Robin Hood: Live and Animated

The stories of Robin Hood began as English folklore as far back as the second half of the 15th century or first decade of the 16th century. The legends tell the adventures of a bandit who was an exceptional archer and swordsman, and was known for “robbing the rich to feed the poor.” The popularity of Robin Hood and his “Merry Men” grew in the late-medieval period and continues today.

Walt Disney’s first live-action film, Treasure Island (1950), but soon after he produced The Story of Robin Hood and His Merry Men (1952). 21 years later, after Walt Disney passed away, the Animation Department of the Walt Disney Studios produced Robin Hood (1973). Robin Hood was also written into Disney/ABC’s Once Upon a Time (2011-present) in the show’s third season. In this blog, I thought we would explore the actors who have portrayed the character and their other connections to Disney.

Richard Todd portrayed Robin Hood in “Robin Hood and His Merry Men.” Todd also starred in Disney’s The Sword and the Rose (1953) and Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue (1953). In all “Sword and the Rose,” and “Rob Roy,” Todd worked with fellow Disney star Glynis Johns, and in all three films Todd worked with James Robertson Justice. Todd also was directed by Ken Annakin in “Robin Hood,” and “Sword on the Rose.”

Brian Bedford provided the voice of Robin Hood as an anthropomorphized fox in “Robin Hood.” While that is the only film Bedford ever made with the Disney label, Bedford did play the role of Clyde Tolson in Nixon (1995) which was distributed by Hollywood Pictures, a division of the Walt Disney Company.

Sean Maguire, who is known throughout the world for portraying Leonidas in the film Meet the Spartans (2008), played Robin Hood for three seasons of television’s “Once Upon a Time,” succeeding Tom Ellis in the role who played it for one episode in the show’s second season. Maguire reprised the role for the show’s spinoff, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland (2013-2014).

Other actors have portrayed Robin Hood in non-Disney film adaptations, but many of them have connections to Disney. 

Academy-Award-Winner Kevin Costner played Robin Hood in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991). Costner made the films Play It to the Bone (1999), Open Range (2003), which he also directed and produced, The Guardian (2006), and Swing Vote (2008), all of which were distributed by Touchstone Pictures. Costner also made the Universal/Touchstone movie Dragonfly (2003) and the Disney sports drama, McFarland USA (2015). 

Academy-Award-Winner Russell Crowe played Robin Hood in Robin Hood (2010). Crowe made the Touchstone films Mystery, Alaska (1999) and The Insider (1999). He also made the Universal/Touchstone film, Cinderella Man (2005).

Academy-Award-Winner Sean Connery played Robin Hood in Robin and Marian (1976) opposite Audrey Hepburn as Maid Marian, in which the characters are seen in their later, retired years. Before Sean Connery became best-known throughout the world as the first “James Bond,” Connery made the Disney film Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959). He also made the Hollywood Pictures films Medicine Man (1992) and The Rock (1996).

Robin Hood’s intriguing history at Disney reached its pinnacle with the animated release in ‘73. It received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Original Song “Love,” but was beaten by the Barbara Streisand classic “The Way We Were,” in the film of the same name. But the film was positively reviewed in its initial release in 1973 and grossed around $9.5 million at the box-office. It was re-released in 1982, where it grossed even more money. Thanks to its success and the other film adaptations, the legacy of Robin Hood will continue for years to come.  

Sleeping Beauty: Disney’s Greatest Flop-turned-Hit!

One of my personal favorite Disney films has always been Sleeping Beauty (1959). I think it is a beautiful story with beautiful music, brilliant animation, and a tip-top voice cast. Today it is highly regarded by the Walt Disney Studios as a classic, but did you know it didn’t do very well when it first came out on January 29th, 1959? Did you also know that some of the actors in the voice cast of the film weren’t the studios’ first choices for the characters in the film? Walt Disney always encouraged the staff at his studio to make every film that they produced unique in its own way, and never make any two films seem exactly alike, and in this blog I thought we would explore how “Sleeping Beauty,” was unique, and how it became a huge hit despite early box-office struggles.

Of all the animated films that the studio produced in the 1950s, Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953), Lady & the Tramp (1955), “Beauty,” turned out to be the most expensive. The production cost a total of $6 million and only grossed $5.3 million in its initial release. The film was also criticized for having a slow-paced story and lacking in character development. As a result of this, 5% of the employees at Disney had to be let go. The studio, however, managed to earn back much of the money that they had lost on “Sleeping Beauty,” two years later with 101 Dalmatians (1961).  

Hans Conried, who is best known at Disney for playing the dual role of Captain Hook/Mr. Darling in “Peter Pan,” was originally cast in the role of Sleeping Beauty’s/Princess Aurora’s father, King Stefan. He even recorded some lines for the role before being replaced by Taylor Holmes. There is a demo of a deleted song from the film, a duet called “It Happens I Have a Picture,” featured on the Legacy Soundtrack of the film, which is sung by Conried and Bill Thompson (the voice of King Hubert, Prince Philip’s father in the movie).

Eleanor Audley, who had previously voiced Lady Tremaine/Wicked Stepmother in “Cinderella,” was Walt Disney’s first choice for the role of the ruthless Maleficent in the film, but she initially shocked Walt by turning down the role. (She declined because she was battling tuberculosis at the time of the film’s production). Miraculously, she recovered while the film was still in production and accepted the role just in time. Marc Davis, one of Walt’s Nine Old Men, who animated both Maleficent and Aurora in the film, drew Maleficent’s facial features in resemblance to Audley’s facial features. (Audley also voiced Madame Leota in the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.)  

Bill Shirley, who was primarily known as a singer, was cast by Disney as both the speaking and singing voice of Prince Philip in “Sleeping Beauty.” The role would be his last job as an actor, but he continued to sing until his untimely death at the age of 68 on August 27, 1989. Five years after “Sleeping Beauty,” Bill Shirley supplied his singing voice for Jeremy Brett in the movie-musical My Fair Lady (1964), based on the Broadway musical of the same name. “My Fair Lady,” was released the same year as the Disney blockbuster, Mary Poppins (1964).

Mary Costa provided the voice of Aurora in the film and Verna Felton, Barbara Jo Allen, and Barbara Luddy voiced the Three Good Fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. However, none of those actors did the live-action modeling. Helene Stanley, who had previously modeled for “Cinderella,” modeled for Aurora, while Spring Byington, Madge Blake, and Frances Bavier (“Aunt Bea” on The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968)) modeled for the Three Good Fairies. (Audrey Hepburn’s slim body was also used as inspiration for Aurora’s slim body in the film.) 

Sleeping Beauty was re-released theatrically in 1970, 1986, and 1995. Each of these re-releases brought the film to a total gross of $51.6 million, making it the second most-successful film of 1959, the 1st being Ben-Hur (1959) which grossed $146.9 million in its initial release. It’s a shame to learn that despite having a talented cast, and amazing crew, the result of both didn’t pay off with audiences back in ’59. One might say that “Sleeping Beauty,” for Walt Disney, turned out to be what Citizen Kane (1941) was to Orson Welles—or what It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) was to Frank Capra. All were “flops-turned-hits!”

Lesley Ann Warren: Cinderella/Disney Prodigy

Lesley Ann Warren was practically born into show business on August 16th, 1946, in New York, NY. Her mother, Margot Warren had been a nightclub singer, but gave up her career to be a full time wife and mother. Lesley’s father, William Warren, was a real estate agent and she was their only child. Raised in New York, she attended several prestigious schools, including the School of American Ballet. 

At 17 years of age she entered the Actors Studio studying under Lee Strasberg. She was the youngest student ever to be accepted into the school, and it led to her Broadway debut in the musical “110 in the Shade,” which won her the “Most Promising Newcomer” Award. Around this time, The Sound of Music (1965) was in-production at 20th Century Fox and Lesley auditioned for the role of Liesl Von Trapp. Sadly for her, Fox cast Charmian Carr in the role but little did she know that she was about to land the title role in CBS’s second television adaptation of Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1965). 

Television Director Charles Dubin, who was assigned to direct “Cinderella.” went to see her in “110 in the Shade” and he knew almost instantly that he had found his Cinderella. However, when Warren came to her first audition for the part, Dubin’s producing team, which consisted of Richard Rodgers and James S. Starkey, didn’t agree. Her first audition didn’t go very well simply due to her being intimidated at the idea of auditioning for the likes of Richard Rodgers. (Hammerstein unfortunately died of cancer five years earlier, so he didn’t get to see this production, nor the film version of “The Sound of Music.”) Dubin, however, insisted that Rodgers and Starkey both give Warren a second chance. For her 2nd audition, she was invited to Richard Rodgers’ apartment in New York where he taught her the song “My Funny Valentine,” from the Rodgers and Hart musical Babes in Arms. When she completely learned the tune, Rodgers relented from his original feelings, as did Starkey, and Warren was cast in the role.

“Cinderella,” wound up being a huge hit for CBS. It ultimately caught the eye of Walt Disney, who was casting for what would be his last live-action musical, The Happiest Millionaire (1967). Disney cast Warren in the role of Cordelia “Cordy” Biddle, Fred MacMurray’s daughter. Warren’s Disney/film debut paired her with the likes of Gladys Cooper, Geraldine Page, Tommy Steele and John Davidson, who played Cordy’s love interest, Angie Duke. She reunited with John Davidson the very next year in Disney’s The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band (1968) where she played Alice Bower, one of the older members of the musically gifted Bower Family and Davidson again played her love interest, Joe Carder. Because neither one of the films did particularly well for Disney, Warren left the studio to pursue other things and hopefully grow maturely as an actress.

After “One and Only Family Band,” Warren had a recurring role on the original Mission: Impossible series (1966-1973). She continued to act on television until appearing in the Comedy film Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976). She also guest-starred as herself in an episode of The Muppet Show (1976-1981) in 1979. Her most acclaimed film role came in 1982 when she was paired with James Garner, Robert Preston, and Disney legend Julie Andrews in the Movie-musical comedy Victor Victoria, directed by Julie Andrews’s husband Blake Edwards. She played the role of James Garner’s prostitute girlfriend Norma Cassidy. (Ironically, Andrews had played the title role in CBS’s first production of Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (1957) before she made her Disney/film debut, Mary Poppins (1964)). Andrews, Warren, and Preston all received Oscar Nominations and Golden Globe Nominations for their roles in “Victor Victoria.” Warren was offered the chance to reprise her role as Norma Cassidy when “Victor Victoria,” was readapted for the Broadway Stage in 1995, but declined due to various other movie commitments and was replaced by Rachel York. Warren did however return to Broadway in the musical Dream in 1997.

  Lesley Ann Warren also portrayed Miss Scarlet in Clue (1985) based on the board game of the same name. Carrie Fisher was originally attached to play the role, but she ended up in rehab a short while before filming was scheduled, and so Warren was cast at the last minute. Warren’s former husband, Jon Peters, was one of the Executive Producers of the film. She acted in the Suspense/Thriller Color of Night (1994) with Bruce Willis, distributed Disney-owned Buena Vista Pictures, and also had a recurring role on the ABC sitcom, Desperate Housewives (2004-2012). More recently, she played Technology icon, Steve Jobs’s mother, Clara Jobs in the movie Jobs (2013) with Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs and will next be seen in the Comedy Dying:101 (2017).

One could definitely say that Lesley Ann Warren’s career could be characterized as a Cinderella story, since she grew from being a child ballerina to a versatile, Academy-Award-Nominated Actress of Broadway, Television, and Film. Her career spans more than 50 years, and with her upcoming role in “Dying:101,” retirement doesn’t seem to be in the cards for Lesley Ann Warren quite yet. Despite a versatile carer, she will continue to be remembered by most as “Cinderella.” 

James Earl Jones: 

The one with whom the Force has always been strong!

When George Lucas was developing the character of Darth Vader for Star Wars: Episode 4-A New Hope (1977), from the beginning he envisioned the character portrayed by two different actors, one to wear the costume and the other to provide the voice. Lucas first cast British actor David Prowse to wear the costume and when it came to who would supply the voice, he originally considered Orson Welles. Fearing that Welles’ voice might be too recognizable, Lucas cast another actor-One who would gain “career immortality” as a result. James Earl Jones had been in movies before, but prior to “Star Wars,” he hadn’t quite found his niche. It’s rare for an actor to gain such fame in the entertainment industry for a voice-over performance, and this blog will explore the uniqueness of that, as well as the rest of his career prior- and post- “Star Wars.”

James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi on January 17th, 1931. As a child, Jones had a stutter which he was immensely embarrassed about, making him shy and functionally mute for most of childhood. By the time he got to high school, he had a helpful English teacher, by the name of Donald Crouch, who encouraged him to overcome his fear of speaking and use his unique voice. That ended his silence, and Jones began applying his voice to poetry writing and acting in the mid-1950’s. After a brief service in the Korean War and graduating the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance in 1955, Jones began devoting himself to acting.

He first performed in William Shakespeare’s Othello at the Ramsdell Theatre in Mainstee, Michigan in 1955. He made his television debut in an episode of the series Guiding Light (1952-2009) in 1952 and his film debut in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). He originated the role of boxer Jack Johnson in the play The Great White Hope on Broadway in 1969, which one him his first Tony Award. He reprised that role for a film version of the same name The Great White Hope in 1970. The film reunited him with Broadway co-star Jane Alexander, who also won a Tony for her performance as Eleanor Backman. Both she and Jones received Best Acting Oscar Nominations for their performances in the film as well. In 1987, Jones won his second Tony Award for originating the role of Troy Maxson in the Broadway play Fences. (The role was recreated by Denzel Washington in a revival of the play in 2010. Washington also won a Tony for his performance as Troy.)  

When James Earl Jones was cast as the voice of Darth Vader, he requested that George Lucas exclude his name from the end credits of both “A New Hope,” and The Empire Strikes Back (1980), believing that his work on each film didn’t necessarily deserve to be credited. Lucas obliged the request, but Jones did give Lucas permission to include his name in the end credits of Return of the Jedi (1983), and his name was restored to the end credits of “A New Hope,” and “The Empire Strikes Back,” when the original “Star Wars Trilogy,” was released in Special Edition form in 1997. His name, however, was excluded again in Revenge of the Sith (2005). Since then, Jones reprised his role as Vader for every “Star Wars,” spin-off, including the Disney XD Series Star Wars Rebels (2014), the Disney film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2015), as well as the Disneyland/Disney World Attraction, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. Jones also reunited with “Star Wars,” co-star, Carrie Fisher for an episode of CBS’s The Big Bang Theory (2007-present).

In the early 1990’s, Twentieth Century Fox hired Jones to portray Mr. Mertle in the sports cult classic, The Sandlot (1993), a role which he reprised in the direct-to-video sequel The Sandlot 2 (2005), released to video the same year “Revenge of the Sith” came to theaters. The very next year, Disney hired Jones to voice Mufasa the King, father of Simba in The Lion King (1994). Madge Sinclair was cast opposite Jones as Simba’s mother, Sarabi the Queen. Ironically, Jones and Sinclair had previously played the King and Queen/mother and father of Eddie Murphy in Coming to America (1988) six years earlier. In “Coming to America,” both their characters wore costumes made of lion fur. Jones reprised his role of Mufasa for the “Lion King,” direct-to-video sequel, The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride (1998).

James Earl Jones has also portrayed himself in a number of other projects for the Walt Disney Studios. He was one of the international hosts in Fantasia 2000 (1999). In 2001, he was a host for the direct-to-video Disney series American Legends (2001), and he was a part of “The Story Behind the Story,” special feature on the 2-Disc Special Edition DVD narrating the segment about “The Lion King.” He also narrated DisneyNature’s Earth (2007). He is currently set to reprise his role as Mufasa in Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation of “The Lion King,” which will be directed by The Jungle Book (2016) director, Jon Favreau.

James Earl Jones’s career spans 64 years. He will forever be remembered as the man who not only gained, but gave immortality as the voice of the ruthless Darth Vader. It is extraordinary that thanks to the “force” of encouragement he had from his high school teacher, he managed to conquer the likes of Broadway, Television, and Film. And that Force continues to be strong with him at 86 years of age with his upcoming roles in the live-action “Lion King,” and a role in 2017’s Suspense/Thriller Warning Shot.     

Ray Bolger: Immortality as a Scarecrow

Long before Andy Serkis donned the role of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003) and before Zoe Saldana took on the role of Neytiri in Avatar (2009), Ray Bolger was cast in the dual role of the Scarecrow and Hunk the Kansas farmhand in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s Academy-Award-Winning classic The Wizard of Oz (1939). Ray Bolger had an interesting career both pre- and post-Oz, and I thought we could explore that in this blog.

A lover of vaudeville since childhood, he started dancing at the age of 19 and auditioned for Broadway at New York’s Palace Theatre at the age of 22. His audition was successful and it immediately led to him gaining leading roles on Broadway. He appeared in the plays “George White’s Scandals,” in 1931, “Life Begins at 8:40,” and in the musical “On Your Toes,” in 1936. After his short run in “On Your Toes,” he signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and his first film with MGM was The Great Ziegfeld (1936) which won the Oscar for Best Picture.  He also made the films Rosalie (1937) and Sweethearts (1938). In each of these three films, Bolger worked with future “Oz,” co-star Frank Morgan. Around this time, MGM green-lit “The Wizard of Oz,” and offered him the role of the Tin Man.

Bolger did want to be in “Oz,” but he didn’t want to play the Tin Man. He desperately wanted to be the Scarecrow. But the role had originally been offered to other MGM contract player Buddy Ebsen. Ray Bolger and his wife, Gwendolyn Rickard Bolger, fought hard for him to earn the part claiming that his dancing skills could fit the role of the Scarecrow a great deal better than the Tin Man, and ultimately they won the studio over. At a special gathering honoring “Oz,” at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Bolger said “I had thought of the Scarecrow as a man without a brain, and it so fitted me.”

Throughout production of “Oz,” Ray Bolger developed a close friendship with Margaret Hamilton, who portrayed the dual role of the Wicked Witch of the West and Miss Gulch in “Oz,” (despite the fact that the Witch light’s the Scarecrow’s arm on fire in the film.) Both Hamilton and Bolger appeared together in the film The Daydreamer (1966) and the Broadway Musical Come Summer in 1968. They continued their friendship until Hamilton’s death on May 16th, 1985, and Bolger was one of the speakers at her funeral. He was also very close with Judy Garland to which he was reunited in the MGM film The Harvey Girls (1946) opposite Angela Lansbury. They also appeared together at the Las Vegas Sahara Hotel in 1962, and even worked together on The Judy Garland Show (1963-1964). Garland always referred to Bolger as “My Scarecrow.”

    In addition to all of his other film and stage appearances, Ray Bolger also has two connections to the Walt Disney Studios. Thanks to an arrangement with Ward Kimball, who was one of Walt Disney’s “Nine Old Men,” Bolger auditioned for the role of the evil Barnaby in the live-action movie-musical Babes in Toyland (1961) opposite Annette Funicello. Kimball, who was originally attached to direct “Babes in Toyland,” unfortunately got fired from the picture due to bitter creative differences clashing with Walt Disney, but Disney still kept Bolger in the role of Barnaby when Jack Donohue assumed the director’s chair for the film. (Kimball is still credited as a screenwriter for the film.) Ray Bolger also narrated The Story and Songs of The Wizard of Oz, which is an album produced by Disneyland Records in 1969.

Ray Bolger was the last surviving principal cast member of “The Wizard of Oz,” passing away of bladder cancer on January 15th, 1987. When asked on what he was paid for the television repeat airings of “Oz,” and he replied “No residuals, just immortality.” Ray Bolger did create immortality as the Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz.” He neither won nor was nominated for an Oscar or Golden Globe, but I think that Ray Bolger is living proof actors don’t need major awards to be remembered for a role on screen!