Progress City, U.S.A.

On this day in 1886 (!), Isaiah Edwin Leopold was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. When he would later run away from home to join the vaudeville circuit, he would change his name to Ed Wynn to save his family the embarrassment of having an actor in their midst. While Disney fans will know Wynn for his later work with the studio, the actor had already lived through several careers before he came to Disney to voice the Mad Hatter for Alice in Wonderland in 1951.

Wynn rose through the ranks of vaudeville to star in the Zigfield Follies as early as 1914; he continued to write, act, and produce on Broadway for decades. He was a popular radio show host in the 1930’s and a TV host in the late 1940’s and 1950’s, winning an Emmy in 1949. As Wynn prepared to retire, his son Keenan persuaded him to try serious acting and he made his debut in Rod Serling’s Requiem for a Heavyweight on the anthology series Playhouse 90. He would continue to work in film and television until his death in 1966.

Wynn’s vaudeville fame no doubt appealed to Walt Disney, who had grown up while Wynn was a big star on Broadway. Disney was obviously a fan of the old vaudeville stage, and Wynn would appear in Disneyland’s own “Golden Horseshoe Revue” for its 10,000th performance in 1962. Wynn would make eight films for Disney, most prominently Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins, but also The Absent Minded Professor and Son of Flubber, Babes in Toyland, Those Calloways, That Darn Cat!, and The Gnome-Mobile.

This long list of Disney credits gets to something I often think about - the fact that for a great portion of the 1950’s and 60’s, Disney had a fairly steady stock company of actors and filmmakers creating a constant stream of live-action films for the company. While the old studio system was dying elsewhere, Walt was running a shop that centered around contract players and in-studio production talent. While such a system has its benefits and its shortcomings, at its best it can result in a consistent supply of familiar faces producing dependably entertaining films. It requires constant quality control and the occasional freshening though; Disney’s own system would return to bite the studio after Walt was gone. When his eye for quality and urge to push the envelope was lost, decay set in and what was comfortable and familiar in the 1950’s became trite and threadbare by the 1970’s.

Every film geek knows the thrill of seeing some favorite character actor show up in a bit part, and for me that experience began with watching these films as a kid. A lot of actors from this period in Disney history tend to pop up as character actors in other major studios’ films in this and previous eras. Similarly, as a budding film geek it was fun to spot familiar composers, writers, directors, and even set designers and effects technicians from film to film.

While I would never suggest that Disney eschew the urge to continually explore new material and bring in new talent, I’ve always rather hoped that they’d make a return to these early roots and establish a small internal production group that could foster new talent and produce a series of films with a similar continuity. Even an anthology television program, produced for ABC or the Disney Channel and centering on the fictional town of Medfield could provide a reliable source of entertainment and a touchstone with Disney’s past. Keep it interesting, avoid cliche and general cheeseballery, and hire talented people with good ideas - actually think about what you’re making and you can avoid the stream of tapioca that most people think of when they think of Disney post-Walt. How else are kids of the future going to know about 121-year-old vaudevillians?

Happy Birthday, Ed!

Cartoon Brew points out that today is the 95th birthday of animation legend Ollie Johnston. Ollie is the last surviving member of Walt’s closest circle of animators, the Nine Old Men. He joined the Disney Studios in 1935, and went on to animate for most of the major features of the Golden Age and beyond. He was inducted as a Disney Legend in 1989.

I highly recommend that everyone check out the fantastic documentary about Johnston and lifelong friend and fellow animator Frank Thomas, Frank and Ollie. It’s a great look at the lives of two legends. Thomas and Johnston also wrote a seminal animation text, Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life.

Happy birthday, Ollie!

Recently, Bob Iger and Co. unveiled plans for an extensive overhaul of Disney’s California Adventure. Nestled among the plans including blockbuster attractions in Carsland and a complete redo of the opening plaza was a long-shelved attraction based on The Little Mermaid. Disney followers will know that this was originally planned for EuroDisney, and can even virtually ride through the planned attraction on the Special Edition Little Mermaid DVD.

This excites me, not only because it is clear that the new regime at WDI is dusting off plans for fifteen year old rides, but because the scene shown in all press releases is the “Kiss The Girl” scene. In addition, there’s a wonderful “Under the Sea” scene on the version of the ride shown on the DVD. One way or another, you know that with a Little Mermaid attraction you are going to get good songs. These Alan Menken and Howard Ashman ditties have stood the test of time, even surviving 80’s musical production values.

Expect DCA visitors to be spotted later in the day in queue for Grizzly Soak’n Wet Wild Ride or lounging in the new Beergarten to still be humming along or outright singing these songs hours later. It is an art that until recently I thought lost to Disney theme parks. In the age of Test Tracks, Mission Spaces, and even the wonderful Tower of Terror, you do not get many songs for your buck anymore.

True, the Mermaid attraction is in a way cheating, because these songs are already well known and were paid for years ago. It’s a step in the right direction. All the heavy hitting attractions of Walt’s later years have wonderful songs written just for them: “Yo Ho (A Pirate’s Life For Me)” for Pirates, “Grim Grinning Ghosts” for Haunted Mansion, and the most polarizing and infectious, “It’s A Small World,” on which the entire attraction hinges.

Even less blockbuster attractions recieved their due in musical attention. “There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow” and later “Now Is The Time” for Carousel of Progress, all the wonderful music involved in the Enchanted Tiki Room and the Country Bear Jamboree. “Miracles in Molecules” for Disneyland’s Tomorrowland, and “Meet Me Down On Main Street.” I challenge a man to walk out of Carousel of Progress or It’s a Small World not at least humming, even if it makes them feel foolish.

There’s merit in this. After all, part of the “Disney Difference” in corporatespeak is to “Preserve the Magical Guest Experience.” Listening to these songs on record at home had a very transportative property that would put me back at WDW, just as much as a strange sulfurlike smell would make me think that Rome was burning.

Speaking of which, this song argument is one that I would throw to the wolves to argue the greatness of EPCOT in its early years pre-Epcot 95 identity crisis. Every attraction had great music to back it up, and I weep for the younger generation growing up without these songs. “Fun to Be Free,” “Listen To The Land,” “Tomorrow’s Child,” “New Horizons,” both Energy songs (not to mention the infectious song from El Rio de Tiempo) - these are all lost to us now, except from downloadable devices. At least “One Little Spark,” one of the Sherman Brothers classics survives in revised and weakened form. Consider it a lesson learned, WDI.

I believe they have considered it of late, actually. Two examples in recent EPCOT work leads me to believe all is not lost. Though at the expense of the previously mentioned song, the new El Rio De Tiempo, The Gran Fiesta Tour, showcases an even older theme from The Three Cabalieros.

Even more exciting news is over at The Seas with Nemo and Friends, as well as Finding Nemo The Musical. There Avenue Q composer Robert Lopez and his wife, Kristen Anderson-Lopez were commissioned to write all new numbers AFTER the movie came out, including the wonderful “(In The) Big Blue World.” Immediately, the humming and post ride singing returns to EPCOT - and, for a moment, all appears to be on track.

Until next time, this is Beacon Joe signing off.