Titles from Wave 4 of Disney Treasures confirmed

[Glen_J]

Hi Everyone

I know there's some people that aren't that keen on the "True Life Adventure" series but I think that is mostly because people are not familiar with them. Here a run down on the idea for them. This information comes from the book "The Disney Studio Story" by Richard Holliss and Brian Sibley.

After the war years the Disney company were quite badly in debt to the banks and so needed to find new revenue sources. He set director Ben Sharpsteen the task of combining documentary material with what they knew how to do best - Entertainment.

The first experiment in what Walt described as Sugar Coated Entertainment was to create a feature on America's last frontier, Alaska. Alfred and Elma Milotte were commissioned to shoot footage and when Alfred asked Walt what kind of pictures he wanted to see the reply from Walt was "I don't know - just pictures. Movies. You know - mining, fishing, building roads, the development of Alaska. I guess it will be a documentary or something- you know".

The Milottes set to and filmed, as they later put it, "everything that moved". The footage was shipped to Walt , who wired them : "Too many mines. Too many roads. More animals. More Eskimos."

In response the Milottes spent a year living with the Eskimos and filming in the Pribilof Islands. More footage poured into te studio much to the alarm of Roy, who was concerned with the rising costs if this ill defined project. Walt, however, however started to see the beginnings of a film shape and wired for "more seals".

In August Walt visted Alaska and returned with a plan. "Why don't we....build a storyaround the life cycle of the seals? Focus on them - Don't show any humansWe'll plan this for a theatrical release, but don't worry about the lenght.

When edited the picture "Seal Island" ran for just 27 minutes, which caused dstributor RKO, which told Walt the feature would have to run at feature lenght the secure a theatrical release.

Walt instead decided to approach various theatre owners personally and succeeded in convincing Albert Leroy to show "Seal Island"" at the Crown Theatre, Pasadena, as a supporting feature. It was an emediate hit with the public and was soon booked into the Leow's theatre's in New York.

The critics were euphoric, one describing it as having "all the fascination of a fairy story, with the added appeal of actuality" and at the Oscar ceremony a few months later , "Seal Island" won the Award for best Two Reel Short subject.

The success of "Seal Island" helped to create the True Life Adventure series of which 4 out of the six shorts made were Academy Award winners.

If there was one thing Walt knew it was how to entertain. I'm sure that whatever structure the Treasure True Life Adventure DVD takes will be entertaining for us all.

[rodneyf]

For those interested about Oswald copyrights and the public domain, films fall into the public domain after 75 years (at least prior to the Sony Bono Copyright Act). I think most Oswald cartoons fell into the domain by then. Steamboat Willie was just going to enter the domain when it was extended for an additional 20 years.

So, while the cartoons might be in the public domain (meaning anyone can sell them), the character is still owned by someone. This means that no one can create products using the character's figure (merchandise). So, maybe Universal owns the character, but I'm sure the cartoons are public domain.

[Joe Carioca]

By the way, is the "Oddity Collection" the asorted shorts set? What an odd name!!

[jebsdad]

Excuse my ignorance but what exactly is the Mickey Mouse Club?

The Mickey Mouse Club was one of the most popular children's television series of all time. It aired on the ABC network from October 1955 to September 1959. It started as an one-hour show Monday through Friday with 24 Mouseketeers - talented kids who performed skits, musical numbers, and introduced special guest stars. There were story serials (such as Spin And Marty, The Hardy Boys, Annette, Corky And White Shadow, etc.) and many of the shows also included Disney cartoons.

A total of 260 one-hour and 130 half-hour shows were produced. It was later in syndication from 1962-1965 and again in 1975. The half-hour shows were shown on the Disney Channel from its beginning in 1983 for several years.

With a lot of help from Dave Smith's book "The Updated Official Encyclopedia Disney A to Z", that should give you some idea of the Mickey Mouse Club.

[Ciaobelli]

Thanks for the info. Wow, that sounsd pretty bad. Unworthy of a treasure. They should be releasing more cartoons instead of this IMO.

[AwallaceUNC]

For those interested about Oswald copyrights and the public domain, films fall into the public domain after 75 years (at least prior to the Sony Bono Copyright Act).

Thanks for the info... so how long is the new length of copyright, under Sony's act?

Ciaobelli, to add to what Jebsdad said (which was excellent), the show was revived in the 80s/90s (I believe, not exactly sure on the dates), and a new generation was exposed to the same kind of show. This is where Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Christian Aguilera, Kerri Russel, etc. got their starts as little kids.

I've gotta disagree with you, though. MMC is a treasured (no put intended) piece of Walt-era Disney history, and something most collectors will be chomping at the bit to get. The Treasures line isn't intended merely for cartoon shorts, but for rare material from the days of yore that represent vital aspects of the Disney legacy's history. However, given that you aren't very familiar with the show, it's certainly understandable that you wouldn't be as excited about these. Still, I think if you looked into the show for a little historical insight, your appreciation for them might increase. Welcome to the forums, I look forward to posting with you!

-Aaron

[Ciaobelli]

I guess I'll see how it turns out. It just sounds so uninteresitng thouh, like some second class disney channel program, definetly not on par with things such as: Tomorrowland, True life adventures, on the front lines...
See what I'm saying.

[AwallaceUNC]

Well, this certainly predates anything the Disney channel ever thought up. It was actually premium Disney entertainment at the time, as part of early ABC.

If you've ever heard the classic Disney tune ("Who's the leader of the band that's made for you and me?.... M-I-C, See ya real soon, K-E-Y, Why? Because we love you! M-O-U-S-E), this is what it comes from!

Glad to see you're willing to give it a chance, though.

-Aaron

[jedipir8]

Well i guess 2 short sets a year will be the norm again. I am actually surprised that we are getting 3 this month, figured disney would try to streach them out (guess the war set isn't a traditional short set though). Well with only 6 more short sets left after wave 4 this is what we have left and hopefully will have in December 2007:

Assorted I & II
Donald II, II & IV (four might be donald with guest star ie Humphry, Spike & Chip'n'dale)
Silly Symponies II

I think it's pretty safe to say we will get one donald set for the next 3 years (starting in dec 2005) and one other short set.

[rodneyf]

For those interested about Oswald copyrights and the public domain, films fall into the public domain after 75 years (at least prior to the Sony Bono Copyright Act).

Thanks for the info... so how long is the new length of copyright, under Sony's act?

-Aaron

I did a quick check to make sure. I was wrong about the Oswald shorts. They're not in the public domain yet. I was off by a few years. The Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act (yes, that's Sonny as in "and Cher") extended corporate copyright from 75 years to 95 years. Since it came out in 1998, it protects everything released since 1923. It also means that nothing new has or will fall into the public domain until 2018. I know Disney was a big sponsor of this act as they were afraid Mickey's first shorts would fall into the public domain. So, making a quick check on the IMDb, there are only seven Walt Disney-produced shorts that fell into the Public Domain (Little Red Riding Hood, Four Musicians of Bremen, Jack and the Beanstalk, Goldie Locks and the Three Bears, Puss in Boots, Tommy Tucker's Tooth, and Cinderella), all silent shorts made in 1922. Unfortunately for the public domain, Alice shorts began to be produced in 1923. Oswald didn't come out until 1927.

Here's a link for the shorts: http://disneyshorts.toonzone.net/years/1922/index.html

[AwallaceUNC]

Well, I'm not a huge fan of Sonny in music or in Congress (yes, I know he's dead), but I do think this is a good bill. Granted, it doesn't help us out here, but it seems to me like 75 years just isn't a very long time these days. I'd hate to see things like Disney's Snow White be in the public domain in less than a decade from now.

-Aaron

[deadstone]

So, the long wait for Wave 3 is finally over.

And now, the long wait for Wave 4...

when will it ever end?



Happy pre-ordering!

Philip

[Christian]

I'm actually looking forward to the True Life Adventures.

[Mr arrow]

Yes, I too have been anticipating this since dvd's first appeared on the market christian. The True Life Adventures at the time of their release were and I think (still are) some of the remarkable and awe inspiring films of their kind at the time. Walts personal touch was always in the footage (painstakingly shot of course) humor, drama, and stories would unfold in a thematic way a la Bambi. There was a time when there were more to disney movies than just teenage girls wanting to become rock stars or drama queens (not that theres anything wrong with that). These films were showered with oscars, for anyone who has never seen them but is into disney nostalgia I strongly recommend them, you might really be surprised! If only to see what could REALLY be done with a 16mm camera and sheer determination.

[swray1024]

Now that i have finally gotten Waves 1-3, i can now focus on Wave 4..although sounds like there will be a few purchases before hand!

[MutantEnemy]

I want everything that was ever on Vault Disney in the Treasures sets, that includes Zorro season sets!!!

[disneyfella]

my sources tell me that the Mickey Mouse Club treasures set will include the following:

The Complete First Season
Full Colorized versions of the opening animated sequences (5 different sequences for the five different days of the week)
Clips/Montage/Episodes of the anthology programs showcased on the Mickey Mouse Club



Now i know Trojan mouse said just the first 5 episodes, but maybe these first five episodes were considered the complete first season???????

I dunnno........but this is the info that I have heard as of late.







NOW FOR SPECULATIONS......

My guess is that the True Life Adventures will have all of the featurettes (7 of them) and possibly the first True Life Adventure feature, The Living Desert along with Disneyland T.V. introductions for all of these for when they appeared on television.

Also I'm guessing that since they fit all of the goofy cartoons and some extras on 2 discs, they can fit all of the Pluto cartoons and similar extras on 2 discs. There were 48 pluto cartoons and there were 48 goofy cartoons. I think we can look at the goofy compilation as a good premier as to what the pluto collection will look like with the only possible exception being a "play all" feature this time.




MORE SPECULATIONS.....

o.k., this isn't so much of a speculation as a "I want" list for the upcoming treasures:

Song of the South
Oddities collection (including Figaro cartoons (7 of them), and Chip and Dale cartoons (3 of them), Ferdinand the Bull, Ben and Me, It's Tough to Be a Bird, etc.)
a "Made for Disneyland" set with different one hour melodrama features made in the 50s and 60s for Walt's show
Mini Series events: the Daniel Boone episodes, the Texas John Slaughter episodes, etc.
The People and Places series


o.k. i know this is getting off topic, but it's very very late and i've been studying for a final ALLLLLLLLLLL night so i'm just going to add a few titles on the end as a "wish list"

Zorro complete first season
un-edited Make Mine Music
So Dear To My Heart

thank you and have a good night

[Lars Vermundsberget]

MORE SPECULATIONS.....

o.k., this isn't so much of a speculation as a "I want" list for the upcoming treasures:

Song of the South
Oddities collection (including Figaro cartoons (7 of them), and Chip and Dale cartoons (3 of them), Ferdinand the Bull, Ben and Me, It's Tough to Be a Bird, etc.)

7 Figaro cartoons probably include all the shorts with Figaro in it, but there are fewer (I think 3) with Figaro on the title card. 3 C&D cartoons, on the other hand, include only the ones with C&D on the title card - C&D appear in quite a lot of other shorts (most of them DD).

[Trojan Mouse]

my sources tell me that the Mickey Mouse Club treasures set will include the following:

The Complete First Season
Full Colorized versions of the opening animated sequences (5 different sequences for the five different days of the week)
Clips/Montage/Episodes of the anthology programs showcased on the Mickey Mouse Club

My source is the person actually responsible for the set. It is definitely only the first five one hour episodes. The rest of your info is correct. There are also several new interviews. Also included will be the dance sequence from the Disneyland TV shows deleted from the previous Treasures versions of the show.

[AwallaceUNC]

Wow, this MMC set is sounding better and better all the time. I shouldn't be looking forward to this kind of financial debt again so soon, but I want them now!

-Aaron