The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, which aired in three parts beginning on this day in 1964 on Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, had the bare necessities for great popularity. As the theme song conveyed, “On the southern coast of England, there’s a legend people tell of days long ago when the great Scarecrow would ride from the jaws of hell, and laugh with a fiendish yell.” The catchy song was penned by Terry Gilkyson who several years later would write “The Bare Necessities” for The Jungle Book. The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, which was later edited down and released theatrically as Dr. Syn, Alias The Scarecrow, was not the first film about Dr. Syn, but certainly the version today’s audiences most remember. Dr. Syn was based on a real person and characterized in the books by English author Russell Thorndike. As Walt Disney stated in his original television introduction for The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, “The hero of all the Thorndike stories is one of the strangest characters who ever lived. A real-life Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He lived in England nearly 200 years ago. By day, he was a respected member of his community, and by night he was the greatest smuggler in the whole country. But, like Robin Hood, although he was a thorn in the side of law and order, he was a hero to the ordinary folk of his time because whatever he made as a smuggler he gave away to the poor and the needy.”
