tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77703179869182545632024-02-19T19:36:51.163-05:00Disney Top Ten ListsA bunch of Top Ten lists about all things DisneyChris Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18416994097295040150noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7770317986918254563.post-21454234903540146622011-03-28T17:49:00.000-04:002011-03-28T17:49:49.054-04:00Ten Live Action Disney Villains (Classic Era)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOKRaGwMUQnn0Qwxdvvf7IF-dMCWggosm8fNrZIj2X_esm27YiGGTeTvEVtaRuV8dXoOnA1ZJcBILduXSttJP8_2aAWmA9b-F2yFD1a3bTy-DYLGFH8UdqG53azDl2bqWMzleJ2oGTsPs/s1600/DisneyVillains.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOKRaGwMUQnn0Qwxdvvf7IF-dMCWggosm8fNrZIj2X_esm27YiGGTeTvEVtaRuV8dXoOnA1ZJcBILduXSttJP8_2aAWmA9b-F2yFD1a3bTy-DYLGFH8UdqG53azDl2bqWMzleJ2oGTsPs/s320/DisneyVillains.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>At the request of my friend Matt Baker, one of the best tour guides in New York City (If you are planning a trip to NYC, or even live there and want to know more about your great city, visit Matt's website: <a href="http://beautifulnewyorktours.com/">Beautiful New York Tours</a>) I've taken one of the lists from my book for the blog.<br />
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It's a list of ten of Disney's best Live Action Villains from the classic era<br />
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For purposes of my book and blog, I define Disney's classic era as 1923 - 1983, roughly the time period that Walt and his closest associates ran the company. The modern era starts with Michael Eisner and his crew, just after Walt's son-in-law left his leadership position at Disney.<br />
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Disney has a rogues gallery of great villains, not all of them animated.<br />
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The cartoon bad guys got a three decade jump on their live action counterparts, but the tally was quickly matched.<br />
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Here now are ten of the most fearsome and conniving live action Disney Villains of the classic era (the odd part is that they are all male - I tried to include a female, but there were only two worth mentioning and just missed the cut - 8 are British, and 6 of the ten are pictured wearing hats of some sort): <br />
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<a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Captain Nemo (James Mason)</b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (1954)</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRLqgBCyXqHzzuOMmUSgnXQLIGNALFuMj5FpH4Mu4dcv09kqltWcc0QLG3sjeerfFLYroxyKM5NZiL3RRNlBWUcASuQFcu5B6cjDy_NydmN6K8RkSpHdQHVVasx_G4yOoYj3ReTCGdytE/s1600/captnemo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRLqgBCyXqHzzuOMmUSgnXQLIGNALFuMj5FpH4Mu4dcv09kqltWcc0QLG3sjeerfFLYroxyKM5NZiL3RRNlBWUcASuQFcu5B6cjDy_NydmN6K8RkSpHdQHVVasx_G4yOoYj3ReTCGdytE/s1600/captnemo.jpg" /></a></div>We begin with the villain from the very first Disney live action film produced in Hollywood (there had been a few produced in the U.K. prior to this one.)<br />
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"20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" was Walt's gamble on a big budget science fiction picture. He spared no expense, especially with the casting. Kirk Douglas, Peter Lorre and Paul Lukas were all major stars when they took the roles of the three protagonists in this adaptation of Jules Verne's classic novel. No film works without a great villain, however, and Disney found the perfect man for the job.<br />
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James Mason was not as well known to American audiences as his co-stars, having appeared in larger roles in just two previous Hollywood films ("Julius Caesar" and "A Star Is Born.") His imperious yet smooth voice and the aristocratic way he carried himself was a natural fit for Captain Nemo.<br />
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I call Nemo a villain because he essentially holds the three castaways hostage on his prototype nuclear submarine, The Nautilus, and has a great dislike for Douglas' character (who he condemns to death before a change of heart) but he is also a misunderstood and sympathetic character.<br />
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At first, Nemo is chilling, cold and ruthless and seems to care little about the lives or fate of people who live above the surface of the ocean. He's easy to hate. As the story develops, we realize that Nemo is actually a scientific genius, twisted to madness by the murders of his wife and child at the hands of a government trying to force him to reveal the secrets of nuclear power (pretty dark stuff for a Disney film.)<br />
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Nemo redeems himself just before his death, and he sinks to a watery grave with his crew as the film closes, but not before delivering his inspiring last words: "<i>There is hope for the future. And when the world is ready for a new and better life, all this will someday come to pass. In God's good time.</i>"<br />
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James Mason went on to have a distinguished career in Hollywood, making over 100 film appearances and being nominated for three Academy Awards. To many fans, however, he will always be known as Captain Nemo. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Peter Thorndyke (David Tomlinson)</b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>The Love Bug (1968)</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSHroFudh7aaemCESXeQNutt9Y18VOBRYVJAwQ57l4X3JJV1Qczvp4C0vvehfSRZ9UdTcPqPMTNPK298P1qxu-w3FkrO67gCb8CM5I66OhQjElA3pUPSjI-k1ik1AEk8gpaiRYBikPC4E/s1600/peterthrondyke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSHroFudh7aaemCESXeQNutt9Y18VOBRYVJAwQ57l4X3JJV1Qczvp4C0vvehfSRZ9UdTcPqPMTNPK298P1qxu-w3FkrO67gCb8CM5I66OhQjElA3pUPSjI-k1ik1AEk8gpaiRYBikPC4E/s1600/peterthrondyke.jpg" /></a></div>Why did I put a picture of the nice Mr. Banks from "Mary Poppins" on the villains list? Well, even though he's essentially dressed the same, David Tomlinson played a more wicked version of George Banks in 1968's "The Love Bug." <br />
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Peter Thorndyke, like Banks, is an upper crust British businessman, in this case a car dealer in San Francisco rather than a banker in London. He sells a broken down Volkswagen Beetle to a down on his luck race car driver and is then mortified when the humble bug magically comes to life and starts to beat him in races. (Thorndyke is, improbably, a master race car driver on the California circuit.)<br />
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When legitimate offers to buy the car (named Herbie) don't work, Thorndyke turns to underhanded methods. His most nefarious attempt at sabotage is to literally get the car drunk by filling it with Irish whiskey. Nothing about this man screams "I have a conscience." He's the type that would stoop to any means to get what he wants. Even little kids in the audience picked up on this and shared the impulse to boo and hiss Thorndyke every time he appeared on screen.<br />
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In the end, Peter Thorndyke is taken down a few pegs, as he foolishly wagers his dealership in the climactic race. When he is beaten by Herbie, Thorndyke is then forced to make ends meet as a lowly mechanic at the business he formerly owned.<br />
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So as not to leave a negative impression on his fans, Tomlinson took one last role in a Disney film, that of the bumbling con artist warlock in 1971's "Bedknobs and Broomsticks."<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Dillinger/Sark/MCP (David Warner)</b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>TRON (1982)</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipA3_mLWjsm-CxQERZbcI1iE1h5rgwkAA59R3x8SkZc_zoggxRd6BgYE9EcW7ciMHreOVjPSo01kGVNo_3MR7RgsO7WO6hn7axBqu67HXKby5WEl2V_rIr5xa_9VpFGZeEOs7y6BryApU/s1600/sark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipA3_mLWjsm-CxQERZbcI1iE1h5rgwkAA59R3x8SkZc_zoggxRd6BgYE9EcW7ciMHreOVjPSo01kGVNo_3MR7RgsO7WO6hn7axBqu67HXKby5WEl2V_rIr5xa_9VpFGZeEOs7y6BryApU/s1600/sark.jpg" /></a></div>Playing one memorable villain in a film is accomplishment enough, but to play three is a feat few actors have ever pulled off.<br />
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British character actor David Warner did just that in 1982's groundbreaking sci-fi film "Tron."<br />
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Warner had done mostly horror films and a few mini-series (usually cast as a villain or Nazi) before assuming the role of Edward Dillinger, head of Encom, a computer programming company. Right from the start we see that Dillinger is corrupt, as he rose to power on the strength of a program he stole from Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) the hero of the picture. Dillinger schemes to have Flynn, who is on the trail of evidence that would prove the thievery, locked out of the company and its mainframe.<br />
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In strange twist, Flynn is beamed inside the computer where he joins up with a rogue program named Tron to do battle with Dillinger's digital alter ego, Sark. Compared to Sark, Dillinger looks like Mr. Rogers.<br />
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As the tyrant of this fantastic computer generated world, Sark revels in the mayhem he can cause by having programs battle and kill (or de-rez) each other. He is one of the meanest and most sadistic characters ever to appear in a Disney film (even one of the characters in the movie remarks on how much Sark seems to enjoy others pain.) Tron, Flynn and their cohorts manage to evade Sark and make it to the Master Control Program, which is keeping the tight lock on all information going in or out. Their aim is to destroy it and open the flow once again. Sark merges with MCP in a desperate effort to help the machine fight them off. Tron prevails, and both MCP and Sark are shattered into digital bits, freeing all programs.<br />
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Back in the real world, Flynn finally gets the access he needs to the files proving Dillinger stole his work. We are shown a scene of Dillinger's face as he realizes that he is in big trouble, but never get to see him put in jail. The film then tells us that Flynn was made CEO of the company.<br />
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Warner's malevolent performance was one of the highlights of the original Tron. Sadly, he was not included in the sequel, 2010's "Tron: Legacy" although Irish actor Cillian Murphy, best known for playing the Scarecrow in "Batman Begins", appears in an uncredited role as Edward Dillinger, Jr., head of software design for the 21st Century version of Encom. If a second sequel is made, this has raised hopes that Dillinger Sr. (and possibly even Sark) might make a triumphant return.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Alonzo Hawk (Keenan Wynn)</b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>The Absent Minded Professor (1961)</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKt6pSas3B48fWM3B_t6DdQblqBsOTxdCCNnP1-c1Q8sy09hV41k2YK7xYQ88Z7-G_NU2tSUZZxb4-q0u3UycN1YGYTW3nIseukvcO6B9Fr3X9KfVGRDUDKopBg3BauppMAgvDni4goU8/s1600/alonzohawk.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKt6pSas3B48fWM3B_t6DdQblqBsOTxdCCNnP1-c1Q8sy09hV41k2YK7xYQ88Z7-G_NU2tSUZZxb4-q0u3UycN1YGYTW3nIseukvcO6B9Fr3X9KfVGRDUDKopBg3BauppMAgvDni4goU8/s320/alonzohawk.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>Playing three roles in one film is nice enough, but what about playing the same role in three different films, over two franchises?<br />
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Keenan Wynn, son of Disney Legend Ed Wynn, began playing greedy banker Alonzo Hawk in "The Absent Minded Professor" and then reprised the role in the sequel, "Son of Flubber." Disney didn't want to let a good character go to waste, so they transplanted him from Medfield to San Francisco in 1974's "Herbie Rides Again."<br />
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In all three films, Hawk is not the traditional villain in the sense that he wants to kill or maim anyone, he's more of the evil businessman (a type that has gained some cache in Hollywood the last few years.) Hawk's goal is to make as much money as he possibly can, even if it means some people will be tossed out on the street and jobs will be lost. He is a shark with no heart. Wynn played him effortlessly, with an occasional slight grin to let us know that Hawk was human after all.<br />
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This modern day Scrooge (without the redemption scene - come to think of it he's more like Mr. Potter in the classic film "It's a Wonderful Life") is brought down a peg at the end of each film by the heroes he tormented and badgered. Oh, if it were only that easy to get banks off one's back. <br />
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Wynn played similar characters in "The Snowball Express" and "The Shaggy D.A." Oddly, they were not named Alonzo Hawk, though they could easily have been his twin. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Doc Terminus (Jim Dale)</b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Pete's Dragon (1977)</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIpB6BS_5fiO2G8e5VC2TH5IHuipgnE3YBuEPkRhZ1h7r6zY5nPWWeBjBRIdz4z_PjlM2siDW662NX2WQEwwhmvJex5U21QjKC8zG1a14wqqCmtjbXxWg341Fe71I7sVXIFViUoW5oL8/s1600/petes-dragon-dr-terminus.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIIpB6BS_5fiO2G8e5VC2TH5IHuipgnE3YBuEPkRhZ1h7r6zY5nPWWeBjBRIdz4z_PjlM2siDW662NX2WQEwwhmvJex5U21QjKC8zG1a14wqqCmtjbXxWg341Fe71I7sVXIFViUoW5oL8/s400/petes-dragon-dr-terminus.bmp" width="400" /></a></div>Of all the crooked occupations in the world, Snake Oil Salesman ranks high on the list, and Disney had one of the greatest of them with Doc Terminus in "Pete's Dragon." <br />
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Accompanied by his hapless sidekick Hoagy, Terminus moves from one sleepy New England fishing town to another in search of more villagers to fleece. He winds up in Passamaquoddy, where he learns of the existence of a dragon (named Elliot) and seeks it out so that he can kill it and use the body parts for powerful elixirs.<br />
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As played by Jim Dale, Terminus is another bad guy who smiles at you in the front while stabbing you in the back. Most people never see what's coming, though he quickly wears out his welcome. (It's established early in the film that Terminus has pulled his schemes on these people before and only through a slick musical presentation does he avoid being strung up by them.) For many children of a certain age (myself included) Doc Terminus served as the introduction of the nightmarish concept that someone can be as pleasant as punch on the outside yet secretly be conniving and dastardly on the inside. <br />
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Terminus isn't even the scariest villain in the film. That distinction goes to Academy Award winner Shelly Winters, who appears in "Pete's Dragon" as Lena Gogan, a backwoods foster parent who abuses young Pete (the boy at the center of the story, who runs away from her, accompanied by his giant dragon) and sets out to bring the boy back so that he can resume being her personal slave. Unfortunately, Winters' appearances are limited to the beginning and ending of the film, so she doesn't take prominence enough to make the list.<br />
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Dale's flim flam man is like the live action version of Pinocchio's sly fox J. Worthington Foulfellow (right down to the dopey sidekick) as he tries to ingratiate himself with Pete to woo the dragon from him. He even offers to buy Elliot from Pete, but is rebuked. Finally, Terminus teams up with the truly evil Ma Gogan and tries to shoot the dragon with a harpoon, but winds up launching himself through the roof. <br />
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Yes, it's a cartoonish role and a cartoonish end, but Doc Terminus made his mark on the list of unforgettable live action Disney villains. (Dale would return, less memorably, to Disney villainy as Sir Mordred in 1979's "Unidentified Flying Oddball, or The Spaceman and King Arthur.")<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Long John Silver (Robert Newton)</b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Treasure Island</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEAJXYbTnQn29V4igi1OUAdtV1FTyQFPE6JB1-jBRyKAee83cGk4E5ogVY4UvDtvnQFVdFk2OkYJ4xkYoBgMRs_uYSNqWaxX-qoHSKyOrJAbGxflktxNWByNp71hMI_V3-YYjPlVjz55w/s1600/treasure_island_17053.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEAJXYbTnQn29V4igi1OUAdtV1FTyQFPE6JB1-jBRyKAee83cGk4E5ogVY4UvDtvnQFVdFk2OkYJ4xkYoBgMRs_uYSNqWaxX-qoHSKyOrJAbGxflktxNWByNp71hMI_V3-YYjPlVjz55w/s320/treasure_island_17053.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Like Captain Nemo, Long John Silver is a character from a well loved novel adapted by Disney, that has been labeled a villain, yet falls into a morally ambiguous gray area. <br />
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Silver commits some horrible acts in "Treasure Island" yet he has a soft spot for young Jim Hawkins and looks out for him. He also has a strong sense of loyalty to the crew members that have stood by him. unfortunately, he also harbors a murderous streak and is not one to be crossed.<br />
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As was the case with Captain Nemo a few years later, Disney found the perfect actor to bring this classic literary character to life. <br />
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Some of them had been around before, but Robert Newton enhanced, embellished and cemented many of the stereotypical "pirate" mannerisms we are familiar with today. It was Newton's choice to play Long John Silver with a raspy voice, fractured syntax, highlands burr, and trilling of the R sound (aaargh, matey!) The parrot, the squinting, the disheveled look and other hallmarks were also chosen in part by Newton.<br />
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Young boys of the 1950's, in particular, were drawn to Long John Silver. The duality of the character and his roguish nature made him an icon, paving the way for pop culture swashbucklers to follow, including the denizens of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean rides and films. <br />
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Newton never played another role for Disney, but his portrayal of the main villain in the first ever Disney live action picture earned him the coveted status of official Disney Legend.<br />
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In what's both a blessing and a curse for an actor, Robert Newton was never quite able to shake the part of Long John Silver. Another motion picture company continued the adventures of Long John Silver, which Newton played in both a film and television series, indelibly cementing him as one of the greatest screen villains of all time.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Apple Jack Arno (Caesar Romero)</b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>The Dexter Reilly Trilogy (1969 - 1975)</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgOS-m1I4UNcAXSOBdxa9yqwk_Dgg3dM0TaCVnjIS4-kemyYVmzVELmWyGF06GY_KxBrJ3kJz70285oGnCPSy_U4HUWyr59OC2iR-Op4ejejB1w1_c2RIC-K6IRZY7lXboNhIa44I-_MM/s1600/ajarnocomputer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgOS-m1I4UNcAXSOBdxa9yqwk_Dgg3dM0TaCVnjIS4-kemyYVmzVELmWyGF06GY_KxBrJ3kJz70285oGnCPSy_U4HUWyr59OC2iR-Op4ejejB1w1_c2RIC-K6IRZY7lXboNhIa44I-_MM/s400/ajarnocomputer.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Better known as Batman's main villain, The Joker, on TV's campy series, Caesar Romero also made his mark as a smooth criminal in a series of Disney films.<br />
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Beginning with "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" in 1969, Romero played Apple Jack (AJ) Arno, the foil to Kurt Russell's Dexter Reilly in three very popular films.<br />
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Arno was a crook through and through, a small time gangster operating in Disney's de facto town of Medfield. In the first film, Arno donates a computer to the college, which contains all of his illegal secrets. When Reilly has those secrets accidentally downloaded into his brain, Arno has him kidnapped, with plans to kill him. In the end, Dexter is saved and Arno is exposed as a crook.<br />
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The second film 1972's "Now You See Him, Now You Don't" saw Arno as the owner of Medfield College's mortgage (Huh?) Once again, Reilly is involved with one of Arno's schemes, as he invents an invisibility spray that Arno steals and uses to rob a bank. Dexter once again saves the day, getting Arno arrested and breaking up his plot to turn Medfield College's property into a casino and hotel. <br />
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"The Strongest Man In The World" is the series finale, and Arno has been released from prison in time to kidnap and torture Dexter Reilly's best friend in order to obtain a secret formula for super strength. For the third time in as many films, Reilly outwits Arno and has him sent off to prison. <br />
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Now those crimes (kidnap, torture, robbery, murder) might seem like something out of a Scorcese movie, but this was Disney villainy 101. A.J. Arno is so comically tame and non threatening that he and his gang might as well have been wearing black masks and carrying sacks with dollar signs on them. In the hands of any other actor, this role might have drifted into parody, but Romero gave it some gravitas and he still seems scary in a goofy way. <br />
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AJ Arno was one of the first Disney live action villains to inhabit the 1960's/70's pop era and use modern slang, which makes him a groovy addition to the list.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Mr. Dark (Jonathan Pryce)</b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMEYf975pPpgsnPiMYFKH-kDCrHQlJbypQV1zNkrNkSVUdKz6tJ0OgkPOG1nceRunWCoD7RePI4YkHt4YEkRLlj6xlmRJy3mzbCr2jWQlyDIjjL9i0lfEs0HuPA9x8kc4Ebz3XteDJrMg/s1600/mrdark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMEYf975pPpgsnPiMYFKH-kDCrHQlJbypQV1zNkrNkSVUdKz6tJ0OgkPOG1nceRunWCoD7RePI4YkHt4YEkRLlj6xlmRJy3mzbCr2jWQlyDIjjL9i0lfEs0HuPA9x8kc4Ebz3XteDJrMg/s1600/mrdark.jpg" /></a></div>One of the last big Disney live action films made in the classic era was an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's novella "Something Wicked This Way Comes." It contains perhaps THE most sinister live action villain to that date.<br />
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Mr. Dark, memorably played by Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce, is a stand in for the Devil himself. Enigmatic yet alluring, Dark blows into a small midwestern town with his traveling carnival and proceeds to corrupt the souls of the residents using promises of wish fulfillment.<br />
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Two little boys stumble onto the carnival's mysterious secret and are then targeted by Mr. Dark. <br />
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The rest of the film deals with the boys attempts to escape the clutches of Mr. Dark and his minions. All sorts of carnival tricks are used to tempt and trick them and Mr. Dark rarely loses his temper. Like his fellow Welshman Anthony Hopkins in "The Silence of the Lambs", Pryce realized that still calm, unblinking stares and long quiet moments can sometimes be even more frightening than blood, mayhem and gore.<br />
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Mr. Dark is the ideal boogeyman. He radiates charm and warmth, but is actually quite cold and deadly. His single minded pursuit of the two boys is chilling. Many of the camera angles and props used to accentuate Mr. Dark are downright creepy. <br />
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The film was a dud at the box office, but it was Disney's first attempt at a straight horror film (tame as it might be.) Mr. Dark is less well known that Freddy Krueger (a part turned down by - incidentally - Sark himself, David Warner) Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers, and might have a lower body count, yet he can stand toe to toe with any villain, Disney or not. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Aristotle Bolt & Lucas Deranian </b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>(Ray Milland & Donald Pleasence)</b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Escape To Witch Mountain (1975)</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Two villains for the price of one. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In "Escape To Witch Mountain" young children with ESP and strange powers are hounded and terrorized by two middle aged wealthy men. Lucas Deranian, played by Donald Pleasence, is a lawyer for Aristotle Bolt, played by Academy Award winner Ray Milland. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitGQJu0StVcz8b5ejTyno_ah8BevoiY0DXosRMhWlhl5Lu8z42pT6o0k_v4uGt1wY_IsO8vLGWVqWBSl_RR2u_GjQl0DnuCoyf_cozERHes-GuS0Xmrp_Mjq4DSzioDRuTeaB7gNP3oOE/s1600/boltderanian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitGQJu0StVcz8b5ejTyno_ah8BevoiY0DXosRMhWlhl5Lu8z42pT6o0k_v4uGt1wY_IsO8vLGWVqWBSl_RR2u_GjQl0DnuCoyf_cozERHes-GuS0Xmrp_Mjq4DSzioDRuTeaB7gNP3oOE/s1600/boltderanian.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Deranian is saved by the two siblings, Tia and Tony, when they have a premonition of an accident about to befall him. As a token of gratitude, Deranian invites the kids, who are orphans, to the home of his employer, Bolt. He pretends to be their long lost Uncle.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">All is well at first, as Tony and Tia enjoy comforts they never had. Bolt's mansion is a palace, but it soon becomes a prison when he reveals that he knows about their special powers and wants to use them for evil purposes. If the brother and sister don't agree, then they are to be destroyed. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The two children escape Bolt's lair, but are pursued doggedly by Bolt and Deranian. The climax of the film takes place on the title mountain (though no actual witches are involved.) The villains use a helicopter to try to catch the kids, but Tony and Tia use their powers to thwart them. Eventually the children, who discover they are really aliens from another planet, reach their spacecraft and set off for their home galaxy, leaving a fuming Bolt and Deranian in the dust. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A huge hit when it was released, "Witch Mountain" spawned a sequel (1978's "Return To Witch Mountain") that also featured two villains, played by Bette Davis and Christopher Lee. It sounds like that would be a winning pair, but they just didn't capture the menace and chemistry that Milland and Pleasance brought.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Milland made a few appearances on screen after that film, but it was Pleasence, who had appeared as one of the most memorable Bond villains, whose career took off. He was cast in, among others, classic roles in the "Halloween" series and in "Escape From New York" co-starring Disney Legend Kurt Russell. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Dr. Hans Reinhardt (Maximillian Schell)</b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>The Black Hole (1979)</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJu0jfR6mI-fpQbPWR3W_3KN61uJ9rX6n9cwLJFZd2QHUHzRlriyGidWNl-E68Cd7hNkUip7Vig4gqz8H4M0Lfr4kvhH2OYZdy_cOEs1T3w4koje5vGeI9C9lWf-IhEQ-6tVJpeiakf8A/s1600/bhreinhardt1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJu0jfR6mI-fpQbPWR3W_3KN61uJ9rX6n9cwLJFZd2QHUHzRlriyGidWNl-E68Cd7hNkUip7Vig4gqz8H4M0Lfr4kvhH2OYZdy_cOEs1T3w4koje5vGeI9C9lWf-IhEQ-6tVJpeiakf8A/s320/bhreinhardt1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>If 1979's "The Black Hole" was Disney's answer to "Star Wars" then it's villain, Dr. Hans Reinhardt, was meant to be a stand in for Darth Vader.<br />
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Unfortunately, he comes across more like Grand Moff Tarkin (If you don't know the reference, Tarkin was "Star Wars'" paper pushing bland politician with no qualms about committing murder to achieve his goals, as opposed to Vader's darker, more charismatic sorcerer.) <br />
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Nevertheless, Reinhardt closes out our list because he is a murderous megalomaniac. As played by Oscar winner Maximillian Schell, this wide eyed, wild coiffed madman schemes to drag his ship and his crew right through one of the most dangerous places in deep space, a black hole. <br />
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Discovered onboard the wreckage of his spaceship, the Cygnus, Reinhardt - like Captain Nemo - is a twisted scientest and commander. His crew, unlike Nemo's are lobotomized slaves and are loyal to him only because he's programmed them that way.<br />
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Reinhardt's paranoia and insanity prevent him from rising to the level of Darth Vader and other super villains, but he is dangerous nonetheless.<br />
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In the end, Reinhardt is killed and merged with his evil robot Maximillian. In a truly weird scene, as the ship courses through the black hole, Reinhardt is cast out into space to spend eternity locked together with arms raised on a mountain overlooking a Disney version of Hell.<br />
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Seems like all villains wind up in this position one way or another. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJXps5pq1q8YNMMlLwGcXKlUCF3EKCjUpM825YPICpk-naeX-9I5j_avNw0upGvmSq53WYVk2S2XUJbssiuB_lpCvBofCILK7xTVIxhLMBifPtFwoPKQz3mtqn8kWewyhkJRZUGu54Ex8/s1600/blackhole95.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJXps5pq1q8YNMMlLwGcXKlUCF3EKCjUpM825YPICpk-naeX-9I5j_avNw0upGvmSq53WYVk2S2XUJbssiuB_lpCvBofCILK7xTVIxhLMBifPtFwoPKQz3mtqn8kWewyhkJRZUGu54Ex8/s640/blackhole95.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Chris Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18416994097295040150noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7770317986918254563.post-34980351170850725002011-03-25T22:44:00.001-04:002011-03-25T22:48:04.929-04:00Ten Little Known Disney Facts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeX8Si05h5kigQcbqZDq54-4t28bN2PBivBkmT_LwAD-UxDqaU_Go-NjDG3EYtlM3EGJvTcF1jtmIeqXLDNLDyqnmlOSgFwGpyprGj3S7meXpRWNUMc5mN5pXMPbiUDf_YPj_Lj3x1gM/s1600/Mickeydetective.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIeX8Si05h5kigQcbqZDq54-4t28bN2PBivBkmT_LwAD-UxDqaU_Go-NjDG3EYtlM3EGJvTcF1jtmIeqXLDNLDyqnmlOSgFwGpyprGj3S7meXpRWNUMc5mN5pXMPbiUDf_YPj_Lj3x1gM/s200/Mickeydetective.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><b>There's so much information about Disney out there on the world wide web that it's hard for even the most dedicated fans to be surprised or to find trivia nuggets they haven't seen before. </b><br />
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<b>I thought I'd start today with a quick top ten list filled with interesting bits from different areas of the company's history that I've found while wearing my detectives hat (with Mickey ears, natch.) </b><br />
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</b><br />
<b>Here now are Ten Little Known Disney Facts:</b><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>The Disneys Made Their Mark on Central</b></u><u><b> Florida Long Before The Magic Kindom</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnHWhpQ672WuOkERyhaduKFLlpn4qNP8W4MhrQZND0fxerCBFpUvKJeU630_oHxQZ8adpP_wgkATYS1P5HqEoB1-demLjYbnCFDCEYw0KfqTF4cCk-QAC-j1aX7X46CyCNuPZUEEjCyPc/s1600/EliasFlora.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnHWhpQ672WuOkERyhaduKFLlpn4qNP8W4MhrQZND0fxerCBFpUvKJeU630_oHxQZ8adpP_wgkATYS1P5HqEoB1-demLjYbnCFDCEYw0KfqTF4cCk-QAC-j1aX7X46CyCNuPZUEEjCyPc/s320/EliasFlora.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Before Walt unveiled his plans for "Florida Project X" in 1965, Central Florida was not the big destination in that state. Most tourists visited Miami, Tampa, Daytona or one of the other cities and towns on the Atlantic of Gulf Coast. The middle of the state was known mostly for swamps and citrus groves.<br />
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Once Walt Disney World opened its gates in 1971, the paradigm shifted and the greater Orlando area became the place to be. Walt rescued the region from obscurity and helped to fill its coffers many times over.<br />
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It's hard to remember a Florida where the center of the state wasn't the nexus and Disney's name wasn't synonymous with it. <br />
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That was the case in 1886 when a Canadian immigrant laborer named Elias Disney left the harsh winters of the midwestern plains and landed in the Sunshine State. Nobody was clamoring to visit his little kingdom.<br />
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Though he was a skilled carpenter and craftsman, Elias took a job as mailman in the backwater town of Kismet, Florida to make ends meet. He lived in a town called Acron, with a population of just seven.<br />
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Happiness for Elias came in the form of the coursthip of Flora Call, a young woman who he had followed to Florida from their home in Kansas, where both of their families had farms. She was a teacher in Kismet.<br />
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They dated for two years and married at the home of Flora's parents on New Year's Day 1888. They honeymooned in the nearby obscure town of Kissimmee.<br />
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Elias and Flora tried to make a name for themselves in Florida, first by operating a 40 acre orange grove (the crops died after an unusual frost) and then by running a hotel on Daytona Beach. Both options failed and they eventually left the state in the Spring of 1890 to move to Chicago. It was there in 1901 that Walt was born. (His oldest brother Herbert was the only Disney born in Florida.)<br />
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Both Acron and Kismet Florida are ghost towns now, but Kissimee and Orlando are thriving. Few living in that area (or visiting, for that matter) realize that the parents of their benefactor once counted themselves among the residents of the region. had they stayed on, history might have been different for them and for us.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Walt Once Relied On The Bard for Help </b></span></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU09Km3Vg8RcxKP35fqzNkwi843K5xxvuxwCAK5lkdpPv2VadG9C-MF1U_8BXiT8w24uPyRQ4Y6DJG0LT_CjhH8efHp_M1DnsXyEGBhDPF86kbhMiZ31YSFWgacNT2zGL8i5IPXpcROkE/s1600/shakespearewalt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU09Km3Vg8RcxKP35fqzNkwi843K5xxvuxwCAK5lkdpPv2VadG9C-MF1U_8BXiT8w24uPyRQ4Y6DJG0LT_CjhH8efHp_M1DnsXyEGBhDPF86kbhMiZ31YSFWgacNT2zGL8i5IPXpcROkE/s320/shakespearewalt.jpg" width="221" /></a></div>When Walt Disney was planning his feature length version of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" people told him he was crazy. Even folks in his own studio and family members had their doubts about its success.<br />
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They were eventually proven wrong, of course, paving the way for Disney feature animation as we know it. Even so, Walt had to fight countless battles. One of the most heated involved perhaps the most beloved of all the dwarfs.<br />
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The names are familiar now: Sleepy, Sneezy, Dopey, Doc, Happy, Bashful and Grumpy (or, to cast members and Disney scholars: two S's, two D's and three emotions.) Walt and his writers went through dozens of names before settling on those seven. Some of the rejected ones were Blabby, Shifty, Droopy, Slappy, Daffy, and Fuzzy. When they finally came to a conclusion, Walt signed off on them, but still caught grief for Dopey.<br />
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The argument was that "Dopey" had negative connotations, and might be associated with narcotic use or addiction. It didn't help that the character, though lovable, was not too bright and spoke not a word in the picture.<br />
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His detractors also protested that the term "Dopey" was a modern one and that none of the dwarves should have slang names from their Jazz age era of the 20's and 30's, so that the film could remain timeless.<br />
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Fed up with the arguments, Walt consulted an English professor and Shakespearean scholar at a nearby University who confirmed what Walt had suspected all along. The term "Dopey" had indeed been around since the time of the Bard and was used by commoners and royals alike to describe someone who is a little slow on the take. He cited mentions of the term in plays and documents from the 1600's, including use by Shakespeare and his contemporaries. That silenced any critics, and the name remained.<br />
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Strangely, though the two are considered among the greatest of storytellers in the English language, Walt never adapted or appropriated any of Shakespeare's plots for his classic animated films. That distinction would have to wait until 1994's "Lion King", seen by many as a loose adaptation of "Hamlet." <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Disney Made a Scripted Feature Film </b></span></u><br />
<u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Using Only Live Animals</b></span></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-hhI3xqvlT1Nc3qxohjDs483nMzsj47nVfC2UwGD3FkITDSB0trPl_83jTJFLq5sQtegVx3yN2yQdEcAln4idGl9ulRi1pIhvzcBzo5W35cJqxFCFoQ3Caq-mBlbIRFShnCjM2vOAUQ/s1600/Perri.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl-hhI3xqvlT1Nc3qxohjDs483nMzsj47nVfC2UwGD3FkITDSB0trPl_83jTJFLq5sQtegVx3yN2yQdEcAln4idGl9ulRi1pIhvzcBzo5W35cJqxFCFoQ3Caq-mBlbIRFShnCjM2vOAUQ/s640/Perri.jpg" width="249" /></a></div>It's been well documented that when Walt Disney decided to turn Felix Salten's book "Bambi" into an animated film, he strove for the highest amount of realism possible.<br />
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Always one to go the extra step and to spare no expense, Disney brought live animals into a studio that had essentially been taken over at that point by the military for wartime training films. This menagerie was used by the animators that had not gone off to serve in the war as a real life reference point for the young deer and all of his forest friends.<br />
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"Bambi" was not a success for Disney when first released, and the studio went back to making Mickey/Donald/Goofy cartoon shorts and musical compilation films to get through the war. It would be a while before they got back to nature.<br />
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In 1948, desperate for new sources of post-war revenue while also trying to diversify his studio's production slate, Walt took a gamble and sent a team of filmmakers to shoot scenes of animals in the wild. This was used to make the short "Seal Island" which won an Academy Award for Disney and launched the profitable "True Life Adventure" series of nature films.<br />
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In addition to "Bambi", Felix Salten had written a book in 1938 about a young female squirrel named Perri, which Walt optioned. Given the ease in which he was able to transition to nature films, Disney chose to give his animation staff a break and use live animals as the stars when it came time to make it. He called this new creation his first "True Life Fantasy" and released it to the public in 1957. <br />
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It was a bold move, to be sure. Nothing like this had ever been attempted on such a scale. Screenwriters Ralph Wright and Winston Hibler had the daunting task of creating a film where the main characters spoke no dialogue and no humans appeared. Only an off-screen narrator (Hibler himself) would keep the story moving along.<br />
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Salten's story was set in a European forest, but for practical purposes Disney moved it to the United States. The film was shot in Utah and Wyoming.<br />
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The plot is a simple one, following Perri around the forest as the seasons change. She also meets a male squirrel and starts a courtship. This was the only true life Disney nature film in which it was openly acknowledged that manipulation occurred with editing and camera angles to make the animals behave according to a pre-conceived notion. (Accusations had been around since "Seal Island" that the film makers had staged shots or introduced elements that would not have been there naturally just to get the desired result, but they were never proven.)<br />
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"Perri" does feel a lot like its cousin "Bambi", but it lacks the charm and compelling characters that made the latter film a Disney classic loved by generations. Disney never made another "True Life Fantasy" after that, relying on Mother Nature to provide her own story lines, even into the 21st Century with films like "Earth" and "Oceans."<br />
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"Perri" retains it's unique place in Disney history as a one of a kind film and a little known answer to trivia questions. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Bugs Bunny's Voice Once Worked For Disney</b></span></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Cwa6MGnJJqdNjuy2ihf2qPoO_bso07QQlNiygdBiyEQPDhtSmSpVn8OPQJd_ue3sbStXd25ScGG2uCu7RQlPdK2bC4gZzfp2mio2iKqGsdsnyONZvmNyuOaXDV82VV6dsru56HPnVRY/s1600/melblanc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Cwa6MGnJJqdNjuy2ihf2qPoO_bso07QQlNiygdBiyEQPDhtSmSpVn8OPQJd_ue3sbStXd25ScGG2uCu7RQlPdK2bC4gZzfp2mio2iKqGsdsnyONZvmNyuOaXDV82VV6dsru56HPnVRY/s320/melblanc.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Dozens of vocal artists have passed through the gates of the Disney Studios, and very few - if any - of them have name recognition with the public.<br />
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While some might know that Walt himself first gave voice to Mickey, his successors (Jimmy MacDonald and Wayne Allwine) remained in the shadows as Mickey's fame grew. They also pretty much played that one character, occasionally doing other minor ones when necessary.<br />
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Disney's crosstown animation rivals, Warner Brothers, had one person who created and became synonymous with the sound of their roster of characters. He was Mel Blanc, the legendary "Man of 1,000 Voices" (though Blanc always claimed it was closer to 850) that created the dialects, inflections, tics and tempo of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Bird, and many many others.<br />
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Mel Blanc had an outstanding career as a voice-over artist and is arguably the most famous man to ever work in that field. He was an actor and comedian on the radio, but it was his role as Warner's chief vocal artist that drew the most attention. You know instantly when you are hearing a Mel Blanc character. He was that distinctive.<br />
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Bugs and Mickey (and Daffy & Donald) were seen as friendly rivals and did not appear on screen together until 1988's "Who Framed Roger Rabbit." Blanc provided the voices for his animated progeny in that film and many media outlets reported that it was the very first time that Mel Blanc appeared in a Disney film. They were wrong.<br />
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In 1939, Blanc was hired to provide the voice of Gideon the Cat, assistant to neer-do well fox J. Worthington Foulfellow in "Pinocchio." These would be the two characters that would lead the little wooden boy astray. The script, as originally written, gave Gideon plenty of dialogue, and it was a big break for Blanc, known primarily at the time for his supporting work on Jack Benny's radio show. Somewhere along the line, it was decided the Gideon would be more effective as a mute character, like Dopey in "Snow White" or Harpo Marx. As a result, all of Blanc's dialogue was cut from the final film, with the exception of a hiccup. If you listen carefully, you can hear the hiccup three times in "Pinocchio" and it is, strangely, unmistakeably Mel Blanc's voice.<br />
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Blanc was still paid full salary, of course, for his voice over work on "Pinocchio" and he holds the record to this very day for most money paid for the fewest words spoken in an animated film.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifc4NY2AKir6WbRIywo89JEGRzFI4fyyAQnuNvae_dOTog25R4BsytbgQMJE94bxZS_BSgvD45owkinIp22iVXelktr5cSnbDxkH9DxOv1dtXqlMyhpV1SdT1EU3J-4ilxHjT0lrv2D60/s1600/gideonfoulfellow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifc4NY2AKir6WbRIywo89JEGRzFI4fyyAQnuNvae_dOTog25R4BsytbgQMJE94bxZS_BSgvD45owkinIp22iVXelktr5cSnbDxkH9DxOv1dtXqlMyhpV1SdT1EU3J-4ilxHjT0lrv2D60/s1600/gideonfoulfellow.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Who knows what would have happened if Blanc had stayed at Disney? Would Captain Hook, the Mad Hatter and Winnie the Pooh, to name just a few, have sounded completely different? We'll just have to use our imaginations. <br />
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Mel Blanc passed away one year after the release of "Roger Rabbit." His nearly 60 year career in Hollywood was an amazing one. He was the sole voice of Daffy Duck for 52 years and Bugs Bunny for 49 years, both records. The only other vocal artist on the top 5 list? Disney's own Clarence "Ducky" Nash, who voiced Donald for 48 years.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Alice In Wonderland Holds The Record For </b></span></u><br />
<u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Most Songs In A Disney Film</b></span></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1cFs3l4PyWLj7P7HdXQTRy649Qk_skBj92cG2Hv6Lh6wjSw-FhqVjl10mL9YQgdbjO4YSTFdBnqBiprhlkZ33d6lJSi1t-HwDtcHJ7O0A3mKT-x7n6l-wIh_Nn5nSfhzMLk_JrpwDmJ0/s1600/Alice+in+Wonderland+Poster+DIsney.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1cFs3l4PyWLj7P7HdXQTRy649Qk_skBj92cG2Hv6Lh6wjSw-FhqVjl10mL9YQgdbjO4YSTFdBnqBiprhlkZ33d6lJSi1t-HwDtcHJ7O0A3mKT-x7n6l-wIh_Nn5nSfhzMLk_JrpwDmJ0/s320/Alice+in+Wonderland+Poster+DIsney.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>One of the criticisms of 1951's "Alice In Wonderland" is that it's too disjointed and feels like a series of short sketches. Even Walt himself was not a big fan of the film, feeling that he let the audience down with a picture that had no heart to it.<br />
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Part of the problem stemmed from the fact that Lewis Carroll's original books, on which the movie is based, are not as straightforward as some of the other fairy tales and fables which inspired previous Disney films.<br />
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Carroll (actually a pen name for the Reverend Charles Dogdson) wrote two Alice books, which are combined into one in this film. His Alice stories are full of fantastic characters, nonsense rhymes and illogical sequences.<br />
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Walt's animators and writers tried to find a way to cram all of these plot lines and characters into one of Disney's shortest feature films (at 75 minutes long, it barely qualifies as a feature.) One of their solutions was to use snippets of Carroll's poetry as musical segments in the film. Over thirty different songs were composed for "Alice."<br />
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As a result, "Alice In Wonderland" has twenty songs in the finished film, more than any other in Disney history. There is a catch to that. Many of the songs are mere seconds long, but still listed on the musical soundtrack. Some of the songs ("Unbirthday", "I'm Late") have become Disney classics, others have faded away. One of the songs that was cut eventually was recycled as "The Second Star To the Right" in 1953's "Peter Pan."<br />
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Another recent Disney heroine made movie music history as well.<br />
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Lilo (of 2002's "Lilo and Stitch") is a HUGE fan of Elvis Presley. She introduces Stitch to his music. During the course of the film (which, coincidentally was released on the exact date 25 years after Elvis died) five Elvis songs, recorded by him, are used. What's the big deal about that? None of Elvis Presley's actual pictures (he starred in 33 feature films, a few of which were set in Hawaii, like "Lilo and Stitch") contains as many Elvis songs as this Disney animated film did.<br />
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You can't make this stuff up.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Walt Wanted To Open a Chinese Restaurant</b></span></u><br />
<u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>With Audio-Animatronic Characters </b></span></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-Y32LyAAmat3ZVk1Iaw4d4oYQYib_UplO0EtWyroXZRYr5TwkcBwtCbpR7kCWVGcQlHiSkxCHoXXDLlK_SyI3nj0h60ureuGMJ_Okj0fdxQCqL6jmGXr1v4JQ2GxWNCYN1dxsjaBlb4/s1600/disney%252520chinese%252520new%252520year.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-Y32LyAAmat3ZVk1Iaw4d4oYQYib_UplO0EtWyroXZRYr5TwkcBwtCbpR7kCWVGcQlHiSkxCHoXXDLlK_SyI3nj0h60ureuGMJ_Okj0fdxQCqL6jmGXr1v4JQ2GxWNCYN1dxsjaBlb4/s320/disney%252520chinese%252520new%252520year.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>The Nine Dragons Restaurant at the China Pavillion in Epcot is a delight for those who have never truly tasted Chinese cuisine (egg rolls, spare ribs and fried rice from your corner place have as much to do with authentic Chinese food as Taco Bell and Olive Garden do with real Mexican and Italian delicacies.)<br />
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People often walk away impressed that Disney was able to include such a sumptuous Chinese feast on their property. Few realize, however, that Walt Disney himself had the idea decades before.<br />
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According to Walt, Disneyland (or any successive parks) would never be finished products, so he was always "plussing" as he called it. One of his more interesting ideas was to open and operate a Chinese restaurant in the heart of Disneyland.<br />
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As befit Disney, this would be no run of the mill place.<br />
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At the time, Walt - inspired by a toy bird he picked up on a trip to New Orleans - was tinkering with small mechanical objects. His grand vision was to create figures that would replicate real movements on larger scales. It was the birth of audio-animatronics.<br />
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After a few small prototypes proved successful, Walt decided on his first human figure. Nope, not Abe Lincoln. Walt chose the great Chinese philosopher Confucius.<br />
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The great idea Mr. Disney and his Imagineers had was to open a Chinatown section of Disneyland, just off of Main Street. The primary tenant would be a Chinese restaurant (sponsored by the food company Chun King) with ornamentation, furniture and artwork from all of the provinces. The place would also have a talking dragon and singing birds. The highlight, though, was to be an audio-animatronic life size Confucius.<br />
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Walt wanted guests to walk in and be able to have a real time conversation with the ancient Chinese wise man. Someone would be secretly hidden in the wings listening to the questions and providing on the spot answers. (Stuff that actually happens routinely at the parks now with Crush and Mike Wazowski, but would have been groundbreaking back then.)<br />
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The Imagineers loved working on the project because the kinks in audio-animatronics were still being ironed out and a figure of an older man sitting would be much easier to pull off than a standing, walking and gesturing man in his prime.<br />
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Alas, Walt's unnamed Chinese restaurant would never become a reality.<br />
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In part because of space considerations (Disneyland is a very small world, after all) the plans for Main Street's Chinatown section were scrapped. The area is now used to store parade floats and other large vehicles. The new development focus shifted to New Orleans Square, which does include a themed restaurant, though not as elaborate as the Chinese one.<br />
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The idea of singing birds and dragons lived on in the Enchanted Tiki Room (though the dragons were changed to tiki statues.) Originally, the Tiki Room was supposed to be a sit down restaurant too, but it was scaled down. There is a residual effect to the restaurant plans. Tiki Room is the only attraction at Disneyland to have its own bathrooms inside.<br />
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Confucius never saw the light of day at Disneyland, but the technical advances made by the Imagineers paved the way for their Confucius prototype to be transformed into what would become Abe Lincoln at the 1964 World's Fair. It was stunningly realistic, and the era of Disney animatronic figures was born.<br />
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Maybe it's a good thing that this particular restaurant never opened at Disneyland. Since duck is a staple on most authentic Chinese menus, a certain temperamental sailor suited mallard might not like it<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Disneyland Once Issued a Birth Certificate </b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_Xsr3Thy1FW8Z6C8FrHK8IA1Hvy3cQgZ6hwL9UUnBYD-ncFz6bw7ZP9xa_NyLAFl0SXI1EZb6T8NzE9fQ6X6qC3988xPf4D35SOoMSHDrMsHp1czoEsBC-jip7ckSYIsBJOmE5oEjVI/s1600/babymickey.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_Xsr3Thy1FW8Z6C8FrHK8IA1Hvy3cQgZ6hwL9UUnBYD-ncFz6bw7ZP9xa_NyLAFl0SXI1EZb6T8NzE9fQ6X6qC3988xPf4D35SOoMSHDrMsHp1czoEsBC-jip7ckSYIsBJOmE5oEjVI/s320/babymickey.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;">There's a rumor going around that if a baby is born in any of the Disney parks, they are given a lifetime pass to visit.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">This is completely untrue, but it's not like women haven't aimed for it. A few years ago, there was a pregnant woman who refused to leave a bathroom stall at Walt DisneyWorld, despite the fact that her water broke and she had gone into labor. It was only after park officials convinced her that no such lifetime pass existed that she allowed them to take her to a hospital off property.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Disney has tried to discourage the rumor, but it still persists. Like many urban legends, there is a grain of truth to it, which was blown up into a whole myth. In 1979, Disney did indeed give a special award to a baby born in Disneyland.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">On July 4th of that year, in an overcrowded park on a stifling hot day, Rosa and Elias Salcedo of Los Angeles were trying their best to enjoy their visit despite the fact that Rosa was in the final term of her pregnancy. While sitting down to rest on a bench behind the Plaza Inn, Rosa went into labor unexpectedly. It was too late to rush to a hospital so after bringing in medics to assist, little Teresa Salcedo was born, just a few steps from Main Street. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">At six pounds ten inches, Teresa was small but healthy. Soon after, Rosa and her newborn were taken to the local Medical Center. A few months later, in a special ceremony in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle, Teresa Salcedo was presented with Disneyland Birth Certificate Number One. The family happily posed with Mickey and the fab five.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">This was the first time in Disneyland's 24 year history that a child had been born inside the park, but not the first time that a child had been born on the property.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ron Dominguez is a Disney Legend, who rose from ticket taker to Executive Vice President of Disney Parks. He has more of a connection to Disneyland than others, as his family owned much of the property that Walt bought for his dream park in the early 1950's. Ron, his mother and his brother were all born in the area that is now New Orleans Square and the Pirates of the Caribbean.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Though the family moved out when Walt bought their land, the Dominguez home remained on the property after the park opened, used as offices for Walt's staff. Ron still bills himself as a "Native-Disneyland-American" a nationality few can claim. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">There will, of course, be other babies born in Disney Resorts and Parks, but only one can claim to be the first and have the certificate to prove it. All others will have just a story to tell (and will have to pay full price like everyone else to visit their special birthplace.)</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Walt Disney Wrote One of His Own </b></u></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Live Action Feature Films</b></u></span><br />
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</div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVTLYiRSfrdXx3KwxZMny9R03P4dQ8emUPWq8BmFkF8pSdGn5M_zZFmZ36y4n8oAMwB51h5nmlYGxr4kkM88oBvh2x-p5XCt1D5egYcU2NwcayK-tpIfBBymJ0GNmFkQkf3K73wWT8Vw0/s1600/Lt+Robin+Crusoe+USN+movie+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVTLYiRSfrdXx3KwxZMny9R03P4dQ8emUPWq8BmFkF8pSdGn5M_zZFmZ36y4n8oAMwB51h5nmlYGxr4kkM88oBvh2x-p5XCt1D5egYcU2NwcayK-tpIfBBymJ0GNmFkQkf3K73wWT8Vw0/s320/Lt+Robin+Crusoe+USN+movie+poster.jpg" width="210" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"> Retlaw Yensid had a pretty short career in Hollywood.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The screenplay for Disney''s 1966 comedy "Lt. Robin Crusoe, USN" was credited to this mystery man, who had never been listed as writer on a film before. Quite an accomplishment for a rookie, but who was he and how did he get such a job? Was he a close friend of Walt Disney?</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">As close as you could get actually.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">If you spell Retlaw Yensid backwards, you come up with a very familiar name. That's right, Walt wrote the story for this film, a takeoff on the classic 1719 castaway adventure novel, Robinson Crusoe. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Walt had a habit of using variations of his name for new enterprises. He had a separate company called Retlaw Enterprises, and also one named WED (after his initials.) The fearsome sorcerer that chastises his apprentice (Mickey) in "Fantasia" is even called Yensid, though it's never mentioned in the film. As an inside joke, animators modeled Yensid's facial expressions on Walt. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Disney, who had acted out the stories for his films for years, used this pseudonym to bring the tale of Robinson Crusoe to somewhat modern times as a U.S. Navy pilot. His trusted screenwriters Don DaGradi and Bill Walsh fleshed out the simple story from their boss and turned it into a 95 minute film. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Dick Van Dyke stars as Crusoe, who ejects from his plane and lands on a deserted island, which he soon adapts to in creative and handy ways. He befriends a chimpanzee and eventually meets another human, a girl named Wednesday (a nice update on the Friday character from the Crusoe story, who was male.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The last quarter of the film departs from Daniel Dafoe's novel, as Crusoe meets Wednesday's father and tries to avoid being forced into a marriage with Wednesday. It's a silly, breezy film and has all the hallmarks of a Disney comedy. It's quite evident that Walt had a hand in it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Retlaw Yensid, unfortunately, was one and done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">"Lt. Robin Crusoe, USN" was a huge hit in 1966, but Walt passed away a few months after it opened, so he never got to lend his alter ego's name to another film.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Jackie Chan Played (And Sang for)</b></span></u><br />
<u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>A Classic Disney Character</b></span></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6EHNGnNDkzwIiFzt79jclPj4JTL2iSLmae12AMoaawoZGB7Go7u1SocuaTN4vBDd7K3H6SV3Za9329msLop2tio5mPCGvjcMgob_UtsNho5aq9YIFb39NHPlYVG7BO061BBSuV1PFW78/s1600/chan55702790.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6EHNGnNDkzwIiFzt79jclPj4JTL2iSLmae12AMoaawoZGB7Go7u1SocuaTN4vBDd7K3H6SV3Za9329msLop2tio5mPCGvjcMgob_UtsNho5aq9YIFb39NHPlYVG7BO061BBSuV1PFW78/s320/chan55702790.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Which actor provided the voice for Beast in "Beauty and the Beast"?<br />
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Even those with just a passing knowledge of Disney trivia would tell you that the answer is Robby Benson. They would be right - if you're talking about the English speaking version of the Academy Award nominated classic film.<br />
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One time teen heart throb Benson did indeed give voice to the Beast in English, but the language of the Queen and Shakespeare is spoken and understood by just about a quarter of the planet. What about the other 75 percent? Aren't Disney films shown in those markets? Yes, but they are dubbed by actors who are fluent in that region's particular language and dialects. Often it's a huge star that fills the role, though they may not be well known to Americans or to the British.<br />
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Such was the case with the Chinese version of "Beauty and the Beast."<br />
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Jackie Chan was a child actor in his native China before rising to the ranks of stardom there. His attempt to break into Hollywood films was not successful until 1995, when "Rumble In The Bronx" was released. This led him to lead roles in films like "Rush Hour" and Disney's own "Shanghai Noon" franchise. He remains as popular as ever, as evidenced by 2010's surprise hit remake of "the Karate Kid."<br />
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What most American fans of his don't realize is that Chan had a successful recording career and sang songs in many of his Chinese films long before his US debut. This made him the natural choice for Beast in 1990. Unlike many English speaking voice actors in Disney films, Chan recorded both the voice and the songs himself. (For instance, when "Mulan" was released in the US, B.D. Wong did the voice of Shang, and Donny Osmond recorded the songs, Chan did both in the Chinese version.) You may not be able to speak Chinese, but if you listen to the "Beauty and the Beast" version that Chan did (it's on YouTube) he's quite good.<br />
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There's some controversy in global markets as to whether a Disney film is better served with native dubbing or by just putting subtitles under the original English language version. The fear is that some jokes, colloquialisms or phrases might lose something in the translation. No matter which camp you fall into, it's always quite a unique experience to hear classic Disney characters speaking other languages. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Disney Was Largely Responsible For </b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>The Popularity of Color Television</b></u></span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="font-size: small;">In today's day and age, with 800 channels and people running out to buy a bigger TV set as each new advancement in HD is made, it's hard to imagine a time when television was still a novelty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Walt's "Disneyland" TV show, "Davy Crockett" and "The Mickey Mouse Club" are credited in part with making the television set an essential piece of household furniture in the 1950's (and for younger readers, that's exactly what most early TV sets were, giant pieces that dominated a living room. Sometimes when a set burnt out, you'd buy a smaller one and put it on top of the broken one.) Disney was hardly the main reason, of course, people just HAD to have TV set to keep up with pop culture in the 1950's as they became more and more affordable. The only drawback was that the screens were tiny and exclusively black and whit</span>e.<br />
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Disney helped to change that.<br />
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In 1961, Disney left his original broadcast partner (and investor in Disneyland) ABC, to move to their rival network, NBC. This was shocking news, at a time when there were only three major networks airing in prime time.<br />
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NBC wanted to make a splash, so they convinced Walt to change the name of the show from "Walt Disney Presents" to "The Wonderful World of Color." The idea was to have each show air in full living color, the better to show off the advances in television technology that NBC's parent company, RCA, had made (also one of the reasons NBC chose the colorful peacock as its mascot.) A new theme song was written, the opening titles now featuring a kaleidoscope pattern rather than Disney images. A brand new animated Disney character, Professor Ludwig VonDrake, was created just for the TV show - a first in the company's history. Walt was also smart and perceptive enough to film all of his previous TV programs in color, even though they were airing in black and white. As always with Walt's brainstorms, it was seen as a foolish move at the time, because the costs were greater than they needed to be, but Walt was proven right when technology caught up with him.<br />
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On Sunday September 24, 1961, the show premiered with an episode detailing the science of how color works. It was a big hit. Almost immediately, folks wanted to see what they were missing on the spectrum. Advertisements were quickly produced featuring Mickey and the gang watching "Uncle Walt" on a color TV set in front of Sleeping Beauty castle. They were placed prominently in newspapers and magazines all over the country and stayed there for years. RCA's sales started to tick up. Demand in stores outpaced the supply.<br />
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Other TV shows were airing in color at the time, but within a few short years, black and white was completely phased out on the networks. The show's title was changed to "The Wonderful World of Disney" in 1969. By 1971, thanks to Disney, the ratio of household color TV's to black and white passed the 50 percent mark for the first time. Disney dropped the "brought to you in living color" announcement at the start of the show that same year. Black and white televisions have since gone the way of rotary phones and VHS players, once ubiquitous but now obsolete. <br />
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"The Wonderful World of Color" lives on with a dazzling new show at Disney's California Adventure.<br />
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Whatever new television technology is around the corner, one thing is certain, Disney will be out in the forefront promoting it, just as they were back in the 1960's.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_EjTrQ9g6OmdZIEeMvZTl0iSPFpN5MIz-Z0fAmMBq2j7-5BRNdN7976Fa97ixo42wTfykEEIlr7ZBy-iw4Ju-UXyHYeYkuTLL5CELACPBT4zfN7Xmp2oXTEMUBbtoRBm1lvaKLW_13Rk/s1600/Walt_Disney%252527s_Wonderful_World_of_Color.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_EjTrQ9g6OmdZIEeMvZTl0iSPFpN5MIz-Z0fAmMBq2j7-5BRNdN7976Fa97ixo42wTfykEEIlr7ZBy-iw4Ju-UXyHYeYkuTLL5CELACPBT4zfN7Xmp2oXTEMUBbtoRBm1lvaKLW_13Rk/s320/Walt_Disney%252527s_Wonderful_World_of_Color.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Chris Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18416994097295040150noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7770317986918254563.post-50386328473756373062011-03-23T01:06:00.000-04:002011-03-23T01:06:09.339-04:00Disney's Irish Connections (The People)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDuVukIIZ3p94jwVR1EUwzJbmaBhmbLNd6drK7EKdumYhiBBEVZSicaqJJWWSkauk03OSnPtWWd08bGzYjGePgxYWz5ivJ8TjcBsyDmKWm6qQqmdKRKecRXrBqtA7GUfygoDi-DMz6EjE/s1600/stpatsdayparade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDuVukIIZ3p94jwVR1EUwzJbmaBhmbLNd6drK7EKdumYhiBBEVZSicaqJJWWSkauk03OSnPtWWd08bGzYjGePgxYWz5ivJ8TjcBsyDmKWm6qQqmdKRKecRXrBqtA7GUfygoDi-DMz6EjE/s320/stpatsdayparade.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<b>First, to my faithful readers, apologies for the one month gap between posts. My "day job" is as an actor and days on the set can be long (a lot of "hurry up and wait" involved) and laptops are often not permitted. I wrote lots of posts in my head, but as for getting them to the keyboard, well..... I hope to keep current in the future.</b><br />
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<b>Now some might say, "aren't you a bit late for a St. Patrick's Day themed post?" Well, I live in the North Eastern United States and with the big Irish-American population centers around here (I'm a proud member of that group) there seems to be a parade every weekend from March 1st to April Fool's Day. It's more like St. Patrick's <u>Month.</u></b><br />
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<b>In that spirit, I have compiled a list of Disney's Irish connections. The list was so big, I had to break it into two parts. This is the list of Disney notable people that have an Irish background. the other list (to follow shortly) is of some of Walt's films and locations that also have a link to the Emerald Isle.</b><br />
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<b>Most people don't realize that Disney himself was of Irish ancestry. His forebears came from County Kilkenny. Walt's Great Grandfather, Arundel Disney, moved to Canada in the 1830's. Walt's Grandfather, Kepple, was actually born in Ireland just before the move. Later, the Disney clan would move to the Midwestern U.S. to seek their fortune. It was there that Walt was raised with a keen appreciation for his Irish background, which would continue throughout his life. (Take a good look at any photos of Walt, you'll notice that he only wore two pieces of jewlery, his wedding ring on one hand and an Irish Claddagh ring on the other. The "Partners" statue in the Disney parks also feature Walt wearing this tribute to his heritage.)</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrkjPlfbDDWWUKyCMQDGfgG8BxHbpjUy7lcWcd2xbV1Xw5ZDa2ozDhaNs5iTtQyXEnpMIdVTAbRBzedI_vGabRZWLCKBLAAs_ebFjlCE6A5Qkfw5FzUp0DVB8meFDoKWumNhSx11H1xs/s1600/WaltDisneyStatueCladdagh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrkjPlfbDDWWUKyCMQDGfgG8BxHbpjUy7lcWcd2xbV1Xw5ZDa2ozDhaNs5iTtQyXEnpMIdVTAbRBzedI_vGabRZWLCKBLAAs_ebFjlCE6A5Qkfw5FzUp0DVB8meFDoKWumNhSx11H1xs/s320/WaltDisneyStatueCladdagh.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div><b><br />
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<b>In addition to a few trips to Ireland in his lifetime (including for the Dublin premiere of "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" in 1959) Walt's career got a boost from some Irishmen.</b><br />
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<b>In 1922, when his animation career was just beginning and he was struggling to make ends meet, Walt got a break (and a much needed infusion of cash) from a Kansas City based Irish dentist named Tom McCrum, who commissioned Disney to make an educational live action/cartoon film called "Tommy Tucker's Tooth." The $500 from that film set Walt on his way. There was even a sequel (1926's "Clara Cleans Her Teeth") made after Walt moved to California.</b><br />
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<b>When Disney wanted to make his groundbreaking move to add sound to his Mickey cartoons in 1928, he needed to find a partner with a sound system that could deliver quality, but with affordable prices. He wound up with Pat Powers, a charming Irish immigrant who was also a con man. At first Powers was an asset to Walt (with pirated technology, no less) but the relationship soured as Powers tried to take more and more control and profit from Disney. Walt learned a lesson from that relationship, that a brogue and a twinkle from business partner don't always make up for bad business practices.</b><br />
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<b>Here now, in no particular order, are ten other Irishmen (and women) who made an impact on the Disney company</b>:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>J. Patrick O'Malley</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikqecwS0Kub85tMsQy26iPfE97hYOMT61i4Jh0eqQa35UuBqrPJLNPFK7u9zfQj2B8JQre0BlpAXfglQEP2SY2YJ8D8jqN12wcNDMigAdo0JZR1upRhJM5DTttYMSc6dakwjh3aS5fxX8/s1600/jpatomalley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikqecwS0Kub85tMsQy26iPfE97hYOMT61i4Jh0eqQa35UuBqrPJLNPFK7u9zfQj2B8JQre0BlpAXfglQEP2SY2YJ8D8jqN12wcNDMigAdo0JZR1upRhJM5DTttYMSc6dakwjh3aS5fxX8/s320/jpatomalley.jpg" width="221" /></a></div>What a name to start this list. If ever there were an Irishman, J. Patrick (or "Pat" as he liked to be called) O'Malley was one to the nines.<br />
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O'Malley (who was actually born in England, though his family had emigrated there from Ireland and he always referred to himself as Irish) had a flourishing career as a recording artist and music hall performer before he moved to the U.S. to seek his fame on the silver screen in 1935. He was a hit as a nimble comedian with a warm, soft side and and it gained him work in films like 1943's "Lassie Come Home." <br />
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His roles on radio programs led him to Disney, where he gave voice to many classic characters.<br />
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O'Malley began at Disney with "The Adventures of Mr. Toad" in 1949, where he played Cyril Proudbottom. His work quadrupled in 1951, when he was cast as four characters in "Alice In Wonderland": TweedleDum and TweedleDee and the Walrus and the Carpenter. He also worked on "101 Dalmatians" and "Robin Hood", but is probably most noted for his creation of the "stiff upper lip, ever so proper" British military commander Colonel Hathi in 1967's "The Jungle Book."<br />
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The versatility of O'Malley kept him working in television well into his 70's. He appeared in over one hundred roles on television, including on the Disney TV series "Swamp Fox" and "Spin and Marty." His last role was on "Taxi" in 1982, shortly before his death.<br />
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O'Malley is one of those genial faces that you see on TV and in movies all the time, but can't quite place the name. The next time he pops up on your screen, listen to the voice and you will instantly recognize that distinctive Irish sound that he so memorably loaned to Disney.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Jimmie Dodd</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNcNThiOZhLYvSdNX_TAu62ptTjFK5vvIFXd8Xzo_3dzmMb3JcbbexO_kJQpKEkNHmcENvjZ6Dsajx8JH2oaqTI3QKw3iX083AC35P71Bzl_ZxFJ-X0vWK0BoJE9sEhJ2V6xod4p5_XTU/s1600/jimmiedodd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNcNThiOZhLYvSdNX_TAu62ptTjFK5vvIFXd8Xzo_3dzmMb3JcbbexO_kJQpKEkNHmcENvjZ6Dsajx8JH2oaqTI3QKw3iX083AC35P71Bzl_ZxFJ-X0vWK0BoJE9sEhJ2V6xod4p5_XTU/s1600/jimmiedodd.jpg" /></a></div>Generations of children (and adults) know the Mickey Mouse Club theme song by heart. Few know the name of the man that actually wrote it, even though he was a big part of the Club itself.<br />
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Head Mouseketer Jimmie Dodd was the genial host of the show and a sort of father figure to the young Mouseketeers (and to the Baby Boomers watching at home.) He was also a prolific songwriter.<br />
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In addition to the upbeat Mickey Mouse Club March (and the more somber version of it which closed the show, "M-I-C, See Ya real soon...") Dodd composed more than half of the tunes heard on the show. His music, like the show, was both entertaining and educational at the same time. Without Dodd and his "Mousegetar", the show might not have been as successful as it was.<br />
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It seemed like Dodd came out of nowhere as his star rose on the Mickey Mouse Club, but he'd actually had a bunch of roles in other movies and TV shows like "Easter Parade' and "The Adventures of Superman." Bill Justice, one of Disney's legendary animators, was a tennis partner of Dodd's and recommended him when Walt was looking for a new song. Jimmie came in and sang the song directly for Mr. Disney, who hired him immediately as the host of his new kids TV show.<br />
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Dodd, who wrote over 400 songs in his lifetime, stayed with the Mickey Mouse Club for its entire four year run. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years after that at the relatively young age of 54. Everyone who came in contact with him says that he was just as he appeared to be on screen, and that he was one of the nicest men they ever had the pleasure of meeting. Jimmie Dodd was named a Disney Legend in 1992.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Bill Walsh/The McEveety Brothers</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5WNxZRh53-bnLWofmFDWTApEqH-Snvr4m2ZqNWRoYJpzGIq42aJu1aa-oAMj1V5gD0eKGozU25wXt1OFXazeMqT0SnV4qLmpWY-IyTlwJKg76Gd6u-5Dm9Vz21L9uikGjTNmAHTeEVh4/s1600/Bill%252520Walsh.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5WNxZRh53-bnLWofmFDWTApEqH-Snvr4m2ZqNWRoYJpzGIq42aJu1aa-oAMj1V5gD0eKGozU25wXt1OFXazeMqT0SnV4qLmpWY-IyTlwJKg76Gd6u-5Dm9Vz21L9uikGjTNmAHTeEVh4/s200/Bill%252520Walsh.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>No Hollywood history books can be written without prominently mentioning the four Irish-Americans that made Disney live action films as successful as they were in the 1950's, 60's and 70's.<br />
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Producer Bill Walsh and the trio of director brothers Bernard, Joe and Vince McEveety shepherded some of Walt's biggest non-animated hits to the screen. They are not as widely known as say Steven Spielberg, George Lucas or James Cameron, but the collective works of Walsh and the McEveetys still rank high on the all-time box office list. <br />
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Bill Walsh began with Disney as a writer for the Mickey Mouse comic strip. Walt asked him to write and produce the first Disney TV special in 1950, called "One Hour In Wonderland." That was followed by work on "Davy Crockett" and "the Mickey Mouse Club." The success of those shows led to a long career for Walsh with Disney as a producer and/or writer for such notable films as "The Shaggy Dog", "The Absent Minded Professor", "That Darn Cat!" and "The Love Bug", among others.<br />
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The three McEveety brothers, from New Rochelle, New York all wound up in Hollywood and all worked for Disney, quite a feat. Their directorial output for the studio reads like a list of fondly remembered films for those who came of age in the 1970's.<br />
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The oldest brother, Bernard, began his career at the House of Mouse later than his two younger siblings, but helmed such pics as 1972's "Napoleon & Samantha" and "One Little Indian."<br />
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The middle brother, Joe, has the strongest Disney resume of the three. He wrote the scripts for "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" (and its two sequels) "The Apple Dumpling Gang", "Hot Lead and Cold Feet", "No Deposit No Return" and "The Barefoot Executive." He also worked as an assistant director on numerous Disney films.<br />
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Vince McEveety directed many of the films written by his brother that I listed above. He also worked on several of the TV movies for the various Disney shows.<br />
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All three brothers were prolific directors, yet not exclusive with Disney. Their work can be seen on countless popular TV shows and movies of the 70's and 80's. Filmmaking became the family business, as now a second generation of the McEveety clan has carved out nice careers as directors, producers and camera operators.<br />
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Oh, and if you're wondering why I don't have a picture of all three brothers, I searched and searched but just could not locate one. Strange, considering the amount of work they did for archive happy Disney. The McEveetys are also not included among the official Disney Legends, as Walsh is. Hopefully that omission will be rectified soon.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Fulton Burley</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdh8JBgITEr3NsI4IUPCnMx3VJe38gqvrS0Bo9sf2tQrldaZaUx9aa0lbPlf4p_-WexFLaBQtZrjguj8irZoX93m3CYDJ_ytcBQSy1FZefrTUFIzukJeZM08EArMsR9FlRNTLT2oeMPZY/s1600/fultonburley.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdh8JBgITEr3NsI4IUPCnMx3VJe38gqvrS0Bo9sf2tQrldaZaUx9aa0lbPlf4p_-WexFLaBQtZrjguj8irZoX93m3CYDJ_ytcBQSy1FZefrTUFIzukJeZM08EArMsR9FlRNTLT2oeMPZY/s1600/fultonburley.jpg" /></a></div>No revue is complete without an Irish tenor and Disneyland's Golden Horseshoe had one of the best in Fulton Burley.<br />
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Hailing from Tipperary, it was truly a long way from there to Anaheim for Burley. He started singing in Broadway revues, moved to Hollywood as a contract payer and then had the good fortune of meeting fellow Disney legend Wally Boag. It was Boag who called Burley in 1962 when Fulton was headlining at the Hacienda Hotel in Las Vegas. It turns out that someone in the cast of the Golden Horseshoe Revue was sick and Wally, the star of the show, asked Burley to step in. The rest, as they say, is history.<br />
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Boag and Burley would be one of the longest running duos in show business history, as the Golden Horseshoe Revue in Frontierland set the all time record for theatrical performances. Burleys amazing Irish voice was complimented by his impeccable comic timing. He brought down the house several times a day.<br />
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Before retiring from Disney in 1987, Burley made one more contribution to the parks. It is his voice you hear as Michael, the Irish parrot in the Enchanted Tiki Room. No faking there, that brogue is the genuine article.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Kevin Corcoran</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42FjuVpKzf3wbMfAsn2zu0FfaKrD5WuDBNIzT_evL93gAtiNgt0BiKfoI77K0GOEEs2hBGUlRMF1UhuUJdjh6GtUUT3aNx5akER-5hl1AxBpAFIyjBIr2rwTj8rDnLQwZUs5VghbX5wM/s1600/kevincorcoran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh42FjuVpKzf3wbMfAsn2zu0FfaKrD5WuDBNIzT_evL93gAtiNgt0BiKfoI77K0GOEEs2hBGUlRMF1UhuUJdjh6GtUUT3aNx5akER-5hl1AxBpAFIyjBIr2rwTj8rDnLQwZUs5VghbX5wM/s320/kevincorcoran.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The son of a blue collar Irish couple from Quincy, Massachusetts, Kevin Corcoran used his cherubic features to become one of Disney's biggest child stars.<br />
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His first appearance was at the studio was in a short film about a dairy farm. The character's name was Moochie, and it stuck. Corcoran played a kid named Moochie in several different projects, ranging from TV serials to movies.<br />
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He also starred in his own feature film, "Toby Tyler" and was a key part of classic Disney films like "Polyanna", "The Absent Minded Professor", "The Shaggy Dog" "Old Yeller" and "Swiss Family Robinson", often partnered with Tommy Kirk.<br />
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After retiring from acting, Corcoran remained involved with Disney, working as an assistant director and producer on "SuperDad", "Return To Witch Mountain" and "Pete's Dragon" among others. He always credits Walt Disney with providing a firm foundation for his success and grounded attitude towards the business.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Margaret Kerry</u></b></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHuD37b6j9Bs1PY7A7jTL70TzobH0ypaDfiQrUZIYTnQx4CsLsAwx6KuSskOHfmIC2mhsBL7wt1lVu4cxh6U_cC-kYdWWmDpMZPPTfsgKkgxt-KViKBexsBPt_xwliixvhIPDlV4ZBrK8/s1600/margaret+kerry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHuD37b6j9Bs1PY7A7jTL70TzobH0ypaDfiQrUZIYTnQx4CsLsAwx6KuSskOHfmIC2mhsBL7wt1lVu4cxh6U_cC-kYdWWmDpMZPPTfsgKkgxt-KViKBexsBPt_xwliixvhIPDlV4ZBrK8/s320/margaret+kerry.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>You know Tinker Bell dresses in green, but did you know that she was Irish too? Well, at least the actress that played her is.<br />
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Margaret Kerry (real name: Peggy Lynch, still pretty darn Irish) saw an ad placed by the Disney studios back in the late 1940's for their adaptation of JM Barrie's Peter Pan. The studio was looking for actors to perform the roles on a soundstage as reference models for the animators.<br />
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Kerry worked out her moves as Tinker Bell in an empty room. Props were provided, as well as large doors and keyholes. If you see her movements in real life and compare them to what actually was drawn in the finished film, they are almost exactly alike.<br />
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Though Tinker Bell is mute, Kerry did get to do a voice in the film, that of a mermaid. Contrary to popular opinion, Marilyn Monroe had no bearing on Tinker Bell's look, it's all Kerry, who is just as beautiful and shapely as Monroe. (It was Kerry's idea to have Tinker Bell react negatively when she sees her backside in a mirror, which as become one of Disney's most famous scenes.)<br />
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Still active in her 80's, Margaret Kerry is proud of her connection to the classic character. Without her superb acting skills to draw on, Tinker Bell might not have become as enduring and popular.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Joe Flynn</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2n0-O3eI-RapeiUS7cIvy0z9x2gwE8UFNsoxAt8m2iF54cZAhEvynvy813zUJqw7dxjVD2Nk4S1Du8mIEP2d9n56TfLWUuipN0RXfEbg4kkZryI3X24kUeaMmq5yCUKCzb0liwYJETo8/s1600/Joe_Flynn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2n0-O3eI-RapeiUS7cIvy0z9x2gwE8UFNsoxAt8m2iF54cZAhEvynvy813zUJqw7dxjVD2Nk4S1Du8mIEP2d9n56TfLWUuipN0RXfEbg4kkZryI3X24kUeaMmq5yCUKCzb0liwYJETo8/s1600/Joe_Flynn.jpg" /></a></div>Of all the actors to play flustered authority figures on screen, Joe Flynn was the master.<br />
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Best known for his work on TV's "McHale's Navy" (with fellow Disney stalwart - and Irish-American - Tim Conway) Flynn came to Disney late in his career, but made a mark as Dean Higgins, the put upon, often confused head of Medfield College.<br />
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Medfield was Disney's stock college (campus scenes were actaully filmed on Disney's studio campus) and had been featured long before Flynn took over. He came to define the face of the college in all three Dexter Riley films. Flynn was a perfect foil for star Kurt Russell, always threatening him with expulsion, yet secretly proud of his schemes. Flynn could do a take of goofy exasperation better than almost anyone. <br />
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His Disney filmography also includes "The Love Bug", "Barefoot Executive" and "Million Dollar Duck." He wasn't called Dean Higgins in any of those pictures, but might as well have been, the tics and mannerisms were so close. Flynn's last Disney role was a voice-over one, as the villain's main henchman in 1977's "The Rescuers." Flynn might have had a longer career with Disney, but -sadly - he accidentally drowned in his swimming pool shortly after completing his work on "The Rescuers."<br />
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College Deans were never seen in the same light after Joe Flynn got through with them. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>John Musker</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH6cgRPS2TjoG10Z7TdY4Rfdy7_ven00Jikm94-Jkr-4jMVB277zTDlwPdr17QMuPzo2gAUq6cIR43Z1fZtSwI84R_xfHPUE9IegmDlTgA-ffIKjju8cgomWxd9g0CkmXg_hmwsEZAxOQ/s1600/musker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH6cgRPS2TjoG10Z7TdY4Rfdy7_ven00Jikm94-Jkr-4jMVB277zTDlwPdr17QMuPzo2gAUq6cIR43Z1fZtSwI84R_xfHPUE9IegmDlTgA-ffIKjju8cgomWxd9g0CkmXg_hmwsEZAxOQ/s320/musker.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Directors of animated films are not often given as much credit as their live action counterparts. This is probably due to the fact that people think animators are responsible for most of the work. In reality, without an expert hand at the helm, you wind up with unorganized dreck and films that are long forgotten.<br />
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Luckily for Disney, they have John Musker.<br />
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The oldest son of an Irish family from Chicago, Musker was one of the "young turks" who helped to raise Disney animation from its 1970's doldrums and into a new golden age.<br />
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He began with Disney as an artist, most notably working on "The Fox and the Hound" and "The Black Cauldron." He toiled alongside his former college classmates like John Lasseter, Tim Burton and Brad Bird. One of the other people he met at the studio was Ron Clements, who began a fruitful collaboration with him as co-directors.<br />
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Starting in 1986 with "The Great Mouse Detective", the team of Musker & Clements directed a string of hits with "The Little Mermaid", "Aladdin", and "Hercules." In recent years, they've worked on "Treasure Planet" and "The Princess and The Frog." The latter film helped to prove to the powers that be at Disney that there's still room for traditionally animated films on the production slate. <br />
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Musker's next announced project for Disney will be "Mort", an adaptation of Terry Pratchett's novel about Death's apprentice. It's due in 2013 or 2014.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Nathan Lane</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQvo038ZYsW5TE6w7LJN0DyCoa8xcVvSD6faRSB3ajyeH01CiTHxqHlpSGry1NXUyAc7tDwDMTm1XTfZZ22PeTaDU-EkTZhW-RLUFZaD8wjnyFgiOQOyugjU7wqHnTr2aOB_W1TTgL1c/s1600/NathanLane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQvo038ZYsW5TE6w7LJN0DyCoa8xcVvSD6faRSB3ajyeH01CiTHxqHlpSGry1NXUyAc7tDwDMTm1XTfZZ22PeTaDU-EkTZhW-RLUFZaD8wjnyFgiOQOyugjU7wqHnTr2aOB_W1TTgL1c/s1600/NathanLane.jpg" /></a></div>He's only done one major role in a Disney animated classic feature film, but Nathan Lane has made an indelible impression on the company. <br />
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Lane is an Irish-American kid from the streets of Jersey City (full disclosure here - I grew up right around the corner from him, and we both went to the same high school, though we graduated years apart.) He was known as Joe Lane, until joining the Actors Equity union, where there was already an actor by that name. He'd played Nathan Detroit in a high school production of "Guys and Dolls" so he adopted the name for himself.<br />
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Lane became a go to guy on Broadway and was one of the biggest stars on the Great White Way when Disney came calling in the early 1990's to ask him to create the role of Timon the meerkat for "The Lion King."<br />
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Lane made it his own.<br />
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Timon, as originally written, was an antagonist and grumpy, but Lane added a wiseguy Jersey attitude flavored with Catskills and Broadway schtick. Together with fellow Broadway vet Ernie Sabella as Pumba, they were the breakout stars of the most successful animated film to that date. They reprised the role in several direct to video sequels.<br />
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Nathan Lane won an Emmy as the voice of Spot/Scott, the dog who wants to be a little boy in "Disney's Teacher's Pet." In addition, he was the voice of Mr. Tom Morrow at Innoventions in Disneyland.<br />
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Whether he does another role for Disney in the future (which hopefully he does) Nathan Lane will more than likely be named a Disney Legend, a well deserved honor.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Glen Keane</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-7W0fusb2nFt3IikHTsjS26kHoTmV0LPIuJQEI5WJEVsKKIaMi728vUeqD9yt8Fpf9OujD3O1T_tYBdf7K7gnxjOjgLXG3ffg20zWSnCUkBCNikSNCLUfgTFcH0vEvsB4OGlriIfYpyQ/s1600/keane.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="289" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-7W0fusb2nFt3IikHTsjS26kHoTmV0LPIuJQEI5WJEVsKKIaMi728vUeqD9yt8Fpf9OujD3O1T_tYBdf7K7gnxjOjgLXG3ffg20zWSnCUkBCNikSNCLUfgTFcH0vEvsB4OGlriIfYpyQ/s320/keane.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Not many people can say that they were born into the cartooning business and that working at Disney was a natural progression. For Glen Keane, that was just the case.<br />
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The son of legendary cartoonist Bil Keane, who created "The Family Circus", the long running strip about a large Irish-American family, Glen was the inspiration for the character of "Little Billy", who is still appearing in the strip and delighting readers five decades later.<br />
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Keane's father encouraged him to pursue his passion for drawing, and he enrolled at CalArts, the college Walt Disney himself had supported. <br />
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In 1974, Keane left school early to go work for Disney, at a time when the fortunes of the animation department were on the wane. He apprenticed under one of Walt's "Nine Old Men", Ollie Johnston, on "The Rescuers." After that, Keane was asked to animate the title character in "Pete's Dragon."<br />
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His design of Ariel in "The Little Mermaid" helped to set the tone for the new wave of classic Disney characters. Among his other creations are Beast (which he modeled on composites of several different animals), Aladdin, Tarzan and Rapunzel.<br />
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Keane is the winner of many awards for his lifetime spent in the arts, and is the author of several childrens books. Not bad for a kid whose drawings inspired his Dad to create the character of an 8 year old budding artist.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLmrSWpnnKeg4KqalqFBWunLPByb8gUztoYgIXmZ_GLT5hfo92zFlQaGTYJxzgdT0TEh3vUniBaeSGnL1i9BPHgtFyKijhXCLavRBZhqEA3CPH_DOhYGCTpWvT1jt1MmpKr2UNH2E3_9s/s1600/familycircus31308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLmrSWpnnKeg4KqalqFBWunLPByb8gUztoYgIXmZ_GLT5hfo92zFlQaGTYJxzgdT0TEh3vUniBaeSGnL1i9BPHgtFyKijhXCLavRBZhqEA3CPH_DOhYGCTpWvT1jt1MmpKr2UNH2E3_9s/s320/familycircus31308.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOT4BE43cDEW1BHGuUxqwk6qn9538iPcx3O-bbwnJQ4EHw1VphrgUY1TKAAuWs-sZ9M88n1D9vXW2KnsVK6Xz58pDp8leoJ1LxzzPP4FMQU8Ti1ZcQ1NWadpCAWCHg8Z_1vmn-JI6n3M/s1600/family+circus+tarzan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOT4BE43cDEW1BHGuUxqwk6qn9538iPcx3O-bbwnJQ4EHw1VphrgUY1TKAAuWs-sZ9M88n1D9vXW2KnsVK6Xz58pDp8leoJ1LxzzPP4FMQU8Ti1ZcQ1NWadpCAWCHg8Z_1vmn-JI6n3M/s1600/family+circus+tarzan.jpg" /></a></div>Chris Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18416994097295040150noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7770317986918254563.post-52210802750914606272011-02-27T14:00:00.004-05:002011-03-01T10:29:57.911-05:00Ten Disney Moments At The Oscars<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPBS8i3v4HZwX7Wfi_GRCUGFJzPZzxN6WFg08UNqMI60nGdZoVltb_yPUl94lNUVyZC4fO3sKC3nJp5je2bpU29Fcs8isN6Q35by7U9Tw2SwqlCiS2GG6m66wFqbVAkyPBFMANtBtoh5M/s1600/mickey-mouse-oscar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPBS8i3v4HZwX7Wfi_GRCUGFJzPZzxN6WFg08UNqMI60nGdZoVltb_yPUl94lNUVyZC4fO3sKC3nJp5je2bpU29Fcs8isN6Q35by7U9Tw2SwqlCiS2GG6m66wFqbVAkyPBFMANtBtoh5M/s320/mickey-mouse-oscar.jpg" width="255" /></a></div><b style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"> <div>Look in any record book about the Academy Awards and you'll see one name pop up over and over again... Disney.</div><div></div><div><br />
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Whether it's an Oscar personally given to Walt (who holds the record with over 60 nominations, half of those resulting in wins) or to his company (this year alone Disney has 12 nominations, with an almost certain lock on Best Animated Picture) Disney and Oscar have had a great relationship.</div><div></div><div><br />
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Oscar and Mickey Mouse were even born the same year (1928) so there's lots of history between them. The only thing missing for Disney is a Best Picture win. They are still the only major studio left from the "golden days" of the 1920's to remain winless at Best Picture (unless you count the four wins for Miramax, which Disney bought in 1993 and sold just a few years ago.)</div><div></div><div><br />
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Here now are Ten Disney Moments at the Oscars.....</div><div></div><div><a name='more'></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Walt's First Oscar Wins </span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u>November 1932 </u></span><br />
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</div></div></span></b><b style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRZi0Km_esTcR0DyUIpFnvGghParF4jxBvasmRe5cAGfLkTD85v-MaPdcLAaem6EN-XFkpjbuJMKbymvbsBPaWFBogVxHoWq-bFLFzBMYkpncVThINkFJkLy58TjQBmpZ7etMwxER4zXI/s1600/walt-disney-oscar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRZi0Km_esTcR0DyUIpFnvGghParF4jxBvasmRe5cAGfLkTD85v-MaPdcLAaem6EN-XFkpjbuJMKbymvbsBPaWFBogVxHoWq-bFLFzBMYkpncVThINkFJkLy58TjQBmpZ7etMwxER4zXI/s1600/walt-disney-oscar.jpg" /></a></div></span></b><b style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"> <div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Academy Awards 5th annual Ceremony was just a small industry gathering at a hotel ballroom when Walt and his wife Lillian attended on November 18, 1932. (Coincidentally, it was also Mickey's birthday.)</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">A few people listened on the radio at home, and most read about it in film magazines afterwards, but the Oscars didn't get the massive wall to wall coverage and live worldwide broadcast it does today.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">It was in that small intimate atmosphere that Walt, a few weeks shy of his 31st birthday, was given his very first Oscar. (Actually, Walt is credited with popularizing the name for the little golden guy. It had officially been called the "Academy's Award" until a librarian at the Academy remarked that it looked like her Uncle Oscar. The nickname was seen as a derogatory one until Walt stood at the podium and referred to his statue proudly as "his little Oscar." After that, the name stuck.)</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Oscar given to Walt that night was an honorary one, for the creation of Mickey Mouse and his contribution to world cinema. Nevertheless, it was only the second such award ever given. The first honorary Oscar was given to Walt's idol, Charlie Chaplin, in 1929. Chaplin was supposed to present the award to Disney, but got sick the day of the ceremony and couldn't attend.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Disney's animators created special cartoon for the occasion called "Mickey's Parade of Award Nominees." It was the very first Mickey Mouse cartoon produced in color. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">In the short, Mickey leads a marching band, including Minnie, Pluto, Horace Horse Collar and Clarabell Cow (Goofy and Donald hadn't yet been born.) Also in the parade were caricatures of that year's major acting award nominees as the characters they played in their films, including Wallace Beery as "The Champ" and Frederick March as Dr. Jekyll, who changes into Mr. Hyde as the parade moves along. (Both Beery and March would make Oscar history that night by sharing the Best Actor Award.) The parade ends with Pluto holding sign attached to his tail saying "The End."</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">You can tell that the cartoon was done quickly, and not up to the usually rigid Disney standards. The background doesn't change at all. It's just the same castle and windmill rotating by over and over gain as the characters pass. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">At the conclusion of the short that night (which has been cut from subsequent releases of the cartoon) Mickey appears onscreen to thank the Academy and introduce Walt, saying that he could take it from there. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbSrBhplgTQi_xg_0XHTHEGzxdjx5sK1tPqNFVeikBj4bKAx9QWOcE9j5onXb1-6ft9tR2-quqagDN8mqFXqOSQ3ckOvSkq9tiD5yMlBWlRoJvBml3uMz7Sw2RIhWuIT2MbEYhcvZkT4s/s1600/Disney-Lillianoscar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbSrBhplgTQi_xg_0XHTHEGzxdjx5sK1tPqNFVeikBj4bKAx9QWOcE9j5onXb1-6ft9tR2-quqagDN8mqFXqOSQ3ckOvSkq9tiD5yMlBWlRoJvBml3uMz7Sw2RIhWuIT2MbEYhcvZkT4s/s320/Disney-Lillianoscar.jpg" width="276" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The cherry on top of the night was that Disney also won his first Oscar in a competitive category. It was the for best cartoon. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">"Flowers and Trees" was the 29th Silly Symphony film Walt produced, but it was his first in Technicolor. The use of this new process (which Disney shrewdly locked up for his studio only) was revolutionary and gave new life to a medium that had shown signs of waning. The film community took notice and gave the short its highest honor.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;"></div><div><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-weight: normal;">The days of black and white cartoons were quickly coming to an end, and the years of Disney dominance at the Academy Awards were just beginning. </span></span></div><div><br />
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<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><div><span style="font-size: x-large;">Disney's Unofficial Anthem Wins Big</span></div><div><u><span style="font-size: x-large;">February 1941</span></u></div></span></span></b></div><b style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHpGr4V5Qwk_MVdd6DE69L9ZvUwHXdd4ErCWP1N64VCRo-tG-WZBKVALwiLf5cPC8Tab2uoXo1RXDw0AbYeyCpR79_z1RtBT7MCec64E4IvNjkZaezF2PvLw-USGYRe7k6AWO43izmJNo/s1600/WaltOscarfeat2seal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHpGr4V5Qwk_MVdd6DE69L9ZvUwHXdd4ErCWP1N64VCRo-tG-WZBKVALwiLf5cPC8Tab2uoXo1RXDw0AbYeyCpR79_z1RtBT7MCec64E4IvNjkZaezF2PvLw-USGYRe7k6AWO43izmJNo/s1600/WaltOscarfeat2seal.jpg" /></a></div></span></span></b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"> <div>If there's one thing Walt Disney knew about his audiences, it was that they loved music, especially when it moved the story along and pulled at your heartstrings. </div><div></div><div><br />
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From "Steamboat Willie" in 1928 to "The Three Little Pigs" in 1933 and "Snow White" in 1937, songs (whether instrumental or lyrical) were an integral part of Disney films. That's why it's so surprising that the Academy took over a decade to award Best Song to a number from one of Walt's pictures. </div><div></div><div><br />
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1940's "Pinocchio" is a masterpiece visually, but it's the music that helps seal the deal. The jaunty score that fills the film, written by Disney's in house composers Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline and Ned Washington, was honored by the Academy, but it was one song that stood out among them all and took the top musical prize at the 13th Annual Oscar Ceremony in 1941.</div><div></div><div><br />
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"When You Wish Upon A Star" is a plaintive song, first heard as Jiminy Cricket (voice of Cliff Edwards) introduces the story. (Trivia note: in the scene where Jiminy is passing a bookshelf as he sings the song, you can see both "Peter Pan" and "Alice In Wonderland" among the books on the shelf. This is a nice in-joke, as those films were still in pre-production by Disney at the time, still a decade away.) It's a tune filled with hopes and dreams, telling about the power of wishes coming true. For audiences in 1940, with the world on fire and rolling headlong into war, it was a soothing ballad and became an instant hit. The Academy followed with its praise.</div><div></div><div><br />
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Not only did "Pinocchio" win for best song and score (the first Disney film to do so) it also has the distinction of being the first animated feature film to win Oscars in competitive categories.</div><div></div><div><br />
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The songs from "Pinocchio" were so popular that a full soundtrack was released, the first time that had ever been done for a feature film, animated or not. It rose to the top of the charts.</div><div></div><div><br />
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"When You Wish Upon A Star" was recently named #7 on the American Film Institute's list of Top Movie Songs of all time. It has since become the anthem for Disney, heard in TV shows, other Disney productions and at the theme parks. It's certainly lived up to Oscar's billing as Best Song.</div><div></div><div><br />
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The Disney canon produced many other memorable tunes after that 1940 triumph. Unfortunately, Oscar only recognized them twice more for Best Song in the successive 50 years (1947 and 1964.) Even so, "When You Wish Upon A Star" retains its unique position in both motion picture and Disney history.</div><div></div></span></span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><div><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>James Baskett Honored </b></span></div><div><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>March 1948</b></span></u><br />
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<u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b> </b></span></u></div></span></span></span></span></div></div><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAVxDqzO6RPB67IjfUNFh2ZLDJHsmiQuOxB4CXxHtEQIhuSWU3obkEDlylQeIgAETxkMVZ96_PwajL-f-OGg5Ez3We6xGh1QYqLUNuLYLAP1lDeQy5LcAv-2fh4XBc9HGYEXJAYdAVUiY/s1600/baskettoscars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAVxDqzO6RPB67IjfUNFh2ZLDJHsmiQuOxB4CXxHtEQIhuSWU3obkEDlylQeIgAETxkMVZ96_PwajL-f-OGg5Ez3We6xGh1QYqLUNuLYLAP1lDeQy5LcAv-2fh4XBc9HGYEXJAYdAVUiY/s320/baskettoscars.jpg" width="292" /></a></div></span></span></span></span><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"> <div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In 1946, Americans were still shaking off the horrors of The Great Depression and World War II. Walt Disney came along with the right tonic to lift their spirits.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">"Zip A Dee Doo Dah", the featured track in "Song of the South" was an instant hit. (All but five minutes of that film features songs.) Its lyrics, which speak of of plenty of sunshine and a wonderful day ahead, exuded optimism with every note. For the man who sang it in the film, though, things were not always so happy.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">James Baskett studied to be a pharmacist before dropping out of college to pursue a career as an actor, eventually joining the performing company of the legendary dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Baskett made his way to Broadway, where he starred in a revue featuring Louis Armstrong. The reviews were so good, they prompted Baskett to move to Hollywood. He did a few parts in B films, and co-starred on the Amos and Andy Radio Show. It was through that job that he was invited to the Disney Studio to audition for a small voice-over role as one of the butterflies in Disney's live action/animated adaptation of the Uncle Remus stories, written by Joel Chandler Harris.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">When Walt Disney met and heard Baskett, he knew he had found his Uncle Remus, a role Baskett hadn't even intended to read for. As a result, James Baskett has the distinct honor of being the very first actor hired to star in a live action Disney film. He certainly rewarded Disney for his faith in him.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Viewed in a 21st Century politically correct light, "Song of the South" can make you wince at times. The film's depiction of Plantation life in the post-Civil War south has images and dialogue that can be seen as demeaning to African-Americans (contrary to popular myth, there are no references to slavery in this film.) Baskett's performance, however, stands out. He does not do anything to dishonor his heritage. In response to his critics, Baskett was quoted in a 1947 Ebony magazine article as saying, "I believe that certain groups are doing more harm to our race in seeking to create dissension than can ever possibly come out of the positive images Mr. Disney shows in this film." </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Uncle Remus is a genial character, narrating the animated stories of Brer Rabbit, Brer Bear and Brer Fox (who basket actually provided the voice for. He spoke so fast as Brer Fox that the animators had trouble synching his words to the cartoons) Remus is the voice of wisdom and the conscience of the film. Many of his lessons and moralistic fables are told in song. "Zip A Dee Doo Dah" was just one of them, but he conveyed just as much emotion and yearning in that one song as Judy Garland had in her rendition of "Over the Rainbow" a few years before in "The Wizard of Oz." </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgMMO-6dvAnk7Bk8da-n5C8i-I_hDUYhXnk7uKvRvf-icVtUEACbMM83APbH-YlJGCFYljxkHuAPicYTIJ7m2gQKDgz4u6ipYEERJe3Vh40tP0HpJkJO9A0QabScdUOzao7hpag2EzUo/s1600/Uncle_Remus_1946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxgMMO-6dvAnk7Bk8da-n5C8i-I_hDUYhXnk7uKvRvf-icVtUEACbMM83APbH-YlJGCFYljxkHuAPicYTIJ7m2gQKDgz4u6ipYEERJe3Vh40tP0HpJkJO9A0QabScdUOzao7hpag2EzUo/s1600/Uncle_Remus_1946.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The proof of Baskett's imprint on the collective minds of the public is that 'Zip a Dee Doo Dah" has been covered and recorded by hundreds of artists since, yet it's Baskett's version that endures. People remember him, despite the fact that "Song of the South" has been effectively buried by Disney and hasn't been seen in almost 30 years.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The Academy members felt so strongly about Baskett's performance as Uncle Remus that they didn't even place him in the nominee pool for Best Actor, they just gave him an Oscar outright, which was presented to him by Ingrid Bergman at the 20th Academy Awards Ceremony in 1948.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">James Baskett was not only the first actor to win an Oscar for a Disney film, he was also the first African American male to be given one. His co-star in the film, Hattie McDaniel, had the distinction of being the first African American female a few years before with her win for "Gone With The Wind." </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Baskett's Academy Award read: </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">"Given to James Baskett for his able and heartwarming characterization of Uncle Remus, friend and storyteller to the children of the world."</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The award was somewhat of a redemption for Baskett, as he had to endure one of he saddest points in Disney history just a few years prior to that.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The World Premiere for "Song of The South" was held at the FOX theater in Atlanta Georgia on November 12, 1946. Everyone from the film was there for the big night. Everyone, that is, except for the film's star.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Baskett would have loved nothing more than to soak in the appreciation and adulation of the crowd seeing his film for the first time. Unfortunately, Atlanta was a segregated city back then, and African Americans - even those who starred in the film itself - were not allowed to mix with whites in movie theater audiences.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">I wish I could say that Walt Disney boycotted this shameful treatment and did not go to the premiere. It pains me to say he did not. While records show that Walt debated canceling the premiere due to the racial exclusion policy, the fact that the family of Joel Chandler Harris (who had been outspoken critics of segregation and the Ku Klux Klan) personally invited him to have the premiere in Georgia - where Harris wrote all the Uncle Remus tales - convinced Disney to go. His one mild form of protest was to leave the theater immediately after the film began. He never stayed to see it with the segregated audience.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Baskett's Oscar night glory made up in a small way for his disgraceful treatment in Georgia, and he was generally acknowledged as one of the finer African American actors of his generation. Sadly, James Baskett died of heart failure at the young age of 44, just a few months after winning his Award and never lived to build upon his Disney triumph. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">As of this writing, Disney still does not have plans to release "Song of the South" from its vaults. That's a shame, as they have used parts of the film for park attractions (Splash Mountain, Critter Country) the song is one of the most played in the Disney universe, and the company has put out other racially insensitive cartoons from that period on DVD, with explanations of their context. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Today's audiences should be exposed to this film and be allowed to judge it on their own merits. This would also give them a chance to see Baskett's one and only Disney performance, a powerhouse one which will stand the test of time, as the Academy itself confirmed. </span></div><div></div><div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: x-large;">Walt's Record Setting Night</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">April 1954</span></span></b></u></div><br />
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</div><div><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></span><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"> <div>By 1953, Walt Disney had run up an incredible amount of Academy Award nominations. With the exception of one year, Disney had some stake in the races annually since 1932. His trophy case was filling up fast. (He also had the unusual task in 1937 of presenting himself with an Oscar, as he was the one chosen to read the nominees that year.) </div><div></div><div><br />
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Walt cried onstage when he was given the Irving Thalberg award in 1942 for his production of "Fantasia." The Academy lauded him for the use of Bach, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, despite the fact that the film was Disney's first box office bomb. Through his tears Walt said, "Maybe I should be getting a medal for bravery instead. We all make mistakes, mine was an honest one. I promise to rededicate myself to my old ideals."<br />
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Perhaps the most unique Oscar ever was given to Walt as a special trophy in 1939 to honor the groundbreaking achievement of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." The statue consisted of one actual size Oscar and seven smaller ones ascending a staircase. It was presented to Walt by the biggest child star in Hollywood at the time (and perhaps of all time) Shirley Temple. Her comment to Disney asking him if he was proud of the award prompted him to say "I'm so proud I think I'll bust!"</div><div></div><div><br />
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It was a nice moment, but nothing compared to the armful of real Oscars Walt would hold 15 years later.</div><div></div><div><br />
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The 26th Annual Academy Awards Ceremony was held at the RKO Pantages Theater on March 25, 1954. It marked only the second time that the show was broadcast to a national television audience. (A young comic actress named Betty White hosted car commercials during the breaks.) "From Here To Eternity" was the big winner, taking home 8 prizes including Best Picture (it tied "Gone With The Wind" for most wins ever.) The show had a "Rat Pack" feel to it, as Frank Sinatra won an Oscar and Dean Martin sang "That's Amore" (which was nominated for Best Song.) The evening, however, belonged to Walt Disney.</div><div></div><div><br />
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For the first and only time in Oscar history, one person won four Academy Awards for a quartet of different films. </div><div><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</span></div></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;">It was expected, of course, that Disney would win for animated short, which he did for "Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom" , the first cartoon ever made in CinemaScope. It starred the now obscure Disney character Professor Owl in a comical history of musical instruments.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The other three wins came as a direct result of Walt's experimental side.</span><br />
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<span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;">One of Walt's many risks paid off for him in a big way when he decided, in 1949, to stretch the studio's filmmaking muscles even further by producing a short nature film. "Seal Island" was his first "True Life Adventure" and everyone advised him not to make it. RKO Pictures, the company that distributed Disney's films, said that nobody would go see a half hour film about seals with no humans and no dialogue, save for the narration. </span><br />
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<span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;">Walt persisted, and he had a friend run "Seal Island" in a Pasadena theater for a week so that it would qualify for the Oscars. It won Best Live Short that year. Walt wouldn't let this moment pass. He supposedly marched the Oscar down to his brother Roy's office the next day and said, "Here, take this to RKO and bop them on the head with it." </span><br />
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<span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;">As a result of his continuing "True Life Adventure" series, Walt was nominated in 1953 for the full length documentary "The Living Desert", the live short "Bear Country" and the short documentary "The Alaskan Eskimo" (which was actually part of an offshoot of the "True Life" series called "People and Places.") He won all three. </span><br />
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<span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;">Holding his record four statues in his hand, Walt told the press that it was wonderful to get the awards and that he should probably now retire from filmmaking.</span><br />
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<span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;">As we all know, he did not. Walt Disney had one last great triumph left. </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span id="role_document" style="color: black;">Ub Iwerks Gets His Due</span></b></span></div></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>April 1960</b></span></u><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyICzqBMPrLGyganuiQZhrofwBLj-FKmC5KO6qSYo7M7S3hRCQIRqKFm1dsa1k57ow8uccqybbvBJjkYtbSFk_sdFR20dBtEVwbmh-vq-__4Zc00Zh9N3HAggokPPmax64cZ0vxri4jbI/s1600/Ubiwerks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyICzqBMPrLGyganuiQZhrofwBLj-FKmC5KO6qSYo7M7S3hRCQIRqKFm1dsa1k57ow8uccqybbvBJjkYtbSFk_sdFR20dBtEVwbmh-vq-__4Zc00Zh9N3HAggokPPmax64cZ0vxri4jbI/s320/Ubiwerks.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"> <div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In 1960, an Academy Award was given to a member of Disney's staff that helped to shine a light on someone who was as much a pioneer as Walt, yet had (and still has, unfortunately) barely any name recognition with moviegoers. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">One of the fairer criticisms leveled at Walt Disney is the fact that as the head of the studio, with his name front and center on all films, he gained all of the credit while not doing much of the work.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Walt himself agreed with this. He often said that while he worked as hard as anyone else, his job wasn't quite defined. He saw his role as more of a king bee, going from department to department overseeing each aspect of the production and cross-pollinating ideas until they had a fine tuned product to release.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">This caused tension in the studio as some of Walt's employees, feeling undervalued and kept in his shadows, eventually left Disney in disgust. One of those men was Walt's oldest friend in the business.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ub Iwerks and Walt met each other in Kansas City in 1918 as co-workers in an advertising company. They hit it off right away and started a company together called Iwerks-Disney (If they did it the other way, people would confuse them for an optometrists office.) Walt was the flashy showman, and Ub was the talented animator. Walt had his own gifts as an artist, but could not match his partner's output. It was aid that Ub Iwerks could produce 700 drawings in a day, and astounding volume for an animator. When Walt left for other opportunities, their nascent studio folded as Ub wasn't as good as Walt at promoting or selling.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">A few years later, when Walt started his studio in California, Ub was one of the first to join his staff. Walt couldn't pay much, so he offered shares in the company in return. They had some success, but when Walt was double crossed by his distributor, who hired away his animation staff, Ub was the only one to remain loyal and stay at Walt's side.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Together Ub and Walt helped to create Mickey Mouse as we know him now. This launched the Disney Studio to greater heights than either could have imagined. The public immediately thought of Walt and Mickey as one, giving little credit to Iwerks, despite the fact that his name was prominent in the titles.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ub finally had enough and left Disney in 1930. He cashed in his shares (a move that he and his family would come to regret, as his portion of ownership in the Disney Studio would now be worth an incredible fortune) and started his own studio, with characters like Willie the Whopper and Flip the Frog. While talented, Ub didn't have the storytelling gifts that Walt did and his Studio soon went under.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Iwerks returned to Disney in 1940, but in a different capacity. An inveterate tinkerer, Ub was put in charge of research and development for the studio. Disney was always out front with technology, adding such innovations to film like the multi-plane camera. They were now expanding to live action films, so new technologies were needed. Ub Iwerks' blueprints and designs would ensure that Disney remained the gold standard for special effects.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">After 20 years of his inventions like the multiheaded optical printer - which allowed animated characters to blend seamlessly on screen with live action, the color traveling matte - which made painted backgrounds more realistic, and novel film developing techniques, Iwerks was rewarded with an Oscar for his talent as a master movie magic technician.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">When he walked up to the podium on that night in 1960 to accept his Academy Award, Ub Iwerks - for that moment at least - was the star of the night and shone as brightly as any Disney employee ever had. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ub Iwerks won another Oscar shortly after that and then semi-retired from the film business and went to work at the Imagineering Department, using his genius to develop Disney attractions like It's A Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Hall of Presidents. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Without Ub Iwerks leading the way and creating things on screen that did not exist before, there would be no "Star Wars" "Jurassic Park" or "Avatar" today. He is there in spirit every time an Oscar for Technical Skills or Special Effects is given out.</span><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div></span></span><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Walt's Greatest Oscar Triumph</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>April 1965</b></span></u><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUxP_24hvw4l1sRfJ-yz6BVj6vGvChnr_V4qGD_KaRwlwRGWU_aBqcZaZ8vOqXYis21fsKRXw_XInzCQCqg91LjvxaYTRmF1l5wCL5mcac3foZfcT3sL8IGcdYe1eOIVJI5dCw5dXXKP0/s1600/juliesherman.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUxP_24hvw4l1sRfJ-yz6BVj6vGvChnr_V4qGD_KaRwlwRGWU_aBqcZaZ8vOqXYis21fsKRXw_XInzCQCqg91LjvxaYTRmF1l5wCL5mcac3foZfcT3sL8IGcdYe1eOIVJI5dCw5dXXKP0/s320/juliesherman.bmp" width="300" /></a></span></div><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"> <div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">By 1964, Walt Disney had racked up an impressive amount of Oscar nominations and Awards. He had, by then, found his stride in live action films and his studio was the leader in animation and special effects. Still, he felt that he was never really respected by the industry, and viewed himself as an outsider to the major studio system that ran Tinseltown. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">A Best Picture nomination eluded Walt for years, and he knew he had to do something special to join the club.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Disney put all of the collective talent, knowledge and experience of his staff into one ambitious project, an adaptation of P.L Travers' classic tales of a "practically perfect" British nanny, Mary Poppins. This would be a musical combining live action and animation, with an all star cast of Disney regulars and a few newcomers.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">In previous years, Walt might have worried about taking on such a monumental project, but he said that he never did because all he saw around the Studio were smiles, especially from his brother Roy who controlled the purse strings and was notoriously skeptical of Walt's grand visions and designs.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The faith was well placed. "Mary Poppins" was an instant classic. Audiences all over the world went to see it again and again. When it came time for the nominations for the 37th Academy Awards, Walt thought that he would do OK, but he - and the rest of his staff - were astounded by what happened.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">"Mary Poppins" earned thirteen Oscar nominations, the most that year and still one of the highest totals ever, including the long sought after Best Picture. Finally, Walt could head to the Oscars with head held high as he competed on the same playing field as his peers. To go with the Best Picture nod, "Poppins" was included in all of the top five categories, with the exception of Best Actor (poor Dick van Dyke, you were robbed.)</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Julie Andrews, who played Mary, was Walt's big discovery. He had seen the young English actress on Broadway in "My Fair Lady" and took the chance on her when she was passed over for the lead role in the film adaptation of the play. Mary Poppins was the film debut for Julie Andrews. (Ironically, Audrey Hepburn, who was cast in "My Fair Lady" was denied an Oscar nomination, in large part because it was discovered that she didn't do her own singing in the film.) </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">For only the third time in history, an actress won the Academy Award for their debut role. Andrews was speechless. She managed to get her first words out, and they were thanks to Walt Disney. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">This gave hope to those who thought "Mary Poppins" would add Best Picture to its five other wins (Actress, Special Effects, Editing, Score, and Song - "Chim Chimeree" written by the Sherman Brothers) It was not meant to be. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ5RmqbIKqruxhVfjJ_PPwy6ZI8lweN2LnN-1DXMWEeH3pUEjl7mzBw_kDdaROL-vqOFKhH-KfJoR_ID_ixalhMlgvbrc0XJC68XNc8GWr2dEd5UGGCT45uA3QeQ4voa1i2m9i4XyP8XU/s1600/disney_two_oscars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ5RmqbIKqruxhVfjJ_PPwy6ZI8lweN2LnN-1DXMWEeH3pUEjl7mzBw_kDdaROL-vqOFKhH-KfJoR_ID_ixalhMlgvbrc0XJC68XNc8GWr2dEd5UGGCT45uA3QeQ4voa1i2m9i4XyP8XU/s320/disney_two_oscars.jpg" width="243" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">"My Fair Lady" bested "Poppins" by three awards, including the top prize. One of those was for British film veteran Rex Harrison, who won Best Actor. This added to another notable record, as for the first time in Oscar history, all four acting honors went to non-Americans. (the other winners were fellow Brit and Disney favorite Peter Ustinov for "Tokapi" and Greek actress Lila Kedrova for "Zorba".) The feat was matched in 2007.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Walt was, of course, sad that he didn't win Best Picture, but the melancholy was only temporary as he gleefully basted of the five trophies and thirteen nominations. To him, it was validation of a forty year effort to be included among the people shaping the present and future of filmmaking.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Mr. Disney died less than two years after that Oscar night, but he passed away knowing that with "Mary Poppins" he and his studio staff had finally gained the legitimacy they had sought for decades.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Mickey Meets Oscar</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><u><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>April 1978/ 1988</b></span></span></u></div></span></span></span></div><br />
<span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div></span></span></span></div><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjAed42Fes_skP6ibwOPpGIDlVhSDaa_KgmNMDT180aLE2R22l9_n7iUuZuokKBhZKtTi6Q2szD2iTe_K9zvPvL3_887G1jd9JoedWQ3kWYeiojXau7ym0X25OxpZ7YK2MZkwVqNJr_k/s1600/mickeyawards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="319" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjAed42Fes_skP6ibwOPpGIDlVhSDaa_KgmNMDT180aLE2R22l9_n7iUuZuokKBhZKtTi6Q2szD2iTe_K9zvPvL3_887G1jd9JoedWQ3kWYeiojXau7ym0X25OxpZ7YK2MZkwVqNJr_k/s320/mickeyawards.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"> <div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Despite his standing as Walt Disney's most famous cartoon character, and the symbol for the whole company, Mickey Mouse was only responsible for one of Walt's Oscar wins. That came in 1941 for his animated short "Lend A Paw" which featured Pluto as a co-star.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Mickey faded from the silver screen in the 1950's and 60's and was pretty much done as a film star by the 1970's. It was Oscar that helped Mickey make a big comeback, just in time to celebrate the 50th birthday for both of them.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">At the 50th Academy Awards Ceremony, held in April 1978, "Star Wars" was a big winner. It didn't nab the top prize, but took home 6 Oscars out of ten nominations. So it was no surprise that the film's robot stars, C3PO and R2D2 were on hand to present a special technical award related to the film. What was a surprise was who took the stage directly after them.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">As the orchestra played "The Mickey Mouse Club March", Mickey himself skipped on stage, nodding to Threepio and Artoo as he passed them by. This live costumed version of Mickey, visiting from down the road at Disneyland, was decked out in a tux and the crowd roared with applause as he soaked in the moment. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">After announcing that he was there to give out the Oscar for best animated short (thanks to a live voice-over by his longtime alter ego Jimmy MacDonald) he was joined by diminutive singer/songwriter Paul Williams as a co-presenter. Jodie Foster, who had supposedly lost out on a starring role in "Star Wars" because she was locked into her Disney contract, mysteriously appeared from the wings to remind everybody that it was Mickey's 50th birthday too. Williams, after complimenting Mickey on "Steamboat Willie", cracked that maybe they would get Mickey two more fingers for his big day. The final surreal moment was Mickey reading the list of nominees (including Garry Trudeau's attempt at a "Doonesbury" short film) before Paul Williams opened the envelope. As soon as the winner came on stage, Mickey left.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Mickey would return to Oscar's stage to celebrate his 60th birthday, albeit in a different form. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When the 60th Academy Awards Ceremony was held in April 1988, it was in the middle of a tense writer's strike that affected the mood of the entire evening. It was a more subdued occasion, and not as celebratory as the one ten years earlier. Midway through the show host Chevy Chase promised a "very special guest." When they returned from commercial break, it was revealed that Mickey Mouse was the mystery presenter and smiles filled the room.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">As Chase made his introduction to Mickey, the camera showed the front row of the audience at the Shrine Auditorium, where Minnie, Daisy and Donald Duck were sitting. Donald was characteristically incensed when the build-up to "one of the most beloved cartoon stars of all time" did not lead to him. They then showed clips from Mickey's 60 years, finishing with the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" scene from "Fantasia."</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">At the conclusion of the clip package, an animated Mickey - still dressed in his Sorcerer outfit - jumped from the screen onto the stage and began talking to the audience. As an homage to "Mary Poppins" and all the other live action/animation films Disney had produced, it was nice to see Mickey interact with the live crowd and host.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Mickey begins to introduce his "distinguished co-presenter" when he is rudely interrupted by Donald, who believes it's him. When Mickey apologizes (always playing the nice guy) and says that they chose a human to help him, Donald gets apoplectic. A hook comes out from the wings and yanks Donald off so Mickey can continue. (Mickey uses his magic powers to zap Donald back to his seat, still grumbling.)</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The human presenter in question was Tom Selleck (famous as TV's "Magnum PI" and who had appeared in the previous year's Disney hit "Three Men and a Baby.") Selleck didn't seem too thrilled at the assignment, but played along gamely. After asking Mickey to change into something more appropriate (which he magically does) Selleck led him to the podium - with almost none of the banter that Williams had with Mickey in 1978 - to read the list of nominees. When Selleck asks for the envelope, Mickey tells him that he must have left it in the other outfit. Selleck asks him if he still has magic dust, and Mickey makes an envelope appear at the podium. After three minutes, they are done. Those three minutes, though, represented a lot of work.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">It took Disney animators almost a month to create the short segment. The big headache was making it work on stage. In films like "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" and "Pete's Dragon" the animation was matched to live action film that was already shot and processed. For this appearance, Mickey would be interacting live in the moment, something that was rarely done. Nine reels of animation had to be carefully matched by the technicians at the Awards that night to pull off the visual trick. Audience members at the Shrine saw Selleck talking to empty space. Viewers at home saw Mickey. It was nicely done and a fitting tribute to the Mouse that started it all.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Mickey made one more appearance at the Oscars in 2003, for his 75th birthday, presenting the shorts category with actress Jennifer Garner. By this time, computers had refined the live action/animation interaction process and the results were seamless.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Yes, Disney was always good to the Oscars and vice versa. That relationship was severely tested in 1989, however, with what was perhaps the worst Academy Awards ceremony opening number in history.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Oscar Insults Disney</b></span><br />
<u><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>March 1989 </b></span></span></u></div></span></span></span></span></div></div><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMbMSHckdivpOZpZZUS0GdkoTgNNOd3m9LaKJs7hCTDyVXVxip-mWfzBpZ2ZBUWXUv3VAdRjgN0EKHHvCPQmoiROsv515-jY9aejjn826Tio4CHuMg3_bIC1ykqmvUdWxLKlHPRW2G-_g/s1600/rob-lowe-snow-white.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMbMSHckdivpOZpZZUS0GdkoTgNNOd3m9LaKJs7hCTDyVXVxip-mWfzBpZ2ZBUWXUv3VAdRjgN0EKHHvCPQmoiROsv515-jY9aejjn826Tio4CHuMg3_bIC1ykqmvUdWxLKlHPRW2G-_g/s400/rob-lowe-snow-white.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"> <div>Allan Carr was the consummate Hollywood showman, so he seemed a natural choice to produce an Academy Awards Ceremony. He was given the task for the 61st Oscars in March 1989.</div><div></div><div><br />
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Carr, who favored campy productions, was notable for producing the 1978 hit film "Grease" and the not so successful Village People film "Can't Stop The Music" which derailed Bruce Jenner's acting career (not that it needed much help.) He decided to bring that campiness and pizzazz to the Oscars. It was a phenomenally bad idea.</div><div></div><div><br />
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It started with Carr importing six million tulips to line the outside of the Shrine Auditorium. He also spent a small fortune building a lavish "green room" for his presenters. The worst mistake, however, was casting a Disney icon in a not so flattering light.</div><div></div><div><br />
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Disney's Snow White, who had just marked her 50th Anniversary a few years before, was brought in by Carr to open the show. Rather than utilizing an animated version, he hired an unknown actress named Eileen Bowman to play Snow White and dressed her exactly as Disney had in the 1937 film. Bowman did a nice job capturing Snow's wide eyed innocence, but she was put in a no win situation.</div><div></div><div><br />
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Carr's opening had longtime awards show staple Army Archerd announcing that one of the great Hollywood legends was back, as Snow White entered to applause. She asked Archerd how to get to the theater, and Archerd told her to follow the gold Hollywood stars on the carpet. At this point things started to go off the rails, as the camera panned down to show Snow White wearing Dorothy's ruby red slippers from MGM's "Wizard of Oz" (huh?) She then walked to the front of the auditorium, crooning "I Only have Eyes for You" directly into the faces of luminaries like Tom Hanks, Sigourney Weaver, Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman. To say that these celebrities, who had no idea that she was going to do that, were mortified is an understatement. </div><div></div><div><br />
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If it ended there, that would be enough to make the opening go down in infamy. The ridiculousness continued, though. Snow White leaped to the stage, which was dressed to resemble the old Coconut Grove nightclub. Talk show host Merv Griffin launched into a rendition of his onetime hit "I've Got A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts" while stars like Roy Rogers and Vincent Price sat on stage with barely a mention or introduction.</div><div></div><div>At the conclusion of his song, Griffin turned to Snow White and told her that her blind date, actor Rob Lowe, was there. Lowe and Snow then began singing a sexually suggestive version of "Proud Mary" with lyrics clearly tweaking Disney and its studio. While they sang, the tables, chairs and other parts of the nightclub came to life, thanks to dancers hidden inside, and joined the fun. (Inspiration for "Be Our Guest" perhaps? I'm joking, of course.) </div><div></div><div><br />
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The conclusion of this weird spectacle was an appearance by actress Lilly Tomlin (who had dressed as Snow White herself in 1980's "9 To 5.") She summed up pretty much what everyone - both at home and in the audience - was thinking by saying that more than a billion people were watching, in many different languages, and were still trying to make sense of what they just saw.</div><div></div><div><br />
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The response to the opening number was almost universally negative. </div><div></div><div><br />
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Disney executive Frank Wells called Allan Carr the next morning demanding an apology for using Snow White's image without permission and for putting her in such a negative context. Carr, who to his dying day insisted that he meant no insult and that the opening was a smash hit, refused to apologize. Wells then threatened to file a lawsuit. Before they could go to court, the Academy publicly apologized to Disney on behalf of Carr and the organization. </div><div></div><div><br />
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To make matters worse for Carr, an open letter was published in the Hollywood trade papers which called his opening number an undignified embarrassment to the Academy and to the motion picture industry. It was signed by legends like Julie Andrews, Gregory Peck and Paul Newman. Carr was subsequently banned by the Academy from being involved with Oscar shows and his film career was effectively ended.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIfaauNdNFH-o14wDvR6JeYNUpY-8sV7e-b55Hmwk2g5vcjUds9mUhS65DBzdeyoLyDbq5nQeZq1D7jJoHKdq43NxnYK6hksXjGCqETc1P-PaqdUVej7aXQce4HYjUH5Q08SBd2IbtmQ/s1600/williams+mickey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwIfaauNdNFH-o14wDvR6JeYNUpY-8sV7e-b55Hmwk2g5vcjUds9mUhS65DBzdeyoLyDbq5nQeZq1D7jJoHKdq43NxnYK6hksXjGCqETc1P-PaqdUVej7aXQce4HYjUH5Q08SBd2IbtmQ/s320/williams+mickey.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div><br />
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In actuality, after things settled down, the show was pretty normal. It marked the first time that winners were announced by saying "And the Oscar goes to.." (one of Carr's ideas.) Disney was well represented by "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" which won several awards. The voice of Roger, Charles Fleischer, appeared as a presenter with fellow comedian Robin Williams, who came out dressed as Mickey Mouse. Williams did an almost five minute risque riff on Mickey and Disney, but he didn't catch as much flack from Wells as Carr did because Wells said it was more of a spoof and parody than a disrespectful use of the character.</div><div></div><div><br />
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One other note of interest: Pixar won their very first Oscar that year, for the computer animated short "Tin Toy." John Lasseter, a Disney veteran now back in the fold, accepted the award and predicted big things to come for his company and for the genre. He probably had no idea how far they would go.</div><div></div><div><br />
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The 61st Oscar Ceremony still garners attention whenever lists of "worst Oscar shows" are published. Disney held no grudges against the Academy and the relationship continued as happily as it had been. In fact, Snow White made a second appearance at the Oscars just a few years later. In 1993, she showed up in animated form to present the award for best short subject. She brought the house down with the line "I think I have some experience with short subjects." Sweet redemption indeed. </div><div><br />
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</div></span></span></span></span></span><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Disney Animation Finally Gets To the Top</b></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>March 1992 </b></span></u></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggMzqUw13Qjt9Q0LBuf5MpCB4x5SMHL50YPYn3UYTl2KxtKW28a3DSAfmIa1EYKceLRR3bjyolf9xa3I7yb3vEEOEig33hKORXdXnJzPRVzixSP0x1AkbSgHOwzfR4dvwwZ1sNa1AdwFc/s1600/Beautybeastposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggMzqUw13Qjt9Q0LBuf5MpCB4x5SMHL50YPYn3UYTl2KxtKW28a3DSAfmIa1EYKceLRR3bjyolf9xa3I7yb3vEEOEig33hKORXdXnJzPRVzixSP0x1AkbSgHOwzfR4dvwwZ1sNa1AdwFc/s400/Beautybeastposter.jpg" width="268" /></a></div></span></span></span></span></span><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"> <div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">"Snow White' was a game changer in 1937, the first animated feature film. Walt proved his doubters wrong as the film became the highest grossing film of all time. Still, the Academy just couldn't bring themselves to include a simple cartoon among the list of Best Picture nominees. Walt had to settle for a special award.</div><div></div><div><br />
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<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">This bias against fully animated films lasted over half a century, as classics were ignored simply because they were populated with characters that originated in an artists inkwell rather than with flesh and blood actors. In 1991, Disney released a film that just couldn't be ignored and finally managed to break the Best Picture nomination barrier.</div></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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Disney had gotten their animation groove back with 1989's "The Little Mermaid" so it was no surprise that follow up efforts would rise to the same level of quality. When Michael Eisner, Roy Disney and the other people in charge of the studio saw what they had in "Beauty and the Beast", they knew that it deserved special treatment.</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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In an unprecedented move, the usually secretive Disney animation department allowed the public to see an unfinished version of a film. They entered "Beauty and the Beast" as a work in progress at the New York Film Festival. It was a risky move, as large stretches of the film consisted of the audio track set to pencil sketches against plain white background. The gamble paid off. When the screening ended, the usually stoic New York film crowd burst into a sustained ten minute standing ovation.</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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Buoyed by that success, Disney arranged showings at other prestigious venues and festivals. They even had surprise "double features" with showings of the Steve Martin comedy "Father of the Bride." </div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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The film was also unique in that its screenplay was written by a woman, Linda Woolverton. That had never been done with a Disney animated feature. In another first for the studio, they created a marketing campaign targeted specifically at adults and couples. Rather than using the cartoon characters, colorful backgrounds and and cute sidekicks on their ads as they'd done for 50 years, they chose to utilize a one sheet poster with silhouettes of the main characters backed by an ethereal glow. The tag line said simply "The most beautiful love story ever told." Quite a boast indeed. (Disney did create a more traditional cartoon poster for the film, which was used in later ads.)</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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It all worked, as "Beauty and the Beast" rang up big box office numbers and critics fell over themselves to praise the film as one of the best of the year. Now the pressure was on, could Disney actually get a nomination for Best Picture?</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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The answer was yes. When the nominees for Best Picture at the 64th Annual Academy Awards were announced, "Beauty and the Beast" was included in the five. Disney had finally done it. In addition to the Best Picture nomination, the film got five other nods, the most ever for any animated film. It also got three nominations in the Best Song category, thanks to the music of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. (Both feats are still a record, though both "Enchanted" and "The Lion King" did tie the three song one and "Wall-E" tied for most nominations, they all share the record.)</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTcotk28CsSFeAN32-0ChR6TSxOGt2h0xf92nS-juFVToMqlaY3HtBBB03353T7lghe2RTeG_8od1E6LIGvvkji0LivSSQIqMm5LZNTp1lc0baBYxvf6orwp_JObbqKY2HOyAULDT368/s1600/alan-menken-oscar_240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdTcotk28CsSFeAN32-0ChR6TSxOGt2h0xf92nS-juFVToMqlaY3HtBBB03353T7lghe2RTeG_8od1E6LIGvvkji0LivSSQIqMm5LZNTp1lc0baBYxvf6orwp_JObbqKY2HOyAULDT368/s1600/alan-menken-oscar_240.jpg" /></a></div></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
Sadly the ending of the story didn't turn out as they had hoped. Just getting there was an honor, but "Beauty and the Beast" was swept aside in what became a history making night for another film, "Silence of the Lambs", which was only the third film to win all five top prizes (actor, actress, director, screenplay, picture. Jodie Foster, whose film career began at Disney, was named Best Actress.) Disney did win for best song and score.</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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The odds were long, to be sure, but many thought that Disney did have a shot at Best Picture. Just a few weeks earlier, "Beauty and the Beast" had won top honors at the Golden Globes, which is sometimes seen as a bellwether for the Oscars.</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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Speculation was rampant that Disney hurt themselves by refusing to follow tradition and send full versions of the film (known as "screeners") to Academy voters. They feared the prospect of bootleg copies of their film being sold on the black market, so Disney sent just a ten minute snippet of highlights from the film. This seemed to imply that Disney thought that voters could not be trusted with a personal copy of the film in their hands. Upset at being treated like pirates, many voters sent angry letters and made calls to Disney. One guy even told them that he thought "Beauty and the Beast" was definitely the best picture of the year, but would give his vote to a studio who did trust him with their film.</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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It took another 18 years before an animated film was given its due, and it was yet another Disney film, "Up." The big differences between the two are that "Up" (and this year's "Toy Story 3", which also got a Best Picture nomination) was animated by computers, not traditionally hand drawn, and it was included in a list of ten nominees, not the more competitive five, as "Beauty and the Beast" had to deal with.</div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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The Academy added a separate category for Best Animated Feature Film in 2001, which many critics argue will prevent the Academy from ever giving top prize to a cartoon. That remains to be seen, but until that day, "Beauty and the Beast" will still be regarded as the pioneer. </div></span><div><br />
</div></span></span></span></span></span><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Disney's Amazing Oscar Streaks</span></b></div><div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">1932 - Present</span></b></u></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdpVCFiTxqpgMRs1NP_0dEEGM1zaH5dPzh4o-hS9PvAkoFgWfA6xcScGLn2K6z41zQFyoIAq47Ik0MpT62U35QNCSJnvwX91Nb00IaLIJL-HYPmk97kjwtwwZ5VVnOdco6QfYgm7uK2k/s1600/walt_disney-multiple_oscars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRdpVCFiTxqpgMRs1NP_0dEEGM1zaH5dPzh4o-hS9PvAkoFgWfA6xcScGLn2K6z41zQFyoIAq47Ik0MpT62U35QNCSJnvwX91Nb00IaLIJL-HYPmk97kjwtwwZ5VVnOdco6QfYgm7uK2k/s400/walt_disney-multiple_oscars.jpg" width="245" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black;"> <div>When "Chim Chimeree" won best song in 1964, the Sherman Brothers were in top form, and Disney films were still box office winners. Nobody could have predicted that Disney was about to hit a huge dry streak.</div><div></div><div><br />
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From 1932 until 1964, with the exception of two years (1940 and 1963) Disney had at least one Oscar nomination. Many of those were for Best Song, though it only resulted in three winners in that particular category.<br />
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When Walt died in 1966, the Disney Studio's creativity seemed to go with him and the Academy noticed (Walt's shadow was so large that a few of the Oscars given to the Disney Studio after he died still had his name listed on them as Producer.) Like the Yankees in baseball at that time, a once seemingly unstoppable winner was drifting aimlessly.</div><div></div><div><br />
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The time in the wilderness lasted for 25 years. While there were scattered highlights and nominations, they resulted in few awards.<br />
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In 1989, starting with "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" things began to change. The resurrection of the Disney animation department has widely been credited to "The Little Mermaid" and that film started one of the most amazing winning streaks in modern film history.</div><div></div><div><br />
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From 1989 to 2001, Disney only lost the Best Song category four times. Twice it was because there were no nominations in that category for Disney, and once because they were up against "My Heart Will Go On" from 1997's "Titanic."<br />
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The only other streak in Oscar history that comes close to that also belongs to Disney.</div><div></div><div><br />
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From 1934 to 1940 and also from 1951 to 1956, Disney won the Best Animated Short category. Their only real competition at the time was from MGM's Tom and Jerry, which also built a small winning streak. In all, Disney won 12 out of 22 times it was nominated for animated short. They also won 10 of the first 12 times the award was given. One of Walt's posthumous awards was for 1968's "Winnie The Pooh and the Blustery Day."</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGywQLGYcbgXNfkOtJBguhytm8RxD8FMIWa-PgUuysdKIXy78CRMyscHpdHdH_7gndEB29n1_nQhIh5KtJNHiW5X6LYSh9ju1W6PjQAwcopAYProTos4VXMH1FP41hbsDyjXZOJh69w_8/s1600/IncrediblesOscars.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGywQLGYcbgXNfkOtJBguhytm8RxD8FMIWa-PgUuysdKIXy78CRMyscHpdHdH_7gndEB29n1_nQhIh5KtJNHiW5X6LYSh9ju1W6PjQAwcopAYProTos4VXMH1FP41hbsDyjXZOJh69w_8/s400/IncrediblesOscars.jpg" width="302" /></a></div><br />
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In recent years, Pixar has helped Disney add to its records. </div><div></div><div><br />
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"Toy Story" was the first animated film ever to be nominated for a Best Screenplay award. Pixar is currently on a four year streak of screenplay nominations.</div><div></div><div><br />
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"Up" was the first 3D Animated feature film to be nominated for Best Picture.</div><div></div><div><br />
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All of Pixar's films produced since the advent of the Best Animated Picture Award have been nominated, losing only twice ("Monsters Inc." and "Cars") </div><div></div><div><br />
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As noted earlier, Walt Disney holds the record for most Oscars won. Second on that list is composer Alan Menken, who has won 14 (out of 28 nominations, the living record holder) all for Disney films. His partner, Howard Ashman, died just before "Beauty and the Beast" came out and holds the record for most posthumous Oscar wins (4.)</div><div></div><div><br />
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As you can see, Disney and Oscar have grown up nicely together. Depending on what happens tonight at the Kodak Theater, history might be made once again. If it doesn't happen, it probably will in the future, as both continue to provide those magic moments that only Hollywood can.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2XhPqXClNVvetQNu_hjM6wOA09XRPGdgP2c1K693OZLGbt5UydpKEXOoG6vneAxctdICqG3U2p_XEl2bymzXxa0CUi4vA-k6eeM3pAk_Yd9Oko3CI51_SqNT6we1LefeNRfb85Q-ztg/s1600/Walt-Disney-1932-Academy-Awards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2XhPqXClNVvetQNu_hjM6wOA09XRPGdgP2c1K693OZLGbt5UydpKEXOoG6vneAxctdICqG3U2p_XEl2bymzXxa0CUi4vA-k6eeM3pAk_Yd9Oko3CI51_SqNT6we1LefeNRfb85Q-ztg/s400/Walt-Disney-1932-Academy-Awards.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><b>Walt, producer Hal Roach and Laurel & Hardy at the 1932 Oscars </b></div></div></span></div></span></span></span></span></span>Chris Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18416994097295040150noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7770317986918254563.post-80039931133003498452011-02-19T03:12:00.014-05:002011-02-19T14:32:28.648-05:00Ten Disney Presidential Connections<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvqxV3La17AN2qO_wURUmVZKhmKuO5SCHnvv56vd84UDD0hPfqEdNyKa5OVkmxkFpI9X8n8X09Vxbt2WK5WrreKi_nGHSjj0HHGl94kOmCCi9_T48zinFmf_nI4amFkCL2-d1_9sGDQE/s1600/mickeypresidentsday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVvqxV3La17AN2qO_wURUmVZKhmKuO5SCHnvv56vd84UDD0hPfqEdNyKa5OVkmxkFpI9X8n8X09Vxbt2WK5WrreKi_nGHSjj0HHGl94kOmCCi9_T48zinFmf_nI4amFkCL2-d1_9sGDQE/s200/mickeypresidentsday.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><b>President's Day is upon us once again. </b></div><div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><b>Originally two holidays (Washington's Birthday and Lincoln's Birthday) that were combined into one by an Executive Order of President Nixon in 1971, it was renamed President's Day. The third Monday of February is now used to ostensibly honor all US Presidents. It's also a day (and sometimes a week) off for most schools - probably not a good time to visit a Disney park.</b></div><div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><br />
<b>Walt Disney himself was pretty apolitical. In his lifetime he supported both Democrats and Republicans alike, and he had friends on both sides of the aisle, including a few Presidents.</b></div><div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><b></b></div><div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwvB3EWaDCS8bbzoyZuQtKUAJ274M_AYa5nVITgv4WQnBC-8dhr7BkBNItk2Qq4Q-APpklRSnO6DT0aCTFLdO6vlDusmBLt4yZmoJ2o0dYwMjxE2z7C304eJeg2EjwSslkPBA0aUIPzg0/s1600/WaltandIke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwvB3EWaDCS8bbzoyZuQtKUAJ274M_AYa5nVITgv4WQnBC-8dhr7BkBNItk2Qq4Q-APpklRSnO6DT0aCTFLdO6vlDusmBLt4yZmoJ2o0dYwMjxE2z7C304eJeg2EjwSslkPBA0aUIPzg0/s1600/WaltandIke.jpg" /></a><b></b></div><div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><br />
<b>Every US President, from Dwight Eisenhower (pictured at right with Walt in 1961) on, has paid a visit to a Disney park at least once in their life. Most visited either before or after their terms, but some came while still in office. (Harry S. Truman, while enjoying his retirement, came to Disneyland and famously refused to ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant because he said it reminded him too much of the Republican's mascot.)</b></div><div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><br />
<b>Yes, The Hall of Presidents is on this list. Though it's the best known, that's not the Mouse's only link to the Oval Office. </b></div><div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;"><br />
<b>Here now, in chronological order, are Ten Presidential Disney Connections: </b></div><div></div><div><br />
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<a name='more'></a></div></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: x-large;"></span><br />
<div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Ronald Reagan Opens Disneyland</b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>July 1955</b></u></span></div></div></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"></span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn7VtyB4QlSMFCkgTmki-k6YoINI4GO5B7HqskAr4nkxrk9ue9NWX2Wef_fd4TFrG6kzv8jvLV28bjD5_ICG1RbOp69r3-NkLQJq_dh-d2HWkp-l-Y-Jk9UYGS_GkZdb1rTPiXmxGW-oY/s1600/Reagan,+opening+day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn7VtyB4QlSMFCkgTmki-k6YoINI4GO5B7HqskAr4nkxrk9ue9NWX2Wef_fd4TFrG6kzv8jvLV28bjD5_ICG1RbOp69r3-NkLQJq_dh-d2HWkp-l-Y-Jk9UYGS_GkZdb1rTPiXmxGW-oY/s320/Reagan%252C+opening+day.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Ronald Reagan and Walt Disney had a lot in common.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">They both came from small Midwestern towns, followed their dreams to California and made a name for themselves in the entertainment industry. They also socialized with each other on occasion (though Walt pretty much kept to himself and was not big in the Hollywood party circles.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Another link is that they both faced the infamous labor leader and organizer Herb Sorrel in disputes (Reagan as President of the Screen Actor's Guild, Walt as studio head during the animators strike in the early 1940's.) This led Reagan and Disney to be called, in the fall of 1947, to testify before the HUAC hearings in Washington D.C. Both men insisted that Sorrel was responsible for the dissension and strife in Hollywood's labor unions and that he was influenced by Communist forces. They did not, as widely reported, name names or contribute to the horrible "blacklists" that later became commonplace under Senator Joseph McCarthy's witch hunts.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Reagan's movie career wound down after World War II, and he, like Walt, embraced television as the coming dominant force in American culture. Reagan gained his fame as "The Great Communicator" by signing on to host GE Theater, a weekly show on CBS. (Like Disney with his Disneyland program on ABC, Reagan shrewdly made a deal for a cut of the profits on the show, which lasted over a decade.) </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Walt spent a year on ABC touting his upcoming theme park, so when the time came, he planned a 90 minute live "Grand Opening' show for Disneyland in July 1955. Art Linkletter (Walt's closest friend) was asked to be the main host, but he soon realized the job was too big for one man. Linkletter suggested that co-hosts might be helpful, so Walt hired Bob Cummings (the star of the previous year's hit "Dial M For Murder") and Ronald Reagan for the task.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">The show was broadcast in black and white, and filled with technical glitches (live television was still in its infancy) but Reagan and the others handled the job with aplomb.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">The broadcast skipped around the park, switching from host to host in various remote locales. Reagan was assigned introduction duties at Frontierland and Main Street USA. It was the latter job that gave him the distinct honor of calling Walt Disney to the podium to issue his famous "To all who come to this happy place, welcome.." speech, which is now permanently inscribed on plaques in the front of all Disney Magic Kingdoms.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">The original broadcast is available on DVD, and portions of it can be seen online. It's remarkable to watch a relatively young Reagan and Walt Disney get their footing in front of live crowds, both in person and in the millions at home. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Nz-uyzY4uLhvfAPuw5dKQwwqOBXNm29kHF7UOmygCtTh_lazQeuP2FmdQU0MJJ4XFtbTelpXLhE-UkbQbi5QNTRreqFCeM2IMbr_m24iBW01X1YYI4wFGN-gkLlyELaM9APGKHLq6fI/s1600/Reagan4.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="322" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7Nz-uyzY4uLhvfAPuw5dKQwwqOBXNm29kHF7UOmygCtTh_lazQeuP2FmdQU0MJJ4XFtbTelpXLhE-UkbQbi5QNTRreqFCeM2IMbr_m24iBW01X1YYI4wFGN-gkLlyELaM9APGKHLq6fI/s400/Reagan4.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Reagan and Disney continued their cordial relationship throughout their lives.</span><br />
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</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">When Walt died in 1966, it was Reagan, the newly elected Governor of California, who successfully petitioned the US Postmaster General to waive the limits requiring a certain number of years to pass after death, and to immediately issue a special postage stamp in Walt's memory. They did so in 1968, an honor rarely given to any citizen other than a President.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">In 1990, shortly after Reagan left the White House, Disneyland honored him with a parade acknowledging both his term as President and for his unique place in Disney history.</span></div><div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Presidents Get The Disney Treatment</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>1955 - Present</b></span></u></div></div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBbizPgXPojpCJU0PBZWjNmGsA4igyktAc72nJ13xSc379Pa4kzWNX8NUOp3tyfXFcj5ASAtilFcc42S4UPhlBKiBOKPWWZnb7cseRf6Ohp9De4SjEBPcnQaWReqe0m7suyDIFcqvtIo/s1600/crockettmuseum.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfBbizPgXPojpCJU0PBZWjNmGsA4igyktAc72nJ13xSc379Pa4kzWNX8NUOp3tyfXFcj5ASAtilFcc42S4UPhlBKiBOKPWWZnb7cseRf6Ohp9De4SjEBPcnQaWReqe0m7suyDIFcqvtIo/s320/crockettmuseum.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Quick, name the first US President to be depicted in life size form at Disneyland.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">If you said, "Why it's Abe Lincoln, of course!" You're wrong. "Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln" would not come along until almost a decade after the park opened.</span><br />
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</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">The first President to be seen in Walt's kingdom (in mannequin form) was "Old Hickory" himself, Andrew Jackson. It was part of the Davy Crockett exhibit in Frontierland, later moved to Tom Sawyer Island. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Walt Disney had no formal education beyond a few years in high school. He was, however, an avid reader and is regarded as a self taught man. He also had a passion for American history. One of his goals was to use the tools he had at hand to educate schoolchildren while entertaining them at the same time.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">His early films, for necessary budget reasons, were mostly fairy tales and animal stories. When television came along, Walt saw the opportunity to use his weekly small screen platform to tell the tales of great American heroes. It's no surprise then that one of his first TV shows, the biggest hit of them all, featured the first portrayal of an American President in a Disney production.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">"Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier", filmed for the Frontierland portion of Walt's weekly Disneyland show, told the story of Davy's life. (Unfortunately for Disney, Crockett was killed at the Alamo, so they couldn't continue on even if they wanted to. They eventually came up with two more stories.) The first episode concerned Davy's time as a Tennessee MilitiaMan during the Creek War. He fought alongside General Andrew Jackson.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Jackson, who became President shortly after the Creek War, was portrayed as a stubborn military man by Basil Ruysdael. In later episodes, Crockett is shown serving in Congress for his home state and joining an anti-Jackson movement, despite the former cordial relationship they enjoyed.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">This was remarkable for its time. Recent biographies and articles have taken a critical look at Jackson, who was considered the first populist President and lionized as a true frontiersman. In the 1950's his reputation was largely unblemished. Walt Disney had the courage to show the true story of Crockett's disappointment at Jackson for betraying the Native Americans who had been promised land after the settlement of the Creek War. Crockett was a man of honor who believed that when his word was given, as it was to the Indians, it was sound. He was shocked when Jackson began using his Presidential powers to move Indians off their lands. Crockett left Congress in disgust.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">True to Disney's philosophy, his TV shows were not dumbed down or sweetened just because children were watching. He used Davy Crockett and Andrew Jackson to point out the injustices that were done to native Americans throughout our nation's history. Remarkable indeed.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPU6kx7rTaN-2H8LHRECRuwFDSZ76rLyfRLAZr9ZcAtcQqonA3rMHd_ZxP_1E3Fbc_D8AmUKcgPjTb8tx8SLAbG-dXzZjzt1L8ux0ALJPvGgEi13jAPF6gg34Z41JXfg_3SmY6eFzfRk/s1600/familyband.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfPU6kx7rTaN-2H8LHRECRuwFDSZ76rLyfRLAZr9ZcAtcQqonA3rMHd_ZxP_1E3Fbc_D8AmUKcgPjTb8tx8SLAbG-dXzZjzt1L8ux0ALJPvGgEi13jAPF6gg34Z41JXfg_3SmY6eFzfRk/s640/familyband.jpg" width="403" /></a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Thirteen years later, Disney paid tribute to a duo of Presidents who don't get as much attention as Jackson, and whose faces don't grace $20 bills.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison both have the unique distinction of being the subjects of a Sherman Brothers song in a major Disney film. (Not many people can say that.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">1968's "The One and Only Genuine Original Family Band" (still one of the most cumbersome Disney titles) starred Walter Brennan as the patriarch of a family of musically talented pioneers in 1888 Dakota. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Brennan's character is a Democrat, and an avid supporter of President Grover Cleveland (who, like Harrison, doesn't actually appear in the film itself.) The Dakota territory is overwhelmingly Republican, so it causes tension.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">The family sings their song "Let's Put It Over With Grover" to help gain votes for Cleveland, who was the incumbent facing Benjamin Harrison in the Presidential Election of 1888. Supporters of Harrison have their own ditty, "Oh, Benjamin Harrison." Both songs were written especially for the film and were not actual campaign songs heard in the election eighty years before. They were so authentic sounding, it led many people to believe they were. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">The film concludes with Cleveland's narrow loss to Harrison (the first time that a candidate won the popular vote but lost the all important electoral college. Cleveland did return to the White House again four years later, the only time we've had a President serve two non-consecutive terms.) </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">"Family Band" has suffered the same unfortunate fate of Presidents Cleveland and Harrison, residency at the bottom of rankings in their respective categories (popular Presidents and best loved Disney films.)</span><br />
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</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">In recent years, Disney has paid more attention to the White House with depictions of Presidents both real (William Howard Taft in "The Greatest Game Ever Played", Teddy Roosevelt in "Newsies" and Franklin Roosevelt in "Pearl Harbor" to name just a few) and fictional (Bruce Greenwood's character in "National Treasure" and Geena Davis as the first female president in ABC's short lived series "Commander In Chief.")</span><br />
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</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">The Disney Channel even had a sitcom based at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. "Cory In The House", a spin-off from "That's So Raven" starring Kyle Massey was quite popular and ran for two years. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Walt would be proud to see that his company is introducing youngsters to the office of the President and to the highs and lows of the job. All these years later, Disney is still educating and entertaining simultaneously.</span></div><div><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> <span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Walt "Kidnaps" Richard Nixon</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b> <u>June 1959</u></b></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvdhA4uj75BqxsYi5kNW_6bJgFbO1H9RxZuux2EyBAZXDfWxUILEBXzPtf3wCPiVtiQ5XsqQEUFoBVCdjP7arHxnfl-4_EC8dDxAzk_UCg8z7IpTabtU4MKWz8BK9U24t3u28PMR0ap5k/s1600/NixonDisneyMonorail.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvdhA4uj75BqxsYi5kNW_6bJgFbO1H9RxZuux2EyBAZXDfWxUILEBXzPtf3wCPiVtiQ5XsqQEUFoBVCdjP7arHxnfl-4_EC8dDxAzk_UCg8z7IpTabtU4MKWz8BK9U24t3u28PMR0ap5k/s320/NixonDisneyMonorail.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Perhaps no President was as close to Walt Disney as Richard Nixon. </div><div><br />
</div><div>While he didn't enter the Oval Office until two years after Walt's death, Nixon and Walt spent a significant amount of time together. Disney had no greater national booster than Nixon. It's easy to see why.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Richard Nixon was a Southern California native and resident, serving as both Congressman and Senator for the area. He was proud that Walt chose to locate Disneyland right in his backyard.</div><div><br />
</div><div>By the time the park opened to the public in 1955, Nixon was in his first term as Dwight Eisenhower's Vice President. Nixon also had two daughters (as Disney did, though his girls were a few years older than Nixon's) that he doted upon, and his duties as Daddy sometimes took precedence over his official ones.</div><div><br />
</div><div>He was not present at the official Disneyland opening, but Nixon paid a State Visit shortly afterwards, being welcomed by Walt and Davy Crockett himself, Fess Parker. Most dignitaries that visited the park back then made an official speech, did a tour of the park with Walt and left with a souvenir. Nixon stayed the whole day and rode all the rides, beaming with his two little girls. He and his daughters would drop by as often as he could when back in California, always warmly greeted by the Disney family. </div><div><br />
</div><div>In 1959, Soviet Leader Nikita Kruschev was on a history making State Visit to the U.S., with stops all over the country. Influenced by Vice President Nixon's constant touting of the park, Kruschev insisted that a trip to Disneyland be included on the itinerary. When the request was refused for security reasons, Premiere Kruschev went ballistic. He flew back to Moscow fuming that he never got to ride with Mister Toad. Who knows if the Cold War would have continued had he met Mickey and the gang? </div><div><br />
</div><div>That isn't even the strangest Nixon/Disney connection. In 1959 Walt Disney "kidnapped" the Vice President.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Yes, that's right, the fate of America's second in line of succession was in the hands of Uncle Walt.</div><div><br />
</div><div>On June 14, 1959, Disneyland was introducing its state of the art ALWEG Monorail system. A crowd of reporters were on hand as Walt proudly showed off his new toy, the first daily operating monorail in North America. To help him with the unveiling, Walt asked Vice President Nixon and his family. When it came time for the ceremonial ribbon cutting, the over sized prop scissors provided did not work, so Walt just tore the ribbon with his hands while Nixon stood at his side smiling.</div><div><br />
</div><div>It was, as June days tend to be in Southern California, incredibly hot. Disney, Nixon and their families were wilting in the heat on the platform as cameras were being set up to shoot the inaugural run. Walt suggested that they step into the monorail pilot's cabin, with the air conditioning running, to cool off. After taking a seat, Walt realized that the vehicle itself was charged up and ready to go. Ever the mischievous soul, Walt hit "FORWARD" and the monorail took off. </div><div><br />
</div><div>This delighted Walt and the Nixons, not so much the Secret Service.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Since nobody expected the monorail to leave while the Vice President was inside, his security detail was still on the platform when the ride suddenly went underway. They frantically ran after it, to no avail. They helplessly watched as Nixon rode off as Walt's willing captive on the 4,200 feet of track. </div><div><br />
</div><div>When the monorail made its loop and came back to the starting point, the Secret Service agents breathed a sigh of relief, only to see Walt's face smiling and waving at them through the front window as he sailed by them for a second trip around.</div><div><br />
</div><div>After much anxiety on the platform, Walt ended the ride and returned the delighted VP and his family unharmed. They all laughed about it and continued on with the day's events. It was only a few years later that Walt admitted that nobody had really done a complete test on the monorails in the heat or showed him what to do in an emergency, so for all he knew the whole thing could have burst into flames with them stuck inside.</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJXvqOYby0MdywJotK_JDIpHaIP7WZlQ7i2CRlS5zYFpPycCfh8vBeR9ki1RETjNF6ngWDKeSzD0C-3uMqldxDa9BbPWq7U7SAgSuk1rm031NONAXKgqqxqAT6nL69QQjKa5rly5nioJQ/s1600/Nixon+Disneyland+Aug+11+01.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJXvqOYby0MdywJotK_JDIpHaIP7WZlQ7i2CRlS5zYFpPycCfh8vBeR9ki1RETjNF6ngWDKeSzD0C-3uMqldxDa9BbPWq7U7SAgSuk1rm031NONAXKgqqxqAT6nL69QQjKa5rly5nioJQ/s320/Nixon+Disneyland+Aug+11+01.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>Nixon saw Walt one last time in his capacity as Vice President, when he officially opened the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Disney had designed the entertainment and ceremonies for the Olympics that year, and was on hand in his capacity as Head of Pageantry. </div><div><br />
</div><div>A few months after that, Nixon lost the Presidential election to John F. Kennedy and retired from public service. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Or so he claimed. </div><div><br />
Nixon would go on to have a memorable second act, both in Washington and in Disney history.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Abe Lincoln Returns !</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>April 1964</b></span></u></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcKEWNQsWytZHaFCUtZ6R5Vzel7zmWwler2GXhyphenhyphenvuRorcziya8kE7rR1kA5VQRRrdRY-N4V7ljrr7f3hGAR6VsarCW6PqDv4hmwBXUsItRELBZoTpF3JYBpkln_19FcB482R0utf8kH8/s1600/greatmoments.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcKEWNQsWytZHaFCUtZ6R5Vzel7zmWwler2GXhyphenhyphenvuRorcziya8kE7rR1kA5VQRRrdRY-N4V7ljrr7f3hGAR6VsarCW6PqDv4hmwBXUsItRELBZoTpF3JYBpkln_19FcB482R0utf8kH8/s400/greatmoments.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;">America's 16th President had a profound impact on Walt Disney's life.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="color: black; font-size: small;">In many interviews, Walt cited Abe Lincoln as his personal hero. (He used to dress up like Lincoln as a child and entertain his friends and teachers by reciting the Gettysburg Address from memory.)</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Though he never made a feature film on Abe Lincoln's life (There are already too many of those. At last count Abe Lincoln has been film's most depicted President, in almost 150 pictures, followed closely by John F. Kennedy and Andrew Jackson) Walt is responsible for more people hearing Honest Abe's words than anyone else.</span><br />
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</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In 1963 Robert Moses, the uberplanner of New York City and Director of the upcoming 1964 Worlds Fair in Queens, contracted Walt and his personal company WED Enterprises to create attractions for the fair. On a tour of the design shop, Moses was captivated by a model of an audio animatronic Lincoln that the imagineers were toying with for Disneyland. He had to have it for his fair.</span></div><div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><br />
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Presentations were made in front of many corporations to solicit sponsorship for the Lincoln Exhibit. None stepped up. Eventually the State of Illinois agreed to fund the presentation and install it at their pavilion in the fair. It was to be called "Great Moments With Mr. Lincoln."<br />
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Initially, there were many people who objected to this use of a revered President for what was seen as a tacky stunt or, at best, a high tech wax museum trick. Once they saw what Walt and his staff had done, however, their fears were quelled.</div><div><br />
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Using an actual 1860 life mask of Lincoln as a basis, Disney's sculptors, led by Disney Legends Blaine Gibson and Rolly Crump, were able to make a figure of Lincoln so lifelike that he seemed to be flesh and blood. Noted actor Royal Dano recorded a 5 minute speech, which was based on actual speeches Lincoln gave. The figure of Lincoln was seated as audiences came in and then would rise from his chair to address the crowd. He gestured and nodded throughout the program.</div><div><br />
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It was so realistic that even some newspaper accounts reported - inaccurately - that Lincoln walked through the crowd greeting guests. (Walt said it was the biggest compliment his staff ever got.)</div><div><br />
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Like the other Disney attractions at the Worlds Fair (It's A Small World, Carousel of Progress) "Great Moments With Mister Lincoln" was moved to Disneyland when the Fair closed. In July 1965, President Lincoln made his Disneyland debut at the newly built Main Street Opera House,sponsored by Lincoln Savings and Loan.</div><div><br />
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The show featured a film highlighting American history and the contributions President Lincoln made in holding the country together. It concluded with a stirring rendition of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Walt was often seen exiting the theater dabbing tears from his eyes.</div><div><br />
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In 1973, Lincoln was evicted from the Opera House so that a tribute to Walt Disney, who had died just a few years earlier, could be installed. The public demanded that Lincoln return, so a compromise was made in 1975, and the new show was re titled "The Walt Disney Story: Featuring Great Moments With Mister Lincoln." (By that time, Lincoln was also being utilized in Walt Disney World as part of the Hall of Presidents.) </div><div><br />
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In 1984, the show added two songs ("Two Brothers" and "Golden Dream") which originated at Walt Disney World. Those remained the only changes until 2001, when it was completely re-written to focus more on the Civil war period. Royal Dano's original recordings of Lincoln were replaced by another actor who recited the Gettysburg Address. Glasses were added to Lincoln's face and he now held the speech in his hand. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1OA3OurwTWXtiH_SBLk3zrpOg2-VBIwkTtoK-aKitJSj8E_1KgGyOs8MYBq7ICsgz-IeJ7XbnbAOOiAsFTPaD4JG1rLj7xRc_gj7XRgv60PPhYbFO8pB3t8iCP19WlsuQnDn1ttVo0o/s1600/lincolnblainegibson.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS1OA3OurwTWXtiH_SBLk3zrpOg2-VBIwkTtoK-aKitJSj8E_1KgGyOs8MYBq7ICsgz-IeJ7XbnbAOOiAsFTPaD4JG1rLj7xRc_gj7XRgv60PPhYbFO8pB3t8iCP19WlsuQnDn1ttVo0o/s320/lincolnblainegibson.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
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The show closed completely in 2005 as the Opera House was once again replaced by a show about Disney history. It was a celebration of Disneyland's 50th Anniversary.<br />
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</div><div>When "Great Moments With Mister Lincoln" returned in 2009, it was with updated animatronics and a digital version of Royal Dano' speech (restored once again) from the Worlds Fair. It's still as popular as ever.</div><div><br />
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Walt's admiration for Mr. Lincoln has led directly to the Presidents legacy, words and mission being kept alive well into the 21st Century. Quite a fitting tribute.</div></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Walt Pulls A Prank on LBJ</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>September 1964</b></span></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX_En2KlLlIAnLOljPOxcGfgRTmc2NF9gup-tbRXhKb2JQYXoNilmYpf6pYnP8uA3vUr6M901dlfMK5ARXS7w9rjE2Q-qhPks8TVz6LJ9r4NCkleAnYLegbiIQzeSaR3aNso4mTTGbS78/s1600/WaltAndLBJ.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX_En2KlLlIAnLOljPOxcGfgRTmc2NF9gup-tbRXhKb2JQYXoNilmYpf6pYnP8uA3vUr6M901dlfMK5ARXS7w9rjE2Q-qhPks8TVz6LJ9r4NCkleAnYLegbiIQzeSaR3aNso4mTTGbS78/s400/WaltAndLBJ.jpg" width="346" /></a></div></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Forty years after founding his studio, Walt Disney was given the highest honor an American citizen can get in peacetime.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson named Disney as one of the 30 recipients for that year's Presidential Medal of Freedom Award.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Among the honorees gathered at the White House for the ceremony on September 14th were fellow artist Willem deKoonig, authors Carl Sandburg and John Steinbeck, newsman Edward R. Murrow, performers Alfred Lunt, Lynne Fontainne, composer Aaron Copland, Notre Dame University President Rev. Theodore Hesburgh and advocate for the disabled Helen Keller. That's quite a group to be included in. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The story doesn't end there, though. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Walt was not a big fan of Lyndon Johnson. While he respected the office of President, he didn't care for the man personally. Johnson was running for re-election that year against Republican Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona. Disney was a prominent supporter of Goldwater and made no secret of it. While humbled by the Medal of Freedom, Walt felt that the timing of the ceremony, just a few weeks before the election, was suspicious. He thought that Johnson was using this as an easy photo op to show the President standing side by side with Walt Disney.</span></div><div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">There was no way that Walt was going to turn down the honor, so he decided to have a little fun with the President. On the day of he ceremony, Disney wore a small gold pin that said "Goldwater In '64" to the White House. He was discreet enough to wear it on the inside of his lapel, so that to the naked eye all you could see on the outside of his jacket was the pin tack.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">When Walt walked to the podium to have the ribbon and medal placed around his neck, he waited for the right moment, turned his body away from the cameras, grinned at Johnson and flipped over his lapel revealing the pin. Nobody in the room picked up on it because neither man made a big deal about it. The moment passed as quickly as it happened.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Walt got a chuckle out of it, but Johnson, who had a volcanic temper, supposedly was furious at having been teased by Disney. LBJ got the last laugh, as he handily beat Goldwater to win another term.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZAo1Vk9PC0wtxbAAkOAZQYR2dGX8dNHAGgKN0YUG1ar4knmDU7ZIpghuiKUu03lOhhP9-BrGLnzTqdqpCQUrOVg8ru1qyaK8-xXNay_Nklv85xPCfiba24qINI3D2Gp5XEF3W9BzvNVw/s1600/goldwater.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZAo1Vk9PC0wtxbAAkOAZQYR2dGX8dNHAGgKN0YUG1ar4knmDU7ZIpghuiKUu03lOhhP9-BrGLnzTqdqpCQUrOVg8ru1qyaK8-xXNay_Nklv85xPCfiba24qINI3D2Gp5XEF3W9BzvNVw/s320/goldwater.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">This story has been printed as legend or myth, and its veracity has been questioned over the years. In a recent interview, however, Walt's daughter Diane confirmed that it did indeed happen. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Walt visited the White House while on an East Coast trip to compete with his lawn bowling team (I'm not making that up, really he did travel around the country to bowl on lawns.) His wife Lillian declined to make the trip, so he was free to let his impish side, which she reined in all the time, get the best of him.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">According to Diane, Lilly would have never let Walt head to the White House with the Goldwater pin and when she found out about his prank, he was in the doghouse for a while. </span></div></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;">Facing the most powerful man on the planet, no problem for Walt. Facing Lilly, that was another story entirely. </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: small;">Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. </span></div></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>The Hall of Presidents Opens</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>October 1971 </u></b></span><br />
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<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><div>Disneyland was intended to be a place that would never be finished. Walt liked the idea of "plussing", constantly improving his product. He would have meetings often to brainstorm ideas with his staff. </div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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It was during one of those sessions in the 1950's that an expansion of Main Street USA was discussed. The plan was to create an offshoot called Liberty Street, with an area known as Edison Square. This section would highlight the growth, progress and future of the United States. </div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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An attraction was to be added called "One Nation Under God." It would be housed in a replica of Philadelphia's Independence Hall. It was meant to be a three part experience, starting with a Hall of Declaration, celebrating America's 1776 birth certificate, continuing with a recreation of the Liberty Bell, which would ring every few minutes, and finishing in the Hall of Presidents. This last Hall would be like a wax museum, with standing figures and descriptions of all 34 Presidents to that date. </div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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Like many of the early Disneyland ideas, it never made it past the drawing board. Part of the Presidential idea was utilized with 1965's Abraham Lincoln attraction, but the complete Hall of Presidents wouldn't be resurrected until the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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One of the ideas proposed for the area between Fantasyland and Frontierland in Florida's Magic Kingdom was to have a "haunted hill", which would nicely bridge the gap and be a great fit for the second version of the Haunted Mansion. (The Disneyland one sits in New Orleans Square, but Florida is too close to the real New Orleans, so a new home region needed to be developed.) One imagineer remembered the dormant Liberty Street idea and suggested that it might be a better use for the area. Liberty Square was born. (Unfortunately, the Haunted Mansion is the one that now makes no sense geographically.)</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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The centerpiece of Liberty Square is the Hall of Presidents, not a replica of Independence Hall as intended but a colonial era style building nonetheless. This Hall was not a wax museum, but an audio-animatronic showcase for the Presidents. Abe Lincoln was present, of course, now joined by the other 36 men in his exclusive club. Since there were no life masks, busts or measurements to use for some of the earlier and lesser known Presidents, as there was for Lincoln, imagineers supposedly improvised a little bit. Legend has it that they used Disney employees whose faces closely matched portraits of those Presidents as models for the new figures.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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The show, which was one of the original attractions when Walt Disney World opened in October of 1971, began with a film that set the tone. Like the Great Moments With Mister Lincoln film, it was a narrative history of the US, which did not shy away from the problems and difficulties the country faced in its 195 year history. Just as in Disneyland, Abraham Lincoln rose and gave a speech. The highlight of the Hall of Presidents, though, was the roll call. </div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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Narrator Lawrence Dobkin slowly read the names of each and every President. The most startling thing was that the figures did not sit still. Each man acknowledged in some way when his name was mentioned. They also fidgeted, squirmed and even nodded off as the other names were listed. This was human behavior that might be expected with such a gathering, and added tremendously to the realistic illusion created by the Imagineers.</div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphena82TDo8fTQrGJX1gXXdN4UJQxogY73wwuTk3Wa070OPQe4GGmGPb-hofCZ0-AmZgriB74rYwZjKKUsA4KG512lVpuJBP2qBSoC2lYwbXmPGKpZrlp8JWszIXoLjV4xGGPdYVAKoLXg/s1600/hallofpresidents.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphena82TDo8fTQrGJX1gXXdN4UJQxogY73wwuTk3Wa070OPQe4GGmGPb-hofCZ0-AmZgriB74rYwZjKKUsA4KG512lVpuJBP2qBSoC2lYwbXmPGKpZrlp8JWszIXoLjV4xGGPdYVAKoLXg/s320/hallofpresidents.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div></div><div><br />
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The Hall of Presidents was one of the centerpieces of the Magic Kingdom and remained untouched until 1993. Since they were planning an update anyway, Disney sent a crew to the White House and had newly elected President Bill Clinton record a speech. This speech was then added to the program, with Clinton's figure front and center addressing the crowd. This marked the first time that a President other than Abraham Lincoln spoke at a Disney attraction. The other change was that America's Poet Laureate Dr. Maya Angelou recorded a new narration for the show itself. When George W. Bush took office in 2001, he also recorded a speech and Bill Clinton took a seat with the rest of the former Presidents. </div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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In 2008, the Hall of Presidents closed for almost a year. When it re-opened, President Barack Obama's speech was added and he now led the group. Academy Award winning actor Morgan Freeman recorded narration for a new script updating the show for the 21st Century. "The Father of Our Country" George Washington (voiced by actor David Morse) was also given a speaking part for the first time. </div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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Though it's not as exciting as some of the "E Ticket" rides at Disney World, The Hall of Presidents never fails to provide a stirring experience for those - American and foreign visitors alike - who step inside to see it. </div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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The Hall of Presidents serves as a living (OK, audio-animatronic) reminder of the qualities of and the contributions made by the 44 men who have served our country nobly in the Oval Office and it will continue to do so for Presidents in the future. </div></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Nixon's Sound Bite</b></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>November 1973</b></span></u></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: left;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><div>Think of a comedian impersonating President Nixon, all jowly faced, somber, and with arms held above his head. What is the line that you associate with that visual image? Most would say "I am Not A Crook!"</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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That one quote became irrevocably linked with Nixon, and satirists everywhere latched on to it to use it in their routines (some still do.) </div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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While the line lives on, what has been forgotten now is where Nixon actually delivered it. The President spoke those infamous words on a live national television broadcast direct from Walt Disney World. </div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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When President Nixon made a pilgrimage to the "Happiest Place on Earth" in November 1973, all was not happy for him. The walls were slowly closing in, and his Presidency was nearing an abrupt end.</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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After years in the political wilderness, Nixon had made a triumphant return to Washington D.C., winning the Presidential election in 1968, a feat he repeated in 1972.</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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Nixon did not forget the kindness and friendship Walt Disney had shown him. In March of 1969, he issued a Presidential Proclamation honoring Walt and had a special gold Presidential medal created with Walt on one side and Mickey Mouse on the other. It was presented to the Disney family at a White House ceremony that was filled with third and fourth graders from local D. C schools. In his speech that day, Nixon continued his unofficial role as Disney ambassador by urging the youngsters and their parents to vacation at Disneyland in Anaheim or at the soon to open Walt Disney World.</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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President Nixon's Press Secretary, Ron Ziegler, was a former skipper on Disneyland's Jungle Cruise, so it was only natural that he suggested that Nixon address the 400 reporters gathered for the Associated Press 1973 Convention at Walt Disney World in person.</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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On November 17th, Nixon stood in front of the cameras set up at the Contemporary Resort Hotel to make his speech. Afterwards, he took questions and the event was carried live by all three networks. </div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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At that time, more reports were coming out connecting Nixon to the illegal break in of a Democratic national Committee office in the Watergate Hotel in Washington D.C. It was being alleged that not only did Nixon know about the crime, he also had a hand in the cover-up that followed. The President and his people tried to fight and dispute the charges but they were being attacked from all sides. Nixon finally had enough and with a weary look on his face, stared directly into the cameras, faced the nation and said "The people have to know whether or not their President is a crook. Well, I am not a crook!" Like the people watching at home, those in attendance in Disney World were stunned by the remarks. It became an instant catchphrase.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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Nixon was finally forced to resign in August of 1974, the first President ever to do so. He once again entered the political wilderness. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5eadLh5CoRGeyr7LxBPgsdweZLynqs3B1F_rhK3quVVTfNeEKKkKNLrfCqmpteZERcdSuwaq6tuKc9B77IHghV4MKZ7A9P8N-dyZEj7JHqbDUCVbTAeTEjgqLUuC_Er00QcTNgZg0zes/s1600/NixonFigment.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5eadLh5CoRGeyr7LxBPgsdweZLynqs3B1F_rhK3quVVTfNeEKKkKNLrfCqmpteZERcdSuwaq6tuKc9B77IHghV4MKZ7A9P8N-dyZEj7JHqbDUCVbTAeTEjgqLUuC_Er00QcTNgZg0zes/s1600/NixonFigment.jpg" /></a></div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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Nixon kept a pretty low profile after that at his homes in San Clemente, California and Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. A few of his rare public appearances were in Disneyland and Disney World, this time doting on his grandchildren.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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Shortly after his death in 1994, the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California paid tribute to the Nixon/Disney connection. They opened an exhibit featuring photos and memorabilia of the two men, including Walt's beloved train sets.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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In 1995, Hollywood Pictures (a division of Disney) released a controversial version of Nixon's life starring Anthony Hopkins and directed by Oliver Stone. Walt's daughter Diane was so offended by what she saw onscreen, she was moved to write a personal letter of apology to Nixon's daughters.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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Say what you will about the man and his political legacy, but Richard Nixon definitely proved himself as one of the greatest of all Disney fans.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Carter Is First To See EPCOT Plans </b></span></div><div><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>October 1978 </b></span></u></div></span></div><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw6bfsWzaGXhk6L6uyEwQfAq8H6ajTm7dhdJXnmj-PqsXPaikLyHjaH2H_UUIyGzdWFuNyqa-VWv6FgHbjnMiBN2M3sE2HmcIAtaSqaf_aWavIC0Yfr3T0wjpqx9cUsdMGlvfCPGZw2iI/s1600/carter_mouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw6bfsWzaGXhk6L6uyEwQfAq8H6ajTm7dhdJXnmj-PqsXPaikLyHjaH2H_UUIyGzdWFuNyqa-VWv6FgHbjnMiBN2M3sE2HmcIAtaSqaf_aWavIC0Yfr3T0wjpqx9cUsdMGlvfCPGZw2iI/s320/carter_mouse.jpg" width="310" /></a></div><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"> <div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow was Walt Disney's great dream just before he died. It was the reason that his company acquired so much land in central Florida, more than would be needed for just a simple theme park and resort.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Disney died before he could see his plans come to fruition. He wanted to spur the world's greatest scientists, businesses and engineers to contribute to this new type of community, an ideal city of tomorrow that would be the showplace for cutting edge ideas. Those plans were sidelined as his brother Roy chose to get the resort and theme park phase of the planning underway first.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Once Disney World proved successful and became the most visited place on the planet, Card Walker - who began his career with Disney as a mail boy in 1938 and had risen to President of the company after Roy's death- wanted go get back to Walt's last dream. The newly renamed EPCOT Center was first announced in 1975 as an upcoming project, but definite plans and the overall look for it were not finalized until 1978. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Walker wanted to make a grand introduction of the plans so that the public and corporations could start getting excited, but when to do it? </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Walker quickly got his answer. The President of the United States was coming to Mickey's house and the world would be watching. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">James Earl (Jimmy) Carter, who was elected President in 1976, was a native of the southeast and very popular in Florida. When the International Chamber of Commerce chose to have its 26th Conference and Convention at Walt Disney World (the first time the event was held outside of the capital city of the host country) Carter was the obvious choice to make the opening remarks. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Plans were made to have the President fly in, address the 2,500 Chamber members and their guests from in front of Cinderella Castle at night after the park was closed, view a special Disney fireworks display, and then stay for a short cocktail party and reception before flying back to the White House. Card Walker saw this as an ideal promotional opportunity for Epcot.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Despite the happy castle courtyard setting, Carter's speech was a rather somber one. The theme was "Enterprise, Freedom and the Future." The President chided the assembled business men and women, urging them to be more responsible and to look out for the poor. He also touched on the mideast peace agreement talks between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. He did acknowledge being at Walt Disney World when he said that he was looking forward to seeing Fantasyland, as it seemed to be the place where his economic advisers were getting most of their ideas.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsjkbwvKJy3f88C5knAS8by_nyXisuWTuGwHSKvzC2tJxWRGiX3JZGTEXqSxHq0sq9RG4p6qgHD7Zx5VrAOfpD5fhfzBURAFw_eSzK6KIQ3zYYqJ88J2d2qmUZpKBacbBlHGZOaPWNlQE/s1600/CarterEpcot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsjkbwvKJy3f88C5knAS8by_nyXisuWTuGwHSKvzC2tJxWRGiX3JZGTEXqSxHq0sq9RG4p6qgHD7Zx5VrAOfpD5fhfzBURAFw_eSzK6KIQ3zYYqJ88J2d2qmUZpKBacbBlHGZOaPWNlQE/s320/CarterEpcot.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">At the conclusion of the speech, as the guests assembled in the banquet hall to mingle, a surprise awaited them. Card Walker had set up large boards with the concept art for EPCOT Center (see picture at right) and announced an opening date four years hence. The guests were dazzled, and that was the idea. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Walker realized that the members of the International Chamber of Commerce were exactly the kind of people who could invest in, or at least make connections to those who could sponsor pavilions and attractions at the new project. It did prove as successful as he had hoped. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">President Carter, who had an engineering degree and served on a nuclear submarine, was particularly fascinated and spent the night discussing the plans with Walker and his staff. He actually overstayed the timeline that had been so carefully planned by his White House aides. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">In February of 1980, President Carter issued Proclamation 4725, declaring a national day to honor Walt Disney. This was a nice gesture, but a little odd in the timing as the date had no connection to Walt Disney or his company. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;">Less than a year later someone would enter the White House who had a much deeper personal relationship with Walt Disney and would do even more to promote the dream of Epcot. </span></div><div><br />
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<div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Reagan Makes History at EPCOT (Twice)</b></span></div><div><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>March 1983/May1985</b></span></u></div></span></span></div></div><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQYxc5JHKxMkNGmxmwsaY9kOJWSevSebN64cT3xNIdPt8P7-p_b8BqAjfwnyBn6YlELCK4m9wmaey8JB8Venw9yHdlH4R7hkLcLYuXRbkVFR-W-cX6JBDXGV6X9TgkNbSEqC_kTF6Eik/s1600/reaganepcot.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLQYxc5JHKxMkNGmxmwsaY9kOJWSevSebN64cT3xNIdPt8P7-p_b8BqAjfwnyBn6YlELCK4m9wmaey8JB8Venw9yHdlH4R7hkLcLYuXRbkVFR-W-cX6JBDXGV6X9TgkNbSEqC_kTF6Eik/s400/reaganepcot.bmp" width="265" /></a></div><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"> <div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As noted earlier, Ronald Reagan shared a lot of personality traits with Walt Disney. One of those was their eternal optimism and belief that tomorrow will bring a better day. That sunny attitude helped to sweep Reagan into office in the 1980 Presidential election.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">EPCOT Center, which opened shortly after Reagan began his first term, is the perfect illustration of the hopes and dreams both Reagan and Disney held for the future of American and the world. It was only fitting then that Reagan would accept an invitation to help christen the new park. This would mark the first time a sitting President was on hand for such an occasion. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately Reagan's schedule did not allow him to make the actual opening date of October 1982, so an alternate date was chosen for a "second grand opening" with the President.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">On March 8, 1983, President Reagan paid a visit to EPCOT, escorted by Dick Nunis, President of Walt Disney World, and several hundred math and science students from Central Florida.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The President's first order of business was to take in the American Experience attraction in a theater full of students, which he said he found incredibly moving. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">(Ever the comedian, Reagan joked at his surprise about seeing the show with all those students and not getting hit with a single spitball.)</span></span></span> He then made an afternoon speech at a podium set up right on the World Showcase Lagoon, directly opposite of Spaceship Earth.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Reagan's remarks that day dealt mostly with the promise of EPCOT Center and what it meant to his friend Walt Disney and to the world. He noted that the Disney Corporation had set up a fellowship program which would allow exchange students from counties featured in the World Showcase to come there and learn about America while also teaching visitors about their home and culture.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The technical side of EPCOT was covered when Reagan spoke presciently about the speed of modern computers and how we were soaring into the 21st Century. The students got his attention once again when he pointed out that their aptitude at video games and digital devices would make them better prepared for the future than his generation. The crowd burst into laughter when Reagan pleaded with the youngsters not to tell their parents that the President told them they had his permission to spend all day playing video games.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Never one to let a comic moment pass, Reagan followed this with a joke about a student whose teacher scolded him for getting everything wrong on his homework by saying "I don't know how one person could make all those mistakes!" The student's reply: "One person didn't, my Dad helped me make them!"</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Finally, President Reagan reached out to the young girls in the group, encouraging them to pursue careers in math and science, citing Sally Ride - who would soon be the first female on the space shuttle - as an example to look up to.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">It was a great day and Reagan told everyone that he enjoyed his time at EPCOT Center and looked forward to returning some time soon.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">He had no idea how soon that would be.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Reagan was re-elected in 1984, and was set to have an inaugural parade through the streets of Washington D.C., as had been the custom since it became the nation's capitol. </span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Inauguration Day, January 21, 1985, turned out to be one of the coldest days ever recorded in the Potomac River region. The actual recorded temperature that day was 4 below zero, with a high of 17 degrees. The wind chill factor brought the temps to 20 degrees below zero. The conditions were too dangerous to have an outdoor parade, so festivities were moved indoors, to the Capital Center Arena.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Things would have been fine except that over 25 high school marching bands had been invited to perform in the parade, which was now canceled. The schools and the students were bitterly disappointed, as they had trained long and hard for the honor of marching in front of the President. Unfortunately, they were not going to get that chance. Into the void stepped Michael Eisner, who offered the sunny climes of Walt Disney World as a replacement for the parade.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Since events involving the President cannot be put together overnight, the parade was re-scheduled for Memorial Day at EPCOT Center. Twenty of the canceled bands accepted the invitation to the do-over. This was the first time in history that a President's Inaugural Parade would be held outside of the capital.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdMiX5z6EYkv_swRBiSbOnBlZkPWlsVIw5_T9Lo_5ojB-s6izdPKY4M47F60k6RsbuBJSo10vQYqCFh_o_brqWSkQBokdSmvtrfQBru5eQbOzh1-FNRgas7R5oqZDXw2ldA4ibiFsY-WI/s1600/ReaganInauguration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdMiX5z6EYkv_swRBiSbOnBlZkPWlsVIw5_T9Lo_5ojB-s6izdPKY4M47F60k6RsbuBJSo10vQYqCFh_o_brqWSkQBokdSmvtrfQBru5eQbOzh1-FNRgas7R5oqZDXw2ldA4ibiFsY-WI/s320/ReaganInauguration.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">On Monday May 27, 1985, President and Mrs. Reagan flew by helicopter from Orlando Airport and landed right behind the American Adventure at EPCOT Center. A reviewing stand was set up to watch the festivities and the first couple sat next to Mr. Eisner and his wife. Mickey and Minnie were there too.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">After the parade, the President made a few short remarks where he focused on the many contributions of America's innovators, pioneers and businessman, taking great pride in adding Walt Disney to that list. When the speech was done, the President got back on the helicopter and flew to Miami for another Memorial Day ceremony.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Reagan paid one last tribute to his old friend Walt before leaving office. Though President Carter had already declared a national day to honor Mr. Disney, Reagan had Proclamation number 5585 put into the books. It also declared a day in honor of Walt Disney, but this one was timed properly. it came on December 5, 1986, which would have been Walt's 85th birthday.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">When the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California decided in 2001 to start a year long exhibition about people who were the true embodiment of the Spirit of America in 2001, it was Walt Disney that was chosen as their first honoree. It would have been Walt's 100th birthday.</span></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Two legendary American dreamers, bound together forever by history.</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Bush's 1,000 Points Of Light Come to EPCOT </span></b></span></div><div><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">September 1991</span></b></span></u><br />
<u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span></u></div></span></span></span></div><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE8a3x4HVRqXUDUyKFd3h0AQqIplz_tHFT9-t3AmjTr51uwoGEpDSh03NJEw318kjOMs4Un948Hf5uXPVQoOFkaazPzX-9khsnj_s3UFDg3GC_IwWOhKdRX3ugsnt2-nmsPpJT2Gwse4A/s1600/bush1000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE8a3x4HVRqXUDUyKFd3h0AQqIplz_tHFT9-t3AmjTr51uwoGEpDSh03NJEw318kjOMs4Un948Hf5uXPVQoOFkaazPzX-9khsnj_s3UFDg3GC_IwWOhKdRX3ugsnt2-nmsPpJT2Gwse4A/s400/bush1000.jpg" width="400" /></a></div></span></span></span><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><div><span id="role_document" style="color: black; font-size: small;"> <div><br />
Like Nixon before him, George Herbert Walker Bush served eight years as Vice President before getting his shot at the Oval Office. He was elected as the nation's 41st President in 1988.</div><div></div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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While he was more of a milquetoast character than his predecessor Reagan, comedians - most notably Saturday Night Live's Dana Carvey - found ways to parody him. </div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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One of the phrases they gravitated to was Bush's campaign call to American citizens to make a difference in their communities and be the "thousand points of light" in the darkness of despair. It was a nice sentiment, but left him wide open to those looking for an easy catchphrase to use to mock the President.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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One person who wasn't laughing was Disney CEO Michael Eisner. He was moved by Bush's feelings on the subject and offered the services of Disney in any way they could to aid this "1,000 Points of Light" Presidential project.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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For the first two years of his Presidency, Bush named a daily "Point of Light", a citizen who showed great compassion towards their fellow Americans and gave of themselves to help, without asking for anything in return. When it came time to have a ceremony honoring all of these "Points of Light", President Bush called Eisner. A date was set for EPCOT Center (which would be shortened to just plain EPCOT a few years later) to host the ceremony, and arrangements were made to bring as many of the honorees to Disney World as they could.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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On September 30, 1991, President and Mrs. Bush arrived at EPCOT Center. The President spoke in the American Gardens and, like Reagan before him, took great care to link Walt Disney to this special day (It was also one day before the 20th Anniversary of Walt Disney World's opening.) </div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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Bush had this to say about Disney:</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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<b>"Everything here at EPCOT Center reminds us of the vision of the man who conceived this amazing place as an exploration of community. Walt </b><b>Disney once said, "The greatest moments in life are not concerned with selfish achievements, but rather with the things we do for the people." And he was absolutely right. That creed brings us together in this extraordinary place, sharing this extraordinary day. We celebrate the American spirit, the greatest natural resource of this, the greatest Nation in the entire world. </b></div><div></div><div><br />
<b>We celebrate it in front of this tableau of American heroes: our 575 Points of Light. We've honored them for showing "the better angels of our nature," for volunteering to help others in their own communities."</b><br />
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</div><div>When he was done addressing the crowd, the President stayed to meet in smaller groups with each and every honoree. He and he First Lady were then personally escorted around Walt Disney World. Though no formal parade was held, for security reasons.</div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiWV3fle8-V66jHC44SBQW_uLwNu19162Oq1qdWUkAbxGClMIswFCn_kGncaA6B39iPdWuVaD9_tYSz7HxymYHedIfcGYyJ7drYLVwoSpEb0xJgiiInpeq3CvvD8W01iIyubnX9rlA-80/s1600/busheswithMickey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiWV3fle8-V66jHC44SBQW_uLwNu19162Oq1qdWUkAbxGClMIswFCn_kGncaA6B39iPdWuVaD9_tYSz7HxymYHedIfcGYyJ7drYLVwoSpEb0xJgiiInpeq3CvvD8W01iIyubnX9rlA-80/s320/busheswithMickey.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div></div><div><br />
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The last Presidential connection on this list also originates with George H.W. Bush's time in office.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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In November 1989, President Bush was the first Commander in Chief to officially pardon a Thanksgiving turkey. Prior to that, Thanksgiving turkeys were given to Presidents in White House ceremonies, but they were all consumed. Bush spared the life of his turkey and donated it to a petting zoo in Virginia named - of all things - Frying Pan Park.</div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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What does this have to do with Disney? Beginning with President Bush's son, George W. Bush, in 2004, the pardoned turkeys (two are actually chosen) were flown to California to be the Grand Marshals of the Disneyland Thanksgiving Day Parade. They are then able to live out their natural lives at Disneyland. </div><div></div><div></div><div><br />
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I'll bet you won't ever hear about that in the Hall of Presidents. </div></span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"> </span></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcbmRRHgIiVNpNnnyWqfy0da96mka3zsd16kmFI3lYQFtOSadH9xPBtN_AUOfMVVhBwLuEIp83FN77sKBNVdC9ur-9ySjq3LfmGYqREWflL8DLLbZOwefWA19yH2_qIO99RMiMjZsur8/s1600/wholehall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcbmRRHgIiVNpNnnyWqfy0da96mka3zsd16kmFI3lYQFtOSadH9xPBtN_AUOfMVVhBwLuEIp83FN77sKBNVdC9ur-9ySjq3LfmGYqREWflL8DLLbZOwefWA19yH2_qIO99RMiMjZsur8/s640/wholehall.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: small;"> </span></div></span></span></span></div></div></div></div>Chris Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18416994097295040150noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7770317986918254563.post-51431326832056760892011-02-14T19:48:00.010-05:002011-02-15T16:45:13.331-05:00Ten Romantic Disney Moments<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33THFJzg6zOktA1GcvC38KbA_BcchQp82wglKl-lcUNpp8ySxA_NPRZcw09MYJm43tixYVRLPeEPqC2_pxyoLXeYDZOfUOwvUMQi1K-A5_P3A2TGtUyrylO6xpDOXuhKWJ-6LCb1ZloA/s1600/CandyRing.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh33THFJzg6zOktA1GcvC38KbA_BcchQp82wglKl-lcUNpp8ySxA_NPRZcw09MYJm43tixYVRLPeEPqC2_pxyoLXeYDZOfUOwvUMQi1K-A5_P3A2TGtUyrylO6xpDOXuhKWJ-6LCb1ZloA/s320/CandyRing.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Romance and Disney.</span></b></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Those two words seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper or pineapples and ice cream (OK, maybe that last one's not as common, but I just now had a craving for an Adventureland Dole Whip.)</span></b></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">I can't say this for sure, but I'd venture a guess that more people have been proposed to, married in or spent their honeymoon at a Disney property than any other places on the planet. (So long Niagara Falls, Las Vegas and Miami, it was nice knowing you.) </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: small;">There's just something about the magic of Disney that brings out special feelings in everyone.</span></b></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">I'm not immune to it - see the picture above - I proposed to my wife using a paver at Disney's "Walk Around the World." It was a question literally written in stone. (If you look closely you'll see that even her engagement ring has a familiar shape to it.)</span></b><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">So with thoughts of love in the air, and St. Valentine's Day once again upon us, I decided to put together a list of ten romantic moments in Disney history.</span></b><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">By "moment", I mean just that. I'm not covering a whole film, TV show or play, I mean a singular moment contained in one of those productions. These moments stand out, because we can all feel them when they happen. They either make us sigh, go "awww", or sometimes even weep at two people dedicating themselves to the course of true love in the face of dire circumstances. </span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: small;">Yes, some of these moments will be sad or bittersweet. Throughout the history of the arts, great romances have often involved tragedy ("Romeo and Juliet", "Madame Butterfly", "Love Story", "Titanic", etc.)</span></b><br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">I've also tried to be fair in this list and cover all areas and eras of Disney's 88 year history. You might wonder why I've left out a particular film or character that seems obvious given the love and romance theme. I already covered many of those in my book (The Top 100 Top 10 of Disney) with lists like "Ten Greatest Love Songs' and "Ten Great Disney Couples" so I didn't want to repeat them here. (If you are interested in reading the book, please email me at <a href="mailto:LucasDisney@AOL.com" title="mailto:LucasDisney@AOL.com">LucasDisney@AOL.com</a> for release date info.)</span></b></div><div style="font-family: Times,'Times New Roman',serif;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">So cue the violins, break out the tissues, here are Ten Romantic Disney Moments: </span></b><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The Spaghetti Scene</span></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u>Lady and the Tramp (1955)</u></span></span></b></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguA-ysQFNxP6xXnvbBWbgvtlGsrM7abY2CJK53ymzOc05fXLLra-5LEluBfA3IkJHb1p1CNiHepGgvQ4s4e3ILtd8mBCYBukUGc7KpAGb6RWhbLPXz2emw1yxyGPA3mGF_a6nSFxPOtuk/s1600/ladytrampspaghetti.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguA-ysQFNxP6xXnvbBWbgvtlGsrM7abY2CJK53ymzOc05fXLLra-5LEluBfA3IkJHb1p1CNiHepGgvQ4s4e3ILtd8mBCYBukUGc7KpAGb6RWhbLPXz2emw1yxyGPA3mGF_a6nSFxPOtuk/s320/ladytrampspaghetti.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>Admit it, you've never had a plate of spaghetti and meatballs without thinking of this scene.</div><div></div><div><br />
The moment is so famous and iconic that it was listed as number ninety five in the American Film Institute's Top 100 Love Stories/Scenes.</div><div></div><div><br />
"Lady and the Tramp" is set in 1909 New England and tells the story of a pedigreed and pampered purebreed Cocker Spaniel named Lady (voice of Barbara Luddy) who meets a scrappy schnauzer mutt from the streets named Tramp (though there is some debate about that, as no character - in particular any human character -actually calls him by that name. It's only used to describe his general attitude, as in "He's a Tramp.")</div><div></div><div><br />
Tramp (played by Larry Roberts) decides to show Lady the way he lives and gets by, so he gives her a night on the town, finishing in the moonlit back alley of an Italian restaurant.</div><div></div><div><br />
Apparently Tony, the owner of the establishment, has no problems with dogs gathering outside of his place and even greets Tramp warmly. Tony (George Givot) and his assistant Joe spring into action, providing Lady and her beau with a table, checkered tablecloth, breadsticks and candles. With a thick accent that was used as a horrible stereotype of Italians by Hollywood at the time, Tony says "You take-a Tony's advice and settle down with this-a-one, eh?" Following that, Tony and Joe break out the concertina and mandolin and serenade the dogs with an Italian style love ballad called "Bella Notte" (translated as "Beautiful Night" in English. Some people erroneously refer to the song as "This Is the Night.") The dogs are then served a single plate of spaghetti to share.</div><div></div><div><br />
That's the key. Had it been two plates of spaghetti, the scene would be completely different. As it was, the animators had a field day coming up with sight gags involving two dogs sharing a single meal (pushing meatballs across the plate with their snouts, etc.) It was one moment that they stumbled on while brainstorming, however, that made the crucial difference.</div><div></div><div><br />
While the dogs are devouring the spaghetti, they both pick up different ends of the same strand and slurp. Their minds are elsewhere, so they don't notice their faces getting closer and closer until - Jackpot! - their lips meet and they have their first (unplanned) kiss.</div><div></div><div><br />
Without that moment, the scene would still be a nice one and "Lady and the Tramp" would continue to be listed among the best of Disney. It was the impromptu kiss, though, that launched this scene into iconic status.<br />
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The little known fact is that we almost never saw it happen.</div><div></div><div><br />
Walt Disney himself, ever mindful of the attention span of his audiences, ordered the scene to be cut because he felt that it was too extraneous and unecessarily extended the running time. His animators protested and Walt eventually relented, which was a fortunate break for movie lovers everywhere. (Curiously, Walt never raised a single objection to the culmination of the "night on the town" scene, which finds Lady waking up in a strange park cuddling with Tramp. She then decides to go back to her cushy life. It was the first - and possibly only - time that a Disney film implied intimate relations between two unmarried characters. The only thing missing was the cinematic cliche of lady puffing on a post-coital cigarette and hastily dressing.)</div><div></div><div><br />
"Lady and the Tramp" also has the distinction of being the one and only Disney animated feature film to be shot in Cinema Scope, an innovation/gimmick featuring wider screens that was used by the major studios in the 1950's to lure viewers away from their TV sets. As a result, the animators had to put more depth into the background to fill all that extra space, which explains all the business that is happening in Tony's back alley during the spaghetti scene.</div><div></div><div><br />
The legacy of this scene has been felt in many ways. Several television shows, movies and video games have paid homage to it, including animated series ranging from Family Guy and Scooby Doo to South Park and the Simpsons (which has parodied the scene at least five times, at last count)</div><div></div><div><br />
Live action TV shows like "Married With Children", "Glee" and "30 Rock" have poked fun at it, and even Disney has gotten in on the act. "The Princess and the Frog" and the recent remake of "The Shaggy Dog" copied the scene, as has "Phineas and Ferb" on the Disney Channel. In 2007's "Enchanted", the Italian restaurant that Princess Giselle has a meal in is called "Bella Notte."</div><div></div><div><br />
The spaghetti scene also has the distinction of inspiring not one, but two restaurants at Walt Disney World. Both Mamma Melrose's Italian Ristorante in Disney's Hollywood Studios and Tony's Town Square on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom take their cue from the film. In fact the latter establishment has a statue of Lady and the Tramp inside of the restaurant itself, a stone's throw from the front entrance of the park, and just down the street from the famous "Partners" statue of Mickey and Walt.</div><div></div><div><br />
I can't think of a more fitting tribute to this scene than that, and given such a powerful illustration of how memorable it is, it deserves to start off our list.</div><div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Allen Dives In To Follow His True Love </b></span><br />
<u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Splash (1984)</b></span></u><br />
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</b></u></span></div><div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSGTcZShrpDBqDlsixkHrwNplmmJCagpwyBGf3z5tZRZjgT3UFah9Dah_-5XZHzHyI8vbBYWcUpVgCVqUbtNPezNPI3GpzIHNsK19V0jxD9lJgwahHHVcWfr-Zl8sJCyXWZF3RTzyAWJE/s1600/Splashdive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSGTcZShrpDBqDlsixkHrwNplmmJCagpwyBGf3z5tZRZjgT3UFah9Dah_-5XZHzHyI8vbBYWcUpVgCVqUbtNPezNPI3GpzIHNsK19V0jxD9lJgwahHHVcWfr-Zl8sJCyXWZF3RTzyAWJE/s320/Splashdive.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In 1984, Tom Hanks was not yet a superstar and Ariel the Little Mermaid was still five years away, so it was a great risk for Disney to produce the mermaid themed "Splash" as its maiden voyage for the newly formed Touchstone Pictures (then known as Touchstone Films.)<br />
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This cute "fish out of water" fable was directed by Ron Howard (also an unproven commodity at the helm of a major studio feature film) and didn't have any major stars, with the exception of Canadian comedy regulars John Candy and Eugene Levy.<br />
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Even so, it was the surprise hit that year and made its money back tenfold for Disney, marking a successful launch for Touchstone (the film had been released under the banner because of mild language and nudity, still a taboo in a Disney picture.)<br />
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The plot is simple, Allen Bauer (Hanks), a successful produce marketer in NYC, is depressed because he still hasn't found his true love. On a trip to Cape Cod, Bauer accidentally falls into the ocean. He is saved by a mysterious stranger who, it turns out, is the mermaid that also saved him from drowning as a little boy. The mermaid (Darryl Hannah) discovers Allen's wallet at the bottom of the sea and follows him to New York. She takes human form on land, adopts the name Madison (after the Avenue) finds Allen and starts a romance with him. Scientists, led by Levy, and the government are looking for Madison, and she is eventually captured, revealing her true self. Allen and his brother (Candy) stage a breakout to rescue Madison and, after a wild car chase through the Wall Street area, Allen and Madison wind up cornered on a pier in New York Harbor.<br />
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Madison tells Allen that she has to dive in the water to save herself and that she will probably never see him again. Allen's solution is that he will come with her, but Madison tells him that if he does go with her, he can never come back to the human world, leaving his brother and everything else he cares for behind. Allen agonizes over the decision for a minute. He finally realizes that Madison is, mermaid or not, his one true love. As the police and military close in, Allen jumps in the water to follow Madison to a new life.<br />
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Unfortunately, he's not such a good swimmer and starts sinking right to the bottom. Madison, who seemingly should be miles away by then, swims back to rescue Allen and fends off the divers who have given chase. Eventually she loses the divers and the film closes as the two lovers make their way to her underwater kingdom to presumably live happily ever after. <br />
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If you look closely at the scene on the pier you will see that it's actually two stunt divers that take the plunge, not Hanks or Hannah. Both actors said they would have willingly jumped in (Hannah actually did ninety percent of Madison's underwater scenes herself) but the company insuring the film refused to allow them to do so. Back in 1984, New York Harbor was much filthier than it is now. The insurer's fear was that both actors would be exposed to dangerous toxins, pollutants and medical waste with even a simple dive.<br />
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While it's hard to imagine any other actors in those roles now, Hanks and Hannah were not the studio's original choices. Allen was offered variously to Jeff Bridges, Harrison Ford, Richard Gere, Bill Murray, Christopher Reeve, Mickey Rourke and John Travolta, all of whom passed on the part before it was awarded to Hanks. Casting contracts for Madison went out to Jodie Foster, Julia Louis Dreyfuss, Brooke Shields, Michele Pfeiffer and Sharon Stone. Each woman declined, to Hannah's benefit. The role made Darryl Hannah a star.<br />
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There is a lasting real world legacy to this cinematic Disney love story. Prior to 1984, the name Madison appeared on not one list of the most popular names for newborn baby girls. Since then it has had a meteoric rise. In the last such poll taken, Madison is still in the top ten for female names, no coincidence as "Splash" is considered a modern romantic comedy classic and is discovered by, and has an influence on, each new generation that sees it. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Montage of Carl and Ellie Fredricksen's Life</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Up (2009)</b></span></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8O8q2De6V8h8lE7TT1d5VIsdNpd5xhL0iWRWtoQNpcE2WK99iS00GWZQcMnzrERfJBOCOWo9dpO9M9R-gwaidwUHbwuFE7qk6HdfN6wUkBQ2W9rSk9MYYx0D6zAWoJ94XCBHAba9rzo/s1600/EllieCarl-mailbox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV8O8q2De6V8h8lE7TT1d5VIsdNpd5xhL0iWRWtoQNpcE2WK99iS00GWZQcMnzrERfJBOCOWo9dpO9M9R-gwaidwUHbwuFE7qk6HdfN6wUkBQ2W9rSk9MYYx0D6zAWoJ94XCBHAba9rzo/s320/EllieCarl-mailbox.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Many people went to see Disney/Pixar's "Up" expecting to see a nice story about a disgruntled senior citizen and a young scout thrown into a madcap 3D adventure (a first for Pixar) thanks to a floating house supported by balloons. That's what the trailers and posters seemed to promise, anyway. <br />
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Few expected to walk out of theaters with their heart strings completely pulled and tear stained cheeks.<br />
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That's exactly what they got.<br />
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The scene in question comes early on in the film. Not a word is said for almost five full minutes. Only a haunting musical theme plays as we watch two people build a life together. As short as it is, these five minutes are some of the most emotionally powerful ever committed to film, certainly in any Disney picture.<br />
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The scene resonated not so much with the young ones in the audience, but with those who had passed the teen years. No matter your age, Carl and Ellie's romance had a moment for you. Whether it was the optimism of a young couple falling in love and making plans together, the realities of life intruding on a middle aged couple' best laid plans and savings, or the spectre of illness rearing its ugly head and robbing senior citizens of vitality and precious time, we each could find something to relate to in those 300 seconds.<br />
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The most heartbreaking moment, perhaps, was the realization by Ellie and Carl that they could not have children of their own. We watch as they silently take in the news from the doctor, Ellie breaks down in tears, Carl tries to comfort her, and the room they had painted for a nursery gets slowly put to other uses. Inserting a moment like that in a children's film, with the certainty that parents would be sitting in a theater next to their own kids, contemplating what life might be like if they had not been blessed with them, was a bold move for the screenwriters and animators and they pulled it off brilliantly.<br />
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Ellie's death at the end of the scene is somber, no doubt, but it is also the engine that drives Carl to abandon his placid life and set off on adventure. When "Up" comes to its conclusion, Ellie is alive and well in our hearts and in Carl's. He honors her memory by bonding with his wayward scout Russell and by pinning the bottlecap that meant so much to Ellie on Russell's uniform as a reward.<br />
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"Up" was rewarded itself by the Academy by being only the second animated film ever to be nominated for Best Picture Oscar. (Curiously, it is the only Best Picture nominee in the history of the Academy to have a two letter title.) Carl and Ellie would be proud.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>The Ballroom Dance Scene</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Beauty and the Beast (1991)</u></b></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPC7PTBFTBvgF7O0hLMMd6MARMVanOAKvJTU6DfV9Nm7T57z7k8ynm2atpLPa9TJehIiwDTxTq6iG1lJCOzj-fkcprwE04XtlTOUE6yasfxKJovVEdAJo7attnNJLbQRFY2vO_5_ChJM/s1600/beautyandthebeast.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyPC7PTBFTBvgF7O0hLMMd6MARMVanOAKvJTU6DfV9Nm7T57z7k8ynm2atpLPa9TJehIiwDTxTq6iG1lJCOzj-fkcprwE04XtlTOUE6yasfxKJovVEdAJo7attnNJLbQRFY2vO_5_ChJM/s320/beautyandthebeast.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div>As early as the 1930's, Walt Disney was thinking of turning the classic fairy tale Beauty and the Beast into an animated film.<br />
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</div><div>He never got around to it in his lifetime.<br />
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</div><div>24 years after his death, Walt's company released a version of the tale that would set the bar for all animated features to follow.</div><div><br />
Not only was "Beauty and the Beast" a critical and box office hit, it was also the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards (a feat not repeated until 2009's "Up" and "Toy Story 3" in 2010.) While it lost the big Oscar to "Silence of the Lambs", the title track of "Beauty and the Beast" did win Best Song, and the scene in which it is played has become the most iconic of the film itself and also one of the most romantic ever drawn by animators.</div><div><br />
The basic plot concerns a selfish and narcissistic prince (played by Robby Benson) who has been placed under a spell by a witch, wherein he becomes an ugly beast. He is doomed to remain a beast unless he falls in love and is kissed before the last petal on an enchanted rose falls. Into his life (and castle) comes Belle (Paige O'Hara), an independent young woman who becomes the Beast's prisoner to save her father. At first the two clash, but through the intervention of the Beast's servants (turned into household objects by the same spell) their attitudes soften, and they slowly fall in love, leading to the famous ballroom waltz.</div><div><br />
There are a few scenes (Beast saving Belle from an attack by wolves and nursing her wounds, a quarrel that seems more like a lover's spat, etc.) that establish their budding romance, but the one that seals the deal is the dance.</div><div><br />
The enchanted tea kettle Mrs. Potts (Broadway and Disney veteran Angela Lansbury) sings the title ballad, which is both a narration and encapsulation of the couple's tale. As she describes their hesitation and surprise at falling in love unexpectedly, Belle and Beast dance around the ballroom staring rapturously into each others eyes. We are literally watching their hearts melt. </div><div><br />
The romance of the scene works on its own, but what really sets it apart and adds more realism to it is the fact that this was the first Disney animated feature to utilize the CAPS (Computer Animation Production System) program. The artists successfully blended their hand drawn animation with backgrounds generated digitally. </div><div><br />
This process allowed the artists to use more color, softer shading, multiple planes (a technique first developed by Disney in the 30's. Instead of using the old system of numerous cameras and expensive machinery to achieve the effect, however, now a few mouse clicks did the trick) an illusion of depth and simulated 3D imagery. The results were startling. Seen on a big screen in theaters, it was almost as if you were looking at a real ballroom. The camera pans and zooms around Belle and Beast, giving us a variety of previously unavailable angles to take in their intimate moment.</div><div><br />
As famous and groundbreaking as it is now, the animators were not sure the new use of computer images would mesh well in the finished film. Their back up plan was to keep the dance, but to have the couple lit by a single light in a dark room. Just Beauty, Beast and blackness. Luckily they never had to resort to that.<br />
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</div><div>The beautiful Oscar winning theme song, written by Howard Ashman (who passed away shortly before the film was released) and Alan Menken, was also recorded as a pop song to be played as the end credits roll, the first time that had been done in a Disney film. This version, a duet sung by Peabo Bryson and Celine Dion, rose to the top of the charts, got huge radio play and remained in Billboard's Top Ten for almost a year.</div><div>Angela Lansbury initially did not want to do the song for that scene in the film. She felt that Mrs. Potts was not the right character for it. Co-Directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousedale convinced her to do one for safety, just until they could find someone else to do it. They never did, and Lansbury's one take version is what you hear in the film.</div><div><br />
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Following this scene, there are other moments in the film that confirm the couple's love for each other (Beast letting Belle leave his castle to help her father, though he knows it will mean his spell will not be broken, and Belle sobbing over the fallen Beast and kissing him just as the last petal falls, turning him back into a handsome prince.) The ballroom scene remains the one that truly symbolizes their adoration for each other. It's even reprised in a choral version at the finale, as Belle and her Prince dance one last time before the film ends. (The animators were running out of time to complete the movie, so they actually recycled a clip from 1959's "Sleeping Beauty" where Princess Aurora dances in the forest with her Prince. They simply traced the motions and inserted Belle and her Prince for this scene.) </div><br />
Two decades after the release of "Beauty and the Beast", it's still amazing to realize that in that one simple dance scene we are not watching real actors, just two animated characters. Without saying a word, their glances tell us all we need to know about falling in love. Another great example of Disney artists working their magic to move us.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Queen Mary Gives Up Her Crown For Love </b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>The Sword and the Rose (1955)</b></span></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUEuqOW6sgMHY-cMYnTs1cFm7lXFM9foEBAikTm_fH5rj0lYSEZLHxgD4ItcSIrZdkItYCHmDhJos0l_ypaPFHuQRvjf1sIML6LPjPjnjQbsjGruQt2HyYFe_gz6BSXRpRk0dEIEbQ51A/s1600/swordrose.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUEuqOW6sgMHY-cMYnTs1cFm7lXFM9foEBAikTm_fH5rj0lYSEZLHxgD4ItcSIrZdkItYCHmDhJos0l_ypaPFHuQRvjf1sIML6LPjPjnjQbsjGruQt2HyYFe_gz6BSXRpRk0dEIEbQ51A/s320/swordrose.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><div>Few film lovers (even ardent Disney fans) have seen "The Sword and the Rose." It seems to have faded into the dustbin of history.<br />
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Why then do I include a scene from this obscure title on this list of notable Romantic Disney Moments?<br />
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</div><div>"The Sword and the Rose" earned its spot by virtue of the fact that it was Disney's first full on live action romance.<br />
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After years of animated princesses and pampered ladies searching for their Prince, Walt decided to film a live action love story using real characters from history (although the inaccuracies in this film are rampant. One critic said that it was as true to history as "Pinocchio" was. Ouch.)<br />
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</div><div>"The Sword and the Rose" is set in England, during the reign of corpulent King Henry VIII. The plot concerns his sister, Mary Tudor (Glynis Johns, who was later named a Disney Legend, more for her role as Mrs. Banks in "Mary Poppins" than for this film) and her scandalous love affair with Charles Brandon (Richard Todd) a commoner.</div><div><br />
Brandon becomes Captain of the Guard to stay close to the King's Court, but Henry has promised Mary's hand in marriage to Louis XII, King of France. As Mary is being prepped to assume the throne and become Queen of France, she secretly follows Brandon as he sets off for the Americas. The evil Duke of Buckingham (Michael Gough, most famous for playing Alfred the Butler in Tim Burton's Batman films) who is in love with Mary, discovers her plot and has the duo arrested before they can sail away.<br />
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</div><div>Mary is forced to become Queen Mary of France, and Brandon is sent to rot in the Tower of London. Fate intervenes and King Louis dies. Rather than continue on as the French Queen, Mary begs her brother to pardon Charles Brandon and allow her to renounce her throne and return to England so that she can be with him. King Henry, moved by her passion in this amazing scene, agrees and also gives Charles a noble title: The Duke of Suffolk, (The Duke of Buckingham, who attempted to kill Charles, dies in the battle, so he's out of the way) and the couple live happily ever after.</div><div><br />
The film, the third one made on location in England by Disney, using profits that were ordered by the British Government to be spent in post-war Britain, was a dud at the box office. Audiences in America didn't really warm up to a love story about British royals, and moviegoers in England were turned off by the many liberties taken with their history in service of a romance picture.</div><div><br />
Many people attributed the film's failure to the more mature subject matter. Children (Disney's primary audience at the time) did not seem to take to this film, as they had for the romances involving animated characters.</div><div><br />
It would be another two years before Disney released their next animated romance ("Lady and the Tramp", which also concerns a high pedigree female falling for a male beneath her class) and five more years before they attempted a live action one (1958's "The Light In The Forest.")</div><div><br />
For a first try, "The Sword and the Rose" succeeds in establishing a template for Disney live action love stories, it's just too bad that it doesn't get that much attention now.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Jin and Sun Perish Together</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Lost (2010)</b></span></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_oMcWAmRqC_nv2ZS2PKI8KcuuDsl2_iynhsiZxVPflNmYD31ckErNihnLW1SCNqbP-SgienhBBpVGgxowRpcIQtdBgKMPvsmbiu1P-DxQR1Uze0nP3qt_8xJaftBa76woOzXrCvLKx0Y/s1600/lost+sun+jin+die.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_oMcWAmRqC_nv2ZS2PKI8KcuuDsl2_iynhsiZxVPflNmYD31ckErNihnLW1SCNqbP-SgienhBBpVGgxowRpcIQtdBgKMPvsmbiu1P-DxQR1Uze0nP3qt_8xJaftBa76woOzXrCvLKx0Y/s1600/lost+sun+jin+die.jpg" /></a></div><div>When Disney/Touchstone's "Lost" premiered on ABC in 2004, it became an instant water cooler hit.</div><div></div><div><br />
Viewers were captivated by this strange drama, which followed the lives of plane crash survivors on an island imbued with mystical qualities.</div><div></div><div><br />
Two of the more intriguing characters were a married Korean couple named Jin Soo Kwon (Daniel Dae Kim) and Sun Paik Kwon (Yunjin Kim.) At first, they were the outsiders of the group, given that they did not speak English and seemed to want to isolate themselves from their fellow castaways.Eventually, they became an integral part of the show's many tangled storylines and flashbacks.</div><div></div><div><br />
It was revealed, for example, that Jin worked for Sun's father, a gangster in Korea, as a thug. He and Jin carry out a forbidden affair and fall in love. Jin takes one last job from his boss, agreeing to make a delivery in Sydney, Australia and then head to Los Angeles to drop off another package. Jin decides that he will stay in America after the job is finished and run from his employer. He takes Sun along on the journey. They never make it to LA, as Oceanic Flight 815 breaks apart mid-flight over the mysterious island.</div><div></div><div><br />
Through the course of the show's six seasons, it is revealed that Sun does speak English and Jin slowly becomes fluent in it as well. They begin to bond with their island mates. They're also separated several times, as the storyline skips back and forth, both geographically and through the space/time continuum.</div><div></div><div><br />
The last season featured "flash sideways' scenes, showing an alternate universe (later revealed as the after-life) glimpse of what life would be like if the plane had never crashed on the island. Jin and Sun are living happily together. Unfortunately, that's not the time line that plays out in the main story.</div><div></div><div><br />
After repeated mishaps, and a long time spent apart, Jin and Sun are finally reunited, but wind up as prisoners on a submarine owned by one of the show's main villains (or heroes, depending on who you ask.) A bomb is planted on board and it explodes while the sub is underway. The small compartment begins to flood. </div><div></div><div><br />
As the occupants of the sub try to escape, Jin realizes that Sun is pinned under wreckage and will be unable to free herself. He desperately tries to get her out but, to his horror, quickly surmises that it is a lost cause. Sun begs him to leave her and swim to safety with the others. Faced with such a wrenching decision, Jin makes a heroic choice.</div><div></div><div><br />
As the water rushes in around them, Jin takes Sun's hand and tells her in Korean how much he loves her. With their last breath approaching, Jin lets Sun know that it will be over soon and that after this, they will never be apart again. They share one last passionate kiss, and then drift slowly to the bottom of the ocean, hand in hand. </div><div></div><div><br />
It was a heartbreaking scene to watch, and yet at the same time a great depiction and reminder of the comforting power of love and romance, even when facing certain death.<br />
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</div><div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Troy and Gabriella's First Duet</b></span><br />
<u><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>High School Musical (2006)</b></span></u><br />
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<div style="font-weight: normal;">OK, it might not be your particular cup of tea, but the facts are undeniable. For a generation of Disney fans, "High School Musical" remains their introduction to the wonders of falling in love.</div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
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In what's essentially a watered down 21st Century version of "Romeo and Juliet" or "Grease" (in fact, internet rumors abound that the genesis of the story was a 1999 pitch for "Grease 3" , which was to star Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears as the children of the characters John Travolta and Olivia Newton John played in the 1978 film version of "Grease") high school juniors Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez (newcomers Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens) meet, fall in love, are divided by petty cliques and rivalries, and are reunited happily in the end.</div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
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There are so many scenes with puppy love glances and chaste embraces that it's hard to choose one as a romantic representative, but the one that seems to stand out the most is Troy and Gabriella's first meeting, at a New Year's Eve Party in the lounge of a ski resort.</div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
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They are thrown together onstage to sing a karaoke duet ("Start of Something New" ) and the sparks fly. After a brief conversation and getting to know you period, they exchange numbers, not expecting to see each other again. (Shades of the first meeting between Shakespeare's young lovers at the ball in Verona.) Both are shocked when they meet again in high school. (Gabriella transfers mid-year, not knowing that it's Troy's school.) The couple play it cool around each other, as Gabriella is a science and math whiz and Troy is the captain of the basketball team, two groups that should supposedly not mix. The plot, as described above, develops from there.</div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
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The film was a huge success for Disney (the highest rated Disney Channel Original Movie ever) and spawned a series of sequels as well as a merchandising bonanza (the first film's soundtrack was the best selling album of 2006.)</div><div style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
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None of this would have happened if Efron and Hudgens had not sold that first scene at the ski lodge. Their budding romantic overtures to each other as the snow fell (actually a few pounds of potato flakes, standing in for snow, despite filming in Utah) set the tone for the whole series and led to the G rated union that shook the pre-teen world.<br />
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While the stars and original audience of "High School Musical" are older now, the impact of this modern teen love story can be seen all over the pop culture landscape ("Glee" comes to mind) and will probably be viewed with fond "coming of age" nostalgia like the beach party movies of the 1960's, raunchy teen comedies of the '70's and John Hughes movies of the '80's are today.</div><div style="font-weight: normal;"></div><div style="font-weight: normal;"></div></div><b></b><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Eve's Kiss Saves Wall-E</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>WALL-E (2008)</u></b></span><br />
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</u></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgICtwD6nQnjUSZcbduR1ncNNEahwkASamAj37TPgO1BkqnKnTXxrlA8g55MaKGY-0f6JyUxagM57MxmpSHoHGN12k2fiHvRhuZg4sq-Xo06SpW4_p5L284Cd8Eeul5pf06Yqlv1NSXE4Y/s1600/wall-e_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgICtwD6nQnjUSZcbduR1ncNNEahwkASamAj37TPgO1BkqnKnTXxrlA8g55MaKGY-0f6JyUxagM57MxmpSHoHGN12k2fiHvRhuZg4sq-Xo06SpW4_p5L284Cd8Eeul5pf06Yqlv1NSXE4Y/s200/wall-e_3.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left;">Robots in love, not usually a recipe for a successful Hollywood film (the 1981 Universal Studios megaflop "HeartBeeps" comes to mind.) That's why it remains so astounding that not only did the wizards at Pixar pull this tricky story off with "WALL-E", they created a masterpiece in the process.<br />
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</div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left;">Like the Carl and Ellie montage in "Up", this depiction of Earth 800 years from now is nearly wordless for long stretches of its 98 minute running time. The comedy and pathos in the film come mainly from its protagonist, the title character, a robot imbued with the pantomimic qualities of the greatest silent film stars like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.<br />
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</div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left;">WALL-E (which stands for Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth) is the last functioning robot created to clean up an Earth overloaded by garbage. Humans have left the planet to live on spacecraft until it is inhabitable again. (The film was originally called "Trash Planet") WALL-E has developed emotions and curiosity over the years, collecting items like a Rubiks Cube, Atari 2600 and old VHS tapes to amuse himself (Most notably, the 1969 romance musical "Hello Dolly!", which he watches over and over again. This marked the first time Pixar ever used live action sequences in a film.) During one of his outings, he finds a seedling plant - proof that life can exist on Earth again.<br />
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</div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left;">Into his world comes EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) an egg shaped robot, sleek and clean, contrasting WALL-E's dirty look. (The animators actually consulted the design team at Apple, those responsible for ipods and other futuristic yet modern products, to create her style.) WALL-E immediately falls in love with EVE, though he can't pronounce her name (as a result, many Disney fans still call her "Eva.") She takes the plant back to be evaluated (when the light on her chest indicating that she's analyzing the plant comes on, it has a familiar look - it's the logo used by EPCOT's The Land Pavillion when it first opened.)<br />
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WALL-E can't stand to see her go, so he stows away on her ship as it takes off and rockets through space.</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left;">Back on EVE's ship, the duo get into some scrapes and battle other robots and computers that want to destroy the plant and keep humans from returning to their home planet. In the final battle, WALL-E is badly damaged. EVE, who by now has returned WALL-E's feelings (courtesy of his persisitence and a few love scenes from "Hello Dolly!") realizes that the only way to fix WALL-E is to return to his home on Earth for replacement parts. She then commandeers the ship and brings everyone back.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left;">EVE does fix WALL-E, but his memory has been destroyed, and the re-boot brings him back to his original task, cleaning up the planet with no distinct signs of personality. Eve is heartbroken that once she finally realizes that she loves him, WALL-E is lost to her forever. She leans in to give him one last kiss and the sparks fly.<br />
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</div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left;">That's no figure of speech, sparks really do fly.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left;">An electrical connection happens with EVE's kiss and WALL-E returns to his former self. He and EVE are happy together at last.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left;">This film looked like nothing that ever came before and gave solid proof that true love can defeat anything, even programming.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>"Elaborate Lives" Duet</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Disney's AIDA (2000)</u></b></span><br />
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<div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left;"><div>Disney's Theatrical division has had a mixed history with adaptations of its classic films.<br />
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Some, like "Lion King" and "Beauty and the Beast" had long runs on Broadway and in countless other cities around the world. Others, like "Tarzan" and "The Little Mermaid" didn't last so long.<br />
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</div><div>Part of the problem is that live shows sometimes suffer in comparison to their animated counterparts. A mandate soon went out to find properties that didn't originate from the company's film division. "Aida" was such a project.<br />
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</div><div></div><div>Based loosely on the legendary opera by Giuseppi Verdi (it was actually taken from a children's book adaptation of that opera) "Disney's Aida" tells the story of two doomed lovers in ancient Egypt.</div><div>Disney stalwarts Sir Elton John and Tim Rice were asked to create the music for the play (originally called "Elaborate Lives" so as to avoid confusion with the opera. "AIDA: Turn off The Dark" wouldn't have worked either.) Tony winner David Henry Hwang wrote the book. With such powerful names behind it, the show ran for four years at Broadway's Palace Theater ("Beauty and the Beast" actually moved to a smaller theater so that "Disney's AIDA" could move in to the Palace.)</div><div><br />
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Heather Headley (who won a Tony for her work in the show) played the title character, a Nubian Princess captured by the Egyptians and forced to be a servant for the Pharaoh's vain daughter, Amneris. Tony nominee Adam Pascal played Radames, Captain of the Pharaoh's Guard, who is obligated to marry Princess Amneris and become ruler of Egypt (a title he does not want.)</div><div><br />
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Aida and Radames meet and begin a forbidden affair. He has no idea that she is a Princess. He is not only cheating on his intended, Amneris, but also with a Nubian - the sworn enemies of Egypt. Aida and Radames share a passionate duet called "Elaborate Lives" commiserating the fact that circumstances in their world conspire to keep them apart despite their strong passion for each other. The song consists of heart wrenching lyrics like:</div><div><br />
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I'm so tired of all were going through <br />
I don't want to love like that <br />
I just want to be with you <br />
Now and forever , peaceful, true <br />
This may not be the moment <br />
to tell you face to face <br />
But I could wait forever <br />
for the perfect time and place </div><br />
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At the conclusion of the duet, it is announced that Nubia has been conquered by the Egyptians and that the king (Aida's father) has been captured. This news upsets her, of course, but she still doesn't reveal her true identity.<br />
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<div>Radames eventually learns the truth and helps Aida's father escape, an act of treason. Aida, who could have escaped, remains behind with Radames. The two are brought to trial and sentenced to die. Princess Amneris, seeing how Radames had powerful romantic feelings for Aida that he would never have for her, begs her father to show mercy and allow the couple to die together. As a result, Aida and Radames are sealed in a tomb beneath the pyramids to be buried alive.</div><div><br />
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As the light fades and their air supply dwindles, Aida and Radames embrace each other and reprise their duet of "Elaborate Lives", tearfully vowing to find each other in the next life, never to separate again, even if it takes them thousands of years.</div><div><br />
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When this scene was played out on Broadway, with one solitary light on the actors getting smaller and smaller until the theater was left in total darkness, there wasn't a dry eye in the house. It was incredibly moving and depressing at the same time.</div><div><br />
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This being Disney, they added an upbeat ending to soften the blow, unseen in previous versions of the tale.<br />
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</div><div>The final scene of "Disney's Aida" takes place in a museum, as two strangers visiting the Egyptian wing stop and glance at each other. This turns into a lingering stare and then finally a deep embrace as we (and they) come to realize that they are the re-incarnations of Radames and Aida, together again after a few millennia.</div><br />
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<div>True love wins again.<br />
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<div style="font-weight: normal; text-align: left;"><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>The Shoe Fits</u></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Cinderella (1950)</u></b></span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZNB7IxUXGohdcSv2VUKBB050zADFWrZPUkl3S7dkkE7EJMh5ATNI_ZPzkskrqqcHtZ9_i5XneftwsTFtSJzJduuIr3W2rXeEKdUl5hxjSSmn-HR5J-GRiLKr5PLZHzMVk96KYhbcCyc/s1600/cinderella-slipper-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZNB7IxUXGohdcSv2VUKBB050zADFWrZPUkl3S7dkkE7EJMh5ATNI_ZPzkskrqqcHtZ9_i5XneftwsTFtSJzJduuIr3W2rXeEKdUl5hxjSSmn-HR5J-GRiLKr5PLZHzMVk96KYhbcCyc/s320/cinderella-slipper-large.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This list will end on a happy note, and with - of course - a Princess.<br />
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</div><div>The tale of Cinderella had been told many times (since the 1600's actually) before Disney's adaptation arrived in theaters sixty one years ago this week. His version, though, is the one that will probably stand the test of time as the definitive one.</div><br />
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<div>The studio was struggling in the post-war period of the 1940's and needed a big hit to start the next decade. Walt decided to gamble everything he had on what made his first feature film a success and started it all - a fairy tale princess.<br />
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</div><div>The risk was a good one, because "Cinderella" put the studio back in the black, and was the highest grossing film, animated or not, of 1950.</div><div><br />
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Cinderella is a young lady trapped in a bad spot, with a wicked step-mother and evil step-sisters who treat her like a slave. When the royal court announces a ball in honor of the Prince, the step-sisters are excited to go, but Cinderella is forced to stay behind and do chores. Through the intervention of her Fairy Godmother, Cinderella is magically whisked to the ball, where she meets the Prince, who is smitten instantly. She has to leave at midnight before the spell wears off. In her haste to escape, with the prince in hot pursuit, Cinderella leaves one of her glass slippers on the steps of the palace.</div><div><br />
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The Prince, who is convinced that his one true love has slipped through his fingers, sends out a search party with the slipper to place it on the foot of every girl in the kingdom. Eventually he finds Cinderella.</div><div><br />
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By the way, there are two common assumptions about this scene that people make, both of which are wrong. The first: that the Prince is the one who places the glass slipper on Cinderella. It is not. The Grand Duke, sent out to oversee the task, actually does the foot measuring. The second is that the slipper Cinderella tries on is the one she left on the steps. Again, it is not. Her step-mother, sensing that Cinderella - who she despises - is indeed the girl that the Prince has been looking for, trips the Grand Duke and sends that slipper flying, causing it to shatter upon impact. Luckiliy, Cinderella has kept the other slipper and produces it as proof that she is the one.</div><div><br />
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So why add this scene to this list if the Prince is not in it? Because it shows his dedication to his love. If you are willing to send a search party out through your whole kingdom (who knows how many miles they covered, on horseback no less) to find one girl you met at a party, she must be special and it must be love. (Some guys wouldn't even get up from the couch to find their one true love.)</div><div><br />
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All kidding aside, this Prince (who is popularly called "Prince Charming" though he's never identified by name in the film) is one of the few in the Disney canon that has scenes (walking around the palace in conversation on a moonlit night with Cinderella, their dance together in front of the gathered guests, etc.) which establish his link to his true love. Others (like Snow White's Prince) are conveniently placed in their film to arrive on the scene and whisk the fair maiden away without any prior context.</div><div><br />
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Prince Charming actually had more scenes, which deepened the relationship between the two, but they were cut at the last minute to shave time off the film.</div><div><br />
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"Cinderella" is one of the greatest Disney love stories ever produced, and also one of the few that concludes with the couple getting married, loading up in a coach and riding off into the sunset to live..... well you know what comes next. </div><div><br />
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Thanks for reading, As always, I'd love to hear your opinions and suggestions.</div><div><br />
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Happy Valentine's Day!</div></div><b></b><br />
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</u></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWKUsofOG2lmnOGapm0KCoqo0Fmrjr1cQJMCLZtidepgTe0Qz-BT8qaTrDRJ_MmXq-2aBq3LWe-zJvVNq6uZdmmxvj7Fy67VV5vt5Z21Shz0ST1a8oyM9eaGcZiBC6EaeMx3uNlQG_W-Q/s1600/happilyeverafter.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWKUsofOG2lmnOGapm0KCoqo0Fmrjr1cQJMCLZtidepgTe0Qz-BT8qaTrDRJ_MmXq-2aBq3LWe-zJvVNq6uZdmmxvj7Fy67VV5vt5Z21Shz0ST1a8oyM9eaGcZiBC6EaeMx3uNlQG_W-Q/s1600/happilyeverafter.bmp" /></a></div><br />
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</div>Chris Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18416994097295040150noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7770317986918254563.post-43453475034537625262011-02-10T02:08:00.000-05:002011-02-10T23:09:41.295-05:00Ten Most Unusual Disney Films<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvbXl5AkTcPKksHWhlQ1SFR1X41Rb0guI9_vzCzSe4IlskmUgTdCEOYCrg5I7IAj2TdXjPH-KiG2OrUn4jn8rU-BFRP7YGbuR5qlUDtKJB-reoyTzSoOUl98hRNt_wI6v-jj90h1AgD3Y/s1600/goofyquestionmark.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvbXl5AkTcPKksHWhlQ1SFR1X41Rb0guI9_vzCzSe4IlskmUgTdCEOYCrg5I7IAj2TdXjPH-KiG2OrUn4jn8rU-BFRP7YGbuR5qlUDtKJB-reoyTzSoOUl98hRNt_wI6v-jj90h1AgD3Y/s1600/goofyquestionmark.bmp" /></a></div><b>If you ask people what type of film a “Disney” film is, you’ll get a variety of answers. Everyone seems to have a feel for what a Disney motion picture constitutes, but nobody can quite articulate it clearly. <br />
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Even Walt himself had an opinion on this. During a meeting with his staff to discuss future projects, one of his employees supposedly said about an upcoming film “We can’t make that, it’s not a typical Disney film.” Walt immediately replied, “heck, I’m Walt Disney and even I don’t know what a “typical Disney” film is!” <br />
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It’s more of an instinctual thing, we grew up with these films, so we recognize them immediately without ever having to see the name “Disney” on the poster. That’s why it’s so jarring when we come across a film made by Disney that just doesn’t seem to jibe with our preconceived notions. </b><br />
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<b>Here are ten that fall into this "unusual" category.</b><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Victory Through Air Power (1943)</u></b></span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfF8hN5NECkpaRbjvqY-j0SAxPOCOTWXsn4slcbIeYZwJjbegmW6L7WcryyBjuQK2Db51hmcyaSCgtoH_EOCuZLCdhKPZ2V3dx6mirVfI4meP06im3GX7-nP0d4tzS1MCf-Bo6knPP7U/s1600/50022154530Victory_Through_Air_Power_Walt_Disney_1943.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfF8hN5NECkpaRbjvqY-j0SAxPOCOTWXsn4slcbIeYZwJjbegmW6L7WcryyBjuQK2Db51hmcyaSCgtoH_EOCuZLCdhKPZ2V3dx6mirVfI4meP06im3GX7-nP0d4tzS1MCf-Bo6knPP7U/s400/50022154530Victory_Through_Air_Power_Walt_Disney_1943.jpg" width="158" /></a></div>After the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, America’s entry into World War II, the Disney Studio was essentially taken over by the military, and almost all studio output went towards the war effort.<br />
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Walt was downcast over having to abandon his work on several feature films already in the pipeline, as many of his animators went off to war and funds dried up. He regained his focus after reading a book by a Russian military hero named Alexander de Seversky called “Victory Through Air Power.” <br />
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The book was a controversial proposal advocating the formation of an Allied Air Force made up of long range planes which could effectively bomb the Axis powers into submission with a minimum of forces on the ground, thereby shortening the war. De Seversky was having trouble getting people to listen to his message, but Walt saw an opportunity to use the Disney Studio to achieve that goal.<br />
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Walt personally financed the film version of the book, which did contain some interesting bits of animation (including a short on the history of aviation, which was later chopped out of the film and spun off into its own educational film.) Most of the 70 minute film, however, consisted of De Seversky directly addressing the camera in his thick Russian accent and making his case for the superiority of American air power.<br />
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It was as close to outright propaganda as Disney ever came to making in a feature film.<br />
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The film was, as you’ve probably guessed, not a box office smash. It was not, however, intended for general audiences. Walt and De Seversky pretty much made this film to catch the attention of exactly two people, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.<br />
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The gambit worked.<br />
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After private screenings of the film, both Churchill and FDR were enthusiastic. They even screened it for their top military brass. De Seversky’s ideas subsequently began to be adopted and long range bombers were put into production and use, which did - as De Seversky predicted - have a beneficial impact on the Allied effort. You might even say that this simple Disney film actually helped contribute to the successful resolution of a terrible worldwide conflict.<br />
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When the war was over and Walt went back to making his more mainstream films, Victory Through Air Power was put into the Disney vaults and did not reemerge on the public scene for another 61 years. In 2004 it was included on a Disney Treasures DVD set of its World War II era films. (prior to that it had only been seen in film festivals or college classes.) Even so, this unusual feature film remains one of the most overlooked in the Disney canon.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>The Three Caballeros (1945) </b></u></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fq8Of0c5mL-yRZwoQwtn8GXjAvKnapFCIphH1DZ4HTqZybrV9KXzTFgvgSq88_QxXA658a0QFNPOSoZl1rXCNEtcj8u76yaRlhO6qs-HDy5WDeqfAvHP1jHv3H5DLDPkCC2hpU7yd6g/s1600/Three-Caballeros-Poster-disney-10298671-420-584.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fq8Of0c5mL-yRZwoQwtn8GXjAvKnapFCIphH1DZ4HTqZybrV9KXzTFgvgSq88_QxXA658a0QFNPOSoZl1rXCNEtcj8u76yaRlhO6qs-HDy5WDeqfAvHP1jHv3H5DLDPkCC2hpU7yd6g/s320/Three-Caballeros-Poster-disney-10298671-420-584.jpg" width="230" /></a></div>On the surface, "The Three Caballeros" seems like a typical Disney film, with colorful characters, great music, even a starring role for Donald Duck. Dig deeper and you will find a most un-Disney like style to this follow up to “Saludos Amigos“.<br />
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The pace of this film is frantic and overwhelming. Unlike the leisurely travelogue/documentary feel of “Saludos” this film moves faster than the speed of light.<br />
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You don’t ever get a chance to catch your breath in this madcap film. Perhaps it was a response to the success Warner Brothers was having with its quick witted and snappy Looney Tunes series, but Disney broke from its regular calm, deep and realistic animation style with “Caballeros” to utilize avant garde, abstract images that whiz by. (For instance: the character of the Aracuan bird - a poor man's Wood Woodpecker - interrupts scenes throughout the movie and goes in and out of frame, annoying Donald and the Caballeros. He'd fit right with Bugs Bunny and crew at Warners.)<br />
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The term “psychedelic” had not yet come into popular usage, but it certainly describes what you see onscreen in this film. While the studio had already dipped its toes into this art form with the pink elephant hallucination sequence in 1941's "Dumbo," the Disney animators went full out here. “Three Caballeros” is a swirl of colors and acid trip imagery set to a beat of Latin rhythms.<br />
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You might ask how a different animation style classifies “Caballeros’ as unusual? Well, that alone doesn’t do it. (After all, “Fantasia” has some pretty wild images and has been embraced as a Disney classic.) What gives this film its offbeat status is the way Donald Duck is depicted. <br />
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Donald had always been the bad boy of Disney films, but in this film he goes completely off the deep end.<br />
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Maybe they were trying to put him on an equal plane with his rival screen mallard Daffy Duck, but Disney animators allowed Donald to let his libido rage out of control in this picture. It seems that as soon as Donald used his passport to travel south of the border, he lost all sense of decency and decorum. No Disney character had ever shown unbridled lust before “Caballeros”, but Donald goes hog wild here. In scene after scene he is chasing after or drooling over his female human co-stars. One section even has him descending on a Mexican beach full of scantily clad women and trying to grab at whatever body parts he can. At one point, the other Caballeros (Jose Carioca and Panchito) point out to the audience that Donald is acting like a wolf in Duck‘s clothing, all while trippy images of women and suggestive shapes swirl by. (See photos below for examples.)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUFYZHk-2-ij4lXX8pvtjV1YfV7yrgxSs4BpJ0Q28JVt7RbHcEGI7G3Htfh7Ak8piqVIyQkR6OIW9iwknpHKCw2TxTQufQ4rq8aYs_mlCyZHL7LZ-UX_Cj3foaMyBr20uJNXHxEJf8Kf0/s1600/donaldlust.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUFYZHk-2-ij4lXX8pvtjV1YfV7yrgxSs4BpJ0Q28JVt7RbHcEGI7G3Htfh7Ak8piqVIyQkR6OIW9iwknpHKCw2TxTQufQ4rq8aYs_mlCyZHL7LZ-UX_Cj3foaMyBr20uJNXHxEJf8Kf0/s200/donaldlust.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHY0gVESx8tQ8SKdxU41urW61eGljTeU3sDoQOu8Y0tTD-I4Nb_QlkFWL6LLjskjrahhEXeSNOjyLSkV6F-oGI4-jpZaESM35j2Rxt3pXuL4_UwYCT8i-Mfs7vX7bRV8aNlhbz8qKt02A/s1600/donaldlust2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHY0gVESx8tQ8SKdxU41urW61eGljTeU3sDoQOu8Y0tTD-I4Nb_QlkFWL6LLjskjrahhEXeSNOjyLSkV6F-oGI4-jpZaESM35j2Rxt3pXuL4_UwYCT8i-Mfs7vX7bRV8aNlhbz8qKt02A/s200/donaldlust2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
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There are so many sexual innuendos (intentional or not) in “Caballeros” that it would take pages and pages to list them. I’m pretty certain that most of them sailed over the heads of children in the audience, but still it’s odd to see them in a supposedly wholesome Disney offering.<br />
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Like “Victory Through Air Power’ and other Disney films made during the war era, “Three Caballeros” was buried in the vaults for decades as a dated relic of the 1940‘s. Only now is it being discovered by mass audiences thanks to VHS and DVD releases. While Donald’s actions may seem tame to 21st Century viewers given what we are constantly exposed to on TV and in the movies, “Three Caballeros” still feels out of step with the rest of Disney’s productions.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>The Story of Menstruation (1946) </b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ncyi_vX4ytgb8ioQFzHYWkE3lvkxVo1_e-_CepQlcjP0L-wu9noPWFvIxT-Pu5wib6-yXWj2j520v24YrD2agzimXCrb9PP8yWLml6KofLkhJPuoFQ0K6sHNX_hygGHJnW6FRXU9Ikg/s1600/menstruation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Ncyi_vX4ytgb8ioQFzHYWkE3lvkxVo1_e-_CepQlcjP0L-wu9noPWFvIxT-Pu5wib6-yXWj2j520v24YrD2agzimXCrb9PP8yWLml6KofLkhJPuoFQ0K6sHNX_hygGHJnW6FRXU9Ikg/s320/menstruation.jpg" width="289" /></a></div>Nope, that’s not a typo, you read it right. Disney did indeed produce an animated film about the most personal of female issues. (Watch the YouTube clip below for proof. Go ahead, I'll wait.)<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeT45BELVzY">Disney's Story Of Menstruation</a><br />
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After the war ended, the Disney Studio was in severe financial distress. Walt and Roy were desperately looking for revenue streams wherever they could, so that production on animated features could resume. Their production of "Victory Through Air Power" three years earlier gave them an idea. <br />
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Walt and Roy surmised that if a film like “Victory” was successful in educating and influencing an audience of politicians and generals, then perhaps corporations would be willing to hire Disney to make films promoting their products while also dispensing educational messages in an entertaining manner. Yes, they were essentially selling out and doing quasi-commercials but they had no choice.<br />
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The Kimberly Clark Company (then known as International Cello-Cotton) makers of feminine hygiene products, was one of the first to sign up. They contracted Disney to make a ten minute short about the female reproductive system which was to be shown in public schools.<br />
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The film had a great emphasis on biology and had a respected gynecologist as a script advisor, to help overcome any objections from the public or school board members. The film was so well done that it actually was awarded the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. In addition to the film, schools were given booklets to be distributed to the students and teachers which followed up on the messages in the movie, but also (conveniently) contained advertisements for Kimberly Clark products, most notably their Kotex brand.<br />
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Though menstruation is an essential part of the reproductive system, and the first image we see is that of a baby in a bassinet, the film never touches on reproduction, nor does it mention copulation. It is notable, however, as being one of the first Hollywood studio films to use the words “period “and “vagina” when discussing female anatomy. At one point, the film also contains an animated depiction of a half naked teenage girl showering. To the relief of Disney and Kimberly Clark, nobody raised a fuss about the finished product. <br />
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Disney got out of the corporate sponsored educational film business a few years later, once their feature films began bringing in steady income streams again, but shorts like “The Story Of Menstruation” and “Advice on Lice” will continue to be curious footnotes in the company’s illustrious history.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Bon Voyage! (1962)</b></u></span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvJBfO62-AOAuP-l0kSyPBOmEK9ztEwkgrhlLo02cg6dZ-5gdJ9xobme01VoeAzj70zBZa2cNgH6St3CkKi_rKSV6Y0Wd20RMYdN8X_CNbzcHilfcfYLhuU62r2voYHD-MQ4u2N6dO5s/s1600/bon-voyage-movie-poster-1020236234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtvJBfO62-AOAuP-l0kSyPBOmEK9ztEwkgrhlLo02cg6dZ-5gdJ9xobme01VoeAzj70zBZa2cNgH6St3CkKi_rKSV6Y0Wd20RMYdN8X_CNbzcHilfcfYLhuU62r2voYHD-MQ4u2N6dO5s/s320/bon-voyage-movie-poster-1020236234.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Fred MacMurray had already established himself as quite the comic actor in the Disney Studios with “The Absent Minded Professor.” It was a gigantic box office smash and his next Disney film was sure to draw the same family audience. Unfortunately for Disney they saddled him with this inappropriate clunker for his follow up effort. <br />
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When described on paper, “Bon Voyage” looked like a winner: An American suburban family travels overseas for the first time and has lots of wacky adventures. They even had two of their biggest child stars, Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran there to support Mac Murray.<br />
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The problem was not in the plot, but in the themes, which proved to be too adult for Disney.<br />
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"Bon Voyage!" contains scenes of marital strife, hints at call girls propositioning minors, lovers quarreling, gigolos on the prowl, stereotypical “ugly American’ behavior and trips through the Paris sewers.<br />
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To compound the errors, the film runs well over two hours long. Most family film producers (even to this day) are wise enough to realize that 90 minutes seems to be the breaking point for the attention spans and rear ends of smaller audience members. Disney seemed to forget that here. <br />
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By the 1960’s parents were inclined to automatically bring children to any film with the Disney label, for a bit of entertainment the whole family could enjoy together. “Bon Voyage!” missed the mark completely.<br />
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Any other studio would be let off the hook for putting out a supposed family film with such mature themes (twenty five years later Warner Brothers would have a box office hit with a similarly themed “National Lampoon’s European Vacation” ) but Disney is held to a higher standard and, as a result, “Bon Voyage!” remains one of its least known or seen live action efforts.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Miracle of the White Stallions (1963)</b></u></span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJOAA9O66lwDkeii9qyPMUQHhWUgbNA6MBnZ6Panqik__j4nT7_tTYJ6nZo2lsa3gZoMWD7fvb41Qx0P5Ba2MZpxbc74uX_ZJ9buyl_DiiXe1KWOmtDlw3Uiy7A5MtAijvHynZ14k3sc/s1600/whitestallions.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijJOAA9O66lwDkeii9qyPMUQHhWUgbNA6MBnZ6Panqik__j4nT7_tTYJ6nZo2lsa3gZoMWD7fvb41Qx0P5Ba2MZpxbc74uX_ZJ9buyl_DiiXe1KWOmtDlw3Uiy7A5MtAijvHynZ14k3sc/s320/whitestallions.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>As noted, there is no actual template at the Disney Studios for a “Disney” film.<br />
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Even so, we are conditioned to expect certain things from Disney, like a virtuous hero/heroine, adorable wise or witty sidekicks, cute children (or a childlike character), moments of comic relief, cuddly animals and a scary villain. “Miracle of The White Stallions” has none of these.<br />
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Here’s what you get instead: Nazis, starving villagers prone to looting and murder, bombed out ruins, fancy show horses in peril, not a child in sight. Oh, and notoriously humorless American General George S. Patton makes an appearance as well.<br />
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Can this really be a Disney film??<br />
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Yes it is, and it’s actually quite a lovely film at that. Unfortunately you never get the sense that you are watching something produced by the Disney company. The closest tip off comes when Eddie Albert, as a Nazi officer, sings a delightful Sherman Brothers song written especially for the film.<br />
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The plot is based on the true story of a Nazi colonel, played by Robert Taylor, who was in charge of the famed Austrian school of Spanish riding Lippanzer White Stallions. He does his best during the war to convince the Nazi high command to bring the horses to safety when the allies start their march on the Third Reich in 1945. Hitler’s minions are unresponsive to the pleas, so Taylor’s character defies direct orders and risks his life to save the Stallions, enlisting the help of fellow horse lover Patton, who just happens to be marching his army through the area on his way to Berlin. <br />
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The conclusion of the film features performances by the Lippanzer stallions which are stunning. Sadly the horses are more captivating than Taylor, whose wooden acting style drags the film down. “White Stallions” has lots of pageantry and drama, but not much appeal for kids. Families stayed away in droves upon its release, and "White Stallions" was a box office flop. <br />
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Watching it now, it feels like a standout MGM or Columbia war film which could easily play in heavy rotation on Turner Classic Movies. (In fact, director Arthur Hiller, who later helmed such classics as “Love Story”, “Silver Streak” and “The In Laws” made his feature debut with this film.) That’s a great compliment for any film, but not quite up to Disney standards.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>The Devil and Max Devlin (1981) </b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWb-86JFkUU-yQivvzJmOi0BlxYGKow_50-rQy32ELgW6rIuFilBqbwHHBoM4wxRBU1jwZ-zd3GboCiuFmMYE2S5eSpG9h30NRRxW9fFRf7FS31YSpw72jdjFJ8d3orseOxZGHtfghTvQ/s1600/devilandmaxdevlin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWb-86JFkUU-yQivvzJmOi0BlxYGKow_50-rQy32ELgW6rIuFilBqbwHHBoM4wxRBU1jwZ-zd3GboCiuFmMYE2S5eSpG9h30NRRxW9fFRf7FS31YSpw72jdjFJ8d3orseOxZGHtfghTvQ/s400/devilandmaxdevlin.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>By the dawn of the 1980’s Disney, still stuck in a rut since Walt’s death in 1966, was trying desperately to modernize their live action efforts to appeal to crowds jaded by 1970‘s progressive cinema.<br />
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The studio had already broken the PG barrier with 1979’s “The Black Hole”, so they went a step further and darker two years later with “The Devil and Max Devlin.”<br />
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First, they hired Elliot Gould, who had been one of the leading faces of the 1970’s new wave cinema movement, to star in the picture. (By this time Gould's film career was on the wane.) He was ostensibly cast as the hero, but the script left no room for audiences to sympathize with Max.<br />
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"The Devil and Max Devlin" was also the first Disney film to use expletives (mild as they were) like “damn!”, "Hell" and “son of a bitch!” <br />
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The plot is a modern twist on the Faust story. Max Devlin is a terrible misanthropic person who is sent to Hell when hit by a bus. (Yes, Disney did actually show him descending into Hell, fire and brimstone and all.) To cheat death, he makes a deal with one of the devil’s minions, Barney Satin (not too veiled reference there, eh?) If you are going to cast someone as the quintessential evil demon and assistant to the lord of the underworld, you couldn’t find a better actor for the part than loveable clean cut comic Bill Cosby.<br />
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I know, I’m scratching my head at that casting choice too. <br />
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Granted, this was a few years before Cosby took over television with his eponymous NBC show, but it was still disconcerting to see him caked in red makeup and wearing horns while the flames of Hell blaze behind him. Barney constantly threatens Max (who, in the course of the movie, plots to steal the innocent souls of a young boy, a teenager and a naïve twenty something singer, just to save his own) with terrible pain and suffering if he doesn't carry out the orders given to him.<br />
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What a strange addition to the Disney roster of film heroes.<br />
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“The Devil and Max Devlin” was roasted by critics and audiences alike as the most anti-Disney film ever made in the 60 year old company’s history . In some places the film was the subject of boycotts and editorials chastising Disney for dipping broadly into religious themes.<br />
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As a way of responding to the feedback, Disney began exploring options for a second distribution banner that would separate PG and R rated adult films from those of a family nature. In just a few short years, Touchstone Pictures would be born.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b><br />
</b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b> Trenchcoat (1983)</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXXNJ3XixcNc_VLyszqm72AB8awQbIRNbY7VdsMiY1wJJq7hgDXxPwhaHpYFzscsxZsH5Rr6kKWTjYNHvACzDnnrUM7riMERcvn6VP0J2MPaJTUyJOacF3R90Bm-QCfIsk3rgcHyVMdTM/s1600/trenchcoat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXXNJ3XixcNc_VLyszqm72AB8awQbIRNbY7VdsMiY1wJJq7hgDXxPwhaHpYFzscsxZsH5Rr6kKWTjYNHvACzDnnrUM7riMERcvn6VP0J2MPaJTUyJOacF3R90Bm-QCfIsk3rgcHyVMdTM/s320/trenchcoat.jpg" width="208" /></a></div>This is a most obscure Disney film. One that straddles a strange line. <br />
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Produced just before Touchstone Pictures came along, the film was too mature for Disney’s usual family audiences, but too tame for moviegoers accustomed to nudity and violence in adult films. Thus the decision was made to release the film with no corporate name attached to it. It appeared in cinemas all over the world as an “orphan” film. The hope was that one would never suspect that this film came from Mickey’s parent company and that box office its totals would rise without alienating loyal fans.<br />
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Neither option materialized.<br />
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In what looks like Disney’s attempt to get into the Alfred Hitchcock suspense/thriller business, “Trenchcoat’ stars Robert Hays (fresh off his starring role in the smash hit “Airplane”) and Margot Kidder (forever typecast as Lois Lane) in a convoluted film set in Malta about international spies (hence the title, the preferred outerwear of secret agents in movies from the very beginning.) There are mix-ups, terrorists, incompetent police, and nuclear secrets scattered throughout. I’d describe the plot, but it’s so convoluted that I still can’t follow it after repeated viewings.<br />
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If you look hard enough in vintage video stores or on the internet, you might find a copy of this film that was released on VHS in 1983. Other than that, “Trenchcoat” has disappeared completely. It is as if Disney never made this film.<br />
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If "Trenchcoat" had been a Touchstone film, I think perhaps you might have seen a 25th anniversary release with commentary by Hays and Kidder (or something like that) just to add to the Disney coffers, but I have the feeling that even the people inside Disney have no idea that this film lies wilting in their vaults.<br />
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Disney should never have tried to emulate Hitchcock, and “Trenchcoat’ has subsequently slipped through the cracks of time.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)</b></u></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInh055qwMlP1Pr7NBJTJGSNIydoPm7tcP-ih3ZXmlA9mrFpTlNy0l-uH03zpXJlgR6QnLGPv4WuHP2WkqS0KlNFPvh0tii_Z2tPD8BVUR2mgCN0cFNcJriSGxcinrnt5tZy2Z5bTDc7M/s1600/something_wicked_this_way_comes_xlg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInh055qwMlP1Pr7NBJTJGSNIydoPm7tcP-ih3ZXmlA9mrFpTlNy0l-uH03zpXJlgR6QnLGPv4WuHP2WkqS0KlNFPvh0tii_Z2tPD8BVUR2mgCN0cFNcJriSGxcinrnt5tZy2Z5bTDc7M/s320/something_wicked_this_way_comes_xlg.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>Legendary author Ray Bradbury (“The Martain Chronicles”, “Farenheit 451”) is an unabashed Disney fan. He was also a personal friend of Walt himself. When Epcot was being developed as a new type of theme park in the late 1970’s, it was Bradbury who contributed the script for the ride inside Spaceship Earth. It was no surprise then when Disney Studios finally got around to making one of his stories into a film. <br />
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Unfortunately they chose one of his most un-Disney like creations.<br />
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“Something Wicked This Way Comes” is Bradbury’s semi autobiographical novel, written in 1962, about his childhood in Waukegan, Illinois. It’s based on an encounter he had with a traveling carnival. The book has some pretty dark themes, exploring the relationship between good and evil and how greed can lead one to go against better judgment. Not the type of fluffy stuff you’d expect from Disney.<br />
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One of the lead characters is called Mr. Dark, the owner of the aforementioned carnival. He blows into town in early Autumn and immediately begins seducing innocent townspeople with promises of fulfilling their deepest desires. Mr. Dark (played by Jonathan Pryce in one of his earliest screen roles) is basically a malevolent creature, a stand in for the Devil himself.<br />
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The protagonists are two pre-teen boys who sneak into the carnival one night and discover Mr. Dark’s secrets. <br />
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Dark first attempts to seduce the boys into joining his circus. When that fails, he tries to have them killed, sending his evil minions to do the job in terrifying fashion. Eventually good prevails, with an assist from the father of one of the boys (Jason Robards) who saw through Mr. Dark from the very beginning.<br />
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This film (and, to a lesser extent, the 1980 film “Watcher In the Woods”) remains one of the most frightening ever produced by Disney. It was their attempt to branch into more suspenseful horror features that would hopefully bring teen audiences back to Disney. It didn't really pan out for them. One thing is guaranteed, however. “Something Wicked This Way Comes” will almost always evoke nightmares in any child who happens to stumble across it and watch it just because it says Disney. <br />
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Bradbury (and the critics) were generally pleased with the film, but audiences were not and it died at the box office. It has gained more fans since the DVD release and Pryce’s most recent film appearances (including “Pirates of the Caribbean“) , but it still remains an anomaly among traditional “family’ films.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>The Black Cauldron (1985)</b></u></span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkROuqwafAcRiWQaOVvmZ5vAvBmTwF7q4PC470AIPGvjVkDijgnLgmYuJyXNS81U_Hqydf0QgyFbYHB3uZexWvafJgqE2C3IyyWmW2BGnPZZxjs-bpqO2tAXM_vmEdLf50agdc3qb3BHk/s1600/black_cauldron_ver2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkROuqwafAcRiWQaOVvmZ5vAvBmTwF7q4PC470AIPGvjVkDijgnLgmYuJyXNS81U_Hqydf0QgyFbYHB3uZexWvafJgqE2C3IyyWmW2BGnPZZxjs-bpqO2tAXM_vmEdLf50agdc3qb3BHk/s320/black_cauldron_ver2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Billed as the 25th animated classic in the long line of Disney films, “The Black Cauldron” is one of their most reviled pictures, and was one of their biggest flops. It also has the honor (or dishonor) of being the first Disney animated film to be rated PG. Some people still refer to it as the film that almost sank Disney animation forever.<br />
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As most of the original Disney animation staff began to retire and the classic methods were being phased out for modern computer assisted ones, a bunch of young turks entered the fold, fresh out of art school.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>This was the first generation of animators weaned on the classic Disney style. They were eager to make their mark and explore new stories and methods. 1979's “The Rescuers” served as a test run and a way for the young ones to sharpen their skills. They began to push for edgier material to keep up with other animators, like Ralph Bakshi, who were exploring more adult themes. <br />
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By the 1980's, “Dungeons and Dragons” and other role playing games had moved into the mainstream and the American public was re-discovering interest in medeival themes. The new animators wanted to work on something along the lines of JRR Tolkien’s classic Lord Of The Rings series (those rights were owned by Bakshi) and so they set out to find a similar story that had characters going on a quest.<br />
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They finally concluded that a version of Lloyd Alexander’s "Chronicles of Prydian" books would be their best option and so they made it the big Disney release for the summer of 1985. <br />
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Not a good choice.<br />
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"The Black Cauldron" concerns a pig keeper (what a job description, inspires great awe indeed) named Taran who fancies himself a great warrior. He has a pig named Hen Wen who is stolen by the evil horned king who wants to use the pig to help create a black cauldron, which will raise an army of the dead. Meanwhile, there is a princess named Eilowny, who … oh who cares, this plot gets tedious and convoluted about half hour in.<br />
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When your movie has a sidekick with an unpronounceable name like Fflewddur Fflam you know you’re in trouble.<br />
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"The Black Cauldron" cost a lot of money to make, but brought in next to nothing at the box office. It was so unmemorable that when Disney took it out of circulation for 15 years, almost nobody complained. <br />
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It’s now available on DVD, but still baffles youngsters who watch it. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Ruthless People (1986)</b></u></span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGjfaJ7VyNCdDkHb6IKWrLVFr7RK-8rd6XXK_RC4AbnZNnQ0PokP-B-Fm5wZBzKS0yXzPthuQzPCCKwXAQxkLmhuAxIClM2PgOmPe952oHvZskj0OKrzB_CesDnRbmxrvHrenPwsDnFSI/s1600/ruthless2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGjfaJ7VyNCdDkHb6IKWrLVFr7RK-8rd6XXK_RC4AbnZNnQ0PokP-B-Fm5wZBzKS0yXzPthuQzPCCKwXAQxkLmhuAxIClM2PgOmPe952oHvZskj0OKrzB_CesDnRbmxrvHrenPwsDnFSI/s400/ruthless2.jpg" width="217" /></a></div>“Down and Out In Beverly Hills” had already taken the title of the first R rated feature to be released by Disney (under the newly created Touchstone Pictures distribution arm.) When “Ruthless People” was released a few months later, it dragged Disney down to depths Walt could never have foreseen. <br />
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While “Down and Out’ is a light hearted fable with a happy ending, “Ruthless People” is just a mean spirited film all the way through.<br />
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Based on the O Henry classic tale, “The Ransom of Red Chief”, this film tells the story of Sam Stone (Danny DeVito) a self made millionaire who hates his wife (Bette Midler) and is secretly delighted when she is kidnapped, hoping she will be killed. Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater play the sympathetic kidnappers.<br />
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In the course of this nasty film, we are exposed to images of infidelity, nudity, hostility, premeditated murder and allusions or references to bestiality, animal cruelty, and spousal abuse. The “F” word is heard several times.<br />
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Audiences might have forgiven this as a non-Disney Touchstone effort, believing that the studio tried to distance itself with no visible connection between the parent company and its new edgy offshoot. Unfortunately, Disney left all sorts of references and in-jokes that would be squelched immediately using copyright laws if any other studio tried to use them in a picture. The kidnappers wear Donald Duck masks, Sam whistles “Zip a Dee Doo Dah.” when he thinks his wife has been murdered, and at one point Bette Midler’s character says to the kidnappers “who are you supposed to be, Huey and Duey?” (Poor Louie, he gets left out this time.) Even the poster had a very cartoony feel to it.<br />
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This film even contains perhaps the most offensive line in Disney history. This is a family friendly blog, so I can’t transcribe the quote exactly. Let’s just say that Danny DeVito’s character answers a call from a stranger who accidentally dials DeVito's number, thinking it's that of his girlfriend. DeVito - who is alone at that moment - responds by lying to the man and supplying graphic verbal descriptions of what the man’s girlfriend is supposedly doing to him under the table. This is meant to be funny, but it comes across as uncomfortable.<br />
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There is one great line (“I’ve been kidnapped by Kmart!”) delivered by Midler when she sees the squalor that the two kidnappers live in. Nevertheless this train wreck of a film concludes with no happy ending, it goes out just as nasty as it began, with Bette Midler kicking Danny DeVito’s character off a pier and into the ocean.<br />
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Rumor has it that Midler and DeVito phoned each other after the film’s premiere to commiserate about how they just killed their careers by soiling Walt Disney’s name. (Midler and DeVito would both eventually go on to make several other Disney films - animated and live action - perhaps as penance for this awful project.) <br />
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The public's negative reaction to this film was not one of prudishness (there are other films of the era that are far more vulgar) but "Ruthless People" came along too early in Touchstone‘s history. Audiences in 1986 had not yet learned to distinguish the two studio names and still saw Touchstone films as “Disney” films. Perhaps it's being overly unfair to “Ruthless People” to hold it up to that standard, but it still left a bit of a dark stain on Disney’s previously unblemished record.Chris Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18416994097295040150noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7770317986918254563.post-1396752744588269462011-02-08T01:59:00.000-05:002011-02-08T10:03:08.898-05:00Ten Stars Whose Careers Blossomed At Disney<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLjLlZwsHkpJqQF-SltO-HRpjHHmI0usBXbir1AXmCIii75jwNSnTM_z3CxjIvHHUrUusCZWqZZHw7Bti1A4LvVNIxuG96tQY5F_1Un7PJ7_pggzW0c2YU3J6kF_RU0d_yL2GLgP8AFqI/s1600/shia_labeouf_1294169157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6y1btdKPdpYp6MrbOZ9u95XkuA0ZjPYvWwfxg91ZzPixkusk1Oko8sbzyX0RaPknoWwAz8EQ9MUCUl0iHZT-T4zzqPC4VHjvRmydTFAEUAL9fqNCVd9AxIlqGUL8hawd6xuhew_a2siA/s1600/anne-hathaway2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_W4EEw0PQEZiQpA_DvTgHMojRJm6DYXO6Obh98ER3LAd3P2sbpOda1629gUIKXTeDL1I2cTPNP_GcPXIHw6kb-LRxqf22jCbudU_F0upjLNRSa5owtayvcZqd4KOB4R5GCEVH6USW6I/s1600/Disney_Legends_02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia_W4EEw0PQEZiQpA_DvTgHMojRJm6DYXO6Obh98ER3LAd3P2sbpOda1629gUIKXTeDL1I2cTPNP_GcPXIHw6kb-LRxqf22jCbudU_F0upjLNRSa5owtayvcZqd4KOB4R5GCEVH6USW6I/s320/Disney_Legends_02.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><b>When most people think of Disney films, the classic cartoon characters are what come to mind first. </b><br />
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<b>That might have remained the case had Walt not branched out to live action films in the 1950’s. </b><br />
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<b>He was, of course, just hoping to increase the revenue stream for the studio during a tough time. He inadvertently wound up creating his own star making machine. </b><br />
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<b>Over the years many actors have used Disney as the launch pad for successful Hollywood careers. Here are ten of the most notable (a few Academy Award winners and nominees among them):</b><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Julie Andrews </span></b></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVrT6ApcDe3gmR6Qs1-9VHrNqiDXHmFaUuE8NQ1osgGK1J-O0MyBrtU2W6iDHMZCO6jTIvHX7GW8cScF04yOIFXSI3M_yIRCHg11H3-6_Pwr2bE6Y9IdJsNfvSZeFVZIuSGBoAZolW-E/s1600/mary_poppins_window_julie_andrews.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJVrT6ApcDe3gmR6Qs1-9VHrNqiDXHmFaUuE8NQ1osgGK1J-O0MyBrtU2W6iDHMZCO6jTIvHX7GW8cScF04yOIFXSI3M_yIRCHg11H3-6_Pwr2bE6Y9IdJsNfvSZeFVZIuSGBoAZolW-E/s320/mary_poppins_window_julie_andrews.jpg" width="307" /></a></div>The daughter of performers in her native England, Julie Andrews started her stage career at an early age. While still in her twenties, she moved to New York City and starred on Broadway. It was there that Walt Disney saw her in a performance of “Camelot” and realized that he had found the perfect actress to play the lead role in his upcoming musical version of the classic Mary Poppins stories. <br />
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Not everyone thought Ms. Andrews would do well on film. Jack Warner chose not to utilze her as Eliza Doolittle in his film version of “My Fair Lady”, a role which Andrews had originated on stage. Warner thought Audrey Hepburn had more potential, so he passed on Andrews and cast Hepburn instead. Disney knew better and was secretly delighted that his dream actress was available. <br />
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After initially turning down the role because she was pregnant (Walt actually held production up for her until after the birth of her daughter Emma) Andrews began filming her breakthrough role in 1963. The film was a smash hit, and - in a bit of redemption - she won the Academy Award that season over Audrey Hepburn. (She thanked Jack Warner in her speech.) <br />
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Ms. Andrews went on to a stellar Hollywood career after Mary Poppins. She starred in one of the biggest box office successes of all time, “The Sound Of Music” (which many people still mistakenly believe is a Disney film) and was nominated for her third Academy Award with 1983’s “Victor/Victoria.”<br />
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In recent years, she has returned to the Disney fold, with roles in both “Princess Diaries” movies, the adaptations of the “Eloise’ books, and as the narrator of “Enchanted.” Despite the almost 40 year gap in appearances, she remains one of the biggest names in the Disney galaxy of live action film stars.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">James MacArthur</span></b></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0I8Gl6YtnmvejP5XbiaiWM2OmtpOAbQFt7A9SE9x0zeCH0O6XnTA1KZkFrEykKyUYFO9FGPqEQRlkAwOTzUl0mollD9H_tT8Bjv9EIof101nBMpIqa2qmfEH8MwXmzGQwmX5_8hwpfBo/s1600/Light_in_the_Forest-306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0I8Gl6YtnmvejP5XbiaiWM2OmtpOAbQFt7A9SE9x0zeCH0O6XnTA1KZkFrEykKyUYFO9FGPqEQRlkAwOTzUl0mollD9H_tT8Bjv9EIof101nBMpIqa2qmfEH8MwXmzGQwmX5_8hwpfBo/s320/Light_in_the_Forest-306.jpg" width="219" /></a></div><br />
Perhaps best known for his role as Dann-O on the 1970’s hit TV show “Hawaii 5-0”, James MacArthur started off as one of Disney’s first on screen heart throbs. <br />
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The son of acting legend Helen Hayes (herself a star of several Disney films) MacArthur had some experience on stage and in television, with one film role that earned him a “Best Newcomer” BAFTA Award. He left show business to attend Harvard University, but used his summer vacation to appear in his first major starring role for Disney, as True Son in 1958’s “The Light In the Forest.” He did the same thing the following year to star in the Swiss set climbing adventure “Third Man On The Mountain” (the film that inspired Walt Disney to build the Matterhorn ride at Disneyland.)<br />
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MacArthur was so popular in those films that he left college altogether to do two more Disney movies. “Kidnapped” was a modest success, but “Swiss Family Robinson” was an enormous hit in 1960 and made MacArthur a main stream star. <br />
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MacArthur, who passed away recently, did some television roles after his time at Disney and as Dann-O, but pretty much semi-retired from the business. He did, however, continue to appear at conventions where he drew large numbers of fans who fondly recalled his days as a Disney star and wanted to share those happy memories with him.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Dean Jones</span></b></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzXx2rqc7SOOqAsix0uXRUaX2tp6N5EECClsOvssKWNtCqEKOKBjnBEIzo5nOh-Gd0OtJ14Ksx73jbqY_k-mK5y5uO8UJiQGDyWuacIeK373KQ3LYoZr7atOOzYSfI6LuOl_99RJ3Scs/s1600/deanjones.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzXx2rqc7SOOqAsix0uXRUaX2tp6N5EECClsOvssKWNtCqEKOKBjnBEIzo5nOh-Gd0OtJ14Ksx73jbqY_k-mK5y5uO8UJiQGDyWuacIeK373KQ3LYoZr7atOOzYSfI6LuOl_99RJ3Scs/s320/deanjones.bmp" width="320" /></a></div>From 1965 to 1977, there was no more dependable actor for Disney than Dean Jones. Though he had credits in other films and TV shows, Jones’ career took off once he came to work for Disney. <br />
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Walt himself used to stop by and chat with Jones on the sets of such films as “That Darn Cat” “The Ugly Daschund” and “Blackbeard’s Ghost” (the final live action film produced under the direct supervision of Mr. Disney.) Jones was one of the last few people to see Walt alive as Disney made his rounds at the studio before checking himself in to the hospital in 1966, going out of his way to find Jones and say goodbye. (Jones later said he thought nothing of it, and believed it was just goodbye for the day. If he had known he would never see Walt again, Jones recalled, then he would have taken that opportunity to tell Mr. Disney how grateful he was for the confidence shown in him.) <br />
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The biggest success in Jones’ career came in 1969 with his role as Jim Douglas in “The Love Bug.” He subsequently starred in six more Disney films and was named a Disney Legend in 1995.<br />
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For fans of a certain generation, Dean Jones is THE face of the Disney live action male star<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Kurt Russell </span></b></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvbY4IzrzGoB6LO9WheuCLEvNbGbfkZ_R0BDjLv_UvCmtPk3vOQFlpclK0hsVk_5ZlsM5gzpfnO_UdCsbvHSLMAyfqmDSiekP8s1EMuwkWiSgFZ3_Iep8JanGY_necCzcOguFdcdc7P5M/s1600/kurtrussell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvbY4IzrzGoB6LO9WheuCLEvNbGbfkZ_R0BDjLv_UvCmtPk3vOQFlpclK0hsVk_5ZlsM5gzpfnO_UdCsbvHSLMAyfqmDSiekP8s1EMuwkWiSgFZ3_Iep8JanGY_necCzcOguFdcdc7P5M/s320/kurtrussell.jpg" width="268" /></a></div>Disney has had the virtual lock on discovering and minting child stars, but many of them faded fast after their teenage years passed. Not so with Kurt Russell, who went from being just another Disney discovery to a bona fide A-List Hollywood star.<br />
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In 1966 Walt himself signed 15 year old Kurt to a ten year contract. He made his Disney debut in “Follow Me Boys!” and soon became the studio’s biggest star, surpassing even Dean Jones.<br />
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Russell helped Disney appeal to the high school and college age generation thanks to his portrayal of the brainy student Dexter Reilly in three popular films, as well as the young boyfriend matched against an overprotective father (Bob Crane) in 1973's “SuperDad.”<br />
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Shortly after the conclusion of his Disney contract, Russell took the role of Elvis Presley in a 1979 made for TV biographical movie that was a ratings bonanza for ABC. His next step into superstar status came in the form of classic 1980’s sci-fi/action hero feature films like “Escape From New York” and “The Thing.” He’s since starred in critically praised films like “Silkwood” “The Mean Season” “Backdraft” and “Tombstone.” <br />
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Russell has only good things to say about his time at Disney, and has occasionally returned to the studio, appearing in “The Fox & The Hound” “Sky High” and “Miracle.”<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Sean Connery</span></b></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiYVzeaxwtg2BH6N3HVdZz-_DoRi0xhdXCx_SaMVMDLkyvZ4OQHkhdUt7vvIS8vTt6IZlIGl2ru-Rbgs1zMcWw9WiO_Kc0C6VoqxWkQj0km6ovjIYyj9cbwEFlHF3RMPcn3mO7ah4n4bc/s1600/darby13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiYVzeaxwtg2BH6N3HVdZz-_DoRi0xhdXCx_SaMVMDLkyvZ4OQHkhdUt7vvIS8vTt6IZlIGl2ru-Rbgs1zMcWw9WiO_Kc0C6VoqxWkQj0km6ovjIYyj9cbwEFlHF3RMPcn3mO7ah4n4bc/s320/darby13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>The blue eyes, the gravelly yet smooth voice, the Scottish burr, almost no actor is more instantly recognizable throughout the world than Sir Sean Connery.<br />
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Most people assume that Connery began his Academy Award winning career in his most iconic role, James Bond. While 1962‘s “Dr. No” did make Connery a superstar, it was not his first leading role. That honor goes to a Disney film.<br />
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“Darby O Gill and the Little People”, which was released in 1959, saw Connery playing an Irishman named Michael McBride. It was mainly a special effects film about leprechauns, but Connery got to play the romantic suitor of Janet Munroe. In fact, they even had a duet to sing in the film. Unfortunately, Connery himself is not heard singing “A Pretty Irish Girl.” The song was recorded by Brendan O’Dowda and Connery simply lip synchs. <br />
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Connery was so charismatic in “Darby O’Gill” that Albert Broccoli, who had bought the film rights to Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, saw him onscreen and cast him instantly as 007. <br />
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Connery appeared as Bond in seven films and then spent 40 years crafting a legacy that would lead him to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth. He never fails to thank Disney for giving him his big break.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Jodie Foster</b></u></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4W3iMWESp4wsCsFLT4uBEUg0FPsgjvZ7lGd1pdE4_4WhlTckm765AmhBH7yVjXSj5lFA5lLU9YCbEVML0Z4qexu1_bwBU9SDikn5WMsjbTEpXsYVZcBPtqYbz0Kctcg_PneSioCxSweA/s1600/jodiefoster.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4W3iMWESp4wsCsFLT4uBEUg0FPsgjvZ7lGd1pdE4_4WhlTckm765AmhBH7yVjXSj5lFA5lLU9YCbEVML0Z4qexu1_bwBU9SDikn5WMsjbTEpXsYVZcBPtqYbz0Kctcg_PneSioCxSweA/s320/jodiefoster.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">One of the biggest child stars of the 1970’s, Jodie Foster was someone who showed maturity and depth in her performances even at an early age. <br />
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Foster was nominated for her first Academy Award at age 14 for her role in the gritty picture “Taxi Driver.” That same year, she appeared in her most famous Disney film, 1976‘s “Freaky Friday.” </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Foster had actually been under contract with Disney for a while, beginning with 1972's “Napoleon & Samantha” (a film featuring another actor at the dawn of a film career, Michael Douglas.) </div><div style="text-align: left;">In all, Foster made four films for Disney as a child.<br />
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According to legend, Foster’s Disney contract cost her a shot at a role in one of the biggest films of all time. Supposedly, George Lucas wanted to cast her as Princess Leia in “Star Wars” but couldn’t get permission from the brass at Disney (she was locked in to making “Candleshoe“) so Foster had to pass. <br />
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It didn’t hurt Foster’s career though, as she left Disney in 1977 and went on to one of the most successful careers in Hollywood history, winning two Academy Awards for best actress and acclaim as a director and producer in her own right.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"> <u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Tim Allen </span></b></u></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVWlwSY0f4eKyYIPGeriqH-PpKQNcjZUqcyw9PSUkpfHeGVysgzOvRRGsZW-R8AnPasOsBipxFc0uZkFIJhk6IJverOMstyAe_X8eCJ5T_RL7NB6yQnTuORykIJg_nkMXJz7f_u4qSNUY/s1600/timallen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVWlwSY0f4eKyYIPGeriqH-PpKQNcjZUqcyw9PSUkpfHeGVysgzOvRRGsZW-R8AnPasOsBipxFc0uZkFIJhk6IJverOMstyAe_X8eCJ5T_RL7NB6yQnTuORykIJg_nkMXJz7f_u4qSNUY/s320/timallen.jpg" width="305" /></a></div>Quick, can you name the only entertainer in American history to have the top rated television series, highest grossing movie and number one bestselling book all in the same week?<br />
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If you guessed Tim Allen (the picture to the left was probably a big hint.) you are correct.<br />
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Allen accomplished this remarkable triple feat in November 1994 with three Disney properties: Touchstone/ABC‘s “Home Improvement”, Disney Pictures “The Santa Clause” and the Disney/Hyperion book “Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man.”<br />
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Allen overcame a troubled past to become a successful stand up comedian. In the early 1990’s, his “tool man” persona on stage attracted the attention of Disney executives, and they signed him to a development deal, building a sitcom around the loveable macho character Allen created.<br />
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“Home Improvement” was a smash hit when it debuted in 1991, and Tim Allen became a superstar. One year after his three #1’s accomplishment, Allen starred as the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the first “Toy Story.” In addition to continuing his roles as Buzz and Santa Claus for the studio in subsequent films, Allen also starred in “Jungle 2 Jungle” and a remake of “The Shaggy Dog.” <br />
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Allen was named a Disney Legend in 1999, less than a decade after he started with the company. That, more than anything, is a testament to how much Tim Allen came to embody the face and spirit of Disney at the end of the Twentieth Century. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Anne Hathaway</span></b></u></div><div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span></b></u></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigD4-pC3d16Cnwc6mxCTZnS6ROVri2QdLuOSRkLOo0DjLg9R_hSsQmG9dEhqX4PeoY64gyn1lXupZ49T5WzRceqoDLAPi4AQBIvVfZtJb5VJ6CmL_Tfl8XKJm3g7tz5ii7EuddMSg56Ag/s1600/princess-diaries-secrets-knew.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigD4-pC3d16Cnwc6mxCTZnS6ROVri2QdLuOSRkLOo0DjLg9R_hSsQmG9dEhqX4PeoY64gyn1lXupZ49T5WzRceqoDLAPi4AQBIvVfZtJb5VJ6CmL_Tfl8XKJm3g7tz5ii7EuddMSg56Ag/s320/princess-diaries-secrets-knew.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>Just like Jodie Foster before her, Anne Hathaway has made a successful transition from family films to more adult fare and has earned praise as one of the leading actresses of her generation. <br />
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A relatively unknown stage performer from Millburn, New Jersey, Hathaway was cast (after just one audition) in the role of Mia Thermopolis in “The Princess Diaries.” Directed by Garry Marshall, and co-starring none other than Julie Andrews (talk about passing a torch!) the film became a huge hit for Disney in 2001. Hathaway reprised the role in the sequel in 2004.<br />
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Following up her starring role as Princess Mia, Hathaway took supporting parts in dramatic films like “Brokeback Mountain’ and “The Devil Wears Prada.” The acclaim from those films led her to 1998‘s “Rachel Getting Married”, which earned Hathaway her first Academy Award nomination.<br />
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In 2010, she appeared as the White Queen in Disney’s 3-D re-boot of Alice In Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton, another worldwide monster hit. She was also asked to co-host the Academy Awards in 2011, an honor rarely given to someone so young.<br />
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No matter how long her career is and no matter how many awards she earns, Anne Hathaway will forever be linked with Disney as one of its favorite princesses. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Ellen DeGeneres</b></u></span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidqUMTGu4uVPqvEhU7m0297YVBPWSXm7APqQxF9k_voUmA9JrffQSY6NJqyDOZjvxPS1lwqGehTUiJt4xuU93mk6Z3r5hPDNxxgBY8Gc7VB4O3NPEe_nJODTzL7Tobauj7gkre0Hdc2nw/s1600/EllenDeGeneres.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidqUMTGu4uVPqvEhU7m0297YVBPWSXm7APqQxF9k_voUmA9JrffQSY6NJqyDOZjvxPS1lwqGehTUiJt4xuU93mk6Z3r5hPDNxxgBY8Gc7VB4O3NPEe_nJODTzL7Tobauj7gkre0Hdc2nw/s320/EllenDeGeneres.bmp" width="262" /></a></div>There was a trend in the 1990’s for studios to give development deals to stand up comedians in the hopes that a well honed and crafted stage act would prove just as pleasing to audiences when translated to the small or big screen. It didn’t always work. For every Tim Allen, Drew Carey, George Lopez and Jerry Seinfeld, there were dozens of flops. <br />
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Ellen DeGeneres had been performing stand up comedy for over ten years before she was approached by Touchstone/Disney to develop a sitcom. The show (first titled “These Friends of Mine” then changed simply to “Ellen”) debuted in 1994. While never a huge hit like “Home Improvement”, the show did well enough to be renewed by ABC, eventually lasting five seasons. <br />
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In 1997, the show drew worldwide notice with Ellen’s decision to publicly declare her character (and herself) a lesbian. <br />
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Ellen’s biggest film success came at Disney with her role as the voice of Dory in “Finding Nemo.” She also is one of the few real people to star as themselves (not playing a character) in a Disney attraction. “Ellen’s Energy Adventure” in EPCOT is a 30 minute ride co-starring Bill Nye which actually features an audio-animatronic version of Ellen (another rarity) guiding guests through a primordial jungle. <br />
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DeGeneres is currently the host of one of the most popular daytime talk shows. While not syndicated or produced by Disney, she often uses the show as a forum to promote Disney films and products.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><u><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Shia LaBeouf </span></b></u></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLjLlZwsHkpJqQF-SltO-HRpjHHmI0usBXbir1AXmCIii75jwNSnTM_z3CxjIvHHUrUusCZWqZZHw7Bti1A4LvVNIxuG96tQY5F_1Un7PJ7_pggzW0c2YU3J6kF_RU0d_yL2GLgP8AFqI/s1600/shia_labeouf_1294169157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLjLlZwsHkpJqQF-SltO-HRpjHHmI0usBXbir1AXmCIii75jwNSnTM_z3CxjIvHHUrUusCZWqZZHw7Bti1A4LvVNIxuG96tQY5F_1Un7PJ7_pggzW0c2YU3J6kF_RU0d_yL2GLgP8AFqI/s320/shia_labeouf_1294169157.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>Not too many performers can say they began as stand up comedians at the age of 10. Shia LaBeouf did just that.<br />
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His family was struggling, so LaBeouf went onstage to help make ends meet. That proved fortuitous for him as his act got the attention of Disney executives, who cast him as Louis Stevens in the hit Disney Channel show “Even Stevens.” The show ran from 2000 to 2003 and was spun off into a TV movie of its own. LaBeouf even won an Emmy for his work on the show.<br />
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The quirky LaBeouf was so popular with audiences that Disney chose him to star in their adaptation of Louis Sachar’s best selling book “Holes.” The 2003 film did well at the box office and was praised by critics. LaBeouf’s co-star in “Holes” was veteran actor Jon Voight (one of the stars of Disney‘s “National Treasure”) who became a sort of a mentor to him, helping to guide his career decisions.<br />
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LaBeouf's follow up Disney film was a biographical sports movie, 2005’s “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” That too was a critical and commercial success.<br />
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Since LaBeouf left Disney, he has gone on to star in some of the biggest blockbusters of the 21st Century, including three “Transformers” movies and the fourth installment of the Indiana Jones series. (Steven Spielberg said that he knew LaBeouf was the right person for the role of Indy’s son after seeing him in all of those Disney projects.) To a generation of fans though, he will always be known as Louis.Chris Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18416994097295040150noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7770317986918254563.post-5453143560670875992011-02-05T21:48:00.000-05:002011-02-10T22:49:16.809-05:00Ten Disney Football Connections<div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE0SaNmTvleRkx92KQqIS2srHrShUJVb_Jld92Wrx4FTCs05nxP5nSREjtMJIZexs4TVnSe6mpsqFtEWl54ZQ5_oNAomzuZrl4nVEkH1Lt7VcMv_AAaENNwRCxMnkxCjSKY1YI0MSLniI/s1600/ImGoingToDisneyWorld.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE0SaNmTvleRkx92KQqIS2srHrShUJVb_Jld92Wrx4FTCs05nxP5nSREjtMJIZexs4TVnSe6mpsqFtEWl54ZQ5_oNAomzuZrl4nVEkH1Lt7VcMv_AAaENNwRCxMnkxCjSKY1YI0MSLniI/s320/ImGoingToDisneyWorld.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<b><span style="font-size: small;">With the big game just a few hours away, I thought I'd make a list of some of the most interesting Disney links to the game of football (Sorry to any readers from other countries, I don't mean the internationally popular game of futbol. I mean good old American Football, the game you don't actually play with your feet - except for the kicker and punter, of course, but that's another story)</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Here are Ten Disney Football Connections (in no particular order):</span></b><br />
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<div style="border: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCkiQ4NvPfLfw0pQEb40qc7FA2lfKElDn8_tDOioEMCNbvcE1YxeB1ORo74e-8d0ZZt8UKQ1TBh2LBcBVnnyIdqjD6wO1J0VVTNHSBLs0GT_xomG7drPYFkl8QGO6tC5crTO1GU1ypD4/s1600/phil-simms_xxi_display_image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiCkiQ4NvPfLfw0pQEb40qc7FA2lfKElDn8_tDOioEMCNbvcE1YxeB1ORo74e-8d0ZZt8UKQ1TBh2LBcBVnnyIdqjD6wO1J0VVTNHSBLs0GT_xomG7drPYFkl8QGO6tC5crTO1GU1ypD4/s200/phil-simms_xxi_display_image.jpg" width="131" /></a></div><b><u>I'm Going To Disney World !! </u></b></div><div style="border: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border: medium none;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P-gDZmFnTQ">Link to first "I'm Going To DisneyWorld!" ad (:30)</a></div><div style="border: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">Officially called "What's Next?" This iconic advertising campaign was launched after Super Bowl XXI in 1987. </span><br />
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</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">New York Giants quarterback Phil Simms, the game's MVP, was asked as he was running off the field following the victory, "Hey Phil Simms, you just won the Super Bowl, what are you going to do next?" His answer, "I'm gonna go to DisneyWorld!" was said with a big grin on his face, and it seemed like a true impromptu answer. In reality, it was scripted for him, and he was paid $75,000 for his one line response. </span><br />
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</span></div><span style="font-size: small;">The ad, which featured a montage of Phil Simms' heroics in the game against the Denver Broncos underscored by "When You Wish Upon a Star" and finishing with fireworks at Cinderella Castle, began airing just a few days after the Super Bowl and was a smash hit. Almost instantly the line "I'm going to Disney World!" became a national catchphrase and an indelible part of the pop culture landscape. It was soon parodied on TV shows and movies and imitated in other advertisements. </span><br />
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</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">Disney CEO Michael Eisner gives credit to his wife Jane for the idea, which she says she came up with after overhearing a friend who had just completed a hard task reply "I'm going to Disneyland" when asked what they were doing next.</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">In addition to Super Bowl winners, Disney produced "What's Next?" commercials with champions from other sports, as well as with Santa Claus, college graduates at commencement and American Idol winners.</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">Disney ran the spots for 17 consecutive Super Bowls until 2005, when they decided to focus their marketing campaign in other directions. The public outcry convinced Disney to return to the spots. They did a pre-game commercial in 2006 with members of both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks (who played that year in Super Bowl XL) practicing how they would say the line if they won. (The real honor eventually went to the Steelers Hines Ward and Jerome Bettis.)</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">The ads stick mostly to football now, and often feature more than one athlete (they also have them say two lines, "I'm going to Disney World" and "I'm going to Disney Land" for commercials specific to both coasts) but they almost never fail to bring the same lump in the throat they did when first aired almost 25 years ago.</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"></div><div style="border: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXXA1j_j8mMiQBGhtxuYs8EVpsGKb2O3CSKYzCRfqPpMCuxrI9xYmQ58F1zuGvTaKMmsohrlLXzVBcNg_ubG8SrId_S263Xqa4wAX1ZE3HZgJinQQt5aHbj-UU-a2PsCPYoGNnrA4tl7A/s1600/footballnowandthen_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXXA1j_j8mMiQBGhtxuYs8EVpsGKb2O3CSKYzCRfqPpMCuxrI9xYmQ58F1zuGvTaKMmsohrlLXzVBcNg_ubG8SrId_S263Xqa4wAX1ZE3HZgJinQQt5aHbj-UU-a2PsCPYoGNnrA4tl7A/s200/footballnowandthen_poster.jpg" width="130" /></a></div><b><u>Football Now & Then (1953)</u></b><br />
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<b><u><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw6-6StGd04">A link to "Football Now & Then" (7:53)</a></u></b></div><div style="border: medium none;"></div><br />
<div><span style="font-size: small;">Made towards the end of the great era of cartoon shorts, just as theaters began phasing them out and TV took prominence, 1953's "Football Now & Then" capitalized on and poked fun at the changing attitudes in American sports and culture.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">In the first half of the 20th Century, professional baseball, boxing and horse racing were the dominant forces on the American sporting scene. Football, at least the professional version, was relegated (no pun intended) to the sidelines. Most of the great football players gained their fame in college, and all of the great football stories at the time were legends of gridiron battles between universities (Notre Dame vs. Army, Michigan vs. Michigan State, etc.) The NFL, mostly played in the Midwest and Northeast, had a core group of followers, but didn't have much respect. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">The 1950's were the beginning of the sea change in sports. Teams like the NY Giants, Chicago Bears and Baltimore Colts began playing a faster brand of football, with epic clashes and "smash mouth" match ups. America started to take notice. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">We look back at football in the 1950's as almost genteel, with much smaller players than the behemoths that take the field today (and with less equipment.) In those days, the changes they made to update the game were viewed with distaste by the crowd that fell in love with the collegiate brand of football of the 1920's. This "new game" was being embraced by the generation that was coming of age in the 1950's, and started to creep into even the college game. Many arguments ensued about the good old days versus today in sports loving households.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Thus the premise of this cartoon. A grandfather and grandson go back and forth over the differing styles of football as they watch a game on TV between Bygone University and Present State (not much subtlety there.) The game itself is a clever encapsulation of the changes and of the history of the game. Old Timers are shown using the "flying wedge" and - in some rather prescient scenes - the modern team is seen utilizing aids such as communication devices, psychological motivation, coaches stationed high above the stadium and even nutritional supplements. The game concludes in a deadlock, so neither argument gets the upper hand.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">With "Football Now & Then" Disney seemed to understand the power of televised football, just a few short years before the NFL began its rise to the title of most popular sport in the U.S.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">The punch line to the short was also a sly way of bemoaning the plight of theatrical shorts at the hands of television and acknowledging the blossoming post-war consumer culture. Grandpa becomes so enraptured and hypnotized by the "newfangled TV gadget" that when the game ends, he immediately drops the football argument and goes out to buy the products mentioned in the commercials</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV-0ph8tlssDt6oSIdBEFcicqpjA75oEB8DLHItsnH5q06LQNRHhMKCPk7OnJVLPCML97GqUlMkmsVurm2XqaXE89xdbUEbjTVhwnAs6cOBpdEVWjaKFd9XDjT5QJTcW38pjNvEaRKFDw/s1600/Ron_Miller.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV-0ph8tlssDt6oSIdBEFcicqpjA75oEB8DLHItsnH5q06LQNRHhMKCPk7OnJVLPCML97GqUlMkmsVurm2XqaXE89xdbUEbjTVhwnAs6cOBpdEVWjaKFd9XDjT5QJTcW38pjNvEaRKFDw/s200/Ron_Miller.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><b><u>Ron Miller</u></b><br />
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<div><span style="font-size: small;">When Walt's oldest daughter Diane was attending school at USC in the 1950's, she met and fell in love with a promising tight end from the football team. His name was Ron Miller. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">It must have been intimidating dating Walt Disney's daughter, but when Diane brought Miller home to meet her Dad, the two men formed an instant rapport. Walt, who never had a son of his own, took Miller under his wing.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Miller married Diane, had their first son Christopher, and left college early to sign with the Los Angeles Rams. Walt came to see one of his games, wherein Miller took a brutal hit and was knocked out cold. Walt feared that Miller might be killed on the field in such a violent game, so he suggested that he leave the NFL and come to work at the Disney Studios. He was grooming him to be his successor someday.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Nether man realized how soon that day would come. After producing just a few films with Walt ("the Monkey's Uncle", "That Darn Cat!", "Monkeys Go Home!" among others) Miller was thrust into a leadership role following Walt's unexpected death in 1967. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Ron Miller's tenure as Disney's Executive Producer and later Company President </span><span style="font-size: small;"> was a rocky one, to say the least. He was in office during the time when the animation department's luster dimmed. Most of the live action films were flops as well. The blame was placed unfairly on his shoulders because he was seen as a former football jock who got lucky by marrying Diane. In reality he was doing what many others at the company were doing, trying to figure out how to keep Disney's brand current in the shifting cultural landscape of the 1970's, while at the same time honoring the values Walt set down.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">The bitterness and backbiting against Miller led to his departure from the company in 1984, as Michael Eisner and his crew took over. Despite the criticism, Ron Miller is widely credited with such innovations and positive additions to the company as the Disney Channel and Touchstone Pictures (which was a clever solution to the dilemma of how to release films with more mature subjects without directly using the Disney name.) Miller also saw the coming domination of computer technology in movies (a full 20 years ahead of the curve) and green lit the development of the groundbreaking film "Tron" and the development of the computerized CAPS system for animated films, the DNA of Pixar and all the others.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Ron and Diane Miller are still married and run a successful winery in Northern California. They also opened the independent Walt Disney Family Museum at the Presidio in San Francisco to pay tribute to their family's legacy. </span><br />
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</div><div></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG07WYGnT_NAWE0s6CMvCkcCqaNRvkyxXuKFNs_pk93hRjrcSGmyhxGN6L9ot9zNhVoCd6CGnnaLUDR-Ac3SdPCGEfFLnl06qDhLAb-mQOPA4VIyqMz5RT_kgjtQkxuFgyKS-A_Z3lV5g/s1600/moochie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG07WYGnT_NAWE0s6CMvCkcCqaNRvkyxXuKFNs_pk93hRjrcSGmyhxGN6L9ot9zNhVoCd6CGnnaLUDR-Ac3SdPCGEfFLnl06qDhLAb-mQOPA4VIyqMz5RT_kgjtQkxuFgyKS-A_Z3lV5g/s320/moochie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<b><u><b><u>Moochie of Pop Warner Football </u></b></u></b><br />
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<div><span style="font-size: small;">Kevin Corcoran is a Disney legend, famous for his breakout roles as a child star in films like "Old Yeller", "Toby Tyler" and "Swiss Family Robinson." It was his appearance in 1959's "The Shaggy Dog", however, that gave him an enduring onscreen nickname. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Corcoran's character in that film, Moochie, was later reprised on popular Disney TV mini-series in the late 1950's and early '60's. These shows often featured the typical life of a young boy in that time period. Moochie was a clean cut paper boy with a bit of a mischievous streak who always does the right thing in the end. (He was basically a cousin of Beaver Cleaver and other TV children of the era.) In each episode, he would get in a jam, have a dilemma and basically have it solved neatly with a moral at the end.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">One of the most beloved of these Moochie stories was "Moochie of Pop Warner Football" which originally aired around Thanksgiving in 1960 (and shown in reruns and syndication many times over since then.) </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">As you can guess from the title, the program chronicles Moochie's time as a pee-wee football player on his local Pop Warner football league (named for Glenn "Pop" Warner - a legendary Hall of Fame coach - these leagues are the American football equivalent of baseball's Little Leagues.) </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Of course a TV episode wouldn't work without some conflict, so it comes here in the form of Moochie's rivalry with the Mayor's son, who is on the same team. After resolving their dispute happily, they learn to work together and the team goes on a winning streak. This leads them to the climactic moment, a chance to play in the "Disneyland Bowl", which included a visit to the park. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Never one to miss a promotional opportunity, Walt Disney himself makes an appearance in the show as the children are shown enjoying a day at the then 5 year old park as their reward.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-size: small;">Now a nice piece of nostalgia from that period, the show was applauded by Pop Warner Leagues all over the U.S., who saw their membership numbers rise every time the show re-aired. </span></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcJ3cYZo7vPGAfJSMKRaA4BCkZzqTJOojbN6QH_vbsjFjvWELg9QaAQntFRr6Mre55eADuIEiXEV27zL01XXs582kZ6l1xrh7vMiLSGZZHN0EZ-JcrP73q8XG_TssMhxKDNrZc2BidmZg/s1600/mnf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcJ3cYZo7vPGAfJSMKRaA4BCkZzqTJOojbN6QH_vbsjFjvWELg9QaAQntFRr6Mre55eADuIEiXEV27zL01XXs582kZ6l1xrh7vMiLSGZZHN0EZ-JcrP73q8XG_TssMhxKDNrZc2BidmZg/s200/mnf.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><b><u>Monday Night Football</u></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">ABC already had an American institution established with "Monday Night Football" when Disney acquired the company in 1996.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">From its first airing in September 1970, the show was a consistent ratings winner. Millions tuned in, not just to see the game, but also for the chemistry and antics of the announcers, led by the sometimes controversial Howard Cosell.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">By the late 90's, Cosell was long gone and the show, while still popular, was losing some of its steam. Disney didn't tinker with it at first, but then they started putting their imprint on it by using cross-promotion and stunt casting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The first tiny step was to move the show's airing from the traditional 9PM spot to 8PM, and to start off with a pre-game show hosted by ESPN's Chris Berman (The all sports cable network had become part of the Disney family with the ABC merger.) This show was not broadcast from the site of the game, but live from the ESPN Zone, Disney's new restaurant/sports bar in Baltimore (versions would also open in Orlando, Anaheim and Times Square among other places.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">In 2000 Disney added a stand-up comedian, Dennis Miller, to the announcer's booth. Miller, famous for his work on "Saturday Night Live" and his eponymous HBO series, was hired to add his wit and "outsider's" insight to the broadcast. Fans and football traditionalists were outraged. Many thought Miller's intelligent brand of humor, utilizing obscure and arcane references which required viewers to run to the nearest encyclopedia and thesaurus, was not a good fit for an NFL broadcast. Ratings went up for a bit, but the experimental move was largely seen as a bust. Miller left after two seasons.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Entertainers had always visited the Monday Night Football booth, but the appearances increased greatly under Disney's watch. This was no coincidence. While ABC used to have the stars of their network's shows pop by, Disney now had movies, books, music and park promotions to tout. Again, many football fans bristled at the intrusion as the game seemed to become secondary sometimes to the banter about each special guest's agenda.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">In 2002, Disney scored a coup by luring John Madden, the most famous football commentator around, to join the Monday Night booth. They teamed him with Al Michaels in a more traditional - for the NFL - two man announcing setup. This brought stability to the show, but ratings were in serious decline and the NFL - citing flexibility and bigger potential ratings - wanted to have their marquee match ups played on Sunday night. The end of an era was about to come.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">In 2006, Disney moved Monday Night Football to ESPN. In the bidding for the contract to show the premiere NFL games on Sunday night program, ABC bowed out and let NBC/Universal have the upper hand. (They also got announcer Al Michaels in a straight up trade with Disney for - and this is unbelievable - the rights to Walt's first cartoon character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the one that was taken away from him by Universal in 1928.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Disney was heavily criticized for the move from network to cable, but it made much fiscal sense as they could sell more advertisements and charge more subscription fees to cable and satellite companies for the broadcast. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The game has since gone back to its roots, concentrating more on the game and its elements and analysis, and less on the show business pop ins and razzle dazzle. While Monday Night Football doesn't see the ratings numbers and attention it did on "free" TV, it's still among the highest rated cable broadcasts for the year, has broken cable ratings records and is the most profitable franchise on cable TV. Disney is smiling all the way to the bank. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6wfTXKINNy2O52ZRZHu_u1qIXsnLMJVgypTK_LhKOy8uu7nH3VsbMIQHwOkz3v6dHXcIwgMVp998rRa4bifkBqSPGZsw2JNVLG73pyeVeJY9xcdTl0RMa_2Aoa2iVihntI8RWYaga14Y/s1600/gus-movie-poster-1020208765.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6wfTXKINNy2O52ZRZHu_u1qIXsnLMJVgypTK_LhKOy8uu7nH3VsbMIQHwOkz3v6dHXcIwgMVp998rRa4bifkBqSPGZsw2JNVLG73pyeVeJY9xcdTl0RMa_2Aoa2iVihntI8RWYaga14Y/s200/gus-movie-poster-1020208765.jpg" width="131" /></a></div><b><u><b><u>Gus (1972)</u></b></u></b><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Ron Miller still had great connections with the NFL when he decided to go ahead with this feature film about a football playing mule.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">As a result, Miller got full cooperation from the league to use its name and logos (not an easy thing to do) film scenes at actual NFL games, and to secure appearances from Hall of Fame legends like Dick Butkus and Johnny Unitas. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The film is about Gus, the aforementioned mule, and his owner, Andy Petrovic, who are discovered on their farm in Yugoslavia when Gus kicks a soccer ball over a hundred yards and the local papers write about him.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Don Knotts plays the coach of the California Atoms, a sad sack last place NFL franchise. He recruits Gus and Andy to turn things around, and predictable mayhem ensues on the way to a last second Super Bowl victory.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Legendary announcer Dick Enberg announces games in the film and there are plenty of NFL in-jokes. (For instance: Andy tells the team at one point that Gus will "kick a touchdown" which is a sly reference to Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian's notoriously screaming the very same thing at his teammates in the 1972 Super Bowl.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The film was one of the few hits Disney had in the 1970's, and it' s still well loved by football and Disney fans alike. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZl0sw6LfB9VMWt7nFVep9iL2ogu5_UjKYjk62evK0ANkOQS0xED3c7Th8T82_uH_1dpfZQdlWaW2rCJvFv4p8WMCzPKDlyn7KtvJ_icc07hs62-Z4U9znWD6nbidMdN9KGTriHfEdD8/s1600/touchdown+mickey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHZl0sw6LfB9VMWt7nFVep9iL2ogu5_UjKYjk62evK0ANkOQS0xED3c7Th8T82_uH_1dpfZQdlWaW2rCJvFv4p8WMCzPKDlyn7KtvJ_icc07hs62-Z4U9znWD6nbidMdN9KGTriHfEdD8/s200/touchdown+mickey.jpg" width="130" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVq05BPkH3vIySbM99ara0fdlpJsk1maLFD5BfMmzOcOem0Mku8NoOQEhk2V4wPUWiqLLseZYKHh2r63NzSdZQ0eY3OZ-Q-rp0zTD_7nbXP4m-Qm6ZYVQHn0y8dw6BknhjZQMPNyLSuPQ/s1600/goofyfootball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVq05BPkH3vIySbM99ara0fdlpJsk1maLFD5BfMmzOcOem0Mku8NoOQEhk2V4wPUWiqLLseZYKHh2r63NzSdZQ0eY3OZ-Q-rp0zTD_7nbXP4m-Qm6ZYVQHn0y8dw6BknhjZQMPNyLSuPQ/s200/goofyfootball.jpg" width="133" /></a></div><b><u>Touchdown Mickey (1932)/Goofy's How To Play Football (1944)</u></b><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwbE3bPvzr4&NR=1">Link to watch Goofy's How To Play Football (7:10)</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8FUNH8kFCs">Link to watch Touchdown Mickey (6:32)</a><br />
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<div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">Disney's interest in football was evident early on, as illustrated by these two shorts from the nascent days of the company.</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">The first, 1932's "Touchdown Mickey", was the 47th appearance of the most famous cartoon mouse in the world, at the height of his popularity. It even begins with Mickey's own football fight song called "Rah Rah Mickey!"</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">This black & white cartoon depicts a gridiron battle between Mickey's team, called Mickey's Manglers, and a team led by his nemesis, Pete, called the Alley Cats. We pick up the action in the last quarter, as Mickey's team is struggling to tie the game. In addition to the traditional football action (flying wedge, halfback option) the short is chock full of gags, which was characteristic of the Disney shorts at the time. (Many of these slapstick visual jokes were actually written by Walt himself in those days.)</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">In the end, Mickey's gang prevails (it must have been some match up, as the score gets to 96-96 by the time we come in to the story.) Mickey wins the game by plowing UNDER the goal line after a mad scramble for the ball involving mud, mustard, a wealthy pig and a few other obstacles. (That last sentence probably made no sense. Watch the cartoon, you'll see what I mean.)</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">The most interesting part of the film is that it also features four of Disney's "Fab Five" core characters (Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto.) Donald Duck would not officially make his screen debut or a few years, but there is a cheerleading chorus of ducks in the picture, so that sort of counts I guess.</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">An early version of Goofy (still called Dippy the Goof) is the frazzled announcer, Pluto is the waterboy, and Minnie is - as always - Mickeys sweetheart, greeting him at the end of the game with a big kiss on top of the goalpost.</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">It's a fun romp, and also one of the more violent Mickey shorts, with players being pummeled left and right. (Mickey ends the film bandaged and bruised as well.)</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">By 1944 Goofy had evolved into a character in his own right, and Disney put him to work in a series of mock "how to" instructional films. (Almost half of his shorts featured this theme.) </span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">"How To Play Football" should definitely NOT be used to teach a youngster the rules. It's a tongue in cheek look at the game. In the first few minutes the announcer/narrator proceeds to give an explanation of how the game is played, but is drowned out by the crowd at the college football game we are meant to watch.</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">The clash is between Taxidermy Tech and Anthropology A&M, two teams populated entirely by Goofy clones in leather helmets. Actually, Goofy plays all the parts in this film, from coach to referee and even the half time cheerleaders! In the end, Tech wins by the improbable score of 13 - 12 1/2, thanks to a deflated football that didn't quite go over the goal post.</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">For one of the few times in his on-screen career, Goofy (or his clone) makes reference to the fact that he's actually a dog, not human. At one point the announcer says "The quarterback barks the orders!" and Goofy does just that, gets on all fours and barks. It's as jarring as seeing Pluto on two legs and talking.</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border: medium none;"><span style="font-size: small;">Both films are a nice time capsule look at the way football was played before the modern NFL era. </span></div><div style="border: medium none;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbnMQjA5nps-BaB2Fg5nHjZo47op2WajGFQbDxU-XOs_Bc8W1k8FKnpGxtQ4hMCVVwbHJF_90al61UZZkAxaVdYE3ytH8FFDp4FLKmRo40sLmb9UpMyrJ3Y6GTkXbatmUD0H20ub2JCY/s1600/gameplan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHbnMQjA5nps-BaB2Fg5nHjZo47op2WajGFQbDxU-XOs_Bc8W1k8FKnpGxtQ4hMCVVwbHJF_90al61UZZkAxaVdYE3ytH8FFDp4FLKmRo40sLmb9UpMyrJ3Y6GTkXbatmUD0H20ub2JCY/s200/gameplan.jpg" width="135" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPzGis_lxVEnY0lB2_L_y6Gs2ukZkSLYsogattMiO3h-DUMlVH2x6qPS_HK6wHxXQJzHx5x4i8SLmnMpzeQG9Uk4m0rOsMZIG5Pvt8LdHbz50iHbsLKUZAZ53E9N7WWomzrzk29E1JnYI/s1600/titansinvincible.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPzGis_lxVEnY0lB2_L_y6Gs2ukZkSLYsogattMiO3h-DUMlVH2x6qPS_HK6wHxXQJzHx5x4i8SLmnMpzeQG9Uk4m0rOsMZIG5Pvt8LdHbz50iHbsLKUZAZ53E9N7WWomzrzk29E1JnYI/s200/titansinvincible.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<br />
<b><u></u></b><br />
<b><u>Remember The Titans (2000) Invincible (2006) The Game Plan (2007)</u></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Disney, like most entertainment companies, caught on to the enormous popularity of football as the 20th Century came to a close.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Luckily for them, they also had an all sports network and Monday Night Football to capitalize on that. In 1999 they decided to produce their first film in decades with a football theme.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">This being Disney, they also needed to find a film with an inspirational message. "Remember The Titans" fit the bill nicely.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Made in conjunction with Jerry Bruckheimer (a partnership that would work well for Disney) the film tells the tale of an African-American high school coach in 1970's Virginia, played by Denzel Washington, who takes over from a legendary white coach and struggles to overcome racist attitudes as he also tries to build a winner.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The film was a critical and financial success, and it led Disney to produce a second football themed inspirational film a few years later, "Invincible."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Like "Gus" before it, "Invincible" was able to get the cooperation of the NFL and the use of its logos. It's based on the true life story of Vince Papale, played by Mark Wahlberg.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Papale was a neighborhood guy who was given a walk on tryout by the Philadelphia Eagles and wins a spot on the team, succeeding beyond all expectations. Greg Kinnear plays real life coach Dick Vermiel. To research the role, Kinnear actually followed Vermiel around during his last year as coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">Ironically, it was a short piece produced by NFL films about Papale that brought his story to Disney's attention when it aired on Monday Night Football. They saw great potential in it and were rewarded with another hit.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">For their most recent football film, Disney went back to comedy, hiring former wrestler and college football player Duane "The Rock" Johnson to play a star NFL quarterback. (Though unlike the previous films, the NFL did not grant rights to use team names, so instead of the New England Patriots, he played for the fictional Boston Rebels.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The humor in the plot comes from the unexpected arrival of the quarterback's 8 year old daughter, just as he is gearing up for the playoffs. This leads to all sorts of comic situations, including one where Johnson's character joins the ballet to help his daughter. (Some say this was a tribute to ESPN/Disney employee Lynn Swann, an analyst and former Super Bowl hero for the Steelers who famously took ballet lessons to help him with his agility.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Like the other two Disney football movies of the 2000's, "The Game Plan" was a success and showed the company that football fans could also pack a multiplex.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6KWaqbk1Fli_yRgKEx7L1QqdiS_2PUF_-gVe5ENciMKJ_ITCm_4CPHUI-JtY7eBT9eHIUpqnFdDmQnIyaCYv8j3KSAiY_s3OQE40agCciFFEoC5_VbTTZJONs3Fz__5DmI8VfKNbKHRI/s1600/newkids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6KWaqbk1Fli_yRgKEx7L1QqdiS_2PUF_-gVe5ENciMKJ_ITCm_4CPHUI-JtY7eBT9eHIUpqnFdDmQnIyaCYv8j3KSAiY_s3OQE40agCciFFEoC5_VbTTZJONs3Fz__5DmI8VfKNbKHRI/s320/newkids.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><b><u>Super Bowl Half Time Shows</u></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">For the first nine years of the Super Bowl's existence, before it became a national holiday and media extravaganza, the half time show was made up of local college and high school marching bands, as per football tradition.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Super Bowl X broke with that tradition and hired the squeaky clean musical youth group Up With People to perform. they were well received, but the NFL wanted even more spectacle.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">If you're going to hire a company for big entertainment on a national stage, you can't go wrong with Disney. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">So at Super Bowl XI in 1977, as the Minnesota Vikings and Oakland Raiders headed to their Rose Bowl locker rooms at the half, Disney characters took the field to perform a tribute to "It's A Small World." (Basically a big commercial for the park just a few miles down the road.) This was also the first time that the Super Bowl stadium crowd was asked to be part of the spectacle. Disney distributed the now commonplace placards to be waved and held up at certain points of the performance. The times they were a changin.'</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Disney returned to the Super Bowl seven years later in Tampa (again right in the Mouse's backyard) with a "salute to the silver screen." In addition to Disney characters, they utilized the marching bands of not one, but two teams, Florida State and the University of Florida. It was a big Busby Berkeley type spectacular and set the tone for halftime shows to follow (It also was the highlight of what was a rather boring blowout game as the Raiders crushed the Redskins 38-9.) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wap8bVBaYhQ">Link to a documentary about Disney's Super Bowl XVIII half Time show (8:06)</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Super Bowl XXI in 1987 returned to the Rose Bowl and featured the Giants vs. the Broncos (it was the very same Super Bowl where Disney began its "What's Next?" ad campaign - see above.) This was also the 100th Anniversary of movie making, so Disney was hired to do a "salute to Hollywood."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Being so close to LA, and with millions watching, you'd expect a load of Hollywood luminaries to show up, right? Nope, just George Burns and Mickey Rooney (well the Disney gang showed up too - in costumes no less - but I'm talking about live action stars.) The Grambling University marching band performed, and there was a pre-taped medley of Hollywood songs, from Flashdance and Footloose to "When You Wish Upon A Star" (of course.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Definitely a spectacle and not meant for hardcore football fans, the half time show of SB XXI started to drag the previously nondescript fifteen minute filler between halves into the territory of more of a Broadway or theme park style show.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3-BRMEiFQ4">A link to the Super Bowl XXI "Hooray For Hollywood" half time show (9:14)</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Tampa was the setting for Super Bowl XXV in 1991, and it was no ordinary event. First, it was the 25th game, so that added to the pageantry. More important though, the game was played in a highly charged and tense atmosphere.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> Just a few weeks before, US forces had begun the assault on Iraq in the first Gulf War. Almost everyone at the game was wearing red, white and blue and American flags were seen all over the Stadium. Security was tight and Whitney Houston's rendition of the National Anthem brought many to tears.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately for Disney, their half time show was planned well in advance of the war and didn't feature overtly patriotic themes, Instead, it was another commercial, a tribute to It's A Small World. (Yes, again, this time for the Florida park, not California.) New Kids On The Block came out to sing their hit single "Step By Step."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Too bad almost nobody saw it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Unlike all the other Super Bowl half time shows, which cost a fortune and are designed to be seen by millions, this program was not carried live by the network (ABC, before Disney purchased them.) Only the people in the Stadium saw the show. At home, viewers instead saw a special ABC News report on the Gulf War. This was just as well, as most minds were on that topic anyway and the game was just a brief respite from the almost 24 hour news coverage. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">To be fair, ABC did tape the half time spectacular, intending to air it after the game, but most affiliates cut away from that too. It later re-aired on the Disney Channel.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Though hardly anyone remembers the Disney show, few can forget the game, which turned out to be one of the most exciting ever. The New York Giants won 20-19 in a last minute squeaker when the Buffalo Bills kicker missed an easy game winning field goal. (Disney was actually good luck for the Giants, as they were a part of the team's first two Super Bowl winning games.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGpJjqB4nnY">A link to the "invisible" Super Bowl XXV half time show (4:02)</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">1995 saw possibly the weirdest half time show ever, courtesy of Disney. Super Bowl XXIX was played in Miami between the Chargers and 49'ers. The game was another dud, as Steve Young threw for a record six touchdowns on the way to a 49-26 unmemorable blowout victory for the 49'ers. Those that saw the half time show could not forget it.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The theme was "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye." Wait, you say, isn't that the name of the ride that opened at Disney Land in 1995? How perceptive. Yes, Disney was, once again, using this national spotlight for a commercial about themselves.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Actors playing Indy and Marian (definitely NOT Harrison Ford or Karen Allen) steal the Vince Lombardi Trophy (the shiny silver Tiffany made award given to the Super Bowl winner) and try to save it from the bad guys all while musicians such as Tony Bennett, Teddy Pendergrass, Gloria Estefan and Patti Labelle sing in the background.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Really, I'm not making this up.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The climax of this dizzying mass of pop culture confusion was the whole group getting together at the 50 yard line to sing "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" from the previous year's hit "The Lion King." Sheesh!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Not sure what Disney was thinking there, but perhaps they believed that they would have many other opportunities to redeem themselves at the Super Bowl.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Unfortunately for them, they only had one more.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9VULY2Aby4">A link to the "Indiana Jones" Super Bowl XXIX half time show (5:34)</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000 would be (to date) the last time Disney was involved in a half time show.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">For the match up in Atlanta between the Rams and Titans (which the Rams won 23-16 on an exciting last second tackle at the goal line.) Disney prepared an inspiring halftime show about the hopes for the new Millennium called "Tapestry of Nations." How nice, a show written just for the Super Bowl. Oh right, "Tapestry" was also making its debut as the focus of Epcot's Millennium celebration. Once again, Disney didn't let the national attention go to waste promotionally.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">This show was by far Disney's most ambitious, featuring breathtaking costumes, pageantry, a full orchestra, cast of hundreds and a chorus of 80 people. Noted actor Edward James Olmos was the narrator, and performers such as Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera (who both had Disney ties) and Enrique Iglesias took the field to sing "Celebrate the Future, Hand In Hand.".</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Many thought the show was moving and impressive, but critics were not so nice. The consensus seemed to be that Super Bowl half time shows were getting too large and out of hand.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSWrop2AXRA">A link to Super Bowl XXXIV "Tapestry of Nations" half time show (9:58)</a></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">While the criticism was not aimed at Disney directly (Radio City Productions had also done large half time shows) the NFL decided to move in another direction. MTV and various concert promoters were asked to bring in big name rock, rap and pop stars to perform at the half, eschewing the "themed" programs. In recent years, it's been pared down even more to just one featured performer or group, often on a bare bones stage. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">The NFL may yet return to Disney (there was talk of using them for guaranteed family friendly shows after the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" fiasco in 2004, but nothing came of that.) For now, Mickey and friends are on the sidelines but in the minds of millions they will always be associated in one way or another with halftime.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoz-Jv8ZoJ-9IQzm2Qa4fzmRS_Bo8sudA0TnOssc2xUiupNbtOrBpU-9DoZ7tKJHyNXfljgtjJhgeuD93Rqk24nD52bnmr25tSb4tLpY9OfoU4OD5AKZaTOcRQsAsKFwn9zTzi11hyOo/s1600/son_of_flubber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaoz-Jv8ZoJ-9IQzm2Qa4fzmRS_Bo8sudA0TnOssc2xUiupNbtOrBpU-9DoZ7tKJHyNXfljgtjJhgeuD93Rqk24nD52bnmr25tSb4tLpY9OfoU4OD5AKZaTOcRQsAsKFwn9zTzi11hyOo/s320/son_of_flubber.jpg" width="208" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><b><u>Son Of Flubber (1963)</u></b></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Walt Disney detested sequels. He thought every film should be original. Given that his personal motto was "keep moving forward", producing sequels was viewed by him as just plain lazy and resting on laurels.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">When he saw the money roll in from 1961's "Absent Minded Professor", Walt softened his stance a bit.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">While still opposed to revisiting the previous film, Walt wanted to keep Fred MacMurray in the Disney stable, so he approved production on the Disney Studios very first sequel, 1963's "Son Of Flubber." Both men saw this new film as a logical continuation of Professor Ned Brainard's story.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Once again, Brainard has to deal with the consequences of his discovery of the mysterious substance known as Flubber. While he thought it would make him rich and famous, it actually does the opposite, leaving hm with a large tax bill. He then comes up with a substitute called Flubbergas.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">While Flubber was used to help tiny Medfield College win basketball games in the first film, Flubbergas is used to give their football team an edge over larger opponents in this film (OK, maybe it's not a complete departure or continuation.)</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">There are two iconic images from "Son Of Flubber." One is of a Medfield football player who has inhaled Flubbergas blowing up like a balloon and floating away. The second is of the winning kick in the climactic game sailing through the uprights and off into outer space.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Because of the special effects involved, much of the football footage was shot on an indoor replica of the outdoor field used for establishing shots. These scenes were done at the Disney Studios soundstages and the professional football players hired to play Medfield's opponents were confused at having to play football inside of a building.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzxFb6gKNEM">A link to the big football scene from "Son Of Flubber (10:56)</a></span><span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Two interesting casting notes: this was the first major film role for "Hollywood Squares" staple Paul Lynde, who played (improbably) a football announcer. It also was the onscreen debut of Walt Disney's grandson (and son of Ron Miller, who also co-produced the film) Walter Elias Disney Miller, who has a cameo as a small child in a television commercial. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="border: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgETmdL6utIY3BslRf9s7sppIkGQ0AhpeDQzeiIlM8GeAUEtiIFWokDPIB1lqIGJeN0Y2Y1PFHhwhCmH9_wLbYj-tnvCpDq6PGjBxldRy5KXLJsGzC8L_u63lCVacyF2KtdCcr3wYJTeHA/s1600/allstarsports.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgETmdL6utIY3BslRf9s7sppIkGQ0AhpeDQzeiIlM8GeAUEtiIFWokDPIB1lqIGJeN0Y2Y1PFHhwhCmH9_wLbYj-tnvCpDq6PGjBxldRy5KXLJsGzC8L_u63lCVacyF2KtdCcr3wYJTeHA/s320/allstarsports.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzxFb6gKNEM"><br />
</a></span></div>Chris Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18416994097295040150noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7770317986918254563.post-72189302210028279892011-02-03T00:00:00.001-05:002011-02-22T23:59:17.293-05:00Ten Disney Icons<dir><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span lang="EN"><div align="center"><u><i><b></b></i></u></div><div align="center"></div></span></span></dir><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjioBTZPpv3_cp-dO6dfyDXB_cGFIhpGSlJz8UJrvdSphLkbIkxu70MEctsl_IYnlYDxd9dauT4mUXN2Ttldax_ncxVVcC4xWfMHwqBXeTY_6T_p8dztOSu3VRHqbi4hVgcIDPlTD6rts/s1600/Walt-Disney-Comany-Logo-1024x379.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjioBTZPpv3_cp-dO6dfyDXB_cGFIhpGSlJz8UJrvdSphLkbIkxu70MEctsl_IYnlYDxd9dauT4mUXN2Ttldax_ncxVVcC4xWfMHwqBXeTY_6T_p8dztOSu3VRHqbi4hVgcIDPlTD6rts/s320/Walt-Disney-Comany-Logo-1024x379.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright Disney - All Rights Reserved</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<dir><b><span style="font-size: small;">Most companies are lucky if they have one identifiable icon that the general public can immediately recognize and associate with that particular brand. </span></b></dir><dir><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></b></dir><dir><b><span style="font-size: small;">Disney has been blessed to have so many of them that each generation for the last eighty or so years can almost claim one as their own. </span></b></dir><dir><b><span style="font-size: small;">Here are ten that have been the face of the company at different periods in its history.</span></b></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><a name='more'></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="198" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-IaOyRX4yb867Ok-a10FHBfTT9Cwkj0zQqKDI-flv-UenhptIDaGPvaVIpi7S7J-09NKus9z03ltS31ycxGAdZqy-isCxLgiaM3voBch07PNx6cVQPJAjvHHkfD_Sv73pKBcnXSo_-w/s200/Walt.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright Disney - All Rights Reserved</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio-IaOyRX4yb867Ok-a10FHBfTT9Cwkj0zQqKDI-flv-UenhptIDaGPvaVIpi7S7J-09NKus9z03ltS31ycxGAdZqy-isCxLgiaM3voBch07PNx6cVQPJAjvHHkfD_Sv73pKBcnXSo_-w/s1600/Walt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b></b></a></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Walt Disney Himself</u></b> </span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;">Lots of corporate founding fathers and CEO’s choose to remain behind the scenes while keeping a steady hand on the rudder of company affairs. Some (like Henry Ford and F.W. Woolworth) made the company their namesake but often stepped aside and let trusted employees speak for the firm.<br />
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Not so with Walt Disney.<br />
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Almost from the beginning, this wiry Midwestern kid’s ambitions and vision exceeded his bank account and company’s stature in the film industry. He had aspirations of being a great cartoonist or director, but his career led him to so much more. Walt Disney’s very name became shorthand for quality entertainment the whole family could enjoy.<br />
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Most people got to know “Uncle Walt” through his role as avuncular host of the Disneyland TV program starting in the mid 1950’s, but by that time he had already appeared on the cover of national magazines and was even asked by the US government to travel on goodwill tours as an ambassador for American values. By the time of his unexpected death in 1966 Walt Disney was just as much a part of the Disney image as any of the characters his studio created. He often said that “Walt Disney” had evolved into a sort of caricature that he found hard to live up to. One writer even opined that Walt Disney‘s greatest creation was “Walt Disney.“ In a tribute reserved for few film producers, Walt was posthumously honored with a US postage stamp bearing his likeness.<br />
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Sadly, today’s generation seems to only know the name Walt Disney, not the man. Walt’s iconic image has faded and he is now seen mostly in portraits or statues around his empire. The Disney Channel used to show nightly reruns of his TV show, which are now only available on DVD. Luckily Walt’s daughter Diane and his grandchildren have opened the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. This museum, privately funded and years in the making, has as its mission the goal to remind 21<sup>st</sup> century audiences that there was indeed a man behind the mouse.</span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><img border="0" height="200" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtRhk4-bLiYa5YY_UvErzcaGNu7vPoYOglY9cwE-oMvje9gDywkzfnD5eyqBygHXBMukNrY3eNJS3ZkBg36fcaLZ_zByfHR9nJucNSfv5cArSHsxujPWzZSdTpzNEj0VZrvYaXyHskcJg/s200/fab5.bmp" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="187" /></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright Disney - All Rights Reserved</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtRhk4-bLiYa5YY_UvErzcaGNu7vPoYOglY9cwE-oMvje9gDywkzfnD5eyqBygHXBMukNrY3eNJS3ZkBg36fcaLZ_zByfHR9nJucNSfv5cArSHsxujPWzZSdTpzNEj0VZrvYaXyHskcJg/s1600/fab5.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b></b></a></span></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Mickey Mouse and the “Fab Five”</b> </u></span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;">OK, I’m cheating a bit here by listing five as one, but there’s really no way to separate these five characters. They are the core group of Disney icons.<br />
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When <b><u>Mickey Mouse</u></b> made his debut in 1928, nobody (not even Walt himself) could have imagined that three concentric circles would become instantly identifiable as the symbol of all things Disney. <br />
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Mickey‘s portrait has evolved over the years, and his onscreen appearances were scarce for a time, but he remains the heart and soul of the Disney company. Many people refer to the Disney corporation as “The Mouse” (i.e., “I used to work for “The Mouse.”)<br />
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Mickey saved the Disney studio from ruin in the 1920’s and is their biggest star, but he couldn’t carry the load himself. An effort was made early on to introduce supporting players who would be spun off into their own film series and rival “The Mouse” in popularity.<br />
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Some characters (Horace HorseCollar, Clara Cluck, Clarabell Cow) never caught on with the public, despite their alliterative monikers. Four other characters (Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy and Donald Duck) did strike a nerve, however, and have become - along with Mickey - the primary characters in the Disney canon, known affectionately by fans as “<b>The Fab Five</b>.” They are ubiquitous in the parks and merchandise divisions. When the Disney company decided to modernize Mickey to make him relevant for today’s kids, they created a show (“Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.”) around these five characters (technically the show has six characters, but poor Daisy Duck falls just short of iconic status.)<br />
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<b><u>Minnie Mouse</u> </b>made her debut in 1928, alongside Mickey, in “Steamboat Willie.” Early on she was portrayed as a damsel in distress, always having to be rescued by Mickey. She eventually developed an independent personality and became a popular figure with her own theme song (“Minnie’s Yoo Hoo”) </span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;">Curiously, Minnie never got her own film series, she always shared billing with other characters. When asked about the nature of Mickey and Minnie’s relationship (were they married? boyfriend/girlfriend? etc..) Walt always replied that Minnie was Mickey’s ’leading lady’ and would fill whatever role each particular picture called for, like any other on screen couple <br />
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<b><u>Pluto</u> </b>was created simply because the writers at the Disney studio wanted to make Mickey more relatable (and human) to the public and thought that giving him a pet dog would be the easiest way. Pluto first appeared on screen in 1930 as an unnamed bloodhound following Mickey’s scent. Then he showed up as Minnie’s puppy (named Rover) for one short. <br />
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After finally becoming Mickey’s pet, the dog was subsequently spun off into his own series of 48 shorts (and was named after the then recently discovered planet. Pluto.) Unlike other anthropomorphic Disney characters, Pluto has always retained his animal qualities and has acted and behaved just as a real life dog would throughout his career.<br />
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The other famous Disney dog has not.<br />
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<b><u>Goofy</u></b> began as an unnamed background character in a Mickey cartoon. Moviegoers took notice of his strange personality and laugh and he was elevated to a starring role as “Dippy the Goofy Dawg.” Eventually the writers dropped the Dippy part and just began referring to him as Goofy. (In his famous “how to’ shorts of the 1950’s, Goofy was variously referred to as George Geef or George G. Goof.) <br />
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He is genetically a dog, but has been written and drawn as an almost human/dog hybrid with the ever present vest, turtleneck and hat. Goofy’s world is inhabited with characters who look and act just like him, so there is no noticeable dog /human comparison. In many of the cartoons, he has a house in the suburbs and a wife. In the 1990’s, a son named Max was introduced, who was a younger version of Goofy (albeit one with less clumsiness and cluelessness.)<br />
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In polls taken over the years, Goofy has consistently been rated the most loved character by Disney fans. Perhaps something about his stumbling and bumbling to get though life’s little moments has given him this mass appeal. One person who was definitely not a Goofy fan was Walt Disney, who went on the record many times about his dislike for Goofy and tried to have the series cancelled. (Goofy actually starred in 48 of his own films.) <br />
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Nobody could figure out why Walt so detested Goofy, but it was very clear where his animosity came from concerning the fowl character who made more appearances on screen (over 150) than any other, including Walt’s beloved alter-ego, Mickey. <br />
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<b><u>Donald Duck</u></b> was the anti-Mickey. When the mouse evolved into a milquetoast character, sort of a small innocent boy scout, the story men and animators were stuck in a corner. They couldn’t have Mickey show a temper, blow up, or do anything remotely arrogant for fear of alienating the public. This is what led, in part, to Mickey’s virtual disappearance from film in the 1950’s and beyond. <br />
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Donald Duck has no such limitations. Walt viewed Mickey as his de facto son, so to have this irascible foul tempered Duck upstage Mickey frustrated Walt to no end. <br />
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From his first appearance as a supporting player in 1934‘s “The Wise Little Hen“, Donald captured the public’s fancy. In that film, he was roughly drawn, but had many of the same characteristics that we see today, including the sailor suit and hat. (He wore no pants though, leading to a long running urban legend about Donald Duck cartoons being banned in certain parts of Europe due to his immodest lack of trousers.) By the time World War II came along, Donald was the biggest star at Disney, getting hundreds of fan letters a week. <br />
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When the US Government contracted Disney to make films aiding the war effort and educating the US public, they wanted him to create all new characters exclusive to those films. Realizing that the Duck was now his biggest draw, Walt offered Donald. When some Senators and high ranking Roosevelt administration officials balked at that, Walt chastised them, saying that loaning Donald Duck to them was the equivalent of MGM giving them Clark Gable for free. <br />
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Walt was right. Donald’s appearances in those wartime shorts were very effective and convinced Americans to buy more war bonds and pay their taxes. When Disney was casting for an icon to appear in his goodwill films made directly for South American audiences in the mid 1940’s, it was Donald, not Mickey, who was tapped for the job.<br />
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By the 1950’s the studio pretty much acknowledged the rivalry between Donald and Mickey, poking fun at it in the opening credits of TV’s “Mickey Mouse Club.” Today they are depicted as loyal friends with different personalities. Mickey and Donald are Disney’s odd couple, good cop bad cop, id and ego, laid back vs. high stress. They compliment each other, are the two most prominent and important members of the Fab Five and will forevermore remain fixtures on the pop culture scene.</span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;"></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8B7uqjdTx2rlOy1jLBqfj5qdxPseEXrpG86EKh4iR8lAuqPNU_8e2j-fTlVnDqTfDtXwtvTDsMk2C5Y_lY5trV4JfPoaREhqbfbgCu9AHfZ2aW2taHO2OpuVCCEXj0H__iauwTreJg8/s200/jiminy.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="189" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright Disney - All Rights Reserved</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM8B7uqjdTx2rlOy1jLBqfj5qdxPseEXrpG86EKh4iR8lAuqPNU_8e2j-fTlVnDqTfDtXwtvTDsMk2C5Y_lY5trV4JfPoaREhqbfbgCu9AHfZ2aW2taHO2OpuVCCEXj0H__iauwTreJg8/s1600/jiminy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b></b></a></span> <span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Jiminy Cricket</u></b></span> </dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;">When Walt Disney was working on his version of the Italian author Carlo Collodi‘s book “Pinocchio” he had a major problem with the main character. <br />
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As written, Pinocchio was more of a mean spirited juvenile delinquent, one who would not gain much audience sympathy. Walt had his animators soften Pinocchio a bit, but still that wasn’t enough to save the film. Work stopped completely on the project until a solution could be found. <br />
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Walt finally hit on the solution after re-reading the book. He happened upon a small unnamed cricket who makes a fleeting appearance in the literary version. (in fact, the cricket is crushed to death by Pinocchio after spouting off some pearls of wisdom.)<br />
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Walt assigned animator Ward Kimball to shape this new cricket character into the conscience of Pinocchio and, as such, the narrator of the film and the audience’s confidant. Kimball departed from typical insect characteristics and gave the cricket human features, down to wearing a top hat, spats, and carrying an umbrella. We know it’s a cricket only because we’re told he’s a cricket. <br />
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When it came time to give the cricket a name, “Jiminy” was chosen. This was an inside joke.<br />
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In the 1930‘s “Jiminy Cricket!” was a popular exclamation, used mostly as a substitute for shouting “Jesus Christ!” which would be considered offensive to many people.. The phrase had been in use since the mid 1800’s and could be heard in Disney’s own “Snow White” a few years before, as well as in MGM’s “The Wizard of Oz.” <br />
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Jiminy was the heart of “Pinocchio” and its breakout star. Walt knew that he had to use him beyond that one film. (Walt was not a fan of sequels.) In 1947, Jiminy was cast as the host of the Disney musical feature “Fun And Fancy Free.” When mass audiences for television came along in the 1950’s, Jiminy took on a different role and his popularity skyrocketed once again.<br />
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Beginning in 1955, Jiminy hosted segments of the Mickey Mouse Club. He is almost solely responsible for teaching baby boomers how to spell the word encyclopedia thanks to a catchy musical mnemonic device. <br />
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In the 1950‘s Disney also made educational cartoons starring Jiminy - to be distributed free of charge to schools - called “I‘m No Fool.” These films touched on such varied topics as fire safety and bicycle safety. Almost every American child who went to grammar school in the 1960’s or 70’s (myself included) can recall Jiminy singing “I’m no fool, no siree, I’m gonna live to be 103! (or, variously, 93) I play safe for you and me ‘cause I‘m no fool”<br />
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Jiminy is one of the select few Disney characters to have begun in a feature film, not shorts, that had a life outside of his original role.<br />
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In recent years, Jiminy has become the face of the environmental/recycling effort in Disney parks. Jiminy gently reminds guests that Disney has “gone green.” He remains to this day the conscience and moral spokesperson for the whole corporation.</span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgATUFV0ULxlpGHmwDKAphy6ZEDFTuuE5EoMEiRvd0aHZgUmw2EGGlW8lkCOstAWLW7lu2Bpqt2xMuiqF0SnlI5YGkDzMpYirfWYhsjb7zcfZ7lMJQXkTYQSdw6EHXrWWHSidHBZ2WJag4/s200/tinkerbell1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright Disney - All Rights Reserved</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgATUFV0ULxlpGHmwDKAphy6ZEDFTuuE5EoMEiRvd0aHZgUmw2EGGlW8lkCOstAWLW7lu2Bpqt2xMuiqF0SnlI5YGkDzMpYirfWYhsjb7zcfZ7lMJQXkTYQSdw6EHXrWWHSidHBZ2WJag4/s1600/tinkerbell1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b></b></a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Tinker Bell</b> </u></span></span> </dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">J.M. Barrie’s original 1911 novel “Peter and Wendy” and 1904 play “Peter Pan: The Boy Who Wouldn‘t Grow Up” featured Peter’s friend Tinker Bell as a small fairy who was, by trade, a tinker working on pots and pans. Her traditional onstage depiction was as a pin light with tinkling bells. <br />
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Disney broke that tradition with his 1953 animated version of Peter Pan, showing Tinker Bell for the first time as a full character He also changed her from a fairy to a pixie, trailed by pixie dust. <br />
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Rumor has it that Tinker Bell’s shapely figure was modeled after Marilyn Monroe. That is completely untrue. Ms. Monroe didn’t come into prominence until a few years after Disney’s version of Peter Pan was released. The actual model for the character was actress Margaret Kerry. <br />
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When Walt created his TV show and park in the mid 1950’s he was gambling that both would be successful, but wasn’t completely sure that they would work. He was reluctant to use Mickey Mouse as a symbol for those projects in case they failed and tarnished his beloved Mouse, so he chose Tinker Bell. She opened and closed his TV shows and was used (starting in 1961) to begin the nightly fireworks in Disneyland (and later Walt Disney World) by flying over the castle. Like Jiminy Cricket, this elevated her to iconic status beyond her one screen appearance.<br />
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To this day Tinker Bell (or Miss Bell, as she is sometimes called) is used as a flying, pixie dust spreading corporate mascot. Her wand touches down on most Disney products (although she never actually used a wand in any of her film or stage appearances.) <br />
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Until recently, Tinker Bell was a silent character (she never uttered a word on screen, but her feelings could be understood by listening to her chiming bells or by observing her sometimes petulant mood swings.) Her popularity is so great, however, that Disney has produced some direct to DVD films giving Tink (yet another nickname) an origin story, a land of her own (Pixie Hollow) and spoken lines for the very first time. The official Tinker Bell costume is still one of the best selling ones in the Disney catalog, proving that her popularity endures more than half a century after her Disney debut.</span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></dir><dir><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRlQj-0U3N5wUM-snGiNLDft2qvJ9RxXC5GpVpiq-KVv2FLjin26DCCEfKkqaO3DYbur-9-rYaQXDxfHeI4J9vW-nDNUa695MAJX_bYFIvpqe7BQOrM5GO7m3d8FEhfNkn1zzW2eN6-Oc/s1600/davy_crockett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="156" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRlQj-0U3N5wUM-snGiNLDft2qvJ9RxXC5GpVpiq-KVv2FLjin26DCCEfKkqaO3DYbur-9-rYaQXDxfHeI4J9vW-nDNUa695MAJX_bYFIvpqe7BQOrM5GO7m3d8FEhfNkn1zzW2eN6-Oc/s200/davy_crockett.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Copyright Disney - All Rights Reserved</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Davy Crockett</u></b></span><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;">When Walt Disney was planning on adding a series of stories about American folk heroes to the Frontierland portion of his weekly Disneyland anthology show, he was stumped as to which one to choose first. After much deliberation he asked his staff to draw a name from a hat.<br />
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The name they chose changed television and American pop culture history forever.<br />
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Davy Crockett was a 19th Century folk hero, frontiersman and former US Congressman from Tennessee who went by the name David Crockett (in real life, Crockett hated the sobriquet Davy.) Many of his exploits had been embellished over the years, but that made him a natural fit for TV audiences eager for stories of heroic frontier exploits.<br />
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Crockett died valiantly while defending the Alamo in 1836, which limited the arc of his storyline. Three episodes were made, and Disney was planning on featuring a succession of new western heroes after the Crockett episodes were finished airing in February 1955. Nobody, including Walt, expected Davy to take the country by storm.<br />
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Audiences were starved for good quality family entertainment on television in those days, and that’s what Disney specialized in. Walt spent more than he should have on a simple TV program, and the results showed onscreen. More than half the country tuned in to watch the first three episodes of “Davy Crockett: King Of the Wild Frontier“ (this was before reruns and videotapes, so if you weren’t watching the original airing, you missed out on the conversation the next morning.)<br />
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Within weeks, the US was caught up in the “Crockett Craze.” Fess Parker became an overnight star, the theme song hit the top of the charts and demand for coonskin caps was more than Disney merchandisers could handle.<br />
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In an era where the threat of conflict with the USSR was very real and post-war optimism was tempered by cold war fears of nuclear annihilation, Davy became a blue blooded American symbol of the times, and of the Disney company. Davy Crockett (at least the Disney version) was the small screen embodiment of the patriotic “can-do” values Walt deeply believed in and hoped to convey to his audiences. <br />
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Like all fads, enthusiasm for Davy Crockett dimmed, but not before he made a permanent mark on the consciousness of the nation. To this day, grown men and women can sing the Ballad of Davy Crockett at a moments notice. Their children and grandchildren are still enjoying the programs on DVD. Davy’s coonskin cap remains as recognizable a piece of Disney imagery as the mouse ears. <br />
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As westerns began to disappear from American television sets in the late 1960’s and early 70’s, the counter-culture generation grew jaded and turned away from Disney’s brand of wholesome entertainment. Davy Crockett was a casualty of that split. He just wasn’t “hip” or relevant anymore. Cowboys and frontier men were seen as too square and relics of the past. Most of Disney’s classic characters were viewed in the same light. It would be a while before another Disney icon came along, one wearing a red t-shirt and obsessed with “hunny“.</span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7Brnb5YvgUa6Jhdjw7ZBSqj1Kd2TwS4ruRuksSrq5HhiuPlWUbyGkdaQiXGiti6imfjPCc5yjlYAkKp0w9D4GFYO2zpv82mwNYuUJALITiQrHwRx36G-6grTlx4FmhMrDaiBbLLPRCg/s1600/lgpz0004+winnie-the-pooh-and-the-hunnypot-disneys-pooh-bear-photiquebloc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7Brnb5YvgUa6Jhdjw7ZBSqj1Kd2TwS4ruRuksSrq5HhiuPlWUbyGkdaQiXGiti6imfjPCc5yjlYAkKp0w9D4GFYO2zpv82mwNYuUJALITiQrHwRx36G-6grTlx4FmhMrDaiBbLLPRCg/s200/lgpz0004%252Bwinnie-the-pooh-and-the-hunnypot-disneys-pooh-bear-photiquebloc.jpg" width="144" /></a></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Winnie The Pooh</b> </u></span><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;">After Walt’s untimely death in 1966, his studio drifted. Some (like Walt’s son-in-law Ron Miller) thought that they should stay the course and keep doing things the way Walt had always done them. <br />
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Others (like Walt’s nephew Roy E. Disney and actor Kurt Russell) argued that Walt’s philosophy was to keep moving forward, not to repeat past endeavors, and to continue exploring new ideas. They felt that the studio should follow Walt’s lead. Unfortunately the status quo folks won. <br />
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Because of this battle within the company, the animation department almost ceased to exist. 1973’s “Robin Hood” was the last original animated film with new characters produced before re-issues of past films became the breadwinners for Disney Studios. As an afterthought, the studio strung together three shorts about a little yellow British bear, which had been made from 1966 to 1974.<br />
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“The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” was a box office smash in 1978. The bear had become a savior for Disney.<br />
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Walt Disney had licensed the rights to the beloved storybook character (who debuted in books by A.A. Milne in 1923) in 1961. The first short premiered in 1966 (It was possibly the last Disney short to be seen and directly supervised by Walt .) Subsequent shorts were released in 1968 and 1974. They were supposed to be just pleasant additions to the Disney roster. Pooh and his friends in the Hundred Acre Woods became so much more.<br />
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If you visited the parks in the 1970’s or early 80’s, Winnie the Pooh was front and center. His popularity lifted the merchandising and marketing arms of a company that was sagging and relying on characters like Mickey and Donald who hadn’t been relevant in a while.<br />
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Even today, at the beginning of the second decade of the second millennium, “Pooh Bear” remains iconic and attempts have been made to keep him significant to modern audiences. From newly added rides at the parks, a new feature film on the horizon, and digitally animated programs on the Disney Channel, Winnie the Pooh shows no signs of fading away, and will remain a cornerstone of Disney for the foreseeable future.</span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;"></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="150" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEistBY7nQkOeJguBWk0LkH9NSzrmNrYblDBciFbjx6Ea38eN4uej9PWpLSVH_DQG3ST3uqsJtJCCeFp3VwmBWAJvNw_0eRfVaPrWg90vo8B5jKGaaiZrFhiH48R578SU46VlLLNPmq9pPI/s200/Little_Mermaid.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEistBY7nQkOeJguBWk0LkH9NSzrmNrYblDBciFbjx6Ea38eN4uej9PWpLSVH_DQG3ST3uqsJtJCCeFp3VwmBWAJvNw_0eRfVaPrWg90vo8B5jKGaaiZrFhiH48R578SU46VlLLNPmq9pPI/s1600/Little_Mermaid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b></b></a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Ariel </b></u></span><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;">After a string of live action flops in the 1970’s and the sluggish pace of animated features (an average of 5 years between films) Disney was on life support and in danger of being taken over by corporate raiders or by another studio. They were only shaken out of their long creative slump after the massive failure of 1985’s “the Black Cauldron.” <br />
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New management, led by Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg, was brought in to Disney by their board. After successfully fighting off outside interests, they began the process of getting back to basics, releasing the type of films that made Disney popular in the first place. The new bosses especially wanted to find a princess that would take her place among the Disney greats like Snow White and Cinderella.<br />
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They found their princess all right, and then some.<br />
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The musical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s “Little Mermaid:” released in 1989, featured a headstrong flame haired princess named Ariel who was, by all definitions. a feminist. She became the first such heroine in Disney history.<br />
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The “Little Mermaid” was a box office sensation, and it put Disney right back on top. It also began a second “golden age” at the studio.<br />
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Ariel (and her friends under the sea) became the new faces of Disney for the 1990’s and began appearing at the parks, freshening up a cast of characters that had grown old and tired. Twenty years later (has it really been that long?) Ariel is still one of Disney’s biggest stars.<br />
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The only shortcoming for Ariel is that she mostly appealed to girls. Disney was missing similar characters that would bring boys into the fold. Six years later, they got them.</span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;"></span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnNLKIlX0Xa0PhZ04umjR5dEXAepRfdybVklmaArIBRScXR_wgDRmI76L5FNfAqM-rLKP9jdCE32aryCaLnhEqvaT3s0yN3UjWP8XaorYY7_NGVXI92wmo5PcncygfZcKRaGYMiAxEi3c/s1600/toy_story_movie_image_buzz_and_woody.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnNLKIlX0Xa0PhZ04umjR5dEXAepRfdybVklmaArIBRScXR_wgDRmI76L5FNfAqM-rLKP9jdCE32aryCaLnhEqvaT3s0yN3UjWP8XaorYY7_NGVXI92wmo5PcncygfZcKRaGYMiAxEi3c/s200/toy_story_movie_image_buzz_and_woody.jpg" width="173" /></a></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> <span style="font-size: small;"><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><u><b>Buzz and Woody</b></u></span></span> </dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;"><u><br />
</u></span><span style="font-size: small;">On the heels of a hot streak after Ariel helped turn things around for them, Disney began a collaboration with Pixar Studios by releasing, in 1995, a completely computer generated film about the secret life of toys. It would go on to become one of the biggest animated films in modern history and turn into a franchise worth billions for Disney.<br />
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“Toy Story” had as its protagonists a duo of archetypal figures designed to tap into (and capture) every little boy’s fantasies.<br />
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Buzz Lightyear is a space ranger, a “type A” personality who is always seeking adventure. He is a natural descendant of the real life astronauts of the 1960’s and 70’s. (His name is even an homage to Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon.) He also carries the DNA of certain swashbuckling on-screen space heroes like Captain Kirk, Han Solo and Buck Rogers. Buzz Lightyear is portrayed as delusional, he refuses to accept that he is merely a toy, just one in a line of thousands produced. <br />
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Sherrif Woody (or “Woody” for short) is a stuffed cowboy doll, but is in constant danger of being tossed aside by his owner for newer, flashier toys like Buzz. This is a subtle acknowledgement of the fading fortunes of cowboys as American heroes by that time. He is the nominal leader of the room full of toys, but Buzz suddenly comes along to threaten that position.<br />
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The two start oust as rivals (at one point Woody is screaming at Buzz to make him aware that he’s just a toy, and Buzz calls Woody a “sad little man.”) Eventually they team up in a crisis and become best friends.Little boys everywhere latched on to Buzz and Woody, snapped up everything in their product line, and began using catchphrases like “To Infinity and Beyond!” and “You’re my Favorite Deputy!.”<br />
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Buzz and Woody are now integral parts of Disney’s marketing plans and have been featured in new attractions, merchandise and sequels. They remain the faces for a new generation of Disney fans.</span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></dir><dir><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFd_3F9vLOlKq1nnLyM77RE-jrpPGwHilWRb2mEMtfix7wPVgOwrCaLqfWkPbEtL5b_atQyurEApyHxdZp5VhN3XLekq4j01smyVyqO4rb4fzf0g8d5Uo-gYdunKpVh7JRhJT5TypwFls/s1600/hannah.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFd_3F9vLOlKq1nnLyM77RE-jrpPGwHilWRb2mEMtfix7wPVgOwrCaLqfWkPbEtL5b_atQyurEApyHxdZp5VhN3XLekq4j01smyVyqO4rb4fzf0g8d5Uo-gYdunKpVh7JRhJT5TypwFls/s200/hannah.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"><u>Hannah Montana</u> </span> </b></span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;">Disney has had plenty of experience minting young female superstars. From the early days with Virginia “Alice” Davis to Annette Funicello, Hayley Mills and Julie Andrews in the 1950‘s and 60‘s, they have used their vast resources to help forge successful careers.<br />
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In the 1990’s, Disney’s machine was in full force again, utilizing Disney Channel shows and films to churn out female teen idols like Kelly Carlson Romano, Lindsay Lohan and Hillary Duff. These were just warm up acts for the biggest star of them all,<br />
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When 13 year old Destiny Hope Cyrus (sometimes known as “Smiley” or “Miley”) daugther of country superstar Billy Ray Cyrus auditioned for a new Disney Channel show, she had no idea that her life, and the American musical landscape would be altered forever. <br />
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The show (and its title character) in its pre-production stages, was variously called “Alexis Texas”, “Anna Cabana”, “Samantha York” and “Zoey Stuart.” The name Disney eventually settled on would be on every pre-teen girl’s lips forevermore, “Hannah Montana.”<br />
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Hannah Montana became a sensation from the moment of her debut on the Disney Channel in the Spring of 2006. This simple sitcom about a girl who leads a secret life as a pop star struck a nerve in little girls transitioning from the princess years to the adolescent years. Like no other female Disney television character before her, Hannah Montana became an international sensation. <br />
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At last count, Hannah’s show attracts 200 million viewers in the US alone per year and is syndicated worldwide. Subsequent concert tours have broken box office records and merchandise sales are in the billions. <br />
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While Hannah Montana ended its run in 2010 the show is not gone for good. Miley Cyrus may move on to other projects, but Hannah Montana will surely continue, through reruns, to appeal to Disney’s female fan base and become an iconic revenue producer forever. </span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;"></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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</tbody></table><span style="font-size: small;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWtL28-IEskRP1ppbwYNrHJFKn5i8lCz-1BKHb4G8IcSRIJRsA5VO8g-BUIIzfeshrqivjh43dMHumzGU-rh6GuKxLaYsBb1J18d-QT926_YYNGCTT-djgXTGwtyKtCDUS4aobNzGllV8/s1600/jacksparrow.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><b></b></a></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><u>Captain Jack Sparrow</u> </b></span><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: small;"> </span></dir><dir><span style="font-size: small;">When Disney announced plans to convert their popular ride “Pirates of the Caribbean” into a feature film, many people (myself included) scoffed at the notion. Why tamper with a classic? How could you possibly translate an almost perfect ride to film?<br />
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The screenwriters did a great job, but it was the lead actor who made “Pirates” a hit with his incredibly unique and innovative performance.<br />
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As written, Captain Jack Sparrow is your typical roguish scalawag of a pirate, in the tradition of Robert Newton’s Long John Silver. In the hands of any other performer, it might have been a halfway decent character. <br />
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Johnny Depp made it so much more.<br />
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When he was cast as Jack Sparrow in 2002, Depp decided to deliver a fresh take on the pirate mythos. He gave a foppish, Devil may care tint to Jack Sparrow, taking as inspiration the idea of the pirate as a rock star. (In fact, Depp cited The Rolling Stones Keith Richards as a role model. Richards would return the favor by showing up as a pirate in the third film in the series.) <br />
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You’re never quite sure whether Captain Jack Sparrow is a good guy or a bad guy. He is a jokester, prankster, quick on his feet and with a quip. He is morally ambiguous, though he does cite a code of ethics and sense of values that he lives by. Captain Jack also never takes himself too seriously.<br />
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The “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, led by Depp, has gone on to be one of the most successful in Disney history. Little boys, teens (and even adults) everywhere have been captivated by Captain Jack Sparrow. A recent magazine poll place him second only to Indiana Jones in the list of most admired film heroes. <br />
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Not bad for a character who started as a spin off from a ride at Disneyland. In fact, the “Pirates” ride in the parks have been updated to add audio-animatronic figures of Johnny Depp and other actors from the film series. Life imitating art imitating life. </span></dir>Chris Lucashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18416994097295040150noreply@blogger.com2