A three part mega-event of the Disneyland television show back in 1963, The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (better known by its video title of Dr. Syn, Alias The Scarecrow) introduced a generation of impressionable youths to the questionable activities and morals of a bootlegger and his highly organized criminal enterprise. Continue reading “Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow (1963)”
Category: Disney
Johnny Shiloh (1963)
That not many folks remember John Lincoln Clem (codename Johnny Shiloh) and his patriotism anymore is a testament to how much this country has become pansified by all the anti-war do-gooders that seem to sprout up whenever Democracy needs to lay a whupping on someone.
Thankfully, another great American, Walt Disney, used his Disneyland TV show to dramatize Johnny’s adventures back in 1963. Demonstrating a commitment to Johnny’s legacy as well as to the burgeoning home video market of the 1980s, the Walt Disney Company also thankfully saw fit to edit both episodes into a 90 minute movie and release it on VHS for real Americans to savor! Continue reading “Johnny Shiloh (1963)”
Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1960)
Toby is just a little kid who doesn’t ask for much. He’s poor and lives with relatives who hate him, but he is super-stoked when the circus rolls in to town. And this isn’t some newfangled circus that hands out coupons at the local grocery store. This is a full-blown, traveling circus that comes right up Main Street, U.S.A. in all its brightly colored glory. In short, exactly the sort of kick ass circus any brat with a cruddy home life would run away with. Continue reading “Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus (1960)”
Sammy, the Way-Out Seal (1962)
For those of us that grew up with a pet seal, this movie is like a welcome trip down memory lane! All of us remember the cans of salmon pilfered from the pantry. Those nights long ago when we would hook up an impromptu shower in the tool shed for our slippery friend seem just like yesterday! And I still can’t play a game of checkers without thinking about how my pet seal would always know the best move to make! I guess all that fish really is great brain food! Continue reading “Sammy, the Way-Out Seal (1962)”
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
What do you need to know about this, the twenty-sixth animated feature from Walt Disney? Just that while there were at least five books starring Basil, the mouse detective, there has only been just this one single movie based on those books. Not a sequel, not a Saturday morning television series, not an Ice Capades version or Broadway show, not even one of those money-grubbing straight to video knock-offs that pop up like a polyp on a middle-aged guy’s colon.
Disney was no doubt smarting from the fact that The Black Cauldron proved an extremely expensive and stinky stew back in 1985. Surely, this cheaper and more conventional tale of a mouse who has to foil the schemes of a rat to take over England with a robot queen built by an expert toy maker, was a very attractive follow up project to try and get back in the black. Continue reading “The Great Mouse Detective (1986)”
My Dog the Thief (1969)
This is a deservedly-obscure Disney flick from 1969 that features a bunch of has-beens embarrassing their families in a movie about a dog that steals stuff. Most of the movie you’ll spend wondering just what went wrong in each of these people’s lives so that they ended up being outclassed by a St. Bernard.
You’ve got Elsa Lanchester who plays the nosy landlady that doesn’t like dogs. Thirty some odd years prior to this, she was the Bride in Bride Of Frankenstein. Dwayne Hickman, who is best remembered as Dobie Gillis and the younger brother of Daryl Hickman, is the star. There’s also Mary Ann Mobley who was Miss America once upon a time! Continue reading “My Dog the Thief (1969)”
Moon Pilot (1962)
Did you know that the United States manned space program began at a diner party when a chimpanzee stabbed an Air Force captain in the ass with a fork? I always had my suspicions, but the important thing to remember about this bizarre event is that it is the last interesting thing that happens in Moon Pilot and it comes about fifteen minutes into what feels like a mission-to-Mars-length 98 minute running time.
This is a relatively early live action film from the Walt Disney Company and it’s notable for how little drama – real, imagined, or even forced, it contains. I’m still not sure how it managed to accomplish this since the movie involved a chimp, a reluctant astronaut (Tom Tryon), a sexy alien chick, and a gruff Brian Keith. Continue reading “Moon Pilot (1962)”