David Swift: Underrated as a Director

Walt Disney hired a great deal of talented to people to work in the animation as well as the live-action departments at his studio. Though only a few of the people he hired were fortunate enough to work in both. An example is David Swift. A relative unknown to the public Swift began his career at the Walt Disney Studios as an office boy and then worked his way up to being an animator. After war-time service he became a writer/director of live-action films, and many episodes of popular 1960s television series. 

David Swift was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on July 27th, 1919. He dropped out of high school at the age of 17 and moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue his goal of working for Walt Disney. One of his first jobs in Los Angeles, however, was working as an usher at the Warner Bros theater. He also attended art school and Hollywood High School at night, then landed the Disney office boy job. By 1938, he was promoted to assistant animator under Ward Kimball, one of Walt Disney’s “Nine Old Men.” Swift collaborated with Kimball on the films Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), where they animated the Dwarves and Vultures and Pinocchio (1940), where they animated Jiminy Cricket. Together they also worked on Fantasia (1940), Peter Pan (1953), and the shorts The Reluctant Dragon (1941) and The Nifty Nineties (1941). While under Kimball’s tutelage, Swift became the original drummer for the Disney Studio Dixieland jazz band Firehouse Five Plus 2 in which Ward Kimball played the trombone and Frank Thomas played the piano.  

David Swift served with the 8th Air Force during World War II, organizing bombing missions over Germany. After returning to Los Angeles, he created the show Mister Peepers (1952-1955). He also wrote and directed episodes of the shows General Electric Theater (1953-1962), Playhouse 90 (1956-1961), and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955-1962), and wrote comedy radio scripts for the likes of Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, and Red Skelton. Ultimately, he came back to the Walt Disney Studios and was hired to be writer/director of the film Pollyanna (1960) which ignited Hayley Mills’s career at Disney. Ironically, one if the shorts that Swift worked on for the studio, “Nifty Nineties,” played in front of “Pollyanna,” and in that short Ward Kimball voiced an animated, caricatured version of himself. “Pollyanna,” was not a critical success, though it earned Hayley Mills the Academy Award for Best Juvenile Performance by an Actor or Actress in a leading role, the last recipient of that category. Swift reunited with Mills the very next year writing and directing her in The Parent Trap (1961). 

One day while “Parent Trap,” was in production, David Swift had to run up to his office to get his script. On his way up, he ran into Walt Disney, who said “Hey Bud!” (He referred to David Swift has “Bud.”) “I want you to meet two guys.” Swift replied “Walt, I don’t have time.” Walt said, “It’s my studio, come with me.” Naturally, he went, and Walt introduced him to Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, whom he had hired to write music for the film. Swift was caught off guard, at first, because there originally were no plans to have any music in the film. But he immediately saw the potential of the Sherman’s music when he heard them play the songs “For Now, For Always,” which is played in the scene of the film where Maureen O’Hara and Hayley Mills are walking in the park together and the film’s trademark song “Let’s Get Together.” He ended up very excited that their music would be included. (The Sherman’s also wrote “The Parent Trap,” title song which is played in the film’s opening titles.) 

After “Parent Trap,” David Swift continued directing films with Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963) and Good Neighbor Sam (1964), both of which starred Jack Lemmon, and the film based on the hit Broadway musical of the same name: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967). He returned to Disney a final time to write the film Candleshoe (1977) which was Jodie Foster’s final film for Disney. Swift was originally supposed to direct the film, but he decided to step down from the director’s chair due to belief that Foster was not right for the leading role in the movie. He was replaced with Norman Tokar. Swift is also given screen credit as one of the writers of Disney’s remake of The Parent Trap in 1998.

Throughout his career, David Swift never received any major awards for his unique body of work. Though his talents in school helped him produce films and television shows that to this day are loved by both kids and adults. He passed away on December 31st, 2001, capping a career that lasted for more than 50 years. The legacy of his screenwriting/direction will continue to live on, primarily because “Pollyanna,” and “The Parent Trap,” remain beloved classics among Disney movie fans.   

“I Want” Song Blog

Have you ever heard of the “I Want” Song? In musical terms, that is used to describe the moment near the beginning of the show when the main protagonist expresses that they are unsatisfied with their current life and they explain what they hope to achieve someday. Sometimes its an intimate moment about a life-long dream, but it usually gives us as an audience the ability to emotionally connect with the show’s main character. The “I Want” Song has been used for many years, and is one of the most common prototypes for both stage and screen musicals, and is often the musical’s most popular song. The term is believed to have been invented by A. Lehman Engle, who was a composer of Broadway, Television, and Film.    

One of the very first songs to really define the “I Want” Song prototype was “Over the Rainbow,” in The Wizard of Oz (1939). Dorothy Gale dreams of going to a place where she will never have any problems or get herself into any trouble—“where troubles melt like lemon drops”— because she’s convinced that anywhere is better than her farm in Kansas. In this blog, I’ll acknowledge some other examples of “I Want” songs—both Disney and Classic Broadway/Hollywood—and explain how they are examples of dreaming of “where happy little blue birds fly.”

1. “I’m Wishing/One Song,” from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). In this song, Snow White dreams of a life better than being a scullery maid for her cruel stepmother, the Evil Queen, and of finding true love one day. Out of nowhere, Prince Charming appears to be that special love. The Prince also expresses how he has found love her as well and wants to be with her forever. Larry Morey and Frank Churchill wrote all of “Snow White’s,” songs as well as the songs “Love is a Song,” from Bambi (1942) and “Lavender Blue,” from So Dear to My Heart (1948). 
2. “The Boy Next Door,” from Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). Just before “St. Louis’s,” trademark “Trolley Song,”Judy Garland (as Esther Smith) expresses how she is utterly smitten with her next door neighbor, John Truett, and how she hopes that somehow he will notice her and that they will ultimately be together. In life imitating art, Judy Garland was also directed by her future husband on this film, Vincente Minnelli. Vic Damone later sang a revised version of the song called “ The Girl Next Door,” in the film Athena (1954).
3. “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes,” from Cinderella (1950). Much as in Snow White, Cinderella sings “A Dream…” to express her desire to find true happiness, not just finding true love, but a life where she won’t have to constantly cook, clean, etc. for her cruel stepmother and stepsisters. (“Cinderella,” spawned two direct-to-video sequels, Cinderella 2: Dreams Come True (2002) and Cinderella 3: A Twist in Time (2007) as well as a live-action version in 2015).  
4. “Wouldn’t it Be Loverly,” from My Fair Lady (1964). Eliza Doolittle, the humble cockney flower-selling girl, sings of life, better than just walking the streets of London selling flowers, and from the beginning of the movie sets her sights on a warm house with her true love. Julie Andrews made this song a hit, originating the role of Eliza on the Broadway stage in 1955, though it was Marni Nixon’s talents who were dubbed over Audrey Hepburn’s singing voice in the Best Picture Oscar Winning film version. (Coincidentally, “My Fair Lady” was released the same year that Julie Andrews made Mary Poppins (1964)). 
5. “The Sound of Music,” from The Sound of Music (1965). When this timeless and beautiful story begins in the Austrian alps, we learn that Maria Rainer is a rebellious postulant, who loves being outside and near the beautiful Austrian nature despite being a postulant in the convent. Thus, the Mother Abbess encourages her to leave the convent and pursue becoming a governess to the seven children of Captain Georg Von Trapp. And at that moment, she sings another “I Want,” song, “I Have Confidence,” which is about how Maria desperately wants to make a good impression on the Von Trapps. While “The Sound of Music,” the song is in both the Broadway version and film of “Sound of Music,” “I Have Confidence,” was written exclusively for the movie.   
6. “Maybe,” from Annie (1977). In this musical, an eleven-year-old Annie sings from an orphanage in New York, dreaming of finding the parents who abandoned her as a baby, but promised they would return. Her optimism is incredibly relentless as she describes what they “may be” like. While “Tomorrow,” is arguably the most popular song from this show, its “Maybe,” where Annie truthfully expresses what she longs for is most poignant. It was the favorite of Aileen Quinn who is the actress who played Annie in the 1982 film version. 
7. “Once Upon a Time/I Wish,” from Into the Woods (2014). This amazing version of the “I Want,” song includes several different characters, all wanting their own special wish. Cinderella wants to attend the King’s festival, the Baker and his wife want a child, Jack wishes that his cow would give milk and Little Red Riding Hood wishes for bread from the Baker to take to her Grandmother’s house. The show originally opened on Broadway in 1987, though Disney adapted it into its very first film in 2014. 
8. “Part of Your World,” from The Little Mermaid (1989). Ariel dreams of living her life on the land with humans and being with the man she loves, Prince Eric, in this plot-setting song. Disney Chairman (at the time), Jeffrey Katzenberg, initially felt that this song should be cut from the final film after an early film test screening with children. The films writer/directors/producers, John Musker, Ron Clements, and Howard Ashman all unsuccessfully tried to persuade Katzenberg to keep the song, but he relented when Glen Keane, one of Ariel’s supervising animators, was able to get through to him, and it was a hit.
9. “Omigod You Guys,” from Legally Blonde the Musical (2007). From the outset, we learn that Elle Woods wants nothing more than to marry her boyfriend, Warner Huntington III and she is convinced that he is about to propose to her. Of course, he instead dumps her, but through following him to Harvard she finds herself instead of a marriage proposal. “So Much Better,” and “Find My Way,” are songs that complete her transformation to comfort in her own skin. 
10. “When Will My Life Begin,” from Tangled (2010). Rapunzel appreciates her daily routine while living inside her tower, but dreams of getting out to experience life, especially floating lanterns that light up the sky each year on her birthday. “Tangled,” also received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Original Song “I See the Light,” which is the love duet between Rapunzel and Flynn Rider.

“I Want,” songs continue today (for example, “How Far I’ll Go,” from Disney’s Moana (2016) and “My Shot,” from Broadway’s Hamilton, both of which were written and composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda). Sharing a few examples of these important songs shows how storytelling through song is a pivotal way to get audiences to identify with—and enjoy—characters and their struggles.

An Ode to Pooh Bear

Every Disney lover has their own favorite Disney character, but their are certain special characters seen so frequently in film/television and in Disney Store/Parks merchandise that they could almost be categorized as a “mascot.” Mickey Mouse and all of his friends, Jiminy Cricket, and Tinker Bell, fit the bill, but one other character who would fall underneath that category easily would be Winnie the Pooh. And in honor of the soon-to-open Disney film, Christopher Robin (2018), I thought in this blog we could explore the history of Winnie the Pooh in books by A.A. Milne…and how he ultimately became a huge part of the Disney legacy.  

Winnie the Pooh was developed by Alan Alexander “A.A.” Milne after his son, Christopher Robin Milne’s stuffed bear, Edward. The Milne’s renamed the bear Winnie the Pooh after a black bear named Winnie and a swan whose named happened to be Pooh. The character Winnie the Pooh made his first appearance in a book of poetry by A.A. Milne called When We Were Very Young published in 1924. He was in the 38th poem in the book, titled “Teddy Bear.” His illustration was done by Milne’s illustrator, Ernest Howard “E.H.” Shepard. Later Milne and Shepard collaborated on the original “Winnie the Pooh” books Winnie-the-Pooh (published in 1926) and The House at Pooh Corner (published in 1928).  

Walt Disney was interested as early as 1938 in the idea of making a film of “Winnie the Pooh,” having consistently overheard his daughter, Diane, laughing, over them when she was alone in her bedroom. However, it wasn’t until 1961 that he officially acquired the rights. Not long after, Disney changed his mind and decided to make a short film that would be attached to a live-action film. The first Winnie the Pooh short, Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree, was released on February 4th, 1966. It played in front of The Ugly Dachshund (1966) which starred Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette. “Honey Tree,” would unfortunately be the only short Walt would see in the final form, as he passed away 10 months later (on December 15th, 1966).

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) was released next NS It garnered the Academy Award for Best Short Subject, Cartoons. Wolfgang “Woolie” Reitherman, who directed the short, accepted the award on behalf of Walt Disney. Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too followed in 1974. It “too,” received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Short Film, Animated. Those three shorts were combined for a feature length film, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, in 1977. The 4th and final Winnie the Pooh short, Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore, was released in 1983. All of the original “Winnie the Pooh,” shorts feature the music of legendary composer/lyricist team of Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. 

Dan Ferguson and Richard Moore created a “Winnie the Pooh,” comic strip which lasted from 1978-1988. Pooh also made his debut on television in Welcome to Pooh Corner (1983-1986), followed by The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988-1991), and returned to the Silver Screen in Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin (1997). In 1986, he got his first video game: Winnie the Pooh and the Hundred Acre Wood. Pooh ultimately even has his own theme park attractions in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh which opened at Walt Disney World in 1999 (and can be found at all the Disney Parks) and Pooh’s Hunny Hunt which opened at Tokyo Disneyland in 2003.

Disney Studios later gave both Tigger and Piglet their own movies with The Tigger Movie (2000) and Piglet’s Big Movie (2003). Pooh and his friends were re-adapted in the animatronic format for television in The Book of Pooh (2001-2003), and they also received two additional films with Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (2005) and Winnie the Pooh (2011). There has also been a huge number of “Winnie the Pooh” shorts and films that have been directly released for Blu-Ray and DVD, including Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo (2004) and Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too (2009). And “Christopher Robin,” will officially be coming to theaters on Friday, August 3rd, featuring a screenplay by Allison Schroeder, writer of Hidden Figures (2016) and Tom McCarthy, writer of Disney/Pixar’s Up (2009) and Alex Ross Perry. It is under the direction of Marc Forster, director of Finding Neverland (2004) and Stranger than Fiction (2006).

  Winnie the Pooh has a quite remarkable history throughout the Disney studios. His “Best friend” demeanor and his ability to seemingly overcome whatever obstacle or problem his friends are facing makes him a favorite for many. He often manages to help a friend without even realizing that he has. We hear him say he is “a bear of very little brain,” but he is actually smarter than he thinks. He humbles himself without even knowing it, and that is what makes him so lovable, and his popularity helps the Disney legacy stay alive.

Carol Burnett: Glad We Had This Time

Lucille Ball is arguably, the first woman in the history of show business who made it possible for women to be funny. Her portrayal of Lucy Ricardo in I Love Lucy (1951-1957) is a staple in reruns. And today there are many women who are exceptionally talented comedians, i.e.: Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Ellen DeGeneres, Amy Schumer, Tina Fey, and many others. Another woman who really “paved the way,” for women to be funny was Lucy’s protege, Carol Burnett. The Carol Burnett Show (1967-1978) was the first variety show to have a female host. Carol Burnett’s then-husband, Joe Hamilton, was a producer on the show, similar to how Lucille Ball’s then-husband, Desi Arnaz, was the executive producer of “I Love Lucy.” “Carol Burnett,” which also starred, Harvey Korman, Tim Conway, Vickie Lawrence, and Lyle Waggoner, made millions of people laugh, both in the studio audiences and “throughout TV Land.” Beyond all the laughs, however, Carol Burnett’s real life, was anything, but humorous.

Carol Burnett was born in San Antonio Texas on April 26th, 1933. She relocated to Hollywood, CA as a young child with her sister, Chris, where they were raised by their grandmother “Nannie,” due to their parents struggle with alcohol and ultimate divorce. As a young child, Carol Burnett became a huge fan of movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood and instantly developed the desire to break into show business. After graduating Hollywood High School, she went to study journalism at UCLA, but spent her spare time performing in plays at the University. After doing a special performance at a University party, a man and his wife approached Carol and complemented her on her performance, and asking if she had any future plans. She replied that she would like to someday go to New York to perform on Broadway. The man then asked her why she wasn’t already there and she replied that she simply did not have the money. To her great surprise, the man took out his wallet and gave her a check for $1,000 to go to New York and try her luck. He gave it to her on three conditions: she would pay it back to him in five years, no interest, she would also help others get started as well if she found success, and that she would also never reveal her benefactor’s name. Astonished, she was on her way. 

  After relocating to New York with her college sweetheart, Don Saroyan, whom she would later marry, Carol Burnett immediately began auditioning for Broadway musicals. She auditioned for the female lead role in a show called Babes in Arms, a Rodgers and Hart musical that opened on Broadway in 1937, was adapted for film in 1939, and was to be revived in the mid-1950’s. The producers were planning on having it open in Florida and ultimately bring it to Broadway. Carol Burnett made it all the way through the audition process and the producers of the show, and even Richard Rodgers himself, were pleased with her, and the director wanted to give her the role, but sadly the producers decided they wanted a name for the show rather than a newcomer. However, after receiving rejection via a phone call, Carol’s telephone rang again just a few minutes later, in which she received an invitation to audition for an off-Broadway production of a show called Once Upon a Mattress, a musical-comedy based on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Princess and the Pea. She auditioned, and was cast in the leading role of Princess Winifred the Woebegone, which earned her a Tony Award Nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. (Meanwhile, the revival of Babes in Arms, closed in Florida, before having even made it to Broadway.)   

Around the time of being cast in “Mattress,” Carol Burnett also earned a regular spot on The Garry Moore Show (1958-1967), a program that had begun as a radio program in 1950, but transitioned to television in 1958 and was produced by CBS. The show featured comedy skits, monologues, singing, and Q&A sessions with the audience, all of which Carol later brought to her own show. It was because of Garry Moore that Carol Burnett not only learned, understood, loved television. It was also on “Garry Moore,” that Carol Burnett invented her famous “ear tug,” which she did on both “Garry Moore,” and later her own show. After an unfortunate divorce from Saroyan, Carol Burnett met her second husband, Joe Hamilton, who was a producer on “Garry Moore,” and later on her own show. He was also the composer/lyricist of the song “I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together.” 

CBS was initially reluctant to give Carol Burnett her own show, despite how talented she was as a performer. They simply told her that comedy variety is a “man’s game.” Carol Burnett was determined to do her own thing with CBS as she was under contract with the network, and she and her husband both continued to persist. Even after CBS gave in, neither CBS nor Carol and her “rep players” were entirely confident that they would last even one season. Surprisingly they lasted for 11 hysterical years! The show won eight Golden Globes, five of which were for Carol Burnett herself, and 25 Primetime Emmys. The show premiered on September 11th, 1967 and closed on March 29th, 1978. Besides applying what she had learned on “Garry Moore,” to her own show, i.e.: Q&A sessions and musical numbers, what made “Carol Burnett,” unique from “Garry Moore,” was that she also invented the idea of movie parodies on her show. One of the most popular parodies was that of “Went With the Wind,” a parody of Gone With the Wind (1939) in which she plays Starlett O’Hara who walks out on stage wearing a ridiculously large dress made of curtains, but the curtains are still attached to a curtain rod. Carol Burnett also became known for her “Tarzan yell,” which she did numerous times on her show.    

Two years following the closing of her show, Carol Burnett made a special guest star appearance as herself on The Muppet Show in 1980. She unfortunately endured her second divorce from Joe Hamilton in 1984, but remained close with him afterwards. In 1987, she hosted the “Great Moments in Disney Animation,” special on The Wonderful World of Disney (1954-present), which back then was called the Disney Sunday Movie from 1987-1990. Carol Burnett also hosted the Walt Disney World 4th of July Spectacular in 1988 and Walt Disney World’s 20th Anniversary Celebration in 1991. In 2001, besides the tragedy of 9/11, Carol Burnett’s oldest daughter, Carrie Hamilton was also diagnosed with lung cancer that summer and she died in January the following year at the age of 38. More positively, however, Carol Burnett married for the third time to Brian Miller, the principal drummer and contractor for the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra on November 24th, 2001, and she and Miller have been happily married for 17 years. In 2005, Carol Burnett collaborated with ABC as both an executive producer and star of the made-for-television movie-musical Once Upon a Mattress, though in the film she portrayed Queen Aggravain, who is Princess Winifred’s main antagonist, while Winifred herself was played by Tracey Ullman. Carol Burnett also voiced Haru in the Disney/Studio Ghibli film, The Secret World of Arietty (2012).

Carol Burnett is one of the funniest ladies ever. For almost seventy years, she has made the whole world laugh, from performing on Broadway, to her incredibly hilarious variety show, to some performances in film, to even writing some memoirs: This Time Together in 2010 and In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox. She truly has created a unique legacy of humor that will never be forgotten.  

Disney’s Americana

Knowing that the 4th of July, otherwise known as Independence Day, will be here in three days from now, I thought in this blog we could acknowledge some of the artifacts produced by Disney that acknowledge the history of America. We will talk about movies, television shows, and theme park attractions and why many of them are special today. 

For starters, in 1953 the Disney Studios produced a short called Ben and Me. The short told a fictional story of how a mouse named Amos met and befriended Benjamin Franklin and collaborated with him in contribution to the American Revolution and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The short featured the voice talents of Disney film veterans Sterling Holloway as Amos and Charles Ruggles as Benjamin Franklin. The short also featured Hans Conried as Thomas Jefferson and Bill Thompson as Governor Keith. (Ironically Conried and Thompson also lent their voices to Captain Hook and Mr. Smee in Peter Pan (1953), which was released the same year as “Ben and Me.”) It received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Short Subject, Two-reel, but was beaten by Bear Country (1953) which is a documentary in Walt Disney’s True-Life Adventure Series. (Concidentally, “Ben and Me,” played in front of another one of the True-Life Adventure Series, The Living Desert (1953), which won the first-ever Oscar for Best Documentary!)

In 1954, on the ABC Network, Walt Disney began airing the Davy Crockett series, starring Fess Parker as Crockett and Buddy Ebsen as his sidekick Georgie Russell. The show also featured Hans Conried as Thimblerig. The mini-series had a total of three episodes which aired from December ’54 to February ’55. Later, the mini-series was combined into a feature-length movie called Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier. The show was an incredible hit, and led to production of all kinds of “Crockett,” merchandise, including coonskin caps. More significantly, the show has been referred to as the very first television mini-series ever, though it was a little longer before that term was officially labeled. All of that led to a sequel/prequel production film called Davy Crockett and the River Pirates which aired as a two-episode series from November ’55-December ’55, and was later edited together as a movie in 1956. The show also led to the creation of Davy Crockett Ranch, which opened at the Euro Disney Resort in April 1992. 

Disney has also made short films acknowledging figures in American folklore. In 1948, the studios created Melody Time, which featured a short about the character of Johnny Appleseed and the song “Lord is Good to Me.” Ten years after the film, Disney released the short Paul Bunyan with Thurl Ravenscroft as Bunyan—who in addition to having many Disney voice-over roles—was also known for having voiced Tony the Tiger in all the Frosted Flakes commercials. The short received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Short Subject, Cartoons. Like “Ben and Me,” it can only be seen on the DVD collection Walt Disney Treasures: Wave Five, released in 2005. In 2000, Mark Henn, who was the supervising animator on many of Disney’s princesses, directed a short called John Henry, featuring the voices of Geoffrey Jones and Alfre Woodard—who will next be seen in Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation of The Lion King (2019).                   

Walt Disney’s all-time favorite U.S. President was Abraham Lincoln, and he was such a huge fan of Lincoln, that as a child he dressed up as Lincoln in school for a special project where he recited the Gettysburg Address from memory in front of his class. His performance was so well received, that he was even asked to give encores to the other classes at school. The memory of this experience stayed with Walt the rest of his life, and ultimately it hatched an idea in his head to build an attraction at Disneyland that would be an homage to Lincoln.

Walt originally planned the idea as a theater show called “One Nation Under God,” with robotic figures of all the U.S. presidents before and after Lincoln, and he planned on testing out the attraction at the New York World’s Fair, before it would move to the Disneyland Resort. When the project was in production, Robert Moses, who was the head of the New York World’s Fair came to the Disney Studio to see it, and he was so impressed that he insisted on having the attraction open at the fair. Walt was satisfied but decided that there was not enough time for them to finish the entire attraction before the opening day of the fair. Thus, the project was made to focus only on Lincoln. With their reliance on historical artifacts and the breakthrough of audio-animatronics, Walt Disney’s imagineers brought to life Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, premiering at the New York World’s Fair just in time, along with three other attractions: It’s a Small World, Carousel of Progress, and Ford’s Magic Skyway. Walt hired actor Royal Dano to provide the voice of the animatronic Lincoln. “Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln,” opened at the Disneyland Resort the day after the park turned ten years old on July 18th, 1965. In 2012, Disney-owned company Touchstone Pictures released Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln, for which he won both the Oscar and the Golden Globe.

Walt’s original idea for the every-president animatronic attraction was later re-invented by his imagineers for attraction known for The Hall of Presidents, which opened on the Liberty Square in the Magic Kingdom at the Walt Disney World Resort on October 1st, 1971. The hall includes every president from George Washington to Donald Trump, with Royal Dano reprising his role as Lincoln. (Dano appeared in Disney’s film adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983).) The Liberty Square is also home to The Haunted Mansion attraction, The Muppets Present…Great Moments in American History, and the Liberty Belle Riverboat.   

Disney has acknowledged American History creatively in many different forms, using entertainment to remind us all how our nation got to where it is today.

The Garner Files

James Garner was one of the very first actors who found success on both television and film. With his dashing looks and deep voice—and his ability to look good in a cowboy hat—one could easily compare him to John Wayne, though slightly more modern, of course. Ironically, John Wayne, himself, named James Garner as the best American actor in a 1973 interview. Throughout his 50-year-career, he played a remarkable variety of characters, some roguish, some gentlemanly, and some just flat-out wisecrackers. He even made some films for the Walt Disney Studios as well.

    James Garner was born in Norman, Oklahoma on April 7th, 1928. He was the youngest of three sons of Weldon Warren Bumgarner and Mildred Scott (Meek). He tragically lost his mother when he was just five years, so he and his brothers were sent to live with other relatives. He reunited with his family in 1934 when his father remarried. His father remarried more than once, though, and one of young James Garner’s stepmothers was a woman named Wilma, an abusive woman who beat James and his two brothers. She at one point even punished him by forcing him to wear a dress in public. When James was 14 he fought her to the point of knocking her down and choking her in self-defense. As a result, the marriage broke up and Wilma left the family and was never heard from again, while Weldon relocated to Los Angeles, leaving his three sons in Norman.

James Garner enlisted in the United States Merchant Marines when he was 16 years old. He spent seven months serving in the California Army National Guard and then 14 months in the Korean War, where he was awarded two Purple Hearts. In 1954, when 26 years old, his friend Paul Gregory talked him into taking a non-speaking role in the Broadway production of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. While in the play, James was able to study Henry Fonda, who later became a friend. After his run in the play, James Garner decided to pursue acting full-time, and he got bit roles in the pilot episode for the television series Cheyenne (1955-1962) and the movies The Girl He Left Behind (1956) and Toward the Unknown (1956). The same year as the two movies, he married Lois Fleischman Clarke, with whom he had two daughters, one biological Greta “Gigi,” Garner and one adopted, Kim, whom Lois had had from a previous marriage. James Garner finally got his first starring role in the series Maverick (1957-1962), playing Bret Maverick, a charming cardshark. He starred opposite Jack Kelly, who played his brother Bart Maverick. The show was a hit and won the Emmy for Best Western series in 1959.

As a result of the success of “Maverick,” Garner also began getting leading roles in movies. While on “Maverick,” he played Captain Bailey in Sayonara (1957) and Cash McCall in Cash McCall (1960). In 1963, he made two films with close friend Doris Day The Thrill of It All and Move Over, Darling. Garner made The Americanization of Emily (1964) with Julie Andrews the very next year. He later said that “Americanization of Emily,” was his favorite of all his movies. (“Americanization of Emily,” was also released the same year that Julie Andrews made Mary Poppins for Disney.) Garner also became close with Andrews, and later reunited with her nearly 20 years later in Victor Victoria (1982), alongside Robert Preston and Lesley Ann Warren, all four of whom appeared under the direction of Andrews’ late husband, Blake Edwards. James worked with Andrews for a third time in the made-for-television film One Special Night (1999).

In 1973, Garner was hired by the Walt Disney Studios to star in One Little Indian opposite Vera Miles and an 11-year-old Jodie Foster. The very next year, he reunited with Miles in Disney’s Castaway Cowboy (1974). After wrapping the movie, Garner made a huge comeback to television in the role of Jim Rockford in The Rockford Files (1974-1980). He won an Emmy for Best Actor in a Drama Series in 1977 and received three Golden Globe nominations for his performance. Tragically, however, he was hospitalized with a bleeding ulcer after the show’s last season. He also separated from his wife around this time. Fortunately, he recovered and reconciled with his wife, though made an unsuccessful attempt to return to the role of Bret Maverick in a made-for-television film called The New Maverick, where Bret passes his “cardshark” torch to his younger cousin Ben Maverick, but the network didn’t pick it up. As a result, he returned to movies.

In 1986, James Garner received a Best Actor Oscar Nomination for his performance as Murphy Jones in Murphy’s Romance (1985) opposite Sally Field. In 1994, he played Marshal Zane Cooper, father of Bret Maverick in Maverick (1994), a film based on the series. He also returned to the role of Jim Rockford in the television movie The Rockford Files: If the Frame Fits (1996), and reprised the role for five more movies. In 2000, he lent his voice to a series called God, the Devil and Bob where was the voice of God, and he was the voice of the evil Commander Rourke in Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). He also played Jim Egan on the ABC series 8 Simple Rules (2002-2005). He played Duke, the older version of Ryan Gosling’s character in The Notebook (2004). His final theatrical film appearance was in the role of Howard “Red” Stevens in The Ultimate Gift (2006). 

James Garner passed away in Los Angeles, California due to heart difficulties on July 19th, 2014 at 86 years of age. From his roles in dramas, comedies, and westerns to television shows, to a few voice-overs, he has truly left a unique legacy in entertainment.      

Disney Dads

In honor of the fact that today is Father’s Day, I thought it would be a good idea for this blog to be a tribute to fathers of Disney story-telling. From Goofy to Mr. Banks in Mary Poppins (1964), to King Triton in The Little Mermaid (1989), the fathers/fatherly figures in Disney movies always love their children despite the fact that in their stories there are often complicated obstacles to overcome between them in order for their relationship to completely heal. I’m going to acknowledge some of them, the actors who portrayed them, and anything else the actors have done for Disney. Please feel free to comment and tell me which one of these is your favorite.

1. Brian Keith played Mitch Evers, father of Hayley Mills as Sharon McKendick and Susan Evers in the original version of The Parent Trap (1961). In addition to his role in “Parent Trap,” Keith, the year prior he starred in Disney’s Ten Who Dared (1960). Two years after “Parent Trap,” he starred in Savage Sam (1963), the sequel to Old Yeller (1957). Following that, he made A Tiger Walks (1964) which reunited him with “Savage Sam,” co-star Kevin Corcoran, and in 1965 Those Calloways (1965) which reunited him with “A Tiger Walks,” co-star Vera Miles. He also made Scandalous John (1971) and various episodes of Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color (1954-1961). Brian Keith also reunited with close friend/“Parent Trap,” co-star Maureen O’Hara for the western film The Deadly Companions (1961) which was released the same year as “Parent Trap.”  
2. Dennis Quaid played Nick Parker, father of Lindsay Lohan as Hallie Parker and Annie James in Disney’s remake of The Parent Trap (1998) which celebrates 20 years since its release this year. Quaid also portrayed renowned baseball player Jim Morris in The Rookie (2002). Quaid also made Touchstone Pictures D.O.A. (1988) opposite former spouse Meg Ryan, and in 2003 he made back-to-back Touchstone’s Cold Creek Manor and The Alamo where he played Sam Houston. In both “Rookie,” and “Alamo,” Quaid not only played two different people who really existed, but he was also directed by John Lee Hancock who later directed Saving Mr. Banks (2013), the biopic on the making of Mary Poppins (1964) at the Walt Disney Studios.
3. For the last 30 years, Bill Farmer has been the voice of Goofy, father of Max Goof. Farmer made his Goofy debut in Touchstone’s blockbuster film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), and has been the voice of Goofy for all of his appearances since that film, including A Goofy Movie (1995) and its direct-to-video sequel, An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000). In addition to voicing the hilarious dog, Bill Farmer has also been the voice of Pluto since 1990, as well as the voices of the Tiki Bird in the Walt Disney Family Museum, Ant #3 in A Bug’s Life (1998), and numerous other characters. In 2015, Bill Farmer won an Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting in an Animated/TV Broadcast Production for voicing Goofy and Goofy’s grandma in the Disney Channel Series Mickey Mouse (2013-present). 
4. Kenneth Mars provided the voice of King Triton, father of Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989) and its direct-to-video sequel The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (2000). Prior to “Mermaid,” Mars played Marshall Wolly Bill Hitchcock in The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979), the sequel to The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975). Kenneth Mars also lent his voice to several Disney channel shows including: TaleSpin (1990-1991), The Little Mermaid (1992-1994) where he voiced both King Triton as well as the evil Doctor Vile who only seen in the show, Darkwing Duck (1991-1992), Bonkers (1993-1994), and Jungle Cubs (1996-1998). Besides his Disney roles, Kenneth Mars is also known for having his roles in Mel Brooks films including: Franz Liebkind in The Producers (1968) and Inspector Kemp in Young Frankenstein (1974). 
5. David Tomlinson is best-known for playing the role of Mr. George Banks, father of Jane and Michael Banks in Mary Poppins (1964). After playing the resolute, though good-hearted Mr. Banks, Tomlinson later played the ruthless Peter Thorndyke in The Love Bug (1968) and three years after that, the goofy Professor Emelius Brown in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). In each of those three films, Tomlinson appeared under the direction of Robert Stevenson, and Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi. Tomlinson also provided the voices of the parrot handle on Mary Poppins’s umbrella and a few of the other cartoon characters in “Poppins.” 
6. Douglas Seale was the voice of the Sultan, father of Princess Jasmine in Aladdin (1992). Two years prior, Seale voiced Krebbs the koala in The Rescuers Down Under (1990). Douglas Seale also played Santa Clause in Touchstone Pictures Ernest Saves Christmas (1988) and Mr. Destiny (1990) and also appeared in two episodes of The Golden Girls (1985-1992). For unknown reasons, Douglas Seale never reprised the role of the Sultan for the direct-to-video sequels to “Aladdin,” Aladdin: The Return of Jafar (1994) and Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996) and he was replaced by Val Bettin who made his Disney debut as the voice of Dr. David Q. Dawson in The Great Mouse Detective (1986).
7. Fess Parker made his Disney debut as Davy Crockett in the Davy Crockett mini-series (1955-1956). The studio had originally considered Buddy Ebsen for the part, but when Walt Disney saw Parker in a movie called Them (1954) they cast Parker as Crockett and Ebsen as Crockett’s companion, George Russell. The show was an incredible hit, and it led to Parker’s contract with Disney and to starring in films such as The Great Locomotive Chase (1956), Westward Ho, The Wagons! (1956), Old Yeller (1957), and The Light in the Forest (1958). “Old Yeller,” was a reunion for Parker with Jeff York, whom Parker had worked with on “Davy Crockett,” and “Great Locomotive Chase.”
8. You might remember in Hercules (1997) that the character of Hercules had two fatherly figures. He had a mythological father who lived on Mount Olympus, Zeus the thunder God, and an earthly foster father named Amphytryon, who lived with his wife in ancient Greece. Rip Torn was the voice of Zeus and Hal Holbrook was the voice of Amphytryon. Besides their roles in “Hercules,” Rip Torn also appeared in the Wonderful World of Disney made-for-television film Balloon Farm (1999) and Hal Holbrook lent his voice to Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014), the sequel to Planes (2013).
9. Kevin Kline just recently played Maurice, father of Belle in Disney’s smash hit live-action adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (2017). Previously, Kline voiced Phoebus in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and its direct-to-video sequel The Hunchback of Notre Dame 2 (2002). In “Hunchback of Notre Dame,” Kline was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, who also directed Disney’s original animated film of Beauty and the Beast (1991). Kline also appeared in Hollywood Pictures 1992 thriller Consenting Adults. 
10. Neil Flynn recently wrapped up nine season of portraying the Heck family patriarch, Mike Heck on ABC’s The Middle (2009-2018). Neil Flynn also voiced the characters of XR on the Disney Channel Original series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000-2001) (succeeding Larry Miller in the part) and Mr. Bannister on the Disney XD series Randy Cunningham 9th Grade Ninja (2012-2015). He also played George on ABC’s Ellen (1994-1998) which starred Ellen DeGeneres.                            

Each of these actors performances as dads helped make the movies themselves successful. And their exceptional performances helped us treasure the stories.