jeremy88 wrote:Short Circuit(this one cracks me up!), That Darned Cat(was this a Disney one?)
That Darn Cat is Disney but Short Circuit is NOT!
Oh I see lol, I guess I thought Short Circuit was a Disney Live Action cause it would ocasionally come on Disney Channel back in the day. It's still hilarious though heh.
Anyways thanks for the correction Chernabog and Jenny.
As I'm sure most of you know, I'm a HUGE live action Disney advocate. Over the years I've had numerous rants about people who shun the live action output. Here is a post I dug up from somewhere, there are much lengthier rants out there just search if want to find one, but this one succintly summarises my thoughts:
me wrote:Second to me in importance is the live action works of the Walt Era. Theatrical films and television productions like 'Disneyland' and 'The Mickey Mouse Club'. I have to say I both hate and feel sorry for those people who will buy everything related to the animated films but won't even give any live action work a second glance. Yes it's a different format, but they are still the product of the same studio. Half of them being made with the same cast and crew as the animated features, to me I view the live action of the Walt era as an integral part of the history of the studio. It gives a greater understanding of the way the studio and Walt's mind worked, the way Walt wanted to expand and try new ideas the way he moved from animation into live action and then into Theme parks. Ideally I too would love to collect all live action works from the Walt era on DVD. As far as the post Walt stuff is concidered I take it or leave it depending on my enjoyment.
In short as I have stated numerous times that I loathe people who don't give a hoot about the live action output. I have known people who literally sit there polishing their animated collection and when I've mentioned to them "20,000 leagues under the sea" or "The Parent Trap" is on TV in an hour, they won't even watch them when they are free to air on TV. This betrayal (which is the only word for it) is worsened even more in my eyes by the fact they don't see the live action stuff as worthy, but yet slap a princess on a badly animated japanese piece of crap and they're first in line to buy it. It is ludicrous in my eyes for anyone to value Disney Princess Fables or whatever they're called above classic live action movies, some of which outgross and outdo most of the animated stuff.
I'm sure most of you know I started the Live Action Discussions in order to get the people who like them to discuss them and hopefully lure the betrayers to see what they are missing. The most recent was <a href="http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... on">Escape to Witch Mountain - here</a>, and the links at the bottom to previous discussion are there for a reason people!
Which by the way is the reason there are sometimes a couple of weeks between each discussion, because it's quite disheartening to spend time trying to provoke discussion to which nobody responds. And sometimes I don't just think it's because people don't have access to the films, more that they can't be bothered. Take the film Secrets of Life for example. When the DVD was incorrectly framed, there must have been at least 20-30 members who complained and then asked for replacement discs, yet there were only 2 replies in the <a href="http://www.ultimatedisney.com/forum/vie ... 4">Secrets of Life thread</a>, whereas some pointless gobbledegook about whether Cinderella would have looked nicer with a pink dress waffles on for about 20 pages.
Well, while there's a lot of Disney live-action out there I haven't seen, I've probably seen more than your typical, self-proclaimed Disney fanatic. For me, I can't say for sure when I first got into Disney, because I must have been younger than 5, and I was born in '75. I would guess it was a combination of a few things: Books and book and record sets that I played constantly, watching the Wonderful World of Disney (or whatever it was called at the time) every day/week throughout my life, and being taken to see the movies in theaters growing up, both live-action and animated (and mixed). This all happened despite the fact that my parents are not Disney fanatics and not cartoon fans at all, though my mother always did like to take us to Disney theme parks on those rare summer vacations. My dad, on the other hand, could easily (and happily) do without anything Disney, though there are a few Disney films here and there that he does like, included Rescuers Down Under as possibly the only animated one.
Anyways, my stongest childhood memories would probably be purely of Disney animation and mixed movies like Pete's Dragon and Mary Poppins had it not been for the Disney Channel. We got the Disney Channel in the VERY early '80s, when I believe it was still pretty new. I had seen billboards advertising it and expressed my desire for it, but it was surely only because of the old "free previews" that we actually got it. And, no doubt, it was because of these early days of the Disney Channel that I became as obsessed with live-action Disney as with animated Disney. I remember the first films I saw there (during one of those free previews) were Old Yeller and Pollyanna. At the time, they showed those two a lot. To give you an idea of what time period this was in, it was when they had shows like Welcome to Pooh Corner, Mousercise, Dumbo's Circus, Just Me and You Kid, and stuff like that in the mornings. Of course, what I was particularly a fan of was "Good Morning Mickey" and Donald Duck Presents." Oh, and "Mousterpiece Theater." Had the cartoons not been edited, I would have loved the idea of a Mousterpiece Theater DVD release. The intros to the cartoons were priceless. Yeah, this was back before Avonlea the series and the Not Quite Human films. But I won't go on about how great The Disney Channel USED to be and how one of the only reasons anyone over 18 would watch it now would be for the cute teenage girls (or guys I guess). My point is, it was easily The Disney Channel that introduced me to most Disney Live-Action that I have seen, especially the stuff that most people haven't seen. It's no surprise a lot of folks nowadays aren't that familiar with Disney live-action. It's just not as accessible as it was during the 80s, though it should also be kept in mind that that was a pay channel at the time too. Of course, probably just as huge a reason people don't know Disney live-action is that they avoid it because they consider it "corny." I hate that prejudice and I really feel it shows a lack of knowledge of the variety of Disney live-action that exists. I would think that anyone who found the animation worth watching could find some Disney live-action worthwhile as well. There are very little similarities between Treasure Island and Million Dollar Duck. Yes, some Disney live-action is corny, but not all. Now, personally, I like the corny stuff too. I have a sense of humor and it's one that allows for "corny." Some folks' senses of humor don't, and I think that's a bit sad. It's a huge genre they have to miss out on. And then, some folks find EVERYTHING corny if there's any humor or innocence to it at all. Now that's REALLY irritating, though I have family members with that very problem. And some folks just label anything that is aimed at a family audience as "corny." That's REALLY disturbing.
Something else that amazes me though, is that some folks are completely unaware that there were live-action Disney films before the 80s. I don't know how that happens, but I've met people like that. Okay, I guess I can see it happening. After all, I just said it was the Disney Channel that clued me in on MOST Walt-era Disney live-action. But I can't imagine how different it must be to grow up without the Disney basics, like the original Parent Trap, and Pollyanna, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Old Yeller and Swiss Family Robinson! Those were all faves of mine growing up, though I admit that I have yet to get most of them on DVD (but do have them on VHS). I couldn't live without my Shaggy Dog or Treasure Island DVDs. Johnny Depp has nothing on Robert Newton! Bullwhip Griffin, which I also have on DVD, was one of the happiest discoveries of my youth, along with one of my all-time favorite musicals, "The Happiest Millionaire." And, of course, "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" must be watched every St. Patrick's Day, and I can't wait to get that DVD of "The Gnome Mobile," along with several others. I'm going to be very upset if they don't release the rest of the Swamp Fox, and I can think of a ton of others I wish would come to DVD. Then there's Herbie, "The Love Bug," an all time favorite of mine. Always wanted to own my own Herbie, and I still intend to someday. I have every Herbie movie from the first to Herbie: Fully Loaded. They just need to give the Bruce Campbell sequel a DVD release so I can ditch the VHS, and then there's the short-lived TV series. And, yeah, I love the post-Walt live-action too. Huge fan of the Dexter Riley trilogy (definitely gotta get THOSE DVDs!), and I personally consider "The Black Hole" a masterpiece. I can't say I ever truly "got" TRON, though I do have the 2-disc DVD, and I just picked up Flight of the Navigator and Journey of Natty Gann. Incidentally, those and several others are only 5.99 at Best Buy this week, but I could only spare enough cash for two. Had to leave behind two of Disney's very best films, Iron Will and White Fang, since I have those on VHS for now anyway. A shame they only have fullscreen releases.
Oh, and don't get me started on the Disney Renaissance of the late 80's! That was a live-action Renaissance too! I'm a huge Honey I Shrunk the Kids and Blew Up the Kid fan, and I LOVE the TV series. They've GOT to release that show on DVD someday! I've been holding out on the films, hoping for some special edition releases, but no dice yet. They did have that weak direct to video sequel though, but even it had its moments. The Mighty Ducks, The Rocketeer, Dick Tracy... all that stuff was great! The Adventures of Huck Finn, starring Elijah Wood, is easily one of my favorite films of all time (my number one fave is Who Framed Roger Rabbit). And even Tom and Huck was a great film, despite being a JTT vehicle. Then you had stuff like Heavyweights and The Santa Clause, and surely a bunch of stuff I'm forgetting. Yeah, there were some stinkers here and there too, or some that were just okay, but there were so many gems. Sometimes you get some that look like Disney Channel movies with slightly bigger budgets, but even some of those are fairly good. I saw "Max Keeble's Big Move" yesterday for the first time, and it was actually pretty entertaining. I'm sure a lot of this stuff, the mere mention of some of this stuff, makes so-called more discerning viewers cringe, but anyone should be able to see that there's a lot of variety of Disney live-action out there and it's really worth exploring. It's pretty unpredictable too. I mean, for example, some remakes work, some don't (the original That Darn Cat was awesome, but the remake, despite starring Christina Ricci, was horrendous!), sometimes sequels are better than the originals, even when direct to video (at least, that's how I felt about Inspector Gadget 2), and sometimes things get botched, like the Country Bears movie. But sometimes they just get a bad rep, like Haunted Mansion, which is mostly a great film. Amazingly, what hurt Haunted Mansion was that it kept being compared to another Disney live-action film, "Pirates of the Caribbean." You'd think the Pirates of the Caribbean craze would really turn people on to Disney live-action, but it doesn't change the fact that many people don't even know there is live-action Disney from before Honey, I Shrunk the Kids or Flight of the Navigator, or most people just still think it's all corny if it doesn't have Johnny Depp in it.
Last edited by slave2moonlight on Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I can't stand people who claim that kids don't like old movies. They only don't like them if you tell them that they don't like them. Slave2moonlight is an example of someone who was a kid AND liked old movies. If people are given the chance to see these films, then they can make an opinion. The probelm is Disney automatically thinks that kids don't like old things (yet they heavely market there 50 plus year old animated movies) and so they put no effort in producing and marketing thier old live action films (with a few exceptions) and so retailers don't carry them.
Slave2moonlight was exposed to these films through television, which is the perfect medium to do this. Turner Classic Movies is currently having a Funday nights at the Movies every Sunday nights to show kids these older films (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is one of them), and it annoys me when the Disney channel fails to even try to show some of thier live action stuff (Vault Disney doesn't count becuase no kids are up at 3 AM). Even while kids are watching the Wizard of Oz or the original Willy Wonka .
I personally was never really exposed to old Disney live action stuff as a kid except for Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Flight of the Navigator (which most people don't even know about). The combination of crappy hard to find DVDs and zero television exposure prevents me from seeing stuff like Blackbeard's Ghost and Bullwhip Griffin that I am dying to see. (I can't tell you how excite I was to see the Barefoot Executive on TCM).
Plus I have no intention of buying anything online ever, even when I do get a credit card. I'm going to try to get alot of DVDs at the Virgin Megastore at WDW, but even that is closing in the spring so I guess thatt's my last chance to easily find some older Disney stuff.
ichabod wrote:This betrayal (which is the only word for it) is worsened even more in my eyes by the fact they don't see the live action stuff as worthy, but yet slap a princess on a badly animated japanese piece of crap and they're first in line to buy it.
Well, to my own defence I can at least say that I'm considerably less interested in the sort of animated "crap" you mention there than in admittedly truly classic live-action Disney material...
Flanger-Hanger wrote:I can't stand people who claim that kids don't like old movies. They only don't like them if you tell them that they don't like them.
That is probably very true. For the most part, I like Disney's older movies (both live action and animated) better than the movies produced after The Black Cauldron. I greatly enjoy 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Swiss Family Robinson, the original version of The Parent Trap, and so forth. As for the more modern live movies, I *did* like The Haunted Mansion. I became sappy and misty eyed near the ending, although there were moments where the movie dragged on. Anyway, my points are, I have nothing against the majority of Disney's live action movies and I certainly enjoy the classics. T.V. Land is not Disney-related, but it is my favorite channel!
Reading Flanger-Hanger's post, I'm reminded about something I think I forgot to mention in my post. Just a personal feeling I guess, but to me it's so sad that the theme parks are slowly losing any trace of Disney's live-action history by replacing things like the Nautilus submarine ride with Pooh play areas and Finding Nemo sub rides, and changing Swiss Family Robinson's Treehouse to Tarzan's Treehouse, and so on. It's just soooo sad, and they're just doing it to be more appealing to kids. I understand the desire to update rides and I'm all for Tarzan and Nemo attractions, but I don't support the loss of Disney's rich live-action history within the parks. They could have updated the 20,000 Leagues ride without changing the theme. They could have even made it a Disney Undersea ride where one rides the Nautilus and seas a variety of Disney characters underwater, from the Finding Nemo gang to the Bedknobs and Broomsticks characters, to the Little Mermaid, and finally the big battle with the squid. Yeah, that sounds weird, but it could be worked out to make sense. I don't know, anything to keep Disney's wonderful live-action history alive within the parks. Kids today just aren't exposed to this stuff much. They might like it if they were. I loved it as a kid! I don't think it's a great idea to just devote the parks to pirates, princesses, and PIXAR, as much as I love those subjects. And, I must say, I haven't been to Disney World since they filled in the lagoon (so I hear), but I can't imagine that place without it!
Oh, and did I rave about Disney live-action without mentioning the number one must-see Halloween film ever, Hocus Pocus? Shame on me! Also highly enjoy the cult-classic "Newsies," plus the little known "The Ugly Dachshund."
slave2moonlight wrote:Oh, and did I rave about Disney live-action without mentioning the number one must-see Halloween film ever, Hocus Pocus? Shame on me! Also highly enjoy the cult-classic "Newsies," plus the little known "The Ugly Dachshund."
Same here! Halloween wouldn't be Halloween without Hocus Pocus (they show it and Arachniphobia allot on Family Channel here in Canada in october plus most Halloween related DCOM).
I bet a lot of people who think they don't like Disney live-action have some favorite films that they don't realize are Disney. Two more all-time faves from the '80's era that come to mind are "One Magic Christmas" and "Return to Oz!"
for me i just love the classic-ness and quality of disney animation...the animators set themselves apart everytime...my only reason though for not watching plenty of live-action is
a)not enough time in the day
b)i almost whole-heartedly believe that disney should be known for the animation it produces...like what the parks mainly resemble....and the theme for them...just because disney should also exemplify childrens fantasies...which i think for most kids is in cartoons
sorry if i dont make too much sense....its hard to explain....
