WHEREAS the cartoon character Mr. Magoo is based on the premise that without seeing the world clearly one cannot respond to it intelligently, and

WHEREAS this premise is false and does grave damage to blind people and is misleading to children, and

WHEREAS humour based on a false and demeaning premise is not funny at all, and

WHEREAS Walt Disney Studios is producing a new version of Mr. Magoo using live actors rather than cartoons in order to take advantage of the potential revenue which comes from nostalgia, and

WHEREAS Mr. Magoo affects blind people in much the same way as Amos `n Andy affects African Americans or cowboy and Indian movies affect native Americans, and

WHEREAS unfortunately the character of Mr. Magoo is being played by the fine Canadian actor, Leslie Nielson,

now therefore BE IT RESOLVED that the National Federation of the Blind: Advocates for Equality in meeting assembled this 2nd day of July, 1997, that this organisation express its outrage that the acting talent of Mr. Nielson is being misused to demean blind people, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we take whatever steps deemed appropriate to communicate our displeasure to Mr. Nielson, Walt Disney Studios, the media, and the Canadian distributors of the Mr. Magoo movie.