OnWithTheShow
No Entangling Alliances
- Joined
- Sep 20, 1999
Dear Fellow Cast Members:
This Sunday and Monday, ABC will be airing a remarkable film, "Anne Frank,"
about the girl who wrote the famous diary and has come to symbolize the
millions of children who were murdered or uprooted by Hitler's armies during
World War II.
I have worked in the entertainment industry for more than 35 years and, most
of the time, that is what we do - we entertain, producing movies and TV
shows that divert and even delight. But, sometimes we reach a little
higher. This is what we did when I was at ABC in the '70s with "Roots."
This is what we did at Disney in the '80s with "Dead Poets Society." This
is what we did three years ago on the Wonderful World of Disney TV show with
"Ruby Bridges." And, this is what we have done with "Anne Frank."
This film is based on the acclaimed biography by Melissa Muller. It goes
beyond Anne's diary, showing us her promising life before the war and
continuing through her terrifying journey to the concentration camps in
Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, where she lost her life, not yet 16. The
producers of "Anne Frank" worked hard to accurately depict the conditions
she faced. For this reason, the second night's broadcast contains scenes
that may be too intense for some children. But for older children and
teenagers, it offers invaluable lessons, not just about the evil of
intolerance and hate, but about courage, humanity and the bonds of family.
Because this is not ordinary television, our company is doing an
out-of-the-ordinary thing, and will sponsor the final hour of the film's
broadcast without commercial interruption.
I hope you will watch this remarkable film. And, if you have children of
the appropriate age, I hope you will watch it with them so that, together,
you can learn the lessons that Anne's life continues to teach us.
Michael
This Sunday and Monday, ABC will be airing a remarkable film, "Anne Frank,"
about the girl who wrote the famous diary and has come to symbolize the
millions of children who were murdered or uprooted by Hitler's armies during
World War II.
I have worked in the entertainment industry for more than 35 years and, most
of the time, that is what we do - we entertain, producing movies and TV
shows that divert and even delight. But, sometimes we reach a little
higher. This is what we did when I was at ABC in the '70s with "Roots."
This is what we did at Disney in the '80s with "Dead Poets Society." This
is what we did three years ago on the Wonderful World of Disney TV show with
"Ruby Bridges." And, this is what we have done with "Anne Frank."
This film is based on the acclaimed biography by Melissa Muller. It goes
beyond Anne's diary, showing us her promising life before the war and
continuing through her terrifying journey to the concentration camps in
Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, where she lost her life, not yet 16. The
producers of "Anne Frank" worked hard to accurately depict the conditions
she faced. For this reason, the second night's broadcast contains scenes
that may be too intense for some children. But for older children and
teenagers, it offers invaluable lessons, not just about the evil of
intolerance and hate, but about courage, humanity and the bonds of family.
Because this is not ordinary television, our company is doing an
out-of-the-ordinary thing, and will sponsor the final hour of the film's
broadcast without commercial interruption.
I hope you will watch this remarkable film. And, if you have children of
the appropriate age, I hope you will watch it with them so that, together,
you can learn the lessons that Anne's life continues to teach us.
Michael