2020 is not quite going the way we all expected… huh? So much has happened and it’s tough to focus on the things we set out with good intentions to give time to at the beginning of the year. Not only did COVID-19 disrupt our schedules, but now our hearts and minds are being tugged […]
A Walt Disney Studios promotional piece that released right in between Fantasia and Dumbo. The “story” is that Robert Benchley visits the studio to pitch Walt on adapting Kenneth Grahame’s book into an animated feature, and is treated to a tour of the Disney filmmaking process. Concludes with an actual animated short of the titular […]
I had always considered Cinderella to be one of the least interesting Disney princesses, and while she still has practically zero agency in her own story, she has considerably more personality than I remembered. As usual, it’s the side characters who steal the show. Jack, Gus, and the other mice are endlessly entertaining, as is […]
Still as weird and wonderful as I remember. Another Sterling Holloway turn as the Cheshire Cat, along with a thoroughly disturbing sequence featuring a walrus and baby oysters that I definitely don’t remember being on our old VHS.
This is one of my all-time favorites, with a playful tone throughout that never feels like the stakes are particularly high, even when swords are drawn. Features the return of two newly minted Disney stars, as Bobby Driscoll plays Peter after his debut as Jim in “Treasure Island”. And Kathryn Beaumont stars in her second […]
This was a childhood favorite of mine.The main draws remain the special effects, set design, and two terrific lead performances by Kirk Douglas and James Mason.Douglas was one of the most versatile actors of his generation, delivering a slew of iconic roles, but watching the cocky swagger he brings to the part of Ned Land […]
An anthology of stories from the Davy Crockett TV show. Covers his participation in the Indian Creek War, his time in Congress, and ends with him fighting during the siege of the Alamo. Easy to see why the character was such a beloved icon for children at the time. Fess Parker gives a charming, straight […]
via Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1955) — Mike’s Movies
This movie represents Disney utilizing every lesson they had learned over the past three decades to give us an immediately likeable pair of main characters, a charming romance, and a world that felt alive. I’ll start with the cast. At this point, Disney had an established roster of regular voice actors that would put any […]
Was promised sadness and I got sadness. I also got a well-made tale of a boy learning to shoulder the responsibilities of manhood while his father’s away, and a touching look at how friendships between children and their dogs develop. Tommy Kirk is fine in the lead role, and I was pleasantly surprised to see […]
What a profoundly weird movie. It was Disney’s follow-up to “Sleeping Beauty” and represented a completely new direction for the studio, one that would dominate their output for the next two decades. Until now, all of Disney’s live action movies had been chiefly European productions, period films that stuck to the adventure and fantasy genres. […]
FESTIVAL for FAMILY 