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Live Action Disney

post #1 of 23
1/8/12 at 10:07pm
Thread Starter 

Okay, spinning off from the Walt Disney thread, as I want to be more specific, but let's discuss the live action output from the 50s to mid 70s.

 

The other day  "One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing" was on TV and I got hooked into watching it. What astonished me was just how racist it was, with people in "Chinese" face and Peter Unistov playing a sort of comedy Fu Manchu role. Something I'd totally missed as a kid...

 

dinopubigcopy.jpg

FUCKING HELL.

 

It also occured to me, just how many of these films were set either in England or Scotland. I'm intrigued to know why this was, did kids 40/50 years ago really have that much interest in the UK? Was it the old timey-ness of it? 

 

I'd nominate Darby O'Gill and the Little People as my favorite above things like Bedknobs and Mary Poppins. Not only does it feature some truly stunning FX work for 1959, it's also got Sean Connery, the most unlikely two lead characters, a wildly inventive story and probably has the most insane ending to any kids film I can think of.

 

Darby02.jpg

 

 

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post #2 of 23
1/8/12 at 10:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SeanCE View Post

 

 

It also occured to me, just how many of these films were set either in England or Scotland. I'm intrigued to know why this was, did kids 40/50 years ago really have that much interest in the UK? Was it the old timey-ness of it? 

 


I think it was simply old Uncle Walt liked adapting english childrens literature as far as I can tell.

 

For me it was all about young Kurt Russell in stuff like The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, Now You See Him, Now You Don't and The Strongest Man In The World. I also loved Fred MacMurrays Disney outings, like The Absent Minded Professor and The Shaggy Dog films.

 

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post #3 of 23
1/8/12 at 10:23pm

I used to watch Pete's Dragon a lot as a kid.

 

WE GOT A BILL OF SALE RIGHT HERE!

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post #4 of 23
1/8/12 at 10:23pm
Thread Starter 

The weird running theme, which I absolutely love, because there's no way anyone would even consider it now, is that almost all of the leads in between 1955 and 1970 are Grandfather/Grandmother/Aunt/Uncle figures, which gives the films such a brilliant textured performance. Everything feels rather calm, controlled and safe. It's probably why they still work for young kids as they just haven't had the chance for modern sensibilities to ruin them yet.

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post #5 of 23
1/8/12 at 10:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mcnooj82 View Post

I used to watch Pete's Dragon a lot as a kid.

 

WE GOT A BILL OF SALE RIGHT HERE!



Holy shit I can't believe I forgot this. My fave live action Disney as a little boy, bar none. Musta watched it hundreds of times.

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post #6 of 23
1/8/12 at 10:37pm
Thread Starter 

Pete's Dragon is a great one, and separates itself from not having posh characters, which also seemed to a recurring thing. How well did these go down overseas? Growing up poor, I always found myself hating the stuck up little shits. 


Edited by SeanCE - 1/8/12 at 10:47pm
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post #7 of 23
1/8/12 at 10:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SeanCE View Post

Pete's Dragon is a great one, and separates itself from not having posh characters, which also seemed to a recurring thing. How well did these go down well overseas? Growing up poor, I always found myself hating the stuck up little shits. 



Eh, we found them twee and quaint to be honest - but then, we could just fuck off to the beach no matter how poor we were.

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post #8 of 23
1/9/12 at 6:01pm

I watched Bedknobs for the first time ever recently and... it's fun. Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson and Roddy McDowall are all wonderful. The kids are tolerable. The animated segments are creative. The songs are catchy.

 

But it just feels so minor. Like they were trying to recapture the magic of Mary Poppins (which I love dearly, even Dick Van Dyke's hideous Cockney accent) and didn't quite make it.

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post #9 of 23
1/9/12 at 9:25pm

I saw a few of them as a kid in the 70's, like Pete's Dragon and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I remember seeing this one at a matinee:

but for years I couldn't remember the title. Thanks internet!

 

Were the "Witch Mountain" movies Disney? If so, I saw them too.

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post #10 of 23
1/10/12 at 7:35am

It was strange going to the movies as a young lad to see "Freaky Friday" and "Candleshoe" only to come home and see a commercial on HBO for "Taxi Driver."  

 

Also, this thread begins and ends with WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT.

 

 

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post #11 of 23
1/10/12 at 7:43am

I was a big fan of CASTAWAYS back in the day. It's got it all, grand adventure of the highest order. A truly harrowing tale

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post #12 of 23
1/10/12 at 3:24pm

I'm sorry, but this thread is making me flashback to The Shook-Up Shopping Cart from Joe Dante's Matinee.

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post #13 of 23
1/10/12 at 3:39pm

Any discussion of Disney Live Action films must include that late 70's "Dark Disney" Trilogy of Watcher in the Woods, The Black Hole and Tron. I can't really defend any of them as good films, but they were all fun to watch, and Black Hole gave us a brilliant John Barry score.

 

Other live action Disney films of note: Last Flight of Noah's Ark (the title vechicle is actually a WW II Bomber that crashed on a island: An embittered man, a schoolteacher (?) and a group of plucky kids are marooned on the island and use the Bomber to escape!

 

Darby O'Gill has been mentioned. What wasn't mentioned is that the film gives us....Connery Singing!

 

There were a couple of "Sheep Dog" movies in the early 70's I remember as well. One where a Sheep Dog grows to Godzilla size, another where a man's mind somehow gets into a Sheep Dogs (maybe I made that one up).

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post #14 of 23
1/10/12 at 3:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cylon Baby View Post

There were a couple of "Sheep Dog" movies in the early 70's I remember as well. One where a Sheep Dog grows to Godzilla size, another where a man's mind somehow gets into a Sheep Dogs (maybe I made that one up).



You sure that last one isn't The Shaggy Dog?

 

The-Shaggy-Dog-1959-Disney-Movie.jpg

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post #15 of 23
1/10/12 at 4:38pm

Looks like. I was maybe 5 or 6 when I witnessed these classics of the Cinema, so my memory is a bit hazy.

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post #16 of 23
1/10/12 at 4:56pm

Ha, I saw LAST FLIGHT OF NOAH'S ARC in the theatre too. A sad coda to Elliott Gould's classic 70's run.

 

Also somewhat of note: CONDORMAN. It was one of the big duds of my childhood.

 

 

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post #17 of 23
1/10/12 at 5:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fat Elvis View Post

Also somewhat of note: CONDORMAN. It was one of the big duds of my childhood.

 

 



My god I watched that film so many god-damn times it took me years to work out Ollie Reed wasn't actually Russian.

 

Totallly under-rated gem.

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post #18 of 23
1/10/12 at 5:18pm

The first live-action Disney film I remember:

 

 

Pretty much Jules Verne Light, but it had Vikings and killer whales, so my six-year old self was pleased.

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post #19 of 23
1/10/12 at 5:35pm

Ratty, I also saw Freaky Friday in the...theater.  Jodie Foster has been a favorite actress of mine since then.  Aside from big budget Disney fare like...Tron and The Black Hole, one of my favorites was...The Worlds Greatest Athlete with Jan Michael Vincent.  

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post #20 of 23
1/10/12 at 8:26pm


 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fat Elvis View Post

Ha, I saw LAST FLIGHT OF NOAH'S ARC in the theatre too. A sad coda to Elliott Gould's classic 70's run.

 

Also somewhat of note: CONDORMAN. It was one of the big duds of my childhood.

 

 



I loved Condorman the time I saw it in the theater. Haven't seen it since though. The car chase is pretty awesome, and those Porsche Turbos are badass:

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post #21 of 23
1/10/12 at 8:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratty View Post

It was strange going to the movies as a young lad to see "Freaky Friday" and "Candleshoe" only to come home and see a commercial on HBO for "Taxi Driver."  

 

Also, this thread begins and ends with WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT.

 

 



Who Framed Roger Rabbit was 1988, a little after the mid-70s.  Classic film though.

 

I'll throw in another nod to Bedknobs and Broomsticks.  I grew up with a crappy VHS of it recorded off of TV and nearly wore it out.  Not as memorable as Mary Poppins, I agree, but it felt a little more down-to-earth for some reason, despite the flying bed.  And B&B, to it's merit, also doesn't include the "Feed the Birds."  I really can't stand that song, which I have heard was actually one of Walt Disney's favorite of the songs in his films.

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post #22 of 23
1/10/12 at 8:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mister Falcon View Post


 



I loved Condorman the time I saw it in the theater. Haven't seen it since though. The car chase is pretty awesome, and those Porsche Turbos are badass:



I honestly believe I'm a Bond fan thanks to that car chase.

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post #23 of 23
1/11/12 at 12:51am

Mister Boogedy Boo made me wet the bed aged 6.

 

True story.

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