Fictional Walt Disney biopic : Who would best fit the roles?

[kevinsnow]

Hello, everyone!

I'm Kevin, I'm new to the forum, thanks to my twin bro, Snowbot. Him and I were both raised on Disney and still love all things Disney!

I don't know if you guys have discussed this before, but I thought it would be interesting. I've recently been seeing the trailors for "The Aviator", a biopic based on the life of pioneer Howard Hughes, and that got me thinking how great it would be if there were a major motion picture based on the life of pioneer Walt Disney.

Who do you guys think would be best suited for the role of Walt Disney, and other characters that would appear in this fictional movie?

I found it challenging to think of anyone that looks much like Walt. This is the best I could do: Adrian Brody.

<img src="http://cubbyonline.tripod.com/waltdisney.jpg"> <img src="http://cubbyonline.tripod.com/adrianbrody.jpg">

I dunno, what do you think? Also, are there any other actors/actresses that would be essential for this movie?

[Disney Guru]

I can't think of anyone else who would look more like Walt. It would be cool if Meg Ryan would play Lillian his dear sweet wife, who always stood by Walt through thick and thin, through trouble and woe, from the beginning till the end.

[Luke]

It's an interesting idea. I struggled to remember who I once thought would play a good Walt Disney, and now I think I recall: Philip Baker Hall. Although he's already older now than Walt Disney ever lived to be. A younger Walt Disney? Hmm, would have to think about that.

Cool thread idea!

[Jack]

I was just thinking about this recently too, though my idea was "Wouldn't it be neat to have a Walt biopic in animation?" As for live-action, I never really thought about who could play Walt, but now that you bring up Adrien Brody, I think he's a good pick too! He looks reletively the same (perhaps he'd need to find a way to put on a little more weight), and he's definately a good actor. His voice is a little too deep to do Mickey Mouse, though.

As for his wife, I think Kate Winslet would be good. She has a great quality to her acting that's hard to describe, but I think she'd be very good in the part.

[kevinsnow]

I can't think of anyone else who would look more like Walt. It would be cool if Meg Ryan would play Lillian his dear sweet wife, who always stood by Walt through thick and thin, through trouble and woe, from the beginning till the end.

That's a great idea! Here's a comparison:

<img src="http://cubbyonline.tripod.com/lillian.jpg"> <img src="http://cubbyonline.tripod.com/megryan.jpg">

Unfortunately, since this picture of Meg Ryan was taken, she's seemed to have ruined her face with plastic surgery. What a shame.

It's an interesting idea. I struggled to remember who I once thought would play a good Walt Disney, and now I think I recall: Philip Baker Hall. Although he's already older now than Walt Disney ever lived to be. A younger Walt Disney? Hmm, would have to think about that.

Cool thread idea!

Thanks, Luke! Philip Baker Hall is a great idea for older Walt. Here's what that would look like:

<img src="http://cubbyonline.tripod.com/WalterDisney.jpg"> <img src="http://cubbyonline.tripod.com/PhilipBakerHall.jpg">

[kevinsnow]

As for his wife, I think Kate Winslet would be good. She has a great quality to her acting that's hard to describe, but I think she'd be very good in the part.

Ah, I loved Kate Winslet in "Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind". She definitely has a certain magical quality. Awesome choice.

[Wonderlicious]

I don't like the idea of a Walt Biopic. I could just imagine it being really overprouduced into a piece of sentimental slop where everyone overacts. On a slightly humourous note, I could imagine Will Ferell doing a parody of Michael Eisner.

[snowbot]

The thing that sucks is that this movie will never get made-- unless it's a "Disneyfied" version, that doesn't show the real side of Walt, whatever personal struggles he may have had, or bad decisions, or whatever. The reason is that "Disney" is no longer a person but a corporate logo, a brand name. There could be nothing negative about it for fear of portraying the compay in a bad light, and subsequently losing $$$.

But, we can dream, right? I think Adrian Brody would be the perfect choice for Walt. Good thinking!

What about Ub Iwerks? The best I could come up with was Jack White!
<img src="http://www.ehapa.de/75_jahre_mm/reqress ... s_foto.gif">

<img src="http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:S ... s/jack.jpg">

On a side note, i recently discovered that Adam Sandler has an uncanny resemblance to Bob Dylan. He needs to get that role one day!

<img src="http://www.cnn.com/interactive/entertai ... .dylan.jpg">

<img src="http://www.mtv.com/shared/media/news/im ... punch1.jpg">

[kevinsnow]

I don't like the idea of a Walt Biopic. I could just imagine it being really overprouduced into a piece of sentimental slop where everyone overacts. On a slightly humourous note, I could imagine Will Ferell doing a parody of Michael Eisner.

<img src="http://images.usatoday.com/money/_photo ... eisner.jpg"> <img src="http://i.cnn.net/cnn/2003/SHOWBIZ/Movie ... errell.jpg">

[pinkrenata]

That sounds like a great idea, but unfortunately the only option I can imagine would be a very poor made-for-T.V. movie featuring Hillary Duff as Hayley Mills and Lindsay Lohan (with a dye job) as Annette.

[deathie mouse]

I was just thinking about this recently too, though my idea was "Wouldn't it be neat to have a Walt biopic in animation?"

That would be interesting, Walt goes into the medium he helped to create.

But the way things are going it would end up being in CGI a la Polar Express...

[Practical Pig]

What about Ub Iwerks? The best I could come up with was Jack White!

I think Tom Cavanaugh formerly of the show "ED" would make a great Ub Iwerks. He has that hair thing going.

[Jack]

Going with Renata's idea....

In the roles of Tommy Kirk and Kevin Cocoran....



Are Shia Labeouf and Steven Anthony Lawrence!


That would actually be funny.

[AwallaceUNC]

Disney couldn't actually block this movie from being made, could they? Another studio could do it- Disney doesn't own Walt the person or his life story. There just couldn't be any Disney video or audio clips, and I'm not sure about any archived TV clips either. Perhaps the success of Ray will put this idea in someone's head? I'd love to see it happen!

-Aaron

[Luke]

Shia + Beans as TK and Kevin "The Kevin" Corcoran? That's what I call INSPIRED CASTING!

[Wonderlicious]

Going with Renata's idea....

In the roles of Tommy Kirk and Kevin Cocoran....



Are Shia Labeouf and Steven Anthony Lawrence!


That would actually be funny.

That looks scary. Shia La Boeuf looks like a Scarecrow in that pic.

[pinkrenata]

Going with Renata's idea....

In the roles of Tommy Kirk and Kevin Cocoran....

That would actually be funny.

Hey, I'd go see that!

[Disney Guru]

Going with Renata's idea....

In the roles of Tommy Kirk and Kevin Cocoran....



Are Shia Labeouf and Steven Anthony Lawrence!


That would actually be funny.

That looks scary. Shia La Boeuf looks like a Scarecrow in that pic.

That would be like how can I say this. SICK! Shia Labeouf, and Steven Anthony Lawrence are horrible actors. I think that we should just not do Kevin and Tommy if they would be portrayed by those actors. But Hillary would rock as Hayley, and Lindsay with a good die job, and with the boob implants slipped out would shine as Annette.

[Luke]

There's a couple of posts that were lost in this thread. (Seems like the Snow brothers lost a lot from the forum trouble. )

<hr>

<b>kevinsnow</b> wrote:

Disney couldn't actually block this movie from being made, could they? Another studio could do it- Disney doesn't own Walt the person or his life story. There just couldn't be any Disney video or audio clips, and I'm not sure about any archived TV clips either. Perhaps the success of Ray will put this idea in someone's head? I'd love to see it happen!

-Aaron

I'd really love to see it happen, too. The fact is, the Walt Disney name is so huge now, that the common person forgets, or, as hard as it is to believe, may not even know that he was an actual man, with such a compelling story. I think the story would make an excellent film, as long as, like Snowbot said, the Disney company wouldn't try to censor things, like the fact that Walt was a chain smoker, etc.

I thought the kid in "National Treasure", Hunter Gomez, kind of looked like young Kurt Russell.

<img src="http://www.film.org.pl/images/kurt2/computer.jpg"> <img src="http://cubbyonline.tripod.com/huntergomez.jpg">

<hr>
<b>awallaceunc</b> wrote:

Right-o. That's why I would want someone other than Disney to make it, unless they could truly do it accurately and with no business plugs or propoganda, but that's almost certainly impossible, so another studio would have to tackle it. Warner Brothers, maybe? Who is behind Finding Neverland and Ray? I think the Walt film would be along these lines.

-Aaron

[kevinsnow]

There's a couple of posts that were lost in this thread. (Seems like the Snow brothers lost a lot from the forum trouble. )

Ah, that's okay, Luke! I'm glad that you were able to recover what you did.

Here's a comparison I made in an earlier deleted post for the potential fictional biopic:

<img src="http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Interview ... imball.gif"> <img src="http://www.geocities.com/~doncuco/patro ... oward.jpeg">
Ward Kimball & Clint Howard


Here's one that I believe my bro made:

<img src="http://cubbyonline.tripod.com/royo.jpg"> <img src="http://www.whytemyst.com/cage23.jpg">
Roy O. Disney & Nicholas Cage

And here's a new one:

<img src="http://www.mousestars.com/steve/jdodd/jdodd6.jpg"> <img src="http://www.eurekaboy.com/celeb/cmcdonald.jpg">
Jimmie Dodd & Christopher McDonald