Q : There was a film short always shown with the Disney movie Blackbeard’s Ghost in theaters in the 1970s (my daughter and I saw the movies three times). The short was about a girl named, Suzy and a St. Bernard, and if I remember correctly about ski rescue services. Please tell me the name of the short and if it’s available anywhere. You’d make my daughter (and me) very happy.
Fred, Chicago, Illinois
A: You are referring to the 1975 reissue of Blackbeard’s Ghost. That year, Disney also released a 28-minute featurette entitled Fantasy on Skis, which indeed featured Susie and a St. Bernard.  The film was a shortened version of a 1962 television show. Neither version has been released on DVD.
Q : Do you know when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is set? I know this is sort of a silly question, but it just bugs me not knowing the answer. And another small question: how did Disney compensate for the money he lost in the early ’40s? Was it through his animated shorts? Thanks a million, Dave!
Mohammad, Anaheim, California
A: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a fairy tale first published by the Brothers Grimm in 1812, so it obviously takes place before that, but I don’t think the Grimms (or Walt Disney) ever detailed exactly when the story was supposed to be set. During the post-war years of the 1940s, Walt Disney kept his company afloat by producing educational films, short cartoons, and package features—a group of shorts and featurettes tied together and released as a feature—as well as by licensing merchandise. By the start of the 1950s, he had a hit with Cinderella, had started his True-Life Adventures, and was about to embark in the fields of television and theme parks.
Q : One of my favorite movies is The Little Mermaid. One day I decided to Google search the movie and found the fairy-tale version of it on Wikipedia. I know that Wikipedia is not necessarily a reliable source due to the fact that anyone can change it at any time. Is the Wikipedia version the original story, and did the Disney Company loosely base the movie on that version of the story?
Cordelia, Medford, Oregon
A: I suggest you check your local library for a book of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales; there you can find the original story.
Q : Many times you are asked if a particular film or TV show was or is available on DVD, and most of the time you report that it is not. So my question is, ignoring the business and marketing end of the equation, if the company wanted to, could it be made available on DVD? In other words, how extensive is the Disney film and video library? For example, I’ve always wanted to watch all the Wonderful World of Disney TV shows, beginning to end. Do they all exist in some usable form that could be transferred to DVD (or Blu-ray)—or re-broadcast on Disney Channel?
Jim, Cape Canaveral, Florida
A: The Disney film library is totally complete, so it is possible that any Disney film could be re-released in the future, depending on the medium at the time.
Q : An old friend of mine was working at the house of Esther Forbes, the author of the book Johnny Tremain, in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the ’50s. He claims that while he was there working on the house, a car stopped in front and out came Walt Disney. Walt stopped and talked to him for a while before entering her house. I assume he was there to talk about some sort of rights to the book to be made into the movie. Can you tell me any details about his visit to Worcester and did it coincide with his visit with Norman Rockwell’s studio in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Jim, Auburn, Massachusetts
A: The book, Johnny Tremain, was published in 1943; it is possible that Walt Disney visited Esther Forbes when he was looking to purchase the movie rights, but we do not have details that he did. The movie was released in 1957, and Walt reportedly sent a limousine so Forbes could attend the opening in Boston. We have no record of Walt Disney ever visiting Rockwell in Massachusetts, though he did stop to see him at his earlier studio in Arlington, Vermont, while on a driving trip through New England during World War II.