On this day in 1957, an attractive female from Utah emerged as Disney’s latest star in the live-action film Perri. The Academy Award®-nominated film tells the story of the trials and tribulations of the title character, a tiny pine squirrel. Filmed by a dozen naturalists over a two-year period in the forests of Utah and Wyoming, this film was touted by Walt Disney himself as a True-Life Fantasy, because it utilized footage of the critters in nature set to a fictional tale. Perri can be seen as a relative of Bambi, because both films were based on books written by Felix Salten. Although Perri speaks nary a word, poetic narration, a beautiful musical score, and three songs helped dramatically convey the powerful story. While the film was a great success, this was the final film for this Disney star, because, according to a clever Disney representative of the time, “She’s under exclusive contract to nature.”
