Steve Martin: A Man of Many Talents

    Very few comedians possess a talent range that includes writing and performing live onstage, acting in television shows and movies, writing and producing them, and even playing the banjo professionally. Steve Martin, however, is an exception. He has been making the world laugh for more than 50 years, in movies, television, live stand-up tours, and even in plays and novelizations. He has starred in comedies about romance like The Jerk (1979) and Roxanne (1987), though he’s also made several films about families where he portrays the father like Touchstone’s remake of Father of the Bride (1991) and Fox’s Cheaper by the Dozen (2003). Did you also know he’s some very fascinating Disney connections?   

  Steve Martin was born on August 14th, 1945 in Waco, Texas, though he was raised in Inglewood, California. His father, Glen Vernon Martin, was a real estate salesman and an aspiring actor, and Steve Martin has said that he first became interested in performing when he saw his father work as an extra serving drinks onstage at the Call Board Theatre on Melrose Place in Los Angeles. Martin attended Garden Grove High School where he was a cheerleader, but while his high school was on summer break, he landed his very first job, at Disneyland, selling guidebooks and working at the Main Street Magic Shop where he became the master of several magic tricks. While working for Disneyland, he made his first film appearance, appearing in the home movie Disneyland Dream, and it was also around this time he became interested in performing comedy. There he met Wally Boag, the star performer of Disney’s Golden Horseshoe Revue, who became Martin’s comedy mentor. 

    After graduating High School, Martin attended Santa Ana College where he studied drama and poetry. He briefly considered becoming a college professor instead of a comedian, which led to him studying philosophy at California State University, Long Beach. He later decided to major in theater at UCLA and it was there that he began performing stand-up at local night clubs. When was 21 years old, he decided to quit college and devoted himself to performing stand-up comedy. He landed his first official job as a writer on the The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1967-1969) and the job won him an Emmy Award. Besides that show, he wrote for The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour (1969-1972) and The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour (1971-1974). Around this time, he appeared as the opening act for groups like The Carpenters and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, John McEuen, who was a member of the latter, taught Martin how to play the banjo, which later became the trademark of Martin’s stand-up career.

In 1972, Steve Martin made his very first theatrical film appearance in Another Nice Mess (1972). He received another Emmy Nomination for writing material for the show Van Dyke and Company, and made his first appearance on Saturday Night Live in 1976. His career really began to skyrocket in the following years, when he released comedy albums that went platinum, including Let’s Get Small in 1977 which featured the track “Excuse Me,” which became national catch phrase and A Wild and Crazy Guy (1978) which reached #2 spot on the U.S. sales chart and sold over a million copies. This album featured the song “King Tut,” which was also released as a single and reached #17 on the U.S. charts that year. He guest-starred on The Muppet Show in 1977 and made a cameo in The Muppet Movie, released in 1979. ’79 was also the year Steve Martin published his first book, Cruel Shoes, appeared as himself in the “rockumentary” The Kids Are Alright, and starred in and wrote The Jerk, a film that was directed by Carl Reiner and was a success. 

The success of “Jerk,” led to Martin collaborating with Carl Reiner on three other movies: Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982) and The Man With Two Brains (1983), both of which Martin wrote with Reiner and Reiner also directed. Reiner directed Martin again in All of Me (1984). In 1986, he teamed up with Chevy Chase and Martin Short in Three Amigos! and he made the movie-musical version of Little Shop of Horrors in ’86 as well, starring opposite Rick Moranis, John Candy, and Ellen Greene. Steve Martin became great friends with several of his co-stars in both these films, particularly with Short and Candy, and he collaborated with them in later films. In 1987, he starred in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles opposite Candy and the film was written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. Both Martin and Candy later went on to say that “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,” was their favorite film of all the films they made. Martin also wrote, executive produced, and starred in Roxanne in ’87, a romantic comedy that modernized the story of Cyrano de Bergerac a play written by Edmond Rostand in 1897. 

In 1988, Steve Martin starred opposite Sir Michael Caine in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, a film that was directed by former “Muppet” performer Frank Oz. Although his character was married with children “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,” the first film he made that truly explored the relationship of parents and children happened the following year in Parenthood (1989). This movie reunited him with Rick Moranis and also starred Mary Steenburgen, Jason Robards, and Dianne Wiest. He made Touchstone’s remake of Father of the Bride two years later starring opposite Diane Keaton and Martin Short. (The film also featured a cameo by Eugene Levy.) In 1993, Steve Martin became a playwright for the first time when he wrote a play called Picasso at the Lapin Agile, which opened as an Off-Broadway production in New York in 1995. In ’95, Martin again reunited with Keaton, Short, and Levy in Father of the Bride part 2. Short and Martin also lent their voices to Dreamworks Animation’s The Prince of Egypt (1998) and in 1999 Martin wrote the film Bowfinger starring Eddie Murphy and appeared as one of the introductory hosts for one of the segments in Disney’s Fantasia 2000.

Steve Martin opened the 2000s writing the novella Shopgirl in 2000. He later starred in and wrote the screenplay for the film version of the novella in 2005. Prior to that, in 2003, he wrote a novel called The Pleasure of My Company and played the father of a dozen children in Fox’s remake of Cheaper By the Dozen starring alongside Bonnie Hunt as his wife. He and Hunt re-teamed with their kids in Cheaper By the Dozen 2 which was also released in 2005. He was only too happy to do so when Disney asked him to co-host with Donald Duck the Disneyland attraction Disneyland: The First 50 Magical Years when Disneyland turned 50 in ’05. He starred in MGM’s/Columbia’s remake of The Pink Panther in 2006, which spawned a sequel in 2009. He married former New Yorker magazine writer Anne Stringfield in 2007, and he became a father for the very first time in his real life, at the age of 67, when his wife gave birth to a daughter in 2012. In late 2016, he returned to stand-up comedy nationally with Martin Short in a production called Steve Martin and Martin Short: An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life, which was adapted for Netfilx in 2018. 

Steve Martin is undoubtedly one of the most hilarious guys in comedy. He’s written it, he he’s performed it, he’s produced it, and he’s even written songs, books, and plays about it. He’s an extraordinary multi-talent, period! And whether he plays the romantic male lead or the crazy but tender-hearted father in a movie, the hilarity never ceases.    

Chadwick Boseman: Wakanda Forever

     On August 28th, 2020, we lost superstar Chadwick Boseman due to colon cancer at the age of 43. He was best-known for portraying one of the Marvel’s greatest superheroes, but throughout just a little over a decade in the entertainment industry, he played revolutionary figures of American history and was also a talented producer and playwright. I thought we would explore what makes his life inspiring today. 

     Chadwick Aaron Boseman was born in Anderson, South Carolina on November 29th, 1976. His mother, Carolyn, was a nurse and his father, Leroy, was a textile factory worker and managed an upholstery business. Boseman developed an interest in acting while attending T.L. Hanna High School and wrote his first play his junior year. The play was titled Crossroads, and Boseman staged it at school as a result of a classmate tragically being shot and killed. He later attended Howard University in Washington D.C. where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Directing. Directing was his main career ambition, though he also studied acting to relate to actors, attending the Oxford Mid-Summer Program of the British American Drama Academy in England. He worked as a drama instructor at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York, and also wrote some other plays that he took on tour, one of which was called Rhyme Deferred which he wrote with Howard classmate, Kamilah Forbes. They took the show on tour throughout the United States, and afterward Boseman relocated to Los Angeles. 

     He landed his very first acting role on the ABC Soap Opera All My Children (1970-2011), but during 2008 he also wrote and directed a short film called Blood Over a Broken Pawn (2008), and starred in his very first movie The Express: The Ernie Davis Story. (He played American football halfback, Floyd Little, starring opposite Dennis Quaid and Rob Brown). After making this film, he appeared in episodes of Castle (2009-2016) and Justified (2010-2015). In 2012, he starred in The Kill Hole opposite Billy Zane and and Peter Greene and directed another short film Heaven (2012). This short film was a special project for Boseman having been raised a Baptist and grown up a member of his church’s choir and youth group. 

    After wrapping each of these projects, Chadwick Boseman landed the role of a lifetime when he was cast as Jackie Robinson in 42 (2013), co-starring Harrison Ford and Alan Tudyk. Boseman performed the majority of his own stunts in the film while some were performed by Jasha Balcom, who in real life was a former minor league player. Boseman and Tudyk didn’t purposefully didn’t socialize with one other off screen so that the rivalry between their characters, Jackie Robinson and Ben Chapman, would look more believable on screen. The film was well-received, as were each of the actors. The Hollywood Reporter even said that he “has the necessary appeal, proves convincing as an athlete and is expressive in spite of the fact that the man he's playing must mostly keep his true feelings bottled up.” 

     In 2014, Boseman made the film Get on Up, where he impersonated the “Godfather of Soul,” James Brown. Not long after wrapping this film, Boseman heard that Marvel was looking for an actor to portray T’Challa, otherwise known as the Black Panther, in Captain America: Civil War (2016). “Civil War” would be the Black Panther’s first appearance in the long line of Marvel films distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. Although Boseman didn’t read comic books growing up, he immediately began researching the character and learned everything he could about him. He ultimately he met with Marvel and shared his vision of the character with them instead of actually auditioning for it. Fortunately, his vision was identical to their vision and he was cast. This led to him signing a five-picture deal with Marvel. 

     The same year as “Civil War,” Boseman starred in Message From the King (2016), a film that he also executive produced. He made his debut as a head producer the following year in Marshall (2017) starring as Associate Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and co-producing with Lauren Friedman, Reginuld Hudlin, Jonathan Sanger, and Paula Wagner. In 2018, he reprised his signature role in Black Panther (2018) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018). The Black Panther catchphrase “Wakanda Forever,” became a trademark from the first film that continues to today, being said a total of four times throughout the movie. He reprised the “Panther,” a third time in Avengers: Endgame (2019) and made 21 Bridges (2019) that year as well which he co-produced with Anthony and Joe Russo. The Russo brothers also directed Boseman in “Civil War,” “Infinity War,” and “Endgame.” He completed Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods (2020) and George C. Wolfe’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020) before his unfortunate death. 

     Chadwick Boseman’s legacy in movies is incredibly remarkable. Although he will forever be remembered for portraying the Black Panther and saying “Wakanda Forever,” in just a short time (shorter than it should have been) he managed to live his dream of working in nearly every aspect of the entertainment industry. Not many others possess those kinds of capabilities. It’s also unfortunate that his plays never saw the lights of Broadway, but movie watchers will continue to benefit from his talents for “forever.”

Of Mice and Mice

“I hope we can never lose sight of one thing…it was all started by a mouse.” This was spoken by Walt Disney, and of course, he’s referring to Mickey Mouse. When Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse in May of 1928, along with Minnie Mouse in November of 1928, he created the first two of what is known today as the “Sensational Six,” which is the group of Disney characters that include Mickey and Minnie, along with Donald and Daisy Duck, plus Goofy and Pluto. Mickey and Minnie both continue with great fans today, and so do the rest of the “Six,” but since then Disney has created many other mice characters who are also fun and entertaining which don’t get quite as much attention. In today’s blog, I’d like to share with you about some of those characters and why they are special too.

“Timothy Q. Mouse,” from Dumbo (1941) is one great example. When Dumbo becomes separated from his mother in the movie, Timothy meets Dumbo and becomes his one and only friend. The rest of the circus teases and mocks him for having big ears, but when it is discovered that Dumbo can use his huge ears to fly, Timothy helps Dumbo work his way into being the signature act of the circus. Although they originally rely on a feather given to them for good luck (which they call “the magic feather”) Timothy also inspires Dumbo not to rely on the feather and to have confidence in himself, simply trying to do the very best he can. It is because of Timothy’s encouragement that Dumbo takes the best flight of his whole career—finally reuniting him with his mother.

“Gus and Jaq,” from Cinderella (1950) always have Cinderella’s back, much like how Timothy always has Dumbo’s back. Because Cinderella takes the time to rescue them—along with several other mice—from the cat, Lucifer, dressing them and treating them as her friends, in return they help her. Gus and Jaq feel a great deal of compassion for Cinderella and for the trouble she goes to on a daily basis to please her stepmother (Lady Tremaine) and stepsisters (Anastasia and Drizella Tremaine). They help design Cinderella’s pink ball gown, and although the gown is destroyed by Anastasia and Drizella, when the Fairy Godmother comes to help out, Gus and Jaq are turned into white horses that pull Cinderella’s carriage to the ball! Later on, when Cinderella has been locked in her bedroom by her stepmother, preventing her from trying on the glass slipper and ever seeing Prince Charming again, Gus and Jaq successfully retrieve they bedroom key from Lady Tremaine and give it to Cinderella who frees herself and is saved. Fans love that Gus and Jaq are the heroes of the story!

Just like “Gus and Jaq,” Bernard and Miss Bianca from The Rescuers (1977) and The Rescuers Down Under (1990) are also very devoted to protecting humans. In the first “Rescuers,” Miss Bianca reads a letter to the Rescue Aid Society that was sent in a bottle from Penny, who was kidnapped by greedy diamond collector, Madame Medusa, to retrieve a huge and popular diamond. Miss Bianca is a courageous mouse who wants to rescue Penny, which the society agrees to, on the condition that she chooses a partner. Bianca chooses Bernard, the janitor mouse, having developed a crush on him. Ultimately, thanks to the help of friends they make in the swamp, where Medusa’s hideout is, Bernard and Bianca overcome insecurities and fears to succeed in saving Penny from the swamp, and restoring her to the New York City orphanage—where she finally meets a new adoptive mother and father, fulfilling her lifelong dream.

In “Rescuers Down Under,” Bernard and Bianca are again summoned to Australia to rescue a boy named Cody kidnapped by a man named McLeach, a poacher/hunter of all animals. Although Miss Bianca is preoccupied with Cody’s well-being in the film, Bernard is preoccupied with the idea of proposing marriage to Bianca and they meet a new friend along with the way, another Disney-mouse—this one named Jake. Jake teaches them about Australia, though Bernard unfortunately feels that Jake will be a competitor against him for Bianca’s affection. They all three work together, saving Cody and setting Marahute free, but it turns out that Jake is in no position to marry and settle down, so Bernard finally proposes to Bianca, and she happily accepts.

In The Great Mouse Detective (1986), Disney parodies the characters of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson in the form of anthropomorphized mice: the detective Basil of Baker Street and Dr. David Dawson. Dr. Dawson meets a mouse girl named Olivia whose father has been kidnapped by the conniving Professor Ratigan (a rat-but he doesn’t like to talk about it :)) and he brings her to Basil’s house in the cellar of 221B Baker Street, where Sherlock Holmes himself lives. Dawson is very kind and compassionate toward Olivia, and though Basil is at first cynical and insensitive to the idea of working with children, he finds compassion in his heart too, and they begin an epic quest. It takes a great deal of searching and clue-finding, but ultimately they find Olivia’s father and learn that he was kidnapped to create a “toy” in the shape of the Mouse Queen of England. Together, Basil and Dawson bravely thwart Ratigan’s schemes (including an epic chase scene in the interiors of “Big Ben”) and Olivia is restored to her father. The two partners are honored by the Mouse Queen and they decide to continue their partnership.

Throughout Disney’s history, there have been great mice characters: some goofy but good-hearted sidekicks, some lovestruck main characters, and others who struggle with bravery, but find it. Whether or not we will ever see a new mouse character (perhaps an unfriendly/evil one?) from Disney is unknown, though for now, their “family tree” of mice characters will continue to be full of great fun and all things Disney.

Pete Docter: Pixar's Soul Man

Pete Docter: Pixar’s Soul Man

A director is an extremely pivotal job when it comes to making movies. Once they read the screenplay for the film, they have to visualize the story and share their vision with the rest of the film crew, as well as the cast. They also have to make sure the cast and crew has a clear enough understanding of that vision, guide them every step of the way as they make it, and make doubly sure that their vision comes together and looks believable on screen. They are also heavily involved with hiring: both actors to be in their movies and a crew to make it happen. In today’s blog, I’d like to tell you about someone who has been an employee at Pixar for several years. He has directed three of Pixar’s best movies, has a fourth film set to come out this December, and is the current Chief Creative Officer at Pixar, Pete Docter!

Pete Docter was born in October 9th, 1968, in Bloomington, Minnesota. His father, Dave, was a choral director at Normandale Community College and his mother was a music teacher, and ironically they both had doctorates in education so they were both known as Dr. Docter! Growing up with two sisters, young Pete Docter was shy and didn’t have many friends. He usually preferred working by himself, and taught himself how to make flip books and homemade animated shorts with his family’s movie camera. Although his sisters, Kristen and Kari, were professional string musicians,, Pete felt that animation was his true calling (though he did go on to be an exceptional double bass player).

After graduating John F. Kennedy High School, he transferred to the University of Minnesota where he studied philosophy, though created art in his spare time. He spent close to a year there before he transferred to CalArts (California Institute of the Arts), where he produced a short film called “Next Door,” which won a Student Academy Award. He graduated CalArts in 1990, and had hoped to work for the Walt Disney Company, but instead received a good offer from a relatively new company called Pixar. He was the company’s tenth employee, and his very first assignment was as a screenwriter and head animator on Toy Story (1995). The character of Buzz Lightyear is actually partially based on Pete Docter. In developing the character, he made facial gestures with a mirror he had at his desk at Pixar to create Buzz.

Docter was also an Additional Storyboard Artist on A Bug’s Life (1998) and wrote the Story for Toy Story 2 (1999). These two films led to his first directing assignment, when he was assigned to direct Monsters, Inc. (2001). The idea for the film was actually hatched over lunch among Docter, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and the late Joe Ranft while “Toy Story,” was still in production. He also co-wrote the film with five other writers, and played double bass on the film’s original score soundtrack. The film was a huge hit and received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Animated Feature Film—the first year the Best Animated Feature Film Category was awarded at the Oscars. Although “Monsters, Inc.,” lost to Dreamworks’s Shrek (2001), “Monsters, Inc.,” did win the Oscar for Best Original Song: “If I Didn’t Have You.”

After “Monsters, Inc.,” Docter wrote and directed the short film Mike’s New Car (2002) featuring the characters from the film. He also directed the English dub version of the Disney/Studio Ghibli film Howl’s Moving Castle (2005). His next writing/directing assignment at Pixar was Up (2009). In addition to writing and directing that film, Docter also provided the voices of Kevin the bird and Campmaster Strauch, as well as double bass on the film’s original soundtrack. The character of Carl Fredricksen’s wife Ellie, as a child, is both based on and voiced by Pete Docter’s real-life daughter, Elizabeth “Elie” Docter. “Up,” was a huge hit, winning the Best Animated Feature Oscar while also becoming the very first Disney/Pixar film ever to receive an Oscar Nomination for Best Motion Picture.

After “Up,” Docter served as a creative consultant for The Muppets (2011) which was his very first official assignment only for Disney. This assignment was special for him because he had grown up on “The Muppets,” as a child. It was also around this time, that he began noticing changes in his daughter Elie. Elie had grown up a very kind, tender-hearted girl who would go as far as to say “Hi, I’m Elie! What’s your name?” to a complete stranger. When Elie turned 11 years old, however, Pete explained in an interview that “Elie’s childhood joy took a vacation,” as she was developing into a teenager at the time. Ultimately, it was the basis for his third directorial project at Pixar, Inside Out (2015). When he wrote the story for this film, he combined Ellie’s development along with sad memories of his own childhood, and he provided the voice of Riley’s father, Bill’s Anger. It was his second Best Animated Feature Oscar.

Pete Docter’s next directorial film for Disney and Pixar is Soul to available to stream on Disney+ on December 25th, 2020. He co-wrote the film with Kemp Powers and Mike Jones. The film will tell the story of an African-American musician named Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx) who has lost his passion for music and loses his soul as a result. His soul has to find its way back, and help Joe learn about himself along the way. Tina Fey will also be lending her voice to the film, and she contributed to the film’s script as well. In a recent interview with IGN, Docter, Powers, and producer Dana Murray, all explained the inspiring themes about the movie. Docter explained how it acknowledges “Where do we come from? Why are we here? We (at Pixar) are totally passionate people,” “We get to pour our everything into what we do and yet is that really the best use of what we have? I mean, what are we here for. It gets into some deep stuff.” Powers said that “We’re trying to tell a story where a character quite literally gets to explore that, what he was put on this Earth to do.” Murray also explained “The idea started when Pete’s son was born and seconds after he was in the world, he looked at him and he was already there, like who he was, his personality. And I think the ultimate question was like, how does that happen?”

Pete Docter is a genius when it comes to making animated movies. He has an incredibly unique understanding of human emotion and behavior. His films continue to endure today because they are about cartoon characters who look after/protect children in parental ways: Mike and Sulley protecting Boo in “Monsters, Inc.,” Carl protecting Russell in “Up,” and the five emotions (Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear, and Anger) guiding Riley in “Inside Out.” His next offering looks to be another in a long line of Pete Docter successes.

From the Sea to the Stars: 

The Remarkable History of Treasure Island at Disney

From movie-musicals like Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Aladdin (1992), to sci-fi flicks like The Black Hole (1979) and the Star Wars reboot trilogy (2015-2019), Disney has produced films of nearly every genre throughout their history. Another genre they are known for producing is action-adventure, best demonstrated by The Pirates of the Caribbean series (2003-2017) and Swiss Family Robinson (1960). Long before they produced those films, however, Disney’s first live-action film was Treasure Island, based on the Robert Louis Stevenson novel of the same name. Released on July 19th, 1950, it was also readapted by Disney two other times. In today’s blog I’d like to tell you about these three adaptations, beginning with a brief history on the novel itself.

Robert Louis Stevenson first published the novel Treasure Island or the Mutiny of the Hispaniola on November 14th, 1883. He had been inspired to write the story from drawing an imaginary treasure map with his stepson, Lloyd Osbourne at their home in Braemar, Scotland. He said that the novel “was to be a story for boys; no need of psychology or fine writing; and I had a boy at hand to be a touchstone.” Stevenson had previously written a novel called The Hair Trunk or The Ideal Commonwealth but that work was never finished or published, but Treasure Island was the first big success he ever had. It’s success paved the way for him to write other novels like Prince Otto in 1885 and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in 1886. 

During the late 1940s, Walt Disney was on the verge of having to close his studio due to an unfortunate strike and the dismal performance of films the studio produced in the ‘40s. They had experimented with live-action/animated hybrid films at the time with Song of the South (1946) and So Dear to My Heart (1948) and revisited the hybrid idea for Mary Poppins (1964). Walt’s brother Roy, who oversaw all the financing of the studio was confident that it was time to close their doors, but Walt, being the unrelentingly stubborn genius that he was, refused. They argued a great deal, but ultimately reached a compromise, where they would keep making movies, but separate the animation department from the live-action department.

In addition to remaining true to the original novel, “Treasure Island,” was critically well-received, and made a great deal of money (grossing over $4 million dollars in worldwide rentals). It also paved the way for live-action films to follow at the studio, such as The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952) and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). The film starred Bobby Driscoll (future of voice of Peter Pan in Peter Pan (1953)) as Jim Hawkins and Robert Newton as Long John Silver and was directed by Byron Haskin. Newton later reprised his role of Long John Silver in a non-Disney produced sequel called Long John Silver which was released in 1954 and was directed by Haskin. Although “Treasure Island,” was a hit when it was released, it didn’t quite outdo the success of Cinderella (1950), which had also been green-lit at the Disney Animation Department around the same time. 

Flash forward again to the mid-1990s, Disney was looking for a new film that would be a collaborative production effort with Jim Henson Productions. Their first collaboration (in 1992 with The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)) was a moderate box-office success, but it’s popularity was outdone by Disney’s Aladdin (1992) much like what “Cinderella” had done with the original “Treasure Island,” film. Muppet Treasure Island (1996) was ultimately green-lit thanks to the suggestion of “Muppets,” co-writer Kirk R. Thatcher who wanted to adapt a story with the Muppets that would either be loosely based off of “Treasure Island,” or “King Arthur,” but the rest of the “Muppets” crew decided that “Treasure Island,” would work much better than “King Arthur.” 

The Muppet version was directed by Brian Henson (son of Jim Henson) and it opened on February 16th, 1996. It was a much bigger success than “Muppet Christmas Carol,” grossing $7.9 million dollars opening weekend, a new record at the time for Disney openings in February. The movie also remained faithful to the novel, like the original version, though obviously, the writers rewrote the story to fit the personalities of the Muppet characters, for example, Jim Hawkins having the Great Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat for companions instead of living the adventure by himself or Kermit the Frog playing a strict, though friendly Captain Smollett as opposed to the more stern, rule-obsessed figure that Captain Smollett is in the book.

To acknowledge the third “Treasure Island,” adaptation at Disney involves going back to the mid-1980s. John Musker and Ron Clements, both had already been working at Disney for a while at the time, and proven themselves worthy of directing animated movies. In 1985, they had a meeting with former Disney CEO Michael Eisner where they pitched a concept for a film called “Treasure Island in Space,” but Eisner rejected it. Fortunately for Musker and Clements, this was also the same meeting where they pitched the idea that became The Little Mermaid (1989).

    The “Treasure Island in Space,” idea was pitched again at another meeting after “Little Mermaid,” was released, but Eisner remained uninterested in the idea. Musker and Clements tried pitching it a third time to the other former Disney head, Jeffrey Katzenberg, but just like Eisner, Katzenberg wasn’t interested in the idea either. Angered by the constant rejection, Musker and Clements turned to Roy E. Disney for support, and fortunately he supported both them and their idea and convinced Eisner to reconsider. (Katzenberg resigned from Disney after the release of The Lion King (1994). In 1995, Musker and Clements contract with Disney was re-negotiated, and they began development on “Treasure Planet.” They reinvented the classic novel in space and that they “did a lot of things to make the film more modern,” which were the words of screenwriter Rob Edwards. “Treasure Planet,” opened on November 27th, 2002, grossing $12 million. It later grossed $109.5 million worldwide, received kind reviews from critics, and even received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Animated Feature. (It lost that year to Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away (2002) which was released under the Disney label).

“Treasure Island,” has a very interesting history at Disney. It’s a very thrilling adventure story, but it also inspires us to always be on the lookout for opportunities to take adventures. Walt Disney only lived to see the final cut of the original “Treasure Island,” but I personally find it hard to believe that he wouldn’t appreciate the uniqueness and the humor of “Muppet Treasure Island,” and “Treasure Planet.”

 

Thomas F. Wilson: Why don’t you “make like a tree and…”

It takes a lot of qualities to make the main antagonist in a film entertaining: a resonant voice, diabolical actions, verbal threats, a spoiled or selfish personality, and throw some greedy desires in for good measure. But on special occasions, actors can also bring humor to the antagonist they portray on screen. Humor is an endearing quality as well, because it can make you either make you root for them, or feel compassion, and it helps you love to hate them. It depends on your point-of-view. In today’s blog, I’d like to tell you about the actor who portrayed one of cinema’s most hilarious main antagonists, over the course of three different movies, Thomas F. Wilson…

Thomas F. Wilson was born on April 15th, 1959 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and raised in nearby Wayne, which is where he attended Radnor High School and became involved with the dramatic arts. He was an exceptional student, a tuba player and drum major of his high school band, and was the president of the school debate team. After graduating high school, he even studied international politics at Arizona State University. Despite that, he always felt that acting was his true calling and he relocated to New York City to study that at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. While attending there, he began performing stand-up comedy.  

After studying in New York, he relocated again to Los Angeles in the early 1980s to try his luck. He landed his first acting job ever in an episode of the NBC series Knight Rider (1982-1986), and had a small role in an episode of The Facts of Life (1979-1988). It wasn’t long after Wilson performed in these two episodes that he heard NBC’s parent company, Universal Studios, was casting for a new film entitled “Spaceman From Pluto.” The film was to be about a young teenage boy and his middle-aged scientist best friend and how they time traveled from the 1980s to the 1950s and then back to the 80s again. They were looking for someone to play the teenager’s bully, but who could bring humor to the part. The producers originally considered Tim Robbins and J.J. Cohen for the part, but when Wilson auditioned, Director Robert Zemeckis and Screenwriter Bob Gale, knew they had found their Biff Tannen (J.J. Cohen, was later cast as Skinhead, one of Biff’s cronies.) The film was later renamed Back to the Future (1985). 

    While portraying Biff, Wilson based his personality upon experiences that he had had, being bullied as a child. He improvised the catchphrases “Make like a tree and get outta here,” and “butthead.” He didn’t get along terribly well with Eric Stoltz, whom they had originally cast as Marty McFly. Stoltz took the physical aspects of playing Marty McFly too seriously, nearly breaking Wilson’s collarbone in the cafeteria scene where Marty and Biff are on the verge of a fight. Wilson in real life, was on the verge of returning the favor, before he was replaced by Michael J. Fox. Fortunately, Fox and Wilson got along perfectly well, and so did the rest of the cast. Wilson also returned for both the film’s two sequels, Back to the Future part 2 (1989) and Back to the Future part 3 (1990) playing not only Biff Tannen, but also the roles of Biff’s extended family, grandson Griff Tannen in “part 2,” and great-grandfather Buford “Mag Dog” Tannen in “part 3.” He also voiced Biff and other various Tannen relatives in the CBS television show Back to the Future: The Animated Series (1991-1992). He voiced Biff yet again for Back to the Future: The Ride at Universal Studios theme part in Orlando which opened in 1991.  

After the BTTF trilogy, Wilson continued acting, taking roles in High Strung (1991) and Blood In Blood Out (1993). He took up voice acting and has lent his voice to numerous cartoon television shows, Gargoyles (1994-1997), 101 Dalmatians: The Series (1997-1998), and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000-2001). He appeared in Disney’s remake of That Darn Cat (1997) opposite Christina Ricci and Doug E. Doug and lent his voice to Atlantis: Milo’s Return (2003), the direct-to-video sequel to Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). Besides all his Disney work, Wilson has voiced numerous characters on the classic Nickelodeon series Spongebob Squarepants (1999-present). In “The Bully,” episode of Spongebob, Wilson voices a character called Flats the Flounder who threatens to “kick” Spongebob’s butt, very similar and reminiscent of Biff. Wilson voiced the first two “Spongebob” movies: The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (2004) and The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015).) Before the second “Spongebob” movie Wilson played Captain Frank Woods in The Heat (2013) starring Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.

Besides acting, Wilson is an exceptional writer and painter. The same year as “BTTF part 2,” he wrote a short film called The Last Ride (1989) and inspired by his Catholic faith, he wrote, co-produced and starred in a television series called Get Serious: Seven Deadly Sins in 1996. His paintings, were primarily of classic children’s toys, including the View-Master and Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. He also painted the beloved Disneyland Attraction “Dumbo the Flying Elephant,” so it was only natural that his art would be selected to join the California Featured Artist Series at Disneyland in 2006. In 2009, he wrote a new stand-up comedy routine that includes the “Biff Question Song,” which answers all the questions that fans of BTTF have asked him over the years. Although still proud to this day of having been a part of the series, it was always frustrating to him to have to answer the same questions over and over again, which is why he wrote that song. When not performing the song he gives fans a postcard with the answers to the questions as a timesaver. He wrote a memoir called The Masked Man: A Memoir and Fantasy of Hollywood in 2012. 

Thomas F. Wilson has had a career in show business for nearly four decades. Looking back at everything he’s done from live acting and voice-acting to writing and producing, to even painting and stand-up performing, he really is a jack or in his case a “Tom” of all trades. He will forever be remembered as the disgruntled, wisecracking Biff Tannen in the “Back to the Future” trilogy, though he brings humor to every role he plays. And for that, he will always be beloved.   

Eric Goldberg: The King of Clown Character Animating

In animated movies, there are the heroes/heroines that we root for and the villains that we jeer, (or possibly root for, depending on your point of view!) But there are also the supporting “clown” characters. “Clown” cartoons make animated movies endearing because they provide humor throughout the plot of the movie, often when the hero/heroine experiences trouble at the hands of the villain. But…somebody has to create those characters visually and bring them to life. Today, I’d like to tell you about someone who is known for animating some of Disney’s most beloved “clowns” Eric Goldberg.

Goldberg was born on May 1st, 1955 in Levittown, Pennsylvania. His family moved to Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where he graduated Cherry Hill High School East. After graduation, he relocated again to New York to major in illustration at Pratt Institute. Determined to have a career as an animator, he moved again, this time to London to begin working on the animated film Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure (produced by the Richard Williams London-based studio and released in 1977). Prior to working on that film, he made two films by himself called For Sale and Good Old Fashioned Cartoon Violence in 1973, which have since then been preserved by the Academy Film Archive. Not long after “Raggedy Ann and Andy,” Goldberg started his own London-based studio where he began producing television commercials. 

In 1982, Goldberg married his wife, Susan—also an accomplished artist, having attended Walt Disney’s California-based art school, CalArts (California Institute of the Arts). It was through her that Eric met and developed friendships with future employees at Disney, including John Musker. When Musker and his filmmaking partner, Ron Clements, were hired to co-write/co-direct Aladdin (1992) for the studio, they immediately knew that Eric would be the perfect supervising animator for the character of the Genie in the film. Fortunately for them, Eric was hoping he would get that assignment, and he closed his London studio to begin full-time work at Disney. Animating the Genie was a great challenge because Robin Williams, tapped to voice the Genie was VERY clever and frenetic with improvisation. (Williams improvised almost 16 hours of dialogue!) Prior to making the film, Goldberg also did test animation of the Genie performing Robin William’s stand-up routine in order to persuade Williams to do the part. Goldberg relied primarily on inspiration from the caricaturist Al Hirschfeld to design the Genie, as well as inspiration from the jazz greats, Fats Waller and Cab Calloway. 

Thanks to the success of “Aladdin,” Goldberg was hired by Disney to direct Pocahontas (1995) with Mike Gabriel. His wife, Susan, was the key assistant animator for the character of “Percy” and “Wiggins” in the film. His next assignment was supervising animator for Phil in Hercules (1997). For this character, Goldberg came up with a design that he stated was a combination of Grumpy the Dwarf from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bacchus, the Roman God of Parties, who was in Fantasia (1940). Susan Goldberg collaborated on that design and they collaborated together on the short films: George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” and Camille Saint-Saens “The Carnival of the Animals.” Both films were later edited into Disney’s Fantasia 2000 (1999). Eric wrote and directed the segments, while Susan served as art director.

Eric briefly left Disney in the early 2000’s to be the animation director for Warner Bros. live-action/animation hybrid film Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003). He also provided the voices of Marvin the Martian, Tweety Bird, Michigan J. Frog and Speedy Gonzales in the film. After “Looney Tunes,” he animated the title sequence of MGM’s (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s) 2006 remake of The Pink Panther starring Steve Martin. He later came back to Disney to do animation on the Goofy short How to Hook Up Your Home Theater (2007) and the supervising animation for Louis the Alligator in The Princess and the Frog (2009) and Rabbit in Winnie the Pooh (2011). He was the Final Line Animator on the Oscar-winning short Paperman (2012), which meant that he gave all the animators more influence and control over the final cut of the short. He also served as the Head of the Animation on Get a Horse! (2013), and most recently, he animated Maui’s tattoos in Moana (2016) and was credited as an additional animator in Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018). Going beyond movies and shorts, Goldberg has also been the animator of Mickey Mouse in Disney Park nighttime shows, including Disney Gifts of Christmas, and Celebrate!, in Tokyo Disneyland, and the We Love Mickey Main Street Projection Show in Hong Kong Disneyland.

Eric Goldberg is a multi-talented artist! Besides animating several of Disney’s most humorous characters, he also gave exceptional direction to some Disney Movies and Shorts and to live shows in Disney Parks. The films that he contributed to continue be classics, and inspire artists, especially those who animate supporting characters.