight through the forest a rather terrifying spectacle," Eleanor Roosevelt continued. Indeed, the scarier side of "Snow White" would inspire the giallo horror film "Suspiria" decades later. Mrs. Roosevelt, though, found herself more drawn to the lighter aspects of the movie:

"Late at night, I found myself thinking of the little princess at the well with her doves and the funny little men being kissed on the tops of their heads. Mr. Walt Disney certainly has an enchanting imagination, and I hope he does many more such films."

One imagines what the Roosevelts thought of later Disney features made during FDR's lifetime, such as "Pinocchio," "Fantastia," or "Bambi." 

While Roosevelt was a fan of Disney, the opposite wasn't necessarily true. FDR was a Democrat who defined American progressivism with his New Deal. Disney, however, was a conservative Republican; he actively supported FDR's opponent, New York Governor Thomas Dewey, in the 1944 U.S. presidential election. That doesn't mean both men weren't patriots, though.

Disney wasn't above making propaganda films, and in 1941, Roosevelt's state department commissioned Disney to do a "goodwill tour" of South America and discourage alliances with Nazi Germany. Disney produced two films for this tour: "Saludos Amigos" in 1942 and then "The Three Caballeros" in 1944.

What does FDR's love for Disney tell us about him, though? He had one of the most stressful and transformative presidencies in history, leading the U.S. out of the Great Depression and through World War II. Movies took off in popularity during these trying times because U.S. citizens needed escapism — no surprise that the man leading them also enjoyed a light and imaginative reprieve.