Walt Disney experts rebut dogged anti-Semitic allegations

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Walt Disney was a complex figure, both celebrated and condemned, but allegations that he was a rabid anti-Semite are unproven, Disney experts said.

Talking to TV critics Sunday about PBS' "American Experience" September documentary on Disney, composer Richard Sherman (Disney's "Mary Poppins," ''The Jungle Book") dismissed such lingering criticism outright.

It's "absolutely preposterous to call him anti-Semitic," said Sherman, the son of Jewish immigrants. He and his brother Robert, his writing partner, were treated like sons by Disney, he said.