How was it being a Disney fan in the 70s/80s?

[karlsen]

Since I am born in -76 I don't have much memory of that decade but my local video store had mostly old family movies for rent so when I was in school age and my father let me pick out a video to rent in the early 80's I always picked the 60/70 classics. It was not so much the animated feautures (apart from Robin Hood wich I loved I did not see any of them then) but it was mostly the live action feautures and cartoon shorts.

[Sunset Girl]

Also, there were many other ways to experience Disney outside of the cinema despite video not exisisting; TV would have screened Disney material such as short cartoons, live action pieces and a few animated classics like Alice in Wonderland. Plus, things such as Read Along Book and Tapes would have reminded many of the movies.

Plus, imagining a world without The Lion King and compulsive video and DVD releases every five minutes would be better to an extent; not only would so many so-called "Disney fans" remember that Disney made films before 1989, but perhaps the splendour of compulsive theatrical re-releases and the novelty home-media release every Christmas would be the norm again.

I was born in 1976, and even though Disney was in a "slump" in that era, I've always loved Disney. As much as I love my collection, I can't help but feel that we've been a little spoiled by all these DVD releases.

Disney was basically a "special occasion"-type thing in my household. I got to see almost every Disney animated film when it hit the theaters, and when we got our first VCR in 1985 (also a special occasion), I taped a plethora of Disney specials. My first Disney pre-record was the 1986 issue of Lady and the Tramp.

I relied on records and tapes and other merchandise to satisfy my fix for the characters and stories. I'd get story books and behind-the-scenes books at the library and would practice drawing the characters from them.

I used to look forward to the new releases all year. So oh yes, Disney was alive and well before 1989, and I have a great deal of respect of the films made prior to the nineties. I find it sad that a lot of current Disney fans know so little about the era in which Walt was still alive and find no appreciation in films like Cinderella, or even the post-walt/pre-Ashman/Menken era films like The Fox and the Hound.

It's tough for me to phathom the idea that many people remember Beauty and the Beast or the Little Mermaid as their first Disney film; makes me feel old! For someone like me, it was wonderful and exciting to see my favorite studio finally get some real recognition.