The Magic Kingdom Project: The Great Mouse Detective 1986

The Spark of Revolution

As newly made, and soon to be ousted President, Ron Miller began his reign in 1980 and many hoped, as Walt’s son - in - law, he would be the one to lead the studio back to glory. But he was unceremoniously booted after only four years. But out of the chaos that was the production of the Black Cauldron, Miller also greenlit another animated fiml that turned into a game changer. In the mid - 70s, veteran Disney layout artist Joe Hale had floated the idea of adapting the children’s book Basil of Baker Street byt Eve Titus. Inspired by the Sherlock Holmes series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Basil of Baker Street focuses on the titular mouse and his adventures solving mysteries with his personal biographer, Doctor David Q. Dawson.  But studio executives felt the project too closely resembled the Rescuers, and it was promptly shelved. By the early 80s, Miller was encouraged by the progress of the Black Cauldron, but anxious over the studio not having another, more traditional animated tale in the works. After animators Musker and Clements left the production of the Black Cauldron in ’82 because of creative differences with the producer, Clements pitched this film to Miller through a 15 minute short, created by story artist Pete Young. 

Miller was desperate for an alternative project for people not working on Black Cauldron, so he greenlit the adaptation and assigned Musker and Clements to direct it, along with storyboard artists Burny Mattison and Dave Michener. This marked the first time Musker and Clements collaborated on anything, though of course, not nearly the last.In 1984, when Miller was ousted and Eisner and Katzenberg stepped in as respective CEO and head of Walt Disney Pictures, their first task was to review everything currently in production, especially in the lagging animation department. They were unimpressed with a story reel screening of Basil of Baker Street in 1985 and they demanded a rewrite of the script and of the film’s title before animation could start.

THE STORY

In 19th century London, on the eve of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Olivia  Faversham and her father are celebrating Olivia's birthday when a peg legged bat kidnaps him after a brief struggle. So, with the help of bypassing Army mouse Dr. David Q. Dawson, Olivia goes to find the famous detective, Basil of Baker Street, who she believes to be the only one who can find her father. At first, Basil is unwilling, but then it transpires that the bat who took Olivia’s father is in the employ of Basil’s arch nemesis, Professor Ratigan, the “Napoleon of crime”. Now, you who haven’t seen this movie before might be wondering “what would the Napoleon of crime want with a toymaker?”… Obviously I cannot say.

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With the budget of the Black Cauldron already spiralling, Eisner tightened the projected budget of Great Mouse Detective from a modest $24 million to a paltry $10 million. Plus, he moved the release date from Christmas ’87 to July ’86, which angered the animators and gave the production team only a year to complete the films. But the decision would also inspire an animation revolution.To cut down on costs, the guys reused an old tactic that hadn’t been in use for 30 years and limited the moving characters in each scene to two, against statc backgrounds. The thick black lines on each character rendered costly, intricate detailing redundant, which, while it adheres to the budget, also damages the films aesthetic.

Numerous British actors were auditioned, but Barrie Ingham of Royal Shakespeare Company fame, won the role of Basil six minutes into his audition. Allegedly his audition was so good that parts of it made it into the final film. The film’s villain, Professor Ratigan was played by the icon of 50s horror, Vincent Price, who happily obliged to an audition, saying later “if anyone but Disney had asked me, I would have been offended”. Apparently voicing a Disney villain had always been on Vincent’s list, but he had never been approached. Appropriately, he is now the star of the film.

It’s unlikely you’ll hear many fans or critics speak of this one in this time period. Granted, it was very popular in 1986, grossing $50 million worldwide against a $14 million budget, which it needed after the disaster that was the Black Cauldron, because this film convinced Eisner and Katzenberg that the animation department was still an asset to the studio. With all it’s popularity at the time, however, this film has mostly faded away over the last thirty years, and I’d be lying if I couldn’t see why. There just wasn’t much spent on it.

MY VERDICT

Despite all the problems, it is, nonetheless, a perfectly entertaining little gem with it’s list of very memorable and endearing characters, that manages to keep audiences paying attention and even gripped, in some stages.

Is the Great Mouse Detective A Disney Classic? In a decade of disappointing films, this proved to be a breath of fresh air that reawoke all the classic sensibilities of old Disney while pushing towards the impending revival, so it deserves more love than it recieves and is an underrated Disney Classic.

The Magic Kingdom Project: The Black Cauldron 1985

 The Redheaded Step Child of Disney Animation

With the beginning of a new decade, not only was there a change of name, but Walt Disney Pictures changed leadership again. For the first time in ten years, the studio was controlled by someone in the Disney family, with Walt’s son - in - law, Ron Miller, becoming President. He had worked closely with Walt until 1966, and spent the next twenty years producing such films as Freaky Friday, Escape to Witch Mountain, Pete’s Dragon and The Fox and the Hound.

Throughout Miller’s time as president, he pushed innovation by greenlighting groundbreaking films like computer - animated Tron and Tim Burton’s animated shorts, Vincent and Frankenweenie. And Miller also created Touchstone Pictures, through which the studio produced more mature films. And the Disney Channel, which gave the company access to TV like never before. Sadly, as well as all of the disasters from the Disney Channel, Miller is also rembered for one of the biggest of all animated Disney disasters.

The idea to adapt the Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander began in 1971, when the studio first made it an option for future use. Immediately after buying the film rights in 1973, pre production began.

Old Men Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston genuinely thought this film was going to be the Snow White of the next generation, and the studio even used the concept artwork of veteran artist Mel Shaw in a recruitment for what was then titled the Black Cauldron to attract new young talent to the studio. Originally set for a 1980 release, the film spent a long time in development to condense the expansive storylines and many characters of the saga. But Shaw’s concept art was a double edged blade, because though it excited everyone in the studio and got animators openly bragging to journalists about the upcoming movie, it made Miller a bit nervous that the project might be beyond the capabilities of some younger animators. So, in late 1978, it’s release was postponed to Christmas ’84 to give them a bit more time on it. 

THE STORY

In the fictional land of Prydain, there lives a boy named Taran who assists a farmer named Dallben in looking after his animals, not least of which is a pig named Hen Wen who can create visions. Hen Wen’s power is discovered by the Horned King, a hideous tyrant the likes of which the world has never seen. And he wants Hen Wen to find the Black Cauldron for him, which will give him the power to resurrect an undead army and with it, take over the world.

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With the Black Cauldron’s production in 1980, Miller enlisted Joe Hale, who had been a Disney layout artist for years, to serve as co - producer, since Miller saw his jobs increase exponentially. British screenwriter Rosemary Anne Sisson to work on the screenplay and, with help from co - directors Richard Rich and Ted Berman, Joe Hale began making drastic changes to the movie. Junior animator, young Tim Burton’s designs were abandoned, with Hale saying they were too dark for the desired aesthetic. Apparently, Tim was so dejected that he never worked in traditional animation again, instead embracing stop - motion work.

Hale also clashed with Musker and Clements, who were soon removed from the project and reassigned to the next Disney project in development, the Great Mouse Detective. Trying to recapture the Disney magic, Hale turned to Old Man Milt Kahl to help with the design of the film’s human characters. Working with the story team, Hale greatly revised a majority of the script to focus solely on the first two books in the saga, leading to Rosemary Sisson leaving the project, citing “creative differences”. The greatest change Hale made was in his approach to the Horned King, who was originally designed by storyboard artist Vance Gery as a fat, red - haired Viking. But that concept was abandoned and the Horned King was redesigned as a skeletal creature with green skin, glowing red eyes and two gnarled horns, and was also made the films main antagonist.

Once Ron Miller saw all of this, he became confident enough to believe that this film could be a major event release for the studio. Thus, it was determined that it would also be the first Disney film in twenty seven years to be filmed in 70cm widescreen. The layout department were issued widescreen charts to use, which were, for some reason, designed in the wrong width versus height ratio, and this error wasn’t discovered for weeks, which forced the team to adjust all the work they had completed at enormous cost to the film’s already sizeable budget.

The animation team premiered the use of the animation photo transfer process (ATP) on this film, which replaced the Xerox machine they’d been using since the late 50s. ATP allowed rough animation to be photographed onto high - contrast film and the resulting negative, copied onto plastic cel sheets that transferred the lines and colours of the animation which made hand - inking redundant. This alowed the character designs of the film to feature a mix of thin black outlines and softer coloured lines for the first time in decades. Creator David W. Spencer would get a special technical achievement Oscar in 1986 for it.

The Black Cauldron was also the first animated film to incorporate any CGI. After discovering similar technological experiments with the Great Mouse Detective, Hale insisted HIS team find a way to use it in THEIR film. Luckily in this case, CGI was only used sparingly, for the animation of bubbles and the titular cauldron itself, though personally I’ve never been able to tell. I’ll keep an eye out for the difference next time I watch this film.

MY VERDICT

Visually, this film is unique even now. The animation was ahead of its time. And, as creepy as it may be, the “Cauldron - Born” sequence is one of the most dazzling and unsettling to date. To say nothing of the fate of the Horned KIng himself. Without spoiling anything, let’s just say Don Bluth has less unsettling fates for his 80s villains. On the other hand, every single character in this film, ESPECIALLY the leads, are duller than a live - action Disney remake. Even the Horned King, as brilliant as his design is, does nothing but order his minions around in John Hurt’s creepy, reedy voice, the main character Taran, is petulant and irritating, and the “love interest” Eilonwy, is the only Disney princess who hasn’t been inducted into the curent line up. That really says enough about her. To put it shortly, Miller, and his team had more ambition than skill.

Is the Black Cauldron A Disney Classic? Brash animations and darker tones do not, a Disney Classic, make.

The Magic Kingdom Project: the Fox and the Hound 1981

 The Challenge to the Idea of Friendship

By the late 70s, the animation department of Walt Disney Productions had saved itself from foreclosure, especially after the unexpected success of the Rescuers. While a new generation of animators were proving that they may be the answer to a revolution, the remaining “Old Men” were providing supervision on their collective final film. And the changing of the guard ended up being much more tumultuous than first believed.

Way back in May ’47, Disney bought the film rights to the award - winning novel the Fox & the Hound by Daniel P. Mannix. Oddly, the project sat untouched for ten years and director Wolfgang Reitherman dusted it off in late ‘77 to make it Disny’s next animated film. Their retirement fast approaching, Reitherman, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, together with animator Cliff Nordberg, assisted with early pre production work before handing it over to the new gang.

The group of new animators included John Musker, Ron Clements and Glen Keane, who were all riding high after the success of the Rescuers. Entering the game for the first time were John Lasseter, Tim Burton and Brad Bird, all just graduated from California Institute of the Arts, and all of whom should be instantly recognisable as future superstars of film and animation.

An immediate power struggle broke out between co - director Art Stevens and Wolfgang Reitherman; who was pushing for a more faithful adaptation of the darker elements of the book, while Stevens wanted to adapt a more family friendly narrative. Reitherman wasn’t used to sharing the task of co - director after directing a consecutive string of recent films on his own. So Ron Miller, the co - producer and future CEO and President, attempted to settle the constant arguing by consistently siding with Art Stevens. But Wolfgang had been at the studio for decades and didn’t feel like trusting the work of the new team. So he started pushing his own ideas and designs rather than allowing the animation team to flourish as they deserved.

THE STORY

An old farmer named Tweed finds an abandoned fox pup in her garden after his mother has been killed by a hunter. So she adopts the pup and calls him Todd. Meanwhile, her neighbour, another hunter named Amos Slade, introduces his old coonhound Chief, to a bloodhound puppy who he names Copper. A few weeks later, Todd and Copper meet, and without knowing that they are natural enemies, they become best friends, and continue to play around with each other despite the best efforts of Slade to keep Copper tied up at home. From there, I won’t spoil anything.

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Tensions between Reitherman and the studio culminated with animators Don Bluth, Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy entering Ron Miller’s office and handing in their resignations, declaring Reitherman out of touch and that their work was being largely ignored. Despite Miller’s pleas, those three men and thirteen others walked away. So Miller was forced to push the film’s release frrom Christmas 1980 to summer 1981, just to allow the studio more time to adjust to a sudden loss of 16 people. From here, Don Bluth and Gary Goldman would create their own animation studio, which would release such films as the Secret of NIMH, An American Tail and my personal favourite, the Land Before Time, and which would be the first genuine challenge to Disney’s mantle as the home of family entertainment. This pushed Disney to completely re - evaluate their outlook on animated cinema, with incredible results.

Stevens felt the adaptation worked best as another cute animal film focusing on love, friendship and family, just like The Aristocats and Lady & the Tramp. Copper and Todd would now become best friends as pups who would struggle to maintain their connection despite the demands of social pressure that they be enemies. The studio was still unprepared to take true risks and Art’s family - friendly vision ignored the darker elements of the novel. Especially the death of Chief.

It was a major point of contention in the studio when Stevens changed an earlier version of the script which saw Chief die in a train accident like he did in the book, which birthed Copper’s hate for Todd. This change angered many younger animators who felt the lack of a death scene made the entire third act of the film pointless. But Stevens stuck to his guns and declared “We’ve never killed a main character in a Disney film and we’re not starting now!”… HA.

The loose adaptation still kept a handful of key plot points from the book, namely the opening sequence. And in a move designed to tug at your heartstrings, that human is Tweed, a kindly, lonely widow voiced by acting veteran Jeanette Nolan, who raises Todd as a domesticated pet, and truthfully, her pseudo son. And Todd also has help from a menagerie of new animal characters including Big Mama, an owl voiced by the late, great Pearl Bailey. Screen legend Mickey Rooney was cast as adult Todd, and Kurt Russell, as adult Copper. Now, Russell wasn’t Disney first choice for that role, but Jackie Cooper was demanding more money than the studio was willing to fork out, so he pulled out.

MY VERDICT

This film is far from anything groundbreaking, in animation or plot, but the message is perhaps a bit better than I originally gave it credit for. This is the first Disney project with a real social conscience, at least since the Jungle Book. It’s about two former friends who, even when societal expectations pit them against one another, they break free of those expectations and become practical brothers. At it’s core, this film is about prejudice and how it can be bred from our proximity to others, especially our parents who may have outdated ideals. 

Is Fox & the Hound A Disney Classic? Like I said, this film is nothing groundbreaking, but it’s message is one that bears relearning over and over again. Especially in the current world. So, if anything in this questionable period of the Walt Disney Company comes close to a Disney Classic, it’s probably this.

The Magic Kingdom Project: The Rescuers 1977

 The Unexpected Smash Hit

The 70s were a period of great change at Walt Disney Productions. After the upheaval of losing both Walt AND Roy within five years, the studio was moving farther and farther away from crafting works of animated artistry and the new regime of executives were steadfast in their determination to produce films as cheaply as possible and get children’s butts in seats by way of simplistic narratives and a lot of slapstick humour. Plus, Disney’s “Nine Old Men” were finally living up to their once ironic moniker and coming to the ends of their respective careers. To further develop the skills in the next generation of animators, Disney decide to alternate between large - scale”A-pictures” crafted by the more experienced animators, and smaller “B - picture” projects used as a training ground for the junior animators. In a miraculous twist of fate, it would be an upcoming B - project that became Disney’s biggest hit in years.

The initial idea of adapting the novel The Rescuers by Margery Sharp into a Disney film began in 1962. Once he secured the film rights, Walt and the story team crafted an initial treatment with Walt eying a possible release date of the mid - 60s. However, it was discovered that the source material contained a lot of political and social undertones, which made Walt unsure that the property was compatible with the studio’s family friendly image. So, the Rescuers was shelved indefinitely.

The senior animators were on the hunt for something the rookies could cut their teeth on. And after the second wave of feminism in the 60s and early 70s, the idea of a Disney film with a female secret agent suddenly became appealing. So thr Rescuers was revived and handed over to the “B - team” to work their wonders.

That young team featured several animators we now know to be legends; including John Musker, Ron Clements, Glen Keane and Andy Gaskill. Musker and Clements would go on to co - direct several upcoming classics, Gaskill would become the art director on a few of those and Keane would be the creator of several main characters from all of them.

This team of young newcomers was led by the great and powerful Don Bluth, who had been at the studio since 1955 as an assistant to Old Man John Lounsberry, the genius responsible for creating the likes of Dumbo, the Cheshire Cat, Lady, the Tramp and Pongo. This would be the first time Don worked as a directing animator. Bluth would leave Disney permanently with eleven other animators in 1979 and form his own rival studio, the content of which I may cover as well at some point.

Simultaneously, while the B - team were working on the Rescuers, the A - team were finishing up Robin Hood and beginning work on an adaptation of the Paul Gallico novel Scruffy, with Ken Anderson leading the production. The novel centred on a group[ of monkeys who face capture by the Nazis during WW2. Astonishingly, when the time came for the studio executives to greenlight one project for full production, the B - team won the toss, forcing Scruffy to be indefinitely shelved.

THE STORY

The Rescue Aid Society, a New York - based group of mice who carry out rescue missions for children in bad situations, recieves a letter in a bottle from a small girl named Penny, who has been kidnapped and imprisoned in the swamplands of Louisiana by an unscrupulous treasure hunter named Madame Medusa, who wants Penny to go down a hole, that apparently only she is small enough to fit through, into an abandoned pirates cave near her riverboat and find a large diamond called the Devil’s Eye.

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The veteran team of Old Men Milt Kahl, Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, oversaw the Rescuers as it moved through story and animation development. Initially Bluth and Wolfgang Reitherman wanted to focus the film on Sharp’s most recent novel, Miss Bianca in the Antarctic, in which Miss Bianca ventures down there to rescue an imprisoned polar bear. But veteran Disney writer Frank Lucky felt the landscapes of the Antarctic were too stark for background animation.

Instead, this film became an adaptation of SHarp’s first book of the same name and it’s sequel, Miss Bianca. And its story focused on the rescue of Penny from Medusa, who was based on the Diamond Duchess from Miss Bianca. Initially, the story team considered making Cruella de Vil the antagonist for this movie too, but thankfully ended up feeling like it would be too cheap to simply recycle an existing character. The character design was based on the physical appearance and mannerisms of Kahl’s then - wife, Phyllis Bounds, who was also the niece of Lillian Disney. At the time, as you might have guessed, the couple were reaching a divorce, and Kahl genuinely detested her, hence Medusa’s rather hideous appearance. Plus, this was to be Kahl’s last Disney film, so he wanted the character to be his best ever creation, so he worked relentlessly on her design and refused to allow anyone else to contribute.

Since the birth of the Xerox in 1961, the animators had become more comfortable with the new tech, with the team finally making a new breakthrough with their latest project. The Rescuers would mark the first time the animators were able to craft drawings with medium - grey toners to create softer lines for the characters in the film. It’s the most detailed film in years from Disney, just like the classic aesthetic of old.

MY VERDICT

So, this film was an unprecedented success, the most successful Disney film to date, which is odd, considering the fact that we hear very little about it today. It’s a very simple story in which very little happens in the way of exciting visuals or story points. Having said this, there are only four songs in this film, and they are all memorable, if not exactly great. The animation is incredibly detailed and the voice cast is perfect.

Is The Rescuers A Disney Classic? It was undoubtedly successful at the time, this movie has sadly faded into semi obscurity by comparison to other Disney films. It kept the animation department afloat with it’s incredible animation and memorable songs, but that’s not quite enough reason to call it a Disney Classic.

The Magic Kingdom Project: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh 1977.

The Birth of a New Icon

In 65 years, Walt Disney  had numerous credits and achievements to his name: the creator of Mickey Mouse, the visionary behind feature - length animated films, the winner of 22 Oscars from 59 nominations, which made him the most awarded and nominated person in Oscars history, the mastermind behind Disneyland. And this is just a taste of his 40 year career. And yet, two things in his life meant more to him than all the rest of it put together. Sharon and Diane, his daughters. Despite the fame and success his job gave him, it never stopped him from taking his role as a father incredibly seriously. Apparently, he adored his girls as much as they adored him. He and his wife, Lilian kept his daughters completely out of the public eye, such was their desperation for the girls to have as normal an upbringing as possible. And in a curious twist, it was Walt devotion to his children which would inspire two of his most beloved works.

One of the girls’ favourite things was reading, especially Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers and Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne. And when Walt discovered this, he promised them that the Disney studio would adapt both novels one day; and he spent TWENTY YEARS trying to fulfil that promise. And the “Best Father” Award goes to…

In 1938, Walt expressed interest in getting film rights to Winnie the Pooh from A. A. Milne, but was bluntly turned down. Milne had sold the American and Canadian TV and merchandising rights to producer and licencing pioneer Stephen Slesinger, who feared, rightly, that a Disney animated film might monopolise the brand. After Slesinger died in 1953, and Milne three years later, Walt tried his luck again, Slesinger’s widow finally gave him the film rights in June 1961, and he immediately started planning the film.

Perennial Disney collaborators Larry Clemons and Ken Anderson were assigned to fleshing out a script and storyboarding potential sequences, but later, when they showed two thirds of those storyboards to Walt,  Walt remembered an inescapable fact that this book was much less well known in America than in Britain and Europe. So, fearing that America wouldn’t warm to a new property, Walt decided to shelved the plans for a future film and split the project into three animated shorts to be played as featurettes before Disney live - action films. By introducing Pooh and his friends through shorts, Walt would then feel better about a future full - length film. And, personally, knowing what I know now, it breaks my heart that he never lived to see that day.

THE STORY

Our first story begins with the narrator introducing us to Winnie the Pooh, or Pooh for short, who lives in the Hundred Acre Wood under the name of Sanders, which means he has the name over the door in gold letters and lives under it. We see him doing his “stoutness” exercise and upon finishing that, he hears a bee buzzing around his head before he sees it flying back to its tree. He attempts to raid the hive, but fails miserably. So he goes to vist his friend Rabbit, eats him out of house and home, and gets stuck in Rabbit’s front door.

Our second story begins when the east wind trades places with the west wind, and a very blustery day hits the Hundred Acre Wood, in which Owl’s tree is blown over and his house destroyed so, a new house must be found for him. Then the blustery day turns into a blustery night, which then sees Pooh united with one of the Wood’s most beloved inhabitants, Tigger, who warns Pooh about Heffalumps and Woozles who might try stealing his honey. Then the blustery night turns into a rainy night during which Pooh dreams about having to protect his honey, which then develops into a flood all over the place.

Our final story finds Rabbit getting increasingly tired of Tigger’s bouncing, so he, Pooh and Piglet make a plan to “unbounce” him, which culminates with Tigger getting stuck up a tree.

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This brings us to the late 70s and a time when the studio was still pretty anxious about releasing new animated films. Despite the success of Robin Hood, the big guns at Disney decided to play it safe and go back to the inexpensive package films of the 40s. By stitching three shorts together, they were able to keep costs to a bare minimum.

For Pooh’s voice, Walt turned to iconic Disney voice over artist Sterling Holloway. As the illustrations by E.H. Shepherd in Milne’s books were considered iconic in the UK and Europe, Walt instructed his people to keep their character designs consistent with Shepherd, while also in line with typical Disney animation style. Pooh’s red shirt was adopted from Slesinger’s products and a new Disney mascot was born.

Walt brought back the Sherman Brothers to write the music for all three shorts, and fie tracks were crafted, including a theme song which quickly became synonymous with Disney’s whole Winnie the Pooh brand. For the instrumental score, Buddy Baker drew a lot of inspiration from Peter & the Wolf by Prokofiev and assigned each character an instrument in the orchestra; Pooh had the baritone horn; Eeyore, the bass clarinet; Rabbit, the oboe; Kanga, the flute; Roo, the piccolo; Owl, the horn. Oddly, Milne wrote a collection of songs in the books, but I suppose the Sherman Brothers thought they could do better or something.

Then the shorts were all linked together through being framed within the same book, much to the chagrin of Milne purists who know that such a book does not exist. We open on a live - action bedroom and enter into the animated world of that book. And throughout the shorts there are several occasions on which the animation goes meta and interacts with the text on the pages of the book, which further connects the framing device.

MY VERDICT

There are diehard fans of the novels who think this film is a bastardisation. Personally I find it to be charming, silly, sweet and a timeless classic. And I’m a diehard fan of the novels too.

Is the Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh a Disney Classic? This film proved once again that animation was the nerve centre of the Disney studio and, while it’s easy to dismiss as another cheap package film, it’s impossible not to enjoy. Plus it cemented Pooh as a Disney icon, so I would certainly call it a Disney Classic. 

The Magic Kingdom Project: Robin Hood 1973

The Underrated Classic

When Roy O. Disney took the reins from his late brother after his death in 1966, Roy began the 70s by promising to steady the ship and honour the studio’s 50 year legacy. On 1/10/71, Walt Disney World opened to the public in Florida and Walt’s grand dream was achieved. But sadly, Roy would have less than three more months to bask in that euphoria. Because he had a huge stroke, which led to a brain hemmorage and he died at the age of 78. So Walt Disney Productions had lost it’s second beloved leader in five years and the entire team had more anxiety attacks over their own future, espceially in the animation division. And for the first time, the studio was led by someone outside the Disney family, when Card Walker and Donn Tatum became President and CEO respectvely. 

Walker & Tatum saw the animation department as a financial liability without anyone from the family around to make nostalgic connection to Walt’s love of animation. They were both “numbers men” who saw a consistent pattern of Disney animated films barely breaking even on the production costs, which included the release of The Aristocats, which had been a box office success, but not enough to turnas much profit as the live - action films or the theme parks.

The animation department, again, faced closure and only stayed open because of the protestations of the animators, who all argued, rightly, that the very core of the studio lay in animation. So Walker and Tatum relented but they cut down animated film budgets to a barebones level hitherto unseen at the studio. The first film produced under this new regime would highlight the effects of this decision on all future animated films for the next 15 years.

THE STORY

In the 12th century A.D. , King Richard the Lionheart has left for the Third Crusade, and in his absence, his greedy brother Prince John has usurped him, and taxed the people of England into bankruptcy and starvation with the help of the Sherrif of Nottingham. Luckily, the famous outlaws Robin Hood and Little John are there to take back the people’s stolen money from the Sheriff and return it to the people. One day, in an effort to finally trap Robin, Prince John organizes a royal archery tournament for all the greatest archers in Britain, with the prize/bait being a shiny, golden arrow and a kiss from the Lady Marian, who was Robin’s childhood sweetheart.

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The idea for what eventually became Robin Hood was actually formed way back in 1937, when Walt floated the idea of adapting the legend of Reynard the Fox, centred on an anthropomorphic red fox known to be a brillinat trickster and thief. But after a few project meetings, Walt grew concerned that the character wouldn’t make a good Disney hero. And the project was shelved immediately after the character was adapted into an Anti - Semitic children’s story in a Dutch pro - Nazi magazine. Over the decades, Walt kept trying to find a project to the include the fox character, including an animated adaptation of Treasure Island, which went on to become a live - action film, and as the main villain in an adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s Chanticleer, which was scrapped in favour of Sword in the Stone. But nothing actually happened during Walt’s life and the idea sat shelved for years.

In the late ‘60s, storyman and animator Ken Anderson was exploring possible contenders for the next animated film after The Aristocats, and he reapproached a possible adaptation of Reynard the Fox. Both the new studio heads were pushing the animation department to find a “classic tale” for Disney next animated project. So Anderson suggested incorporating Reynard into an adaptation of classic English folk hero Robin Hood, thus preserving Reynard’s thievery and trickery, but presented in a more heroic and endearing way.

Initially, Anderson wanted this film set in America’s Deep South to capture the spirit of Song of the South. But, by that point, the executives were very aware of that film’s negative reputation for it’s outdated cultural depictions, so Wolfgang Reitherman decided to keep the film in its traditional English setting, echoing the 1952 live - action - Diseny film The Story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men, and the 1938 classic, the Adventures of Robin Hood starring Errol Flynn and the late Olivia de Havilland.

MY VERDICT

So, this movie is famous, or possibly INFAMOUS for its lack of production. Many scenes ended up cut, including most of the climax, and I can tell you exactly which scenes were recycled from earlier works like The Aristocats, the Jungle Book and even Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, simply traced over and reworked, essentially mutilatiing the work of previous animators. And yet, even with all these difficulties, I have heard the argument made that this film is the perfect example of showing us what really matters in films, and I would actually agree, having just rewatched it. Now, obviously this is not an argument for taking even more money away from animated films, nor the innovation that continues to drive the industry to this day, but it is irrefutable proof of what can be done simply with character, performance, sequencing and charm.

Is Robin Hood A Disney Classic? It has an endearing charm and a bunch of mostly good songs to keep your entertained. Plus it kept the animation department alive. Definitely at the level of a Disney Classic.

The Magic Kingdom Project: The Aristocats 1970

 

The Dawning Of A New Era

 

Walt Disney’s death had left a huge, gaping hole in the studio. After Walt kept his cancer a secret from everyone outside immediate family, some at the studio weren’t prepared for life without him. Many of the animators had worked side by side with him for decades, leaning heavily on his guidance and direction for their own inspiration. Without Walt, there were many who thought the animation division of the company would just curl up and die after thirty years. When Walt stepped back from animated films in the early 60s, those resulting films were lacklustre and, dare I say, almost bad. Though the roaring success of the Jungle Book was attributed by many to Walt taking back control of everything. So, how could they continue without the man who started everything?

Well, after Walt died, his big brother Roy took over as chairman, CEO AND president. He promised to keep Walt’s dream alive, especially the construction of what had, by then, been dubbed Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. Roy was always aware that animation was Walt’s first love and refused to stop future animated film production. So, the first animated film made without Walt ended up being the last one he personally approved before his departure. Back in December ’61, Walt had the stroy team crafting animal stories for a two-part live-action episode of an NBC program he created called Wald Disney’s Wonderful World of Colour. After Dalmatians became a success, Harry Tytle and Tom McGowan were inspired to write a similar story about cats in 1910 Paris, instead of a pack of dogs in 1960’s London. The project, now called the Aristocats, went through years of developmental hell before being shelved altogether in 1963. In a pitch to save the project, Tytle suggested turning it into an animated film, but the animation department was already occupied with the Jungle Book and Walt was now greenlighting only one project at a time. So, Tytle moved on to other live action projects at the studio. Walt went back to Aristocats in ’66 and assigned Ken Anderson to decide if it would be an OK film to follow Jungle Book. With guidance from perrenial director and Old Man Wolfgang Reitherman, Anderson carved out a simple story and some preliminary sketches to give Walt, who was already very sick and one of his last acts was to look over Anderson’s draft script and artwork and give the film his seal of approval. 

THE STORY

In a huge house in Paris in 1910, lives retired opera singer Adelaide Bonfamille, with her family of cats. Duchess and her kitten, Marie, Toulouse and Berlioz, and her butler, Edgar. On the day we meet this family, Adelaide’s attorney, George Hautecourt, comes to help her make her will, in which, she states that, since she has no living relatives, her CATS are going to inherit everything she owns, including her house and all of her money; then at the end of their lifespan, her entire estate will revert to her faithful servant, Edgar. Unfortunately Edgar overhears all of this through an open speaking tube and gets a bit cheesed off, so he comes up with a plan to dispose of the cats and become the sole beneficiary of, as he calls it “all of ‘em dollars”.

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In an effort to bring his brother’s wish into fruition, Roy approved production on The Aristocats just after the Jungle Book was done, eyeing a release date of around Christmas 1970. Roy saw the value of another film with a menagerie of animal characters, hoping to mirror the success of not just One Hundred and One Dalmatians, but also Lady and the Tramp. At that point, Europe strongly embraced Disney’s animated films, so the idea of an adventure based in Paris seemed like a sure hit, especially in France. 

After seeing the results of patterning characters on their voice actors, Roy told the animation team to do something similar with this film. Before his death, Walt had already earmarked Phil Harris to voice the male lead, Thomas O’Malley. While the animation again echoed Harris’ persona, he himself based his performance on the suave nature of Clarke Gable to differentiate him from Baloo. Green Acres star Eva Gabor was cast as lead lady cat Duchess, with the glamour of the character matching perfectly with Eva’s sultry, Hungarian accented voice. Louis Armstrong was initially cast to play O’Malley’s best friend, Scat Cat, but Satchmo became very ill and was forced to pull out, so jazz musician Scatman Crothers was cast instead, and in an act of desperation, Wolfgang Reitherman instructed Scatman to imitate Satchmo, which apparently continues to fool people to this day.

Ken Anderson spent almost two years perfecting character designs with help from several of the Nine Old Men. Once again, the Xerox was used to reproduce sketches and cut costs. And, yet again, there are evident pencil marks in several scenes to creat a final visual aesthetic with the sophistication of earlier films. And again, we also see several pieces of animation reused to save time, with occasional moments completely copied from 101 Dalmatians.

MY VERDICT

As with several other Disney films, Aristocats has no really menacing villain. In this case, the villain is just a greedy old man who doesn’t have a very good plan to achieve what he wants. But, what this film lacks in a good villain, it makes up for with one of the best songs in Disney history, and that’s saying a lot. Everybody Wants To Be A Cat is lively, energetic and fun in a movie where that doesn’t happen all that much. It’s a breath of fresh air in a mostly pretty boring film.

Is The Aristocats A Disney Classic? Nothing groundbreaking, but sufficiently entertaining enough for an enjoyable viewing experience. Even if it’s a bit of a stretch to call it a Disney Classic.

The Magic Kingdom Project: The Jungle Book 1967

 

The Swansong of Walt Disney

By the mid-60s, Walt Disney was nearing the end of his life. Thirty years after he changed the landscape of cinema with Snow White, and forty years after Steamboat Willie, Walt was about to oversee and produce his last animated film. He was still heavily involved in the “Florida Project”, but the mixed reaction to Sword in the Stone saw him move back into his original, and more participative role in the studio’s next film.

His health was deteriorating, and he must have known his end was near, so it’s entirely possible that he felt some sort of yearning to return Disney animation to it’s former glory before his time came. He had taken a back seat during production of the studio’s last two films, so Walt decided to take a more direct role in the production of the Jungle Book, based on the 1894 Rudyard Kipling novel of the same name.

In 1963, Bill Peet, flushed with two successes under his belt, wrote the initial story treatment for the Jungle Book on his own. His version was very close to the tone of the novel, including creating the character of Louie, the orangutan who enslaves Mowgli to teach him how to make what the jungle calls the “Red Flower”. The original ending had Mowgli encountering a hunter who was going to burn down the jungle, ending in a confrontation in which Mowgli kills the hunter with his own gun. 

After a few decades of light fare, Peet wanted to explore more adult themes and he felt quite proud of the dark treatment he had given to this appropriately dark book. Sadly, this wasn’t what Walt was after, and he wanted a more family - friendly version, especially after the confused tone and direction of the Sword in the Stone. But Peet refused to alter his writing, abruptly left the studio in 1964 and never came back. After this calsh, Walt became more involved in the overall production. He hired Larry Clemons to rework what Bill Peet had written and Walt took an active role in the story workshop meetings, even acting out the roles, creating gags and pushing Clemons to develop more emotional resonance in all the sequences. Walt kept a close watch while Clemons kept Peet’s treatment characterisation but threw out everything else. The tone was lightened, the story, simplified; and Wolfgang Reitherman was tasked with directing his second successive film after the Sword in the Stone, and the foundation was laid for the work to begin.

THE STORY

Bagheera the panther finds a “man - cub" on a crashed boat on a river in a jungle of India, who he delivers to a wolf pack so they can look after him. After ten years, the boy, Mowgli (Little Frog), has grown up to be the favourite playmate of all the young wolf cubs. But, Bagheera knows that some day, Mowgli will have to go back to the world of men. Then, it transpires that Shere Khan, the tiger, has returned to that part of the jungle. Shere Khan hates all men, because when they enter the jungle, they come with guns and fire, which Shere Khan fears. So the plan is for Bagheera to deliver Mowgli safely to the “man - village” and hopefully, keep the news of his existence a secret from Shere Khan.

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So, this film is the first time the animators based the designs of their characters on the mannerisms of the voice actors. Comedian Phil Harris was hired to voice Baloo the bear, and Baloo looks and acts just like him. In a huge departure from the novel, in which Baloo is a strict disciplinarian who teaches Mowgli and the wolf cubs the Laws and words of the Jungle. Likewise with the villain, Shere Khan, who looks just like his actor, George Sanders. New Orleans jazz singer Louis Prima brought King Louie to life, who was now portrayed much more comically to match Prima’s outlandish persona. And, again, several Disney veterans were brought in to voice certain parts. Like Sterling Holloway as Kaa the snake, a villain in the film, but in the book, a very grey character who, while he likes Mowgli, will also attack whoever surprises him. Holloway also played the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, among others; Pat O’Malley as Colonel Hathi the elephant, who is a classic “pompous windbag, old soldier” type of character; again in a departure from the book, in which Hathi is pretty much the lord of the jungle. And, in her final film role, the legendary Verna Felton, who had voiced some of Disney’s most beloved characters, playing Hathi’s wife, oddly named Winifred. Finally, in what would have been the publicity coup to end all publicity coups, Walt originally wanted the Beatles to voice a group of mop - topped vultures; which Brian Epstein, the Beatles’ manager, was totally on board with. But John Lennon refused to be in something as “frivolous” as an animated film, which came out as ridiculous since Yellow Submarine was made three years later. Nonetheless, the vultures ended up in the film with voices that sounded eerily similar to John, Paul, George & Ringo, Liverpool accents and everything.

Initially, when the film still had the dark treatment, the songs were all written by Terry Gilkyson, but when Bill Peet’s treatment was abandoned, most of his songs were, too. With one exception, the Bear Necessities, that ironically became the most enduring number in the film, and ultimately the track that got an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song, which it lost to “Talk to the Animals”, from Doctor Dolittle. Gilkyson was replaced by the Sherman Brothers, Richard and Robert, who were still in euphorics over winning two Oscars for Mary Poppins in 1964. The brothers created seven original tracks, including the swinging(ly racist) " I Wanna Be Like You”, the ominous “Trust in Me” and the military - inspired “Elephant March”. The soundtrack was released in two versions, one with original songs from the film, and one with reworked jazz versions of all the songs, all done by Louis Prima and his band, and the album is entitled the “Jungle V.I.P.s”.

Since it had proven so useful for Dalmatians, the Xerox machine was used again for this one to keep costs low and production more efficient. With direction from art director Ken Anderson, the character design has composed of rough, artistic edges, which gave the film a very different aesthetic to some of Disney’s earlier work. The designs were not quite realistic animals (they turned Baloo into a teddy bear), Anderson and his team made a menagerie of memorable, if not exactly great, characters. The hand - painted backgrounds, though nowhere near as detailed as previous films, were without question, the most stunning that Disney had produced in a decade, and they marked a brief return to Disney seeming to focus on crafting a film as visually impressive as it was entertaining. However, with this said, it’s obvious that the budgetary restraints affected the final product, the pencil lines were evident in certain scenes and some finalised sketches were clearly done very hastily.

The key messages in the Jungle Book are of friendship, family and finding your rightful place in the world. And those messages are eternal, along with the idea of slowing down and enjoing the pleasures of life. Above all, however, the Jungle Book is a coming of age story that follows many familar tropes, but to some, therein is the charm.

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So… here is where things start to get a bit heavy: In early November 1966, Walt was diagnosed with lung cancer after a lifetime of heavy smoking. At the end of November, he fell gravely ill and was taken to St. Joseph’s hospital in Burbank. Walt made the decision to hide his sickness from the studio, and Roy told everyone that Walt was going in for a minor neck operation, when really Walt was having a part of his lung removed. But thankfully, at first that seemed to do the trick and he showed signs of improvement and was sent home in time for Thanksgiving. But soon his health deteriorated and he was brought back into hospital for his 65th birthday. Over the next ten days, he lost an enormous amount of weight and became pale and gaunt as the lung cancer dug in its claws. No one at the studio was aware of the situation because Walt didn’t want anyone at the studio to see or remember him like that. Roy stuck by his little brother’s side, always rubbing his cold feet and trying to make him comfortable.

Luckily, St. Joseph’s Hospital was right across the road from the studio and Walt could see the studio from his ward window. And Roy ordered the lights to be kept on every night so Walt could see the building from his bed. On his last night, Walt sent his wife Lillian home so he could speak privately with his brother. In their final conversation, Walt imagined the entire floorplan for what would soon become Disney World and outlined the map with his finger on the ceiling of the hospital.

On December 15th, 1966, at 9:30 AM, Walt Disney passed away from circulatory collapse caused by his cancer. The shrieks of disbelief and sadness echoed through the studio when the news reached them; because no one knew how sick Walt really was. His administrative team considered closing Disneyland for the day, but they kept it open, because they thought Walt would have preferred that; and they half masted all the flags on Main Street in tribute, and many park attendees stopped and silently prayed. The news was front page the next day and even many anchors couldn’t quite keep it together reading the story that night.

The film was released ten months later and, thanks to the nostalgic sentiment over his passing, it became a box office sensation. Produced for $4 million, it took in an $11 million initial U.S. run, and $23.8 million worldwide, making it the most successful Disney film during its initial run. It was the first big hit after a number of box office disappointments. However it proved to be redundant without the boss and Disney would not flourish again for another twenty years.

MY VERDICT

Here’s the thing: I fully accept the fact that this film is the unmitigated end of an era. This was the last film Walt personally oversaw after thirty years of creating and ruling an empire, and for that reason you cannot hate this film. With that said, the best way to view this film, at least for me, is without ever having read the book. As soon as I read the dark, suspenseful, BRILLIANTLY written novel, this film was ruined for me. I WISH that Walt had stuck with Bill Peet’s original treatment. As it is, the best adaptation of this book I’ve seen is the Netflix version, because what that film lacks in convincing CGI, it compensates for with brilliant writing and acting and an appropriately dark story.

Is the Jungle Book a Disney Classic? By virtue of being the last film Walt ever oversaw, this is undoubtedly a Disney Classic.

The Magic Kingdom Project: The Sword in the Stone 1963

 

The Forgotten and Obscure One.

After the success, and relative inexpensiveness of Dalmatians in ’61, Disney’s animation department was saved. However, Walt clearly had his mind on other things; his live action films, for one thing; such as the Parent Trap and Pollyanna, which were proving far more successful than anything animated recently. And for another, the pre - production of a little known film called Mary Poppins, for which he was still battling author P.L. Travers for final script approval. Five years of teething issues and Disney was finally making money from crowd numbers and park merchandise. So Walt and Roy now turned their attention to what they called “the Florida Project” which was a planned second theme park. Where animation had once been their sole focus, it had become a kind of afterthought and Walt would only commit to releasing a new film once every three to four years.

Regardless, the animation team kept pitching new story idea after new story idea at Walt, hoping for something that might catch his attention, as well as that of the people. Way back in ’39, Walt bought the rights to The Sword in the Stone by T.H. White one year after it was published, but during WW2, of course, every planned film was shelved, and Sword in the Stone was shelved for twenty years. Though it was listed as “in development” all that time, despite no work getting done on it. After the success of Dalmatians, Walt decided to bring Sword in the Stone off the shelf in mid-1960 and put it in competition with another project in development called Chantecler, about a rooster on a voyage of self - discovery. But that project was shot down in a disaster of a pitch meeting with Walt where he said “you can’t make a personality out of a chicken”, I think my uncle might disagree, but no matter.

Meanwhile, Sword in the Stone was being written, again by a solo Bill Peet, because he was still riding high on the success of Dalmatians, which he also wrote on his own. Luckily, Walt had recently seen the Broadway musical of Camelot in 1960 with Julie Andrews as Guinevere, and he became determined to have her in the lead role of Mary Poppins. Clearly a fan of medieval things, the choice was obvious between Sword in the Stone and Chantecler of which project to green light.

Walt also recognized the strength of the content in Sword in the Stone and how it echoed many previous successes at the studio, especially the inclusion of anthropomorphic animals, like Lady & the Tramp and Dumbo did. And the fact that the narrative was deeply rooted in magic like Peter Pan and Cinderella were.

THE STORY

A legend is sung of when England was young, and knights were brave and bold. The good king had died and no one could decide who was rightful heir to the throne. It seemed that the land would be torn by war or saved by a miracle alone. And that miracle appeared in London Town. The Sword in the Stone. Though they tried for the Sword with all their might, no knight in all the land could draw the wondrous blade from it’s resting place. It's secret, they could not understand. The one who was meant to rule the realm, and worthy of a throne; he will seek the sword with a humble heart, and not for himself alone. He will be the one who was born to claim the Sword in the Stone.

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After Dalmatians, the guys were more experienced with the Xerox, which would save the studio hundreds of thousands. And this film would be produced on a shoestring budget of $3 million, which is half of what Sleeping Beauty cost, making it one of the most inexpensive films made since WW2. And to save further, animation was reused, which meant merely tracing over existing animation from the film, plus using the same shots multiple times.

In a departure from the studio, the cast was not the same slew of Disney regulars and famous actors it usually is. Newcoming director and Old Man Wolfgang Reitherman, also the first solo director on a Disney film, was forced to seek out actors outside the studio willing to work for the pittance the production budget allowed. For the key role of Merlin, 70 actors were auditioned but no one had the eccentricity that Wolfgang wanted, until TV actor Karl Swenson came in. Though he was auditioning for Merlin’s talking owl Archimedes, he was cast as Merlin instead. And for the lead role of Arthur, Wolfgang turned to 14 year old Rickie Sorensen, who had the unfortunate timing of going through puberty while recording his lines, so Reitherman was forced to cast his own two sons, Robert and Richard, to replace Sorensen.And rather than re-record Sorensen’s lines, Reitherman oddly used all three actors throughout the film, so Arthur’s voice obviously changes between scenes and sometimes even in the same scene. To say nothing of the fact that the difference between Sorensen’s voice and that of the Reitherman boys is OBVIOUS, which causes all sorts of continuity issues. Plus it becomes jarring for the audience, compounded by the fact that the boys are using their American accents in a film with almost exclusively British accents and a British setting.

MY VERDICT

So, I can see why Walt was personally not a fan of this one. The animation is crude, the narrative is less than interesting and the film itself is a bit mediocre. The one thing I will praise are the songs because all of them, written by the Sherman brothers in their first outing with animated Disney, are memorable and catchy and almost earworm like. I had one of them stuck in my head as I was writing this review.

Is the Sword in the Stone a Disney Classic? It’s a mostly forgotten film that leaves little impression unless you go to Disneyland and see the Sword itself and you think "Hey I remember this...". Other than that, it’s subpar animation and narrative fail to capture the true Disney. Perhaps it would have been better off as a TV series. A Disney Classic, it is not.