Q : I would like to know more about songs from Disney movies and Disneyland Records that were played on pop radio and charted on the Billboard charts in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. Can you tell me which Disney songs charted during this time and what position they reached? I was surprised when the film version of “Let It Go” was played on Top 40 radio a few years ago with other pop songs. Is there any Disney precedence for this?
Kitty, Kansas City, Kansas
A: Early songs, before the Billboard Hot 100 began in 1958, included “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?”, and the songs from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Pinocchio. “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah” was very popular, as was “The Ballad of Davy Crockett.” After 1958, the following songs made it to No. 1 on the charts: “A Whole New World” (Aladdin), “All for Love” (The Three Musketeers), and “You’ll Be in My Heart (Tarzan).
Q : Why does Goofy talk but not Pluto?
Myk, Cardiff, Wales, U.K.
A: Goofy was created as a human-type character (he wears clothes, walks upright, etc.), while Pluto was created simply as a dog.
Q : I currently attend a PhD in Communications Sciences at the University of Sao Paulo- Brazil, and my research is about comics in organizational communications. I myself worked with comics and communications in General Motors Brazil for about 20 years. When I was a probationer at the Dealers Department in 1989, I recall there was a technical publication which had a comics character whose name was “Primitive Peter” and is assumed to be created by Walt Disney in 1943 for General Motors. Do you have any piece of information about that?
Ed, Sao Paulo, SP-Brazil
A: Primitive Pete was a character created by Disney for a General Motors training film entitled The ABC of Hand Tools. Pete was supposedly the caveman who first figured how to make a hand tool out of a stick and a rock. The film was delivered to General Motors in 1946, and was used by them as a training tool for many years. There were also several versions of a printed booklet with Primitive Pete on the cover.
Q : I am a cast member working with Disneystore.com in Memphis, Tennessee. I was wondering why cast members from different business units have different nametags. Here at the Disney Store we have the double bubble, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts have a single bubble, and I noticed Corporate has no bubble. Is there a story why these badges are different?
Tim, Memphis, Tennessee
A: There have been hundreds of different cast nametags since they were first introduced in 1962. The shape has varied, depending on the needs and desires of the individual unit. I assume the Parks’ “bubble” at the top of the nametag provided a space for the cast member to place a years-of-service pin. Wearing a nametag is not common at the Disney Studio, where there is little interaction with the public, but a nametag is part of the costume for the Parks and Disney Store cast members.
Q : I am the project researcher/historian for the Victoria Theatre in Dayton, Ohio. On January 1, 2016, the theatre will celebrate its 150th Anniversary. Disney films were very popular at the theatre in the 1950s and ’60s. Does the Walt Disney Archives hold anything related to the Victoria/Victory? From 1919 to 1989 the Victoria was called the Victory Theatre, but switched back to Victoria after renovations in 1990. Please let me know if you have anything. I am creating a permanent timeline display for the theater as my Capstone project for my graduate degree.
Shelby, Dayton, Ohio
A: The Walt Disney Archives does not have any specific information on the Victory Theatre. It would take a tremendous amount of research to determine which Disney films might have played there.
Q : I have recently inherited a lithograph by Herbert Dickens Ryman. He and my uncle were classmates at The Art Institute of Chicago. I’ve read what I can find on the Internet, but wondered where this lithograph, dated 1939, fits into Ryman’s history. At first I thought it might be from the show at Chouinard, but the date would seem to place it after he started work at Disney. I also wondered if the Archives might be interested in acquiring it?
Lisa, Brooklyn, New York
A: Herb Ryman first worked at the Disney Studio in April 1939. The drawing does not seem to be related to any Disney project, so would not be of interest to the Walt Disney Archives.