Bet You Didn’t Know: Secrets Behind The Making Of “Polly”

Debbie Can Relate

Just because they didn’t want to go as hardcore with the drug use, didn’t mean that they wanted to skip out on all types of controversy. In fact, Debbie Allen said the original was a bit too soft. Though Blinn and Allen had to fight Disney sometimes about the material they decided to include, they didn’t want to shy away from the cultural and racial climate at the time. Allen told The Chicago Tribune, it was a time period she knew very well.

“I grew up with water fountains at Woolworth`s that said `black` and `white.’ I grew up not being able to go to the movie theater downtown; I grew up not being able to go to the amusement park, except one day a year; I grew up in a school system that was totally segregated; I grew up not being able to go to ballet class because the most professional school in town did not allow black students, until a Russian woman teacher saw me and said, `Put her in!'”