US Film Falls Short of Truth

There are no guns, no Dunkin' Donuts and no chewing gum. The sun is always shining, and everybody is smiling.

Welcome: Portraits of America, a new seven-minute film produced by Disney, will be shown in airports and embassies to woo visitors with a sanitized take on US landmarks. There are no shots of highways clogged with cars bumper to bumper. Instead, the camera pans over the wonders of the Grand Canyon, New York's Chrysler building and the awe-inspiring power of the Niagara Falls.

But wait a minute. What falls are these? They don't seem to resemble the Bridal Veil Falls that stand on the US side of the border. They do, however, look distinctly like the Horseshoe Falls, the immense curtain of water shrouded in mist that is the stock image of Niagara and lies almost entirely inside Canada. The annexation of a Canadian natural wonder was spotted by the news agency Associated Press.

"This is an insult," said Paul Gromosiak, an expert on the waterfalls. "This is not the US, this is 100% Canada, shot from the Canadian side."

The apparent gaffe appeared to pass by the departments of state and homeland security, which released the promotional video last week.

A state department spokesman stressed to AP that Niagara Falls "is a shared natural wonder, a gateway for both our countries and anyone looking at the video will understand how proud America is to share it with Canada."