Carl and Rob: Like Father, Like Son

When we think about talented show business families, we think the Barrymoores, the Redgraves, the Douglases, or even the Cusacks. One other name that would fit that bill would be the Reiners. Like all show business families, the Reiners have many generations of talent. Carl and Rob, in particular, both have exceptional skills in telling funny stories, though they also have other talented people in their families and in my own personal view, their range of talent hasn’t been given all the attention it deserves, so I thought we could explore that.

Carl Reiner was born in the Bronx, New York City on March 20th, 1922. He started on Broadway in his early 20s, performing in musicals like Inside U.S.A. and Call Me Mister, but ultimately worked his way up to television as one of the regular performers on Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows (1950-1954). (Prior to his career as an entertainer, at 21 years old, Reiner married Estelle Lebost, who was eight years his senior.) Five years after “Your Show of Shows,” he developed a television pilot titled Head of the Family which was to be sit-com that parodied his real life with himself in the lead role of Rob Petrie. But CBS, who was to distribute it, disliked him in the leading role and suggested that he find someone else to play himself. Reiner then discovered Dick Van Dyke, and cast him along with Mary Tyler Moore as Laura, and Head of the Family was renamed The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966). Reiner cast himself as Rob, and his writing buddies, Buddy and Sally’s prima donna of a boss, Alan Brady on “Dick Van Dyke.” 

During and after “Dick Van Dyke,” aired on television, Carl Reiner also wrote and starred in the Doris Day/James Garner film The Thrill of It All (1963), and began a career in directing with the romantic comedy Enter Laughing (1967) based roughly on an autobiographical play that he wrote for Broadway in ’63. He also starred in the war comedy, The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! (1966). Reiner also directed Steve Martin in four movies, The Jerk (1979), Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982), The Man with Two Brains (1983), and All of Me (1984), the middle two of which he also wrote with Martin. Reiner is also an accomplished author having written 16 books. He announced his 17th book, Too Busy to Die in 2017. 

Rob Reiner was born on March 6th, 1947 in New York City, New York. Rob made his acting debut in “Enter Laughing,” though the role that made him a household name was that of Michael “Meathead” Stivic in the sit-com All in the Family (1971-1978). Though he was talented as an actor, Rob Reiner aspired to follow in his father’s footsteps to be a director, and he became a true revolutionary of a director when he directed the very first film ever that defined the genre known as the mock-documentary or “mockumentary,” when me made This Is Spinal Tap in 1984. He followed that film with The Sure Thing (1985) and then the cult classic The Princess Bride (1987) and When Harry Met Sally (1989). Although his career as a director skyrocketed throughout the ‘80s, he never completely went away from appearing in front of the camera, alongside good friend Billy Crystal in Danny Devito’s Throw Momma From the Train (1987) and in Sleepless in Seattle (1993) which was written and directed by Nora Ephron (who also wrote “When Harry Met Sally.”) He achieved the highest honor of his career when A Few Good Men (1992), a film that he directed and co-produced was nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture. 

Both “Princess Bride,” and “When Harry Met Sally” were special projects for Reiner because “Bride,” was based on his all-time favorite book and he was more eager to make it than any of his other movies. “When Harry Met Sally,” was also special because he identified with the character of Harry Burns in the sense of what it was like to be a bachelor after his divorce from Penny Marshall. He cast both his mother, Estelle, and his adopted daughter from his marriage to Marshall, Tracy Reiner, in small roles in “When Harry Met Sally.” Estelle is the woman in the Katz Deli scene where Meg Ryan “fakes it” and the woman next to her says “I’ll have what she’s having,” and Tracy plays the woman who is dating Harry in the “Pictionary.” Ironically, while making the film, Rob Reiner met his second wife, Michele Singer, which inspired he and Nora Ephron to have Harry and Sally get together by the end of the movie. He and Singer were married on May 19th, 1989, two months before “When Harry Met Sally,” was released to theaters.

The Reiners have a special legacy of humor in the entertainment industry. No doubt film and television audiences will continue to benefit from it.   

Women Directors: Great Work for a Long Time

Women have been directing films for nearly as long as men have, but unfortunately they haven’t always received all the credit they deserve for their talent and achievements. Alice Guy-Blache became the first female director ever in the history of film when she directed the French short Les demoilisseurs in 1896. Dorothy Arzner later became the first female director in Hollywood when she directed the drama Fashions for Women in 1927. Before Vincente Minnelli’s movie-musical version of Lerner and Lowe’s Gigi in 1958, there was a French version of that film, produced nine years earlier, directed by a woman named Jacqueline Audry. Let’s look at some of the finest female directors and the work that proves their skills as exceptional as their male counterparts. 

1. Penny Marshall made her directorial debut with an episode of the show Working Stiffs (1979) and various episodes of her own sit-com Laverne & Shirley (1976-1983), which was produced by her brother, Garry, her directing mentor. Then she moved to movies, directing Whoopi Goldberg in Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986) and Tom Hanks in Big (1988) which earned Hanks his first Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor and made Marshall the first female director to make a movie that grossed over $100 million dollars. Marshall and Hanks reunited on the film A League of Their Own (1992) which also made over $100 million. Her last theatrical film as director was Riding in Cars with Boys (2001) with Drew Barrymoore, though she continued to direct for television with episodes of According to Jim (2001-2009) and the television movie Women Without Men (2010). She also directed a documentary called Rodman (2019) about NBA Hall of Famer Denis Rodman before her unfortunate death on December 17th, 2018.      
2. Nancy Meyers co-wrote the screenplay for Private Benjamin (1980) with Harvey Miller and her then-husband Charles Shyer. The trio received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Original Screenplay as a result. She and Shyer officially married in ’80 and continued writing and producing in films such as Baby Boom (1987), and Touchstone’s remakes of Father of the Bride (1991) and Father of the Bride part 2 (1995), all of which starred Diane Keaton, with Shyer directing. Meyers, was also interested in directing, but remained focus on raising her family, until she received the offer by Walt Disney Pictures to direct the remake of The Parent Trap, released in 1998. Meyers and Shyer unfortunately divorced in 1999, but she continued to direct exceptional romantic comedies, including Something’s Gotta Give (2003), The Holiday (2006), and The Intern (2015). Most recently, she produced Home Again (2017) with Reese Witherspoon, and was directed by her daughter, Hallie Meyers-Shyer.     
3. Nora Ephron, before becoming a Hollywood screenwriter, began her career as a newspaper reporter at The New York Post. While there Ephron did a re-write for the script of All the President’s Men (1976) with her then-husband, Carl Bernstein, (who Dustin Hoffman plays in the movie). Although her script was not used, her efforts caught the attention of Paramount, who offered the chance to write the television movie Perfect Gentlemen (1978). This ultimately led to Nora Ephron's opportunity to write the screenplay for Silkwood (1983) starring Meryl Streep and it earned an Oscar Nomination for Best Original Screenplay. The same year as “Silkwood,” she wrote a novel called Heartburn which was based on the trauma she experienced while pregnant with her second child, only to discover that her husband was having an affair with their mutual friend. Heartburn was eventually made into a movie in 1986, which again starred Meryl Streep along with Jack Nicholson. Ephron wrote When Harry Met Sally in 1989 earning another Best Screenplay Oscar Nod and she worked her way up to directing in This Is My Life (1992). Next, she directed Sleepless In Seattle (1993) which reunited her with “When Harry Met Sally,” star Meg Ryan and was her first pairing with Tom Hanks. Ephron, Hanks and Ryan teamed up five years later, in 1998, for You’ve Got Mail. Her last film to write and direct was Julie & Julia in 2009, which was her third reunion with Meryl Streep. Before her sad death on June 26th, 2012, she wrote a Broadway play called Lucky Guy which reunited her for the third time with Tom Hanks and premiered after her death at the Broadhurst Theater on April 1st, 2013.      
4. Kathryn Bigelow became the very first female director ever to win a Best Director Oscar as well as the Best Picture Oscar when she produced and directed The Hurt Locker in 2009. The other four director nominees were men that year, one of whom ironically, was her former husband, James Cameron who was nominated that year for the blockbuster smash hit, Avatar. Bigelow originally was a painting student at the San Francisco Art Institute, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts, though she entered the film program at Columbia University, where she earned her Masters and while there directed her first film which was a short called The Set-Up in 1978. She made her official directorial debut three years later in 1981, co-directing The Loveless with Monty Montgomery which catapulted Willem Dafoe to stardom. She married James Cameron in 1989, though they divorced only two years later in 1991. Despite their divorce, they collaborated together on the Crime Drama Strange Days (1995) starring Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett. Cameron wrote and produced the film while Bigelow directed. Bigelow also directed The Weight of Water in 2000 and K-19: The Widowmaker in 2002. Three years after her two Oscar wins for “Hurt Locker,” she directed Zero Dark Thirty in 2012, which earned another Oscar nod for Best Picture.

Pixar Animation Studios have produced a total 20 feature length films and nearly 40 shorts that have been collaborative efforts with Walt Disney Studios. And they usually are directed by men. But in 2012, Brenda Chapman co-wrote and co-directed Brave with Mark Andrews and Steve Purcell which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film, making Chapman the first female director ever to win an Oscar for directing an animated film. And this past year, Domee Shi wrote and directed the Short film Bao (2018) which played in theaters in front of Incredibles 2 (2018). In addition to being a story writer on several beloved Disney classics (i.e. Beauty and the Beast (1991), The Lion King (1994), and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996),) Brenda Chapman also co-directed The Prince of Egypt (1998) for Dreamworks with Simon Wells and Steve Hickner. Domee Shi was a story artist on The Good Dinosaur (2015), Inside Out (2015), and “Incredibles 2,” before she worked her way up to directing “Bao,” and she is currently scheduled to direct an untitled Pixar film to be released in 2022. 

Thankfully, there are many fantastic female directors working today, and not enough time to make this an exhaustive discussion of all of them. Greta Gurwig (Lady Bird), Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman), Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation), Dee Rees (Mudbound) and Ava Duvernay (Selma) all come to mind…no doubt movie fans everywhere are benefitting from their continued contributions.        

1961: The Beginning of the End

The 1960s was an incredible decade in our nation’s history, especially in the year 1961. On January 20th of that year John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was sworn in as President of the United States of America. On April 23rd of ’61, Judy Garland performed her legendary “comeback” concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City, and on August 5th the theme park Six Flags Over Texas officially opened in Arlington, TX. The 1960s was also the decade that all movie studios had to modernize their styles of filming because the “counterculture” revolution began. Cultural and political perspectives around the globe were beginning to change the way audiences viewed movies and they demanded more from their films. So, Walt Disney made his contribution to the ‘60s by producing films that experimented with new technology. 1961 is a year full of special films, along with some other notable accomplishments. 

On January 25th, 1961, Walt Disney produced 101 Dalmatians. The film was a major ordeal at the studio because it was their first animated feature since Sleeping Beauty (1959), which unfortunately had been a flop two years earlier. It was also their first animated feature to be completely produced using “Xerox photography” instead of their usual “Ink and Paint photography” which was used on every animated film prior to “Dalmatians.” Walt’s long-term friend and business partner, Ub Iwerks was the inventor of the “Xerox,” process and in inventing it, he made it possible for drawings to be applied to Xerox cells as opposed to a piece of paper. He actually first applied it to the dragon fight sequence in “Sleeping Beauty.” “Dalmatians,” was a huge hit for Disney, thanks to the new technology. It received a great deal of critical acclaim, some of whom said it was the closest to a real “Disney” film in years. They had never seen that many animated characters…just think about all those spots.  

In ’61, Disney also released both The Absent-Minded Professor and The Parent Trap. Like “Dalmatians,” both films were the studios first uses of a new technology. Petro Vlahos, who is credited with having invented the sodium vapor process (live actors performing on a set piece surrounded by lights combined with background footage filmed at a completely different time). Vlahos had originally invented it for Ben-Hur (1959), but came to Disney in the ‘60s where he recreated his process. The sodium vapor process was first applied to “The Absent-Minded Professor.” Robert E. Mattey and Eustace Lycett also added miniatures and wire-supported mockups to Vlahos’s work and the film was nominated for a Best Special Effects Oscar as a result. “Parent Trap,” combined the sodium vapor process with split-screen technology, which is what created the “twins” illusion even though the twins were played by one actress, Hayley Mills. Disney continued use of the “sodium vapor process” in Mary Poppins (1964), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) and various other films during the 1970s and ‘80s.

’61 was also the year that Walt Disney had the Disneyland Monorail System extend to the Disneyland Hotel. It was also the year in which he co-founded the California Institute for the Arts, or CalArts for short. CalArts was established as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning in the United States for students of visual and performing arts. Several people who attended later became employees of the Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios. Famous alumni include Tim Burton, Brad Bird (writer/director of The Incredibles (2004) and Ratatouille (2007)), and Glen Keane (supervising animator of Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989) and the Beast in Beauty and the Beast (1991)). Bird and Keane were both mentored by Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men.

Walt Disney achieved many other “firsts” until the very end of his life, which sadly would only be five years later, in 1966, at 65 years of age. But 1961 was a unique year for the studios, and helped set the stage for more to come. 

William Wyler: An Actor’s Director

When you think of directors from the Golden Age of Hollywood, some names that might come to mind include Billy Wilder, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Cukor. But another person who would fit that bill just as well would be William Wyler. Like each of the aforementioned directors, William Wyler directed many of Hollywood’s greatest films, but what makes him unique is that he directed 31 different actors in roles that earned each an Academy Award Nomination which is more than any other director throughout the entire history of Hollywood. 13 of these actors ultimately won the Oscar for their performances. In this blog I’d like to tell you about the actors who were accoladed as a result of his guidance. 

• Walter Brennan earned the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing Swan Bostrom in the film Come and Get It (1936), making Brennan the first recipient of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Howard Hawks is credited as the primary director of the film and he said that William Wyler directed the last ten minutes of the movie. It is however, believed today that Wyler actually directed the last 30 minutes of the movie. (Richard Rosson is also credited as the director of the “logging sequences.”) Brennan later appeared under Wyler’s direction again in The Westerner (1940) which earned him his third Oscar. (Each of Brennan’s Oscars were in the supporting category).
• Bette Davis and Fay Bainter both won Oscars under Wyler’s direction for their leading and supporting performances in the film Jezebel (1938). Not only did she claim this movie was one of the most rewarding experiences of her career, Bette Davis had an affair with William Wyler while making this film and became pregnant with his child as a result. He was married and refused to leave his wife, and sadly, Davis got an abortion. The same year as this film, Bainter was also nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Actress for her performance in the film White Banners, and she became the first actress ever to receive two nominations for two movies within the same year. 
• Greer Garson won the Best Actress award for her performance as Mrs. Miniver in the film of the same name in 1942 while Teresa Wright won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar as Carol Beldon. After making this film, Garson married her co-star, Richard Ney, despite the fact that Ney played her son in the film. This film also earned Wyler his first Best Director Oscar. Wright reunited with Wyler four years later on The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).
• Fredric March and Harold Russell won the Best Actor and and Best Supporting Actor Oscars for their performances in “Best Years of Our Lives.” Fredric March had a career in banking before he became an actor, just like his character Al Stephenson in the movie. At one point, Wyler became angry with producer Samuel Goldwyn when he sent Russell for acting lessons because he preferred Russell’s untrained acting skills. Despite that, in addition to winning a total of seven Oscars, (including another Best Director for Wyler), the film received an Honorary Oscar to Harold Russell for “bringing hope and courage to his fellow veterans" through his appearance in the film. 
• Olivia de Havilland received the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in The Heiress (1949). De Havilland originally saw “Heiress,” on Broadway and she approached Wyler about directing the film adaptation. Wyler agreed and purchased the film rights from playwrights Ruth and Augustus Goetz for $250,000 and paid them an additional $10,000 a week to write the script.
• Audrey Hepburn got the Best Actress Oscar for her feature film debut in Roman Holiday (1953). In the scene in the film where Princess Ann says her tearful goodbye to Joe, Audrey Hepburn struggled to produce tears. Wyler finally began scolding her for the number of messed up takes, and thus her floodgates finally opened and they got what they needed in the scene. Despite that experience, Hepburn later reunited with Wyler in The Children’s Hour (1961). 
• Burl Ives was awarded the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1958 for his performance as Rufus Hannassey in The Big Country. It reunited Wyler with Gregory Peck, and they became friends on “Roman Holiday,” but they fought throughout production primarily due to script dissatisfaction. Wyler was quoted as having said “I wouldn’t direct Peck again for a million dollars and you can quote me on that.” They reconciled three years after this movie, but never made another movie together. Besides directing a cast that consisted of Peck, Ives, Chuck Connors, and Jean Simmons, this was William Wyler’s first pairing with Charlton Heston. 
• Charlton Heston and Hugh Griffith received the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor trophies for their performances in Ben-Hur (1959). Wyler joked that “It took a Jew to make a good film about Jesus,” as he won his third Best Director Oscar. Charlton Heston’s performance as Judah Ben-Hur remains the longest performance ever to win a Best Actor Oscar, at a total of 2 hours, 1 minute, and 23 seconds. After making the film, Hugh Griffith also made Tom Jones (1963) and the movie-musical Oliver! (1968) which just like “Ben-Hur,” won the Best Director and Best Picture Oscars.
• Barbra Streisand won the Best Actress Oscar for her feature film debut in Funny Girl (1968). William Wyler was asked by a friend once whether Streisand was difficult to work with. He replied “No, not too hard, considering it was the first film she ever directed.” Streisand is quoted as having said if any of her films could be in a time vault, she would want to be remembered for this one. Producer Ray Stark, ironically in real-life, was the son-in-law of Fanny Brice whom Streisand played in the movie. It was Stark’s idea that Streisand reprise the role which she had originated on Broadway.               

William Wyler’s legacy in movies is special because in addition to telling so many wonderful stories throughout his career, he helped actors achieved greatness as well. He helped people to pretend to be someone other than themselves, but he always made it look as though they weren’t pretending. And his ability to do that is hard to match. 

Annette Funicello: The Favorite Mouseketeer

With elegant beauty, dark hair, a kind-hearted smile, and a beautiful singing voice, Annette Funicello gained fame starring in Disney movies and television, as well as beach-themed movies. As her career skyrocketed in the 1950s, the whole world knew her primarily by her first name. If someone said “Annette” no one ever needed to say Funicello because they knew of whom you were speaking. Despite physical challenges in adulthood, she was an exceptional talent and had a special career that lasted for over 30 years. And she has the distinction of being considered one of the very first “celebrity crushes”—at least for the males of her “baby boomer” generation!

Annette Joanne Funicello was born in Utica, New York on October 22nd, 1942. Her parents were Italian Americans Joseph Edward and Virginia Jeanne Funicello. Together they relocated to southern California when Annette was four. There, she took up dancing and music lessons. She performed the lead role of the “Swan Lake” ballet in her school’s end-of-the-year recital, and the performance caught the attention of Walt Disney. He cast her in his upcoming project The Mickey Mouse Club (1955-1959), one of the last of 24 cast members selected, and one of the few to be picked by Disney himself. While on “Mickey Mouse Club,” she appeared in several serials that aired within the show, including Adventure in Dairyland, Walt Disney Presents: Annette, and the second and third Spin and Marty serials, which would be her first pairing with Tommy Kirk, Tim Considine, and Kevin Corcoran. In the “Annette,” serial she performed the song “How Will I Know My Love,” which launched her career as a singer. All of this led to her becoming the most popular cast member of “Mickey Mouse Club,” receiving a total of 6,000 letters a month by the end of the first season.

When “Mickey Mouse Club” ended Annette remained under contract to Walt Disney and appeared in other television shows produced by the studio: Zorro (1957-1959), The Horsemasters (1961), and Elfego Baca (1962). She made her Disney film debut in 1959 with The Shaggy Dog, which reunited her with Considine and Kirk. In 1961, she played the role of Mary Quite Contrary in Babes in Toyland, and it was around this time that The Wizard of Oz (1939) had gained popularity on television, making Walt Disney consider doing an “Oz,” film of his own. “Rainbow Road to Oz,” would have starred Annette along with some of the other Mouseketeers, but script developing for this film fell apart, and it was replaced with “Toyland.” (Tommy Kirk and Kevin Corcoran both appeared in “Toyland,” as well.) The same year she made this movie, she sang “The Parent Trap,” title song and an arrangement of “Let’s Get Together,” for The Parent Trap (1961).

Three years after “Toyland,” Annette made The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964) which again reunited her with Tommy Kirk, and was followed by a sequel, The Monkey’s Uncle (1965) the following year. The year prior to making “Misadventures,” she received an offer from American International Pictures to star in a fun-on-the-beach movie entitled Beach Party (1963)). She wanted to accept and Disney agreed to loan her for the film, on the condition that she would wear a one-piece bathing suit that completely covered her navel. Walt was overprotective of her, and he didn’t want the image she had created at his studio to be altered in another movie since she was still under contact at the time. “Beach Party,” was a hit, and it led to Avalon and Funicello making the films: Muscle Beach Party (1964), Bikini Beach (1964), Beach Blanket Bingo (1965), Doctor Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965), and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965). Around the time that she made each of these movies, she continued her singing career with the songs written by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman who were employed by Disney in the ‘60s: “Tall Paul,”   “First Name Initial,” “O Dio Mio,” “Train of Love,” (which was actually written by Paul Anka) and “Pineapple Princess.” Anka had a crush on her, though she married his agent, Jack Gilardi, on January 9th, 1965.

Annette and Jack had three children together, Jason, Jack Jr., and Gina. She continued to act in movies with Fireball 500 (1966), Thunder Alley (1967), and Head (1968), the first two of which reunited with Frankie Avalon and she also became the spokesperson for Skippy Peanut Butter. Though she always valued her family first, her marriage unfortunately ended after 18 years on March 21st, 1983. She remarried, three years later to harness racing horse breeder/trainer Glen Holt on May 3rd 1986. The following year, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Embarrassed by the condition, she never formally acknowledged it until 1992, but became the most famous spokesperson for the disease, opening the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders at the California Community Foundation in 1993. Prior to that, she reunited with Frankie Avalon for a tenth and 11th time in Back to the Beach (1987) and Troop Beverly Hills (1989). She and Avalon also made guest appearances together in an episode of the sit-com Full House in 1991. She wrote an autobiography entitled A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes in 1994, and it was made into a television movie in 1995.

Annette died on April 8th, 2013 due to complications from multiple sclerosis at the age of 70. It is extraordinary that she did not let her multiple sclerosis keep her from performing, and she will always be remembered as the Mouseketeer who grew into the Beach Party film star. When the Disney Channel Network produced the film Teen Party Beach Movie (2013), they dedicated the film to her when the film aired not long after her death on July 19th, 2013. There is also restaurant called Annette’s diner (named after her) located in the dining area of Disneyland Paris.   

Live-Action Disney Villains 411

The villains in animated Disney movies resonate a great deal with us, sometimes even more than the heroes. From the Evil Queen and Cruella De Vil, to Ursula and Jafar, the “baddies” thrill with their wicked laughter, their diabolical actions, and often their show-stopping tunes. But have you ever wondered about villains in live-action Disney films? Unlike the cartoon villains, real human villains don’t have evil laughter or show-stopping music. Instead they reverberate through bad actions, spoiled/selfish personalities, verbal threats, and/or greedy desires. In this blog, I’d like to acknowledge for you some of Disney’s live-action villains and why they are bad, but at the same time entertaining.

Vicky Robinson (played by Joanna Barnes) who was the main antagonist in The Parent Trap (1961). Vicky wants to marry Mitch Evers, father of twin sisters Susan Evers and Sharon McKendrick (both played by Hayley Mills), but strictly for his money, not because she loves him. She takes an instant dislike to Susan in their meeting scene at Mitch’s pool, in which Susan jokingly describes her father as a womanizer and that Vicky is no better than any other woman that Mitch has ever been with. Vicky indicates to her mother that she has an evil plot to send both Susan and her sister to a boarding school in Switzerland, but her plot is foiled when they all go camping together and Vicky loses her temper-very selfish-though humorous when her tent is sabotaged by the twins.

When Disney readapted The Parent Trap 37 years later (1998), with Lindsay Lohan in the dual role of the twin sisters, the film’s then husband-and-wife producer/director team Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer cast Joanna Barnes as Vicki Blake, mother of Meredith Blake (played by Elaine Hendirx), the gold digger in the remake. One could guess that Joanna Barnes is actually playing Vicki Robinson again in the remake, but has since married and has a daughter named Meredith, who is repeating her mother’s evil plan. “Aunt Vicki” refers to Lindsay Lohan as “pet” in a sickeningly sweet way, just like her mother referred to Hayley Mills in the original. 

    

Alonzo P. Hawk (played by Keenan Wynn) was the villain in The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) and its sequel Son of Flubber (1963). Hawk is a ruthless, scheming businessman who has been completely consumed by greed. He wants to destroy Medfield College and replace it with apartment complexes, but when he discovers Professor Philip Brainard’s creation of “Flubber,” he immediately believes it could make more money than doing away with the college. He offers Brainard a chance to share in the money with him, though Brainard refuses, and hence, Hawk robs Brainard of his chance to show Flubber to the government. Later Brainard tricks Hawk into wearing Flubber on a pair of shoes and leaves him stuck bouncing all day, creating a scene all around town. Hawk continues his attempt to steal Flubber in “Son of Flubber,” and he even winds up taking Professor Brainard to court when it is believed that Flubber caused property damage all over town. Once again, he fails when it is discovered that the property damage was caused by something else, and that in addition for the ability to fly, Flubber could also be used to grow vegetables.

Kennan also portrayed the character of Alonzo Hawk in the movie Herbie Rides Again (1974), Disney’s second sequel to The Love Bug (1968). In this film he does not seek Flubber, but like both Flubber movies, he continues to destroy buildings that have great history in order to make more modern buildings like shopping malls and skyscrapers. Keenan Wynn also appeared alongside his father, fellow Disney legend Ed Wynn, and even his own son, Ned Wynn, in both Flubber movies.

Dan and Iggy (played by Neville Brand and Frank Gorshin respectively) were the two bank robbers in That Darn Cat! (1965). They robbed a bank and greedily kidnapped one of its tellers, Margaret Miller, holding her hostage in their hideout apartment. Miss Miller attempts to send a help signal by scratching the word help on her watch and replacing it on D.C. (the cat’s) collar. Dan and Iggy rudely shove her out of the way when it looks as though she is attempting to escape and keep her bound and gagged. D.C. leads his owner, Patti Randall (played by Hayley Mills) , and her friend, F.B.I. agent Zeke Kelso (played by Dean Jones), to Dan and Iggy and through brilliantly choreographed fights Dan and Iggy are arrested and Margaret is saved.

Although “Darn Cat,” was his only Disney role, Frank Gorshin is also know for having played the Riddler, one of Batman’s main antagonists, in the original Batman television series (1966-1968) as well as Batman: the Movie (1966). “Darn Cat,” was also Neville Brand’s only Disney role too, though beyond that he is known for playing Duke in Billy Wilder’s Stalag 17 (1953), which won William Holden the Best Actor Oscar. 

  

Peter Thorndyke (played by David Tomlinson) was the greedy car salesman in The Love Bug (1968). Thorndyke is also unkind and impatient and that all blindsides him from realizing that Herbie is a car who experiences feelings and emotion in the same way that a human would. He treats Herbie just like any other car and doesn’t realize that Herbie is special, but he starts paying attention to him when he discovers that Herbie can be a real racing car. He later offers to take Herbie back from Jim Douglas (played by Dean Jones) if he wins a race that Jim is competing in. Jim accepts the offer, though he wins the race, and many more. Outraged, Thorndyke cheats his way to victory in another by pouring coffee in Herbie’s gas tanks, but loses yet again, and Thorndyke is consigned to becoming a mechanic. 

David Tomlinson is also known at Disney for having played Mr. George W. Banks, the father in Mary Poppins (1964) and Professor Emelius Brown in Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971). He can also be heard as the voice of Mary Poppins’ parrot handle at the very end of “Poppins.”  

Live-actions villains in Disney films are memorable too. Even though they are brought to life by real people instead of an animator and voice actor, they also serve as assets to their movies. It is ironic that some of them are connected to sequels and remakes of the original stories. 

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: An Unconventional Classic

1954 was a remarkable year for the movies. It was the year Columbia Pictures released On the Waterfront, which won eight Oscars, including Best Picture, and Paramount Pictures released Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window and the Christmas classic White Christmas and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) released Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. ’54 was also the year that Walt Disney Pictures released a film that was unlike anything they had ever done before. It was a live-action film based on a hit novel by Jules Verne, and even though it had a budget of nine million dollars when it was in production, it grossed $28,200,000 at the USA box office. The film is 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and in this blog, I’d like to tell you about why this film is so special.

“20,000 Leagues,” was the Walt Disney Studio’s fifth live-action feature film, but was the very first produced in America. The studio’s first four films (Treasure Island (1950), The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952), The Sword and the Rose (1953), and Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue (1954)) had all been produced in the United Kingdom. But laws changed in the mid-50’s, requiring that revenue from films produced in country had to stay in the U.K.

When Walt Disney was considering what his next film ought to be, he saw the potential for an animated film adaptation of Jules Verne’s classic novel, but Harper Goff who was an artist working at Disney, believed that it could be a wonderful live-action film. Goff convinced Disney when he drew heavily detailed production sketches.

After a green-light from walt, attention turned to casting. They considered Ralph Richardson for the role of Captain Nemo, and auditioned Gregory Peck, but ultimately cast James Mason, who simultaneously was starring in Warner Bros.’ adaptation of A Star is Born, opposite Judy Garland. Kirk Douglas had reservations about taking on the role of Ned Land because he felt being in a family-oriented adventure film would damage his reputation as a “ladies man.” His reservations were put at ease when screenwriter Earl Felton wrote Ned’s intro scene into the film: Ned strolls up with two beautiful women in each arm and rather humorously gets into a fight with a man from the crowd. Mason, Douglas, and Peter Lorre, who was cast as Conseil, all got along well with each other, but Paul Lukas (Professor Pierre Arronax) isolated himself from associating with the other actors. It is believed that that was because due to his age he couldn’t remember all of his lines and was embarrassed as a result.

Walt also knew that hiring someone to direct the film would be a crucial decision, and decided that Richard Fleischer, who had directed some minor Hollywood movies, would be the perfect person to do it. Fleischer was surprised that Disney considered him to do it, because his father, Max Fleischer, was the creator of the cartoon characters Betty Boop and Popeye (one of Walt Disney’s biggest competitors). Richard didn’t want to be disloyal to his father, but when he told his father of the opportunity, Max Fleischer not only encouraged his son to do it, but he even told Richard to tell Disney that he had great taste in directors! Walt later invited Max on a tour of the studio, and he and Walt went from competitors to friends.

When it came time to shoot the climatic “Squid” sequence, originally set to take place during a beautiful sunset with calm sea, but Richard Fleischer felt the scene wasn’t working at all because the squid itself could be viewed easily on camera, making it look fake rather than real. When Richard told Walt about the problem, Walt came up with the idea that the scene ought to take place during a wild storm. The scene was reshot like that, and to this day it remains one of the most legendary action scenes ever captured on film.

When “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,” was released it won two Academy Awards: Best Special Effects and Best Art Direction. It also received a third nomination for Best Editing. Harper Goff was uncredited as the Production Designer and Production Developer of the film. He designed every inch of the exterior of the Nautilus and the sets for all of the compartments within the Nautilus. The reason why Goff wasn’t given the award was because the Art Directors Union had created the bylaw within the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences which stated that “Only Union Art Directors can win the Oscar,” and because Goff didn’t have a Union card, John Meehan and Emilie Kuri who were his assistants, took the award home. Goff also taught Kirk Douglas how to play the guitar for the “Whale of a Tale,” number in the film.  

The success of “20,000 Leagues” also led to the creation of special film-themed attractions at the Disney Parks. On August 5th, 1955, a walkthrough exhibit where guests could explore sets and props from the film opened at Disneyland’s Tomorrowland. The attraction closed on August 28th, 1966. On October 14th, 1971, nearly two weeks after Walt Disney World opened, the attraction 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Submarine Voyage opened at the Magic Kingdom Park. This attraction gave guests a chance to ride a boat like the Nautilus and feel as though they were in the movie while being guided by Captain Nemo himself. This attraction closed in 1994. There are still, however, currently “20,000 Leagues,”-themed attractions at Tokyo Disneyland and Disneyland Paris. Another fun fact about the Disney parks that pertains to “20,000 Leagues,” is that the Haunted Mansion attraction at Disneyland currently houses Captain Nemo’s pipe organ from the film.

“20,000 Leagues,” premiered in New York City on December 23rd, 1954, which means that on December 23rd, 2019, the film will be 65 years old. There are all kinds of reasons why it is a special film: first live-action Disney film produced in America, award-winning art direction and special effects, and the legendary “squid” scene. While most Disney films that stand the test of time today are animated, few live-action Disney films are fortunate enough to do the same thing. “20,000 Leagues,” is one of those exceptions.