Disney cuts smoking’s role from its movies

07/25/2007

By Dawn C. Chmielewski,
LA Times Staff Writer
July 25, 2007


Walt Disney Co. became the first film studio to promise to kick the cinematic smoking habit.

Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger said the studio would snuff out depictions of smoking in its films and discourage them in the more adult fare released by the company's Touchstone Pictures or specialty label, Miramax.

"It's clear that cigarette smoking has its hazards and that we should avoid doing anything that could, in effect, encourage people, particularly young people, to smoke," Iger said. "And while we don't believe that people necessarily copy everything they see in movies, we also know that people who appear in these films and TV shows can become role models and kids can at times try to copy the behavior of role models."

The announcement won praise from Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and from advocacy groups such as Hollywood Unfiltered, which has been encouraging writers and directors to consider the impact on-screen smoking has on young people and urging them not to glamorize it.

It's an easy move for Disney and Iger, with almost no risk and lots of payoff in terms of burnishing the company's family-friendly image.

Smoking almost never appears in Disney family films -- "101 Dalmatians" villain Cruella De Vil and her trademark cigarette holder is one exception -- and the entire industry is moving toward more smoke-free movies.