DVDizzy Forum

I just finished watching the documentary and it was nice to see at least some recognition for the Disney Live Action film library. I was pleasantly suprised to see an inclusion of Freaky Friday, Escape to Witch Mountain, and TRON....but disappointed that there was no mention of Island at the Top of the World, The Black Hole, or even The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band. So many more movies could have been shown or talked about, but I'm just glad that this whole documentary was even made! They got a TON of actors and directors to sit down and talk about their experiences. It was fun to see them all again

I don't think Disney will be releasing it on DVD because it was produced by TCM (a Time Warner Company). I don't think Disney has distribution rights, but here's hoping that SOMEONE will put it out on DVD.

For that matter, here's hoping the Disney Company will start releasing their live-action movies with more respect by putting them out with clean prints (Blackbeard's Ghost, Miracle of the White Stallions, Follow Me Boys, etc) and in the original theatrical aspect ratio (the Dexter Riley comedies, In Search of the Castaways, The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band, and all of the above mentioned titles that need to be cleaned up too!).

Three cheers for TCM for presenting live-action Disney films with more respect than The Disney Company themselves. Unfortunately, this doesn't make the Disney Company look too good. It looks as though they don't even know how to take care of their films, much less make them accessible to the proper demographic.

Yeah, so what about the lack of <i>Song of the South</i> mentioning?

The documentary is over now, and here's some notes I made about the 16:9 film excerpts they used which are different from their (R1) DVD presentation:

Old Yeller - in pillarbox open-matte (DVD is 1.75:1)
The Shaggy Dog - in pillarbox open-matte (DVD is 1.75:1)
The Absent-Minded Professor - in pillarbox open-matte (DVD is 1.66:1)
Pollyanna - in pillarbox open-matte (DVD is 1.75:1)
The Three Lives of Thomasina - in pillarbox open-matte (DVD is 1.66:1)
That Darn Cat - in 16:9 OAR (DVD is 1.33:1)
Bedknobs and Broomsticks - in pillarbox open-matte (DVD is 1.66:1)
Pete's Dragon - in pillarbox open-matte (DVD is 1.66:1)
Escape to Witch Mountain - in pillarbox open-matte (DVD is 1.66:1)
The Apple Dumpling Gang - in pillarbox open-matte (DVD is 1.75:1)
Freaky Friday - in pillarbox open-matte (DVD is 1.85:1)
Tron - in pillarbox pan&scan (DVD is 2.20:1)

I'm surprised at some of the presentations, especially the choice to use open-matte for some movies in widescreen on DVD (The Absent-Minded Professor, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and as far as Freaky Friday) and to actually use a pan&scan version of Tron even though 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Swiss Family Robinson were shown in letterbox widescreen. It was even weirder that the bulk of the excerpts from The Happiest Millionaire was 16:9, but then that one clip of Greer Garson and a later clip of John Davidson and Lesley Ann Warren were pillarbox open-matte.

All in all, the documentary wasn't quite as thorough as I'd have liked, but still fairly good. A lot of the more recognizable or notable films each got a 1-2 minute piece (Mary Poppins took up about 11 minutes, naturally). The whole thing pretty much played out as an 80-minute recap of notable Disney live-action films (and general studio trivia) from 1948 to 1982, and unsurprisingly excluding Song of the South. But it was good to hear some things that I hadn't heard before (such as Bobby Driscoll shooting all his Treasure Island scenes and close-ups in 6 weeks, then being "deported" back to America). Would have liked if they had a chance to talk more about The Story of Robin Hood (only a passing reference) and The Sword and the Rose (a couple good interviews, but the entire segment lasted a little over a minute).

I hope it gets released to DVD, either on its own (perhaps with some "extended interviews" and a photo gallery to see the photos used in the doc on their own) or as a supplement to a Disney live-action film that could benefit from its inclusion (hey Disney, how about you pull a Paramount or Universal and have this be a bonus feature on multiple DVDs!).

ETA: Looks like some of my other thoughts I didn't type were already said by everyone else! Great minds think alike!

Also, for anyone who missed the doc, it'll be on December 21 at 11:45, and December 28 at 10:30 (I'm sure I've said it already, but it's worth repeating and worth rewatching).

And just for the hell of it...

7:00 to 7:03 - Soundbytes and Introduction
7:03 to 7:06 - Alice Comedies to Snow White
7:06 to 7:07 - Snow White
7:07 to 7:11 - War Films, Three Caballeros & Package Films, So Dear To My Heart, True Life Adventures
7:11 to 7:13 - British Funds, Treasure Island
7:13 to 7:14 - The Story of Robin Hood, Storyboards, The Sword and the Rose
7:14 to 7:17 - 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea
7:17 to 7:20 - Television, "Disneyland", and promoting films
7:20 to 7:21 - creating a live-action "team", Bill Anderson and Bill Walsh
7:21 to 7:22 - "Davy Crockett" craze
7:22 to 7:23 - Family Values
7:23 to 7:26 - Old Yeller
7:26 to 7:27 - story development
7:27 to 7:29 - The Shaggy Dog
7:29 to 7:32 - The Absent-Minded Professor and Son of Flubber
7:32 to 7:33 - expanding the studio
7:33 to 7:35 - Darby O'Gill and the Little People
7:35 to 7:36 - Third Man on the Mountain
7:36 to 7:39 - Swiss Family Robinson
7:39 to 7:40 - Toby Tyler
7:40 to 7:43 - Pollyanna
7:43 to 7:45 - The Parent Trap
7:45 to 7:46 - In Search of the Castaways, The Sherman Brothers
7:46 to 7:48 - The Three Lives of Thomasina
7:48 to 7:48 - Child Acting
7:48 to 7:49 - Babes in Toyland
7:49 to 7:59 - Mary Poppins, special effects, "Feed the Birds", Awards, Money
7:59 to 8:01 - That Darn Cat
8:01 to 8:02 - The Supporting Actors
8:02 to 8:03 - Follow Me, Boys!
8:03 to 8:05 - The Happiest Millionaire
8:05 to 8:06 - Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N.
8:06 to 8:08 - Walt being sick, planning the new park, his death
8:08 to 8:09 - Blackbeard's Ghost, The Gnome-Mobile
8:09 to 8:11 - The Love Bug
8:11 to 8:12 - Late 60s/Early 70s - Politics & Innocence Lost
8:12 to 8:12 - The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
8:12 to 8:15 - Bedknobs and Broomsticks and "The Age of Not Believing"
8:15 to 8:15 - Disney countering the counterculture
8:15 to 8:16 - Pete's Dragon
8:16 to 8:16 - Escape to Witch Mountain
8:16 to 8:17 - The Apple Dumpling Gang
8:17 to 8:18 - Freaky Friday and the 70s' lack of a great hit
8:18 to 8:20 - Tron and Disney in Trouble
8:20 to 8:21 - Walt Disney & Live-Action Praise, Montage
8:21 to 8:23 - End Credits

albert

I didn't watch that documentary... but I did record it to a DVD

If anyone wants one to keep, let me know and I'll either mail you a burned one or send you an ISO.

It's decent quality, I did it in "flexible record" so the 90 minutes filled up the disc. I wasn't sure if they air commercials or not but if they do those would be in there...

--EDIT--

So I was reading back in the thread... Escapay, if you want, I can send you one of mine... as it was direct from cable to DVD, not through a DVR or anything.

If anyone else wants one, I can make as many as needed. (That's one benefit to the digital formats - I just rip an ISO and burn however many are needed. Not like VHS used to be.)

What the hell, drfsupercenter?! You think you can just steal my sale? Escapay asked me for the disc. WTF!



























































































































Only kidding - Escapay is probably better served getting it from you!

drf & Neal wrote:drf:
So I was reading back in the thread... Escapay, if you want, I can send you one of mine... as it was direct from cable to DVD, not through a DVR or anything.

Neal:
What the hell, drfsupercenter?! You think you can just steal my sale? Escapay asked me for the disc. WTF!

Only kidding - Escapay is probably better served getting it from you!

Never have I thought I'd have people fighting to send a DVD-R to Jersey!

Thanks for the offer, drf. I'll PM you my e-mail.

albert

Good documentary. Would love to have the next 30 years similarly covered in another 80-minute doc, but I know it won't happen. Pretty silly to talk about the revolutionary earliest live-action/cartoon hybrids without mentioning the most charming of them (<i>Song of the South</i>), but I suspect that was one of the terms that Disney insisted on allowing this loving ode to them to be made. (Or TCM simply didn't have access/legal rights to sample it.)

As others have already pointed out, it is strange/depressing/pathetic that TCM seems to have more respect for Disney's live-action library than Disney itself does. I'd count on any other studio to include such a thing on the next relevant DVD release. Heck, put it on next month's <i>Mary Poppins</i> reissue and it'd suddenly have some repurchase value. But that too won't happen. Some noticeable omissions in who was interviewed (Jodie Foster, Julie Andrews, Tim Allen, Jonathan Taylor Thomas - yeah I said it) and the post-Walt time was predictably abrupt. But overall a very engaging watch, though that was just about a given for me based on the subject matter and format.

Remember when Disney used to release exciting old live-action movies on general public DVDs general retail and we would review them? Good times...

What the hell, drfsupercenter?! You think you can just steal my sale? Escapay asked me for the disc. WTF!

By the way, that "record to VCR" function of a DVR can be used to record directly to DVD... rather than actually using a VCR. Unless you have another reason for doing that?

Still, I don't own a DVR and stay away from them, because they ALWAYS recompress video and it's easier for me to just keep loading my settop recorder with DVD+Rs (or RWs if I just want to watch a show once)... and that way no DRM is stopping me from putting it on my computer, either.

My DVD player doesn't have the capability to write to a DVD. So I'd have to use a VHS tape then use a codec converter to make it digital on my computer. My computer has a DVD burner.

It was great to see Walt's films getting the proper respect, naturally only from outside the company.

A few glaring omissions in the Disney live-action story, notably The Reluctant Dragon and Song of the South - - but also the rebel heroes that followed in the wake of Robin Hood and Davy Crockett (Swamp Fox, Zorro, Scarecrow) - - and few other shows that might have been noted such as Light in the Forest, Summer Magic, Moon-Spinners. A nod to the many cool, inventive title sequences would have been nice. ...And why didn't Julie do it?

Still and all, the very best documentary on Walt as a film-maker I have seen in some time. We need to see more like this.

Thanks to TCM and the filmmakers for doing it.

I loved it!
A question...
Does anyone else get teary-eyed/choked up when the people that knew him talk about Walt's death? Those stories get to me every time!
Jon

I also loved this documentary. To his credit, Leonard Maltin did mention Song of the South. I mean, he didn't talk about it, but he did mention it.

>>To his credit, Leonard Maltin did mention Song of the South. I mean, he didn't talk about it, but he did mention it.<<

Oh, I'm sure many of the interview subjects talked about Song of the South, but the footage wasn't used. It's an odd exclusion in a history special on Disney live-action, because Song of the South truly was Walt's first live-action narrative.

Luke wrote:Good documentary. Would love to have the next 30 years similarly covered in another 80-minute doc, but I know it won't happen.

You never know, Luke. 60 years from now TCM could make a new documentary to celebrate memorable films from 1983 to 2033 like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Rocketeer, Man of the House, Remember the Titans, and Pirates of the Caribbean (all ten movies, ). We could hear from esteemed film historians like Ben Lyons and Ernest Rister, as well as geriatrics like Amy O'Neill, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, AnnaSophia Robb, and whoever played the baby in The Pacifier.

Luke wrote:Remember when Disney used to release exciting old live-action movies on general public DVDs general retail and we would review them? Good times...

In hindsight, I'd rather have those days again (getting live-action catalogue movies on DVD with little-to-no features and half not in OAR) than what we've got today (DMC exclusives), if only so we could complain about what's out in the market as opposed to what isn't. Then again, I'd rather Disney treat their live-action library with respect, instead of having fans rely on a TCM documentary and broadcasts of the films to whet their appetites.

merlinjones wrote:A few glaring omissions in the Disney live-action story, notably The Reluctant Dragon and Song of the South - - but also the rebel heroes that followed in the wake of Robin Hood and Davy Crockett (Swamp Fox, Zorro, Scarecrow)

Yeah, I was surprised at the lack of any mention for Zorro, and especially the lack of words about Scarecrow.

merlinjones wrote:And why didn't Julie do it?

Perhaps she was too busy and couldn't schedule an interview?

merlinjones wrote:Still and all, the very best documentary on Walt as a film-maker I have seen in some time. We need to see more like this.

Well, we do have that brief 11-minute featurette on the "Dr. Syn" treasure that's about his films shot in England.

carolinakid wrote:Does anyone else get teary-eyed/choked up when the people that knew him talk about Walt's death? Those stories get to me every time!

I didn't get choked up, but I did feel pangs of sadness when I watched them talking about it.

albert

Ack, I ran into a bit of a problem when I tried to finalize the DVD.

My DVD recorder seems to have broken on me, and keeps saying "invalid disc" when I put in the un-finalized one I recorded on. It's not just that one either... all of my recorded discs are giving me that same error.

I will call Panasonic tech support tomorrow to see if it's some sort of malfunction - but this means I won't be able to get an ISO up until I fix the problem.

Push comes to shove, I'll just record the rerun on 12/21. Sorry for the inconvenience!

(Believe me, I'm a bit annoyed myself... I set a timer to record the season finale of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and was shocked to find it frozen 15 seconds in. Now I'll have to find an encode or something...)

drf wrote:Ack, I ran into a bit of a problem when I tried to finalize the DVD.

My DVD recorder seems to have broken on me, and keeps saying "invalid disc" when I put in the un-finalized one I recorded on. It's not just that one either... all of my recorded discs are giving me that same error.

I will call Panasonic tech support tomorrow to see if it's some sort of malfunction - but this means I won't be able to get an ISO up until I fix the problem.

Push comes to shove, I'll just record the rerun on 12/21. Sorry for the inconvenience!

(Believe me, I'm a bit annoyed myself... I set a timer to record the season finale of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and was shocked to find it frozen 15 seconds in. Now I'll have to find an encode or something...)

Ouch, that's disappointing! Here's hoping your DVD recorder gets fixed!

albert

I was hoping they would cover the live action movies up till at least the Princes Diaries or Freaky Friday as the former brought Julie Andrews back to Disney. It had to be a scheduling issue for Julie not to be in the documentary, it was a huge glaring omission, as well as Jodie Foster not being interviewed. At least most of the dvd releases we have gotten in the past before the well dried up had great interviews, like Jodie on her history w/Disney on the Freaky Friday dvd. I did tear up when Karen Dotrice talked about Disney's death, you could tell she held him in a high regard and I love that she is still involved when dealing w/interviews and whatnot for her past with the company. I didn't realize it till it was discussed here that SotS was left out of the documentary, save for Maltin's mention. I wonder if he has the dirt on why it was left out exactly. I'm guessing Disney didn't want it brought up at all, and they only let a quick mention be the only way it was allowed.

Seeing Kurt Russell, and his Disney movies prior to the documentary got me thinking about that story about him and Walt. Was there any actual truth that Disney mentioned something in secret to Kurt in his final days and Kurt was told to never tell anyone what he was told by Disney himself? I remember hearing about something like that a few years back, and I figure you guys would know if there is any truth and what was said if anything.

Another thing that most of you are missing here, is that this documentary is not a new one. This was made almost 20 years ago and then they inserted some current interviews in it.

"The Age of Believing" was originally made for television, I believe, in the late 80's, that is why there are no current mentions of things going on since the last scenes of this film. Read the credits and you will see the actual date of the original documentary.

>>I was hoping they would cover the live action movies up till at least the Princes Diaries or Freaky Friday<<

I think the way it was done was best. Walt Disney was not just a figurehead, but an actual filmmaker - - and his movies are simply not the same as "the Disney company" films. It's nice to see a serious documentary about Walt's own films rather than another promotional overview of "product".

dvdjunkie wrote:Another thing that most of you are missing here, is that this documentary is not a new one.

Yes, it is.

TCM calls it an all-new original documentary here.

Bill wrote:This was made almost 20 years ago

No, it wasn't.

There's absolutely no other listing for "The Age of Believing" on imdb or any other film site beyond this 2008 one.

Bill wrote:and then they inserted some current interviews in it.

All the interviews were current, none of them were archival from the late 80s. Just compare all the interviewees now to how they looked in 1988. I doubt Kurt Russell or Michele Lee looked that old, and Glynis Johns wasn't that frail.

Bill wrote:"The Age of Believing" was originally made for television

Yes, for Turner Classic Movies in 2008.

Bill wrote:I believe, in the late 80's

No, in the late 2000s.

Bill wrote:that is why there are no current mentions of things going on since the last scenes of this film.

There are no mentions of things past Tron because that's a year or two before the transition from Miller to Eisner/Wells, which is the perfect end point for the subject of this documentary (Walt-Era and Immediate-Post-Walt-Era films). The Eisner/Wells period could be considered the modern Disney, not the classic Disney, hence, why they're not covered in this documentary.

Bill wrote:Read the credits and you will see the actual date of the original documentary.

I transcribed the credits shortly after viewing the doc, and they scroll as follows:

<center>Written, Produced
and Directed by
Peter Fitzgerald

Narrated by
Angela Lansbury

Grateful Thanks
Ken Annakin
Tim Considine
Tim Conway
Kevin Corcoran
Bill Cotter
Roy E. Disney
Karen Dotrice
Don Iwerks
Leslie Iwerks
Tommy Kirk
Glynis Johns
Dean Jones
Michele Lee
James MacArthur
Leonard Maltin
Hayley Mills
Nancy Olson
Les Perkins
Kim Richards
Kurt Russell
Richard Schickel
Richard Sherman
Paula Sigman
Bob Thomas
Dick Van Dyke
Lesley Ann Warren

Associate Producers
Michi Jones
Christopher Pavlick

Director of Photography
Andres Garreton

Sound Recordist
Michael Sakaniwa

Key Makeup Artist
Anthony Gordon

Edited by
Peter Fitzgerald

Online Editors
Will Lehr
Ronen Pestes

Assistant Editor
Robb Hoffman

Sound Designer
Rick Latimore
Bobby Garza
Jet Stream Sound

Original Music by
Nathan Wang

Motion Graphics Designer
Kevin Bolyard

Historical Consultant/Archivist
Les Perkins

Legal Clearance Administrators
Renee Kibbler
Llyswen Franks

Archival Still Images
Appear Courtesy Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Other Photos provided by:
Hollywood Reporter cover (c) Neilsen Business Media
Boxoffice Magazine Cover (c) 1964 Boxxofice Media LP
Corbis - Getty Images - Photofest - Les Perkins

Clips from "So Dear to My Heart" "Backstage Party"
"Operation Undersea" "I Captured the King of
the Leprechauns" "Third Man on the Mountain"
and original theatrical trailers for:
"The Three Caballeros" and "Swiss Family Robinson"
Courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.

Additional Footage Provided by:
UCLA Film & Television Archives
Hollywood Newsreel

Now Available on DVD
from Buena Vista Home Entertainment:
The Reluctant Dragon
The Three Caballeros
Treasure Island
Seal Island & The Living Desert
on The True Life Adventures Vol. 2
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Davy Crockett King of The Wild Frontier
Old Yeller
The Shaggy Dog
Darby O'Gill and the Little People
Toby Tyler or Ten Days with the Circus
The Absent Minded Professor
Son of Flubber
The Parent Trap
Babes in Toyland
The Three Lives of Thomasina
Mary Poppins
That Darn Cat
Follow Me, Boys!
Blackbeard's Ghost
The Gnome Mobile
The Happiest Millionaire
The Love Bug
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Escape to Witch Mountain
The Apple Dumpling Gang
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again
Freaky Friday
Pete's Dragon
TRON

Special Thanks:
Pat and Arlene Adams
Rob Arkwright
Rob Ramsey
Boone LaBounty
Kathleen Sullivan
Paula Potter
David Jessen
Dominic Griffin
Mark Shimmel
Ray Carrasco
and
Walter Elias Disney

A FitzFilm Inc. Production

(c) 2008 Turner Classic Movies, Inc.
A Time Warner Company
All Rights Reserved</center>

And it looks like 2008 is the actual date listed. The only other date is 1964, and that's for a photo used.

albert