By Jim Fanning A circus bear, a crooning cricket, and a certain Mouse are the leading animated luminaries in Walt Disney’s Fun and Fancy Free. Released 70 years ago today, this unique mélange of song, stars, and cartoon favorites was one of Walt’s “package features”—post-World War II animated features made from “packaging” together shorter featurettes. …
See more
By Greg Ehrbar Certain past Disneyland attractions stir instant memories for guests fortunate enough to have experienced them—and also inspire the imaginations of those who wish they could have enjoyed them. Topping many a list is Adventure Thru Inner Space, which opened August 5, 1967. This ingenious attraction took guests through a Mighty Microscope to …
See more
By Jim Fanning Saddle up, pardners! Time to round up a few factoids as we go ridin’, ridin’ along with Walt Disney’s A Cowboy Needs a Horse. Celebrating 60 years of rocking horses and western song, this stylishly animated “special” is special indeed. With the gentle clip-clop-like cadence of the title tune, Disney animation tells …
See more
By Greg Ehrbar Aglow with idyllic charm suggesting the “Shipoopi” bandstand in The Music Man, Carnation Plaza Gardens brought a variety of joyous entertainment to Disneyland park beginning in 1956. We asked Tim O’Day about the beloved location, since he was a Stage Manager there as a young Cast Member, as well as a PR …
See more
By Greg Ehrbar Zooming into its 30th anniversary on July 30, Flight of the Navigator is a sci-fi adventure with a loyal legion of fans in its orbit. It starts with every kid’s nightmare—waking up in a strangely altered reality, then morphs into an awesome kid’s dream-come-true—piloting a spacecraft with a goofball robotic sidekick. Director …
See more
By Jim Fanning Celebrate 35 years of being the best of friends with The Fox and the Hound (1981)! Described as “the story of two friends who didn’t know they were supposed to be enemies,” Disney’s twenty-fourth animated feature tells the heartfelt tale of Tod, a mischievous orphaned baby fox who becomes best friends with …
See more
By Jim Fanning Get a clue! As you may have deduced, it’s the 30th anniversary of Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective, which was released on July 2, 1986. The intriguing animated action-adventure details the exploits of a Sherlock Holmes-inspired mouse. Tricked out in deerstalker hat and Inverness cape, and brandishing a calabash pipe and magnifying …
See more
By Courtney Potter Ahoy, mateys! We’ve got an anniversary on our hands: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides—the fourth installment of the hugely successful Pirates film franchise—sailed into theaters on May 20, 2011… Once again starring Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow and Geoffrey Rush as Captain Barbosa, On Stranger Tides added some new …
See more
By Greg Ehrbar When it premiered 70 years ago this month, Make Mine Music was somewhat of a pop music twist on Fantasia (1940). The movie combined 10 animated short cartoons into one film because the impact of World War II on the Walt Disney Studios made a feature with a singular story unfeasible. Walt’s …
See more
By Jim Fanning Released on April 12, 1996, Disney’s James and the Giant Peach has been satisfying audiences’ appetites for fantastical filmmaking for 20 years. Ripe with adventure and blossoming with fun imagination, this delicious stop-motion animation/live-action film—based on Roald Dahl’s best-selling book—tells the tantalizing tale of James Henry Trotter. Life is the pits for …
See more
