[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by Night Stalker: You are correct Dav, until Disney released Mr Moore of his obligation, he could not distribute it. Everything I have seen about this though has said that while Disney refused to distribute the movie, they would not stop him seeking alternate distribution vehicles. It appears Mr Moore is stirring up another storm in a tea cup as a publicity stunt, nothing more.

Exactly, Night Stalker. Since Eisner and Disney never approved of Miramax funding the film, they could have just literally put a Corporate Clamp Down on it and refused to allow the film to be distributed in the U.S. at all. This is what Michael Moore is trying to make people think they are doing, but as you pointed out, Disney never said Moore couldn't seek other distributors for his film. They just said that they would not allow Miramax to do it. (I think that is being done by Eisner to remind his counterpart at Miramax that his company is a subsidiary of Disney and that - in the future - it would be best to go along with the wishes of the parent company in times of disagreement).

The article that Chewbacca referenced makes it appear that Moore has stood up to the Corporate Disney Bully and made them blink or back down and allow him to seek other distributors - when the fact is that Disney had said he was free to do this from the very beginning.

To use a more "liberal" analogy, Moore did the same thing that President Bush did when he kept mentioning Osama and Saddam in the same breath. He made it appear there was a link (or a cause and effect) where none actually existed. President Bush never actually said that Saddam Hussein ordered the 9/11 attacks, but he mentioned Saddam and A-Q terrorists in the same breath so often, that the viewing public made the mental link themselves (at least a large portion of them did). Moore has made it appear that Disney was trying to prevent his movie from being released at all within the U.S. (which they certainly could have done - but the fact is they never did say that). He has also cast himself as David facing the Goliath of Corporate Disney and - just like David in the Bible - Moore has won a seemingly impossible victory by making the Disney Goliath back down. Of course, the fact that Disney was never trying to block distribution of his film to begin with is beside the point. It also makes the story less exciting and Moore's role far less heroic.