Johnny Depp-Gate: Why Did Disney Clam Up on Obama Halloween Party?

The New York Post:

A White House “Alice in Wonderland” costume ball — put on by Johnny Depp and Hollywood director Tim Burton — proved to be a Mad-as-a-Hatter idea that was never made public for fear of a political backlash during hard economic times, according to a new tell-all.

“The Obamas,” by New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor, tells of the first Halloween party the first couple feted at the White House in 2009. It was so over the top that “Star Wars” creator George Lucas sent the original Chewbacca to mingle with invited guests.

The book reveals how any official announcement of the glittering affair — coming at a time when Tea Party activists and voters furious over the lagging economy, 10-percent unemployment rate, bank bailouts and Obama’s health-care plan were staging protests — quickly vanished down the rabbit hole.

That was in October of 2009, five months prior to the film’s release in March of the following year. And yet, with over a hundred million on the line, the publicity-savvy Disney all but ignored an event that would’ve generated a ton of publicity towards the film and most certainly increased the all-important “awareness” studios crave most in the months leading up to the release of a tentpole such as this one.

The answer might lie in Disney’s history of putting partisan politics above shareholder profits. For instance, the studio spent $40 million on the 2006 miniseries “The Path to 9/11,” broadcast it only once to great ratings success, but has since refused to rerun it or even release the DVD. Why? Because Bill and Hillary Clinton are upset that the film exposed mistakes made during the Clinton Administration when it came to stopping Osama bin Laden.

But, you know, Hollywood’s money-driven, not political. It has to be true. The entertainment media told me so.

According to Real Clear Politics, Obama’s approval rating in late October of 2009 was above 51%. More importantly, the President wasn’t upside down with his disapproval higher than approval. So what harm could playing up a White House event do to the film? Of course, I ask that question as though we live in a sane world where Hollywood would ever care about offending half its customers. But even if we lived in a sane world, the question would still apply. No conservative I know would begrudge the studio putting on a party for the children of military personnel.

Obama or no Obama, Disney releasing and promoting publicity shots of a costumed Tim Burton and Johnny Depp delighting the children of our men and women in the military would’ve generated a ton of goodwill towards everyone involved and the film itself. However…

According to news reports and Google, Disney did next to nothing to play this event up.

Why?

Occam’s Razor. I think Disney’s a studio run by left-wing partisans who memory-holed the party for the same reasons I suspect the MSM did — to protect Obama from a public relations hit, especially one during the crucial days leading up to a crucial ObamaCare vote.

They’re all in bed together, and it is not a pretty sight.

[Cross-posted from Big Hollywood]