independently studying

Peter Hames: You once described Walt Disney as one of the leading destroyers of European culture. What is being destroyed and how can this be resisted?

Jan Svankmajer: Disney is among the greatest makers of 'art for children.' I have always held that no special art for children simply exists, and what passes for it embodies either the birch (discipline) or lucre (profit). 'Art for children' is dangerous in that it shares either in the taming of the child's soul or the bringing up of consumers of mass culture. I am afraid a child reared on current Disney produce will find it difficult to get used to more sophisticated kinds of art, and will assume his/her place in the ranks of viewers of idiotic television serials. That doesn't mean that works with imaginative value may not occasionally crop up in consumer culture--for instance, KING KONG. But I fear their number is dwindling.

In other news: U.S. warns of terrorist lasers. They're working on lightsabers. And the Force.

In other other news: READ BOHUMIL HRABAL.