Saturday, October 30, 2010

Finding Donald in Unexpected Places

Whether it be on the side of a bomber or marching downstairs in a Ginger Rogers’ film, Donald Duck is one versatile celebrity.  Sometimes, you just don’t know when he’ll turn up!

At first, I was quite surprised to see Dick York (AKA best Darrin Stephens) in this 1945 World War II training film  highlighting insomnia… but then very surprised to see our favorite duck appearing in what I feel is the most memorable part of the whole 20ish minute film.

You’ll all remember the short (“Early to Bed”, 1941 ), but you’ll probably find its usage very clever in the film, which once again proves that animation was so helpful and effective in training “our boys”. I’m pretty sure Samantha could have been very effective as well… one twitch and their insomnia battles would be over! Where’s a witch when you  need one? ;)

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Detour!

If you have a free minute, please stop over to the Dear Old Hollywood blog. There’s a great entry about Walt Disney’s home and studios. He has also included current photos of the buildings. I’m very happy to see they still look nicely kept. Have a look!

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Walt as a topic on BBC Radio

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Stop by the BBC and take a listen to this great radio program they have. Their topic is the life of Walt Disney. It might be a little TMI about the bedwetting, though. Poor Walt! And poor Roy, for that matter! I can only hope he was quite small at the time.

From their website:

“Satirical cartoonist Gerald Scarfe nominates Walt Disney.

Gerald Scarfe spent much of his childhood in his sick bed, so it's not surprising that Disney cartoons and feature films meant so much to him. He can still recall the thrill at the prospect of seeing Pinocchio at the cinema, and then the agony of being lead away again in the rain because the tickets were too expensive.

Walt Disney came from a working family. His god-fearing father Elias, said by one writer to have 'hated Capital, and favoured Labour, but really needed to make a buck', found work where he could. So Walt lived a peripatetic childhood, and sought solace in drawing and play acting. Hard times early on did not make Walt frugal with money in adulthood, and despite the huge successes of the golden era of Disney, it was only with the opening of Disneyland that Walt attained any substantial personal wealth.

You don't have to look far to find myth surrounding Walt Disney. Even after his death, rumours that his body had been cryogenically frozen spread so widely that they soon slipped into folklore. He had actually been cremated, but the readiness with which the cryogenic claim was accepted perhaps bears witness to a man who was terrified of dying, who believed in the white hope of technology and who, some might say, had been searching all his life for an escape into an immortal, fairytale world.

Matthew Parris, Gerald Scarfe and guest experts Brian Sibley and Richard Williams, creator of Roger Rabbit, discuss the life of a complex cultural icon. A man who was seemingly unpretentious, and did not fit the image of movie mogul with his scruffy tweed jacket and awkward demeanour, yet a man who was accused of being a tyrannical egomaniac. The son of a socialist who ended up naming names at the House of Un- American Activities committee. Above all else perhaps though, they discuss the life of a man who strove tirelessly for perfection and who changed the cultural landscape of a little boy called Gerald, and arguably of the world, for ever.

Scarfe himself is best known for his classic images lampooning the great and the good of politics, and also in his iconic animation for Pink Floyd's The Wall. He reveals in this programme that he also spent time working on the Disney production Hercules.

The producer is Miles Warde.”