Disney's Live Action

[Avaitor]

It looks like Disney is trying to pull a 90's Are All That of their own. For the next few Wednesday nights, they'll put on older shows of theirs at midnight. Even Stevens tonight, Lizzie McGuire next week, and Kim Possible the week after.

I don't really care, but I might watch Even Stevens if I remember, since I actually like that one. They're only airing one episode of it though- the others get an hour.

[Spark Of Spirit]

They could have gone a tad older than that, but it's hard to complain.

[Avaitor]

I dont' see why they can't just do Vault Disney again. Kids don't stay up that late, and if they do, they're not going to want to watch the same crap they can see in the day time, they'll turn onto [as] or something "edgier" than they normally do, just because they can.

Make it a combination of older Disney programs for college students, the studio's older TV shows and movies for the older crowd, and some Disney Afternoon shows for those in between. Bam.

[Avaitor]

So yeah, the aired the musical episode of Even Stevens last night, and now I remember just how awful Shia Labeouf's singing voice is.

See, they don't force EVERYONE on their shows to have singing careers.

[Daxdiv]

So yeah, the aired the musical episode of Even Stevens last night, and now I remember just how awful Shia Labeouf's singing voice is.

See, they don't force EVERYONE on their shows to have singing careers.

But I'm pretty sure they made Christy Carlson Romano sing a couple of songs for Kim Possible? I could have sworn she sang a song leading up to "So The Drama"

[Avaitor]

Yeah, Romano's fine. Actually, IIRC, she's done Broadway a few times. She even did Belle at one point or another.

Shia, however, is not. But he isn't that much worse than Selena Gomez, when you really think about it.

[LumRanmaYasha]

You know, I'm not really all that nostalgic for any Disney Channel original shows. While a lot of them are memorable for something or another, none of them are shows I'm absolutely dying to see again or anything. The Disney Channel show I liked the most as a kid was Dave the Barbarian, and that show pales in comparison to the Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network shows I liked back then. I did like Sister, Sister and Smart Guy, and I thought Jett Jackson and Even Stevens were okay too, but I probably wouldn't watch any of them now, especially when I cant bring myself to watch All That and Kenan&Kel nowadays either.

[Avaitor]

Yeah, I haven't been updating this thread because a lot of the shows they've been airing on Wednesday nights aren't that exciting. Mostly the lamer Disney Channel series and some of their older DCOMs. But Even Stevens is going to be on again tonight, so I might watch that again.

[Avaitor]

A quick primer on what to expect on TCM tomorrow night.

I'll try to keep this a recurring thing for when more blocks air. But yeah, I'll be missing the first couple of hours, unfortunately.

[Avaitor]

Did anyone watch last night? Like I mentioned on the blog, I had to miss the first couple of hours, but I had the latter part of Reluctant Dragon on for background noise until Davy Crockett. It was fun stuff, especially since Leonard Maltin was there with Ben Mankiewicz.

[Avaitor]

The next Treasures from the Disney Vault lineup airs on July 2nd, and the block will contain:

8:00 pm
Hawaiian Holiday (1937)
Beach Picnic (1939)
The Simple Things (1953)

8:30 pm
Johnny Tremain (1957)

10:00 pm
Walt Disney's Disneyland: The Liberty Story (1957)

11:00 pm
The Living Desert (1953)

12:15 am
The Great Locomotive Chase (1956)

2:00 am
Treasure of Matecumbe (1976)

4:00 am
Rascal (1969)

Which is a pretty interesting mix. There are some things that I'm not familiar with, and some that I'm not so hot on, but I'm willing to give another chance. The Great Locomotive Chase is a cute one, though.

[Avaitor]

Does anyone here ever keep up with when I post about the Treasures From the Disney Vault lineups? There's never any replies when I do, but I'm still into the block, since I am interested by the earlier eras of the studio, and TCM has made some great sets thus far.

Sadly, I don't have TCM in my cable plan here, so I had to miss the block when it aired. And I'm not really using my blog anymore, either, which is why I didn't make a post to discuss last week's lineup. But since I did have it recorded at home, and I'll be heading over in the morning, let me look over and see what I can say about this set.

8pm- The Three Little Pigs
The Big Bad Wolf
Three Little Wolves

Easily among the studio's most iconic shorts, "The Three Little Pigs" is a cute adaptation of the fairy tale that has much to offer in the Silly Symphony mold. It still endears over 80 years later, even if Disney would prove that they can do a lot more with a bigger timeframe and budget a few years later. The other two shorts are enjoyable sequels that, while they don't break ground or anything, are pleasant continuations of the Pigs and Wolf's adventures, giving audiences what they wanted.


8:45- The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

One of Disney's most overlooked animated classics, this was the last of their package features, and contained two great stories for the price of one.

You get The Wind in the Willows, brilliantly narrated by Basil Rathbone, in a fast-paced, clever British romp. It gives you a great jerky protagonist in Mr. Toad, and a bit of the short department's classic gags thrown in for good measure. It also inspired a classic ride that, while dearly departed in Magic Kingdom, remains at Disneyland to this day.

Meanwhile, Bing Crosby gives you the skinny of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, complete with a song by him. This is a gorgeously made adaptation of the classic American horror story that is well-paced and varied with a good mixture of humor and nightmare fuel. The Horseman still makes his way during Halloween season, and Ichabod Crane has inspired a popular quick service stand in Magic Kingdom, with awesome waffle sandwiches. Not a bad way to get you pumped for Halloween.

10- The Old Mill

This classic short, the last official Silly Symphony, was used as a test of the studio's multiplane camera, which they used to great effect in their feature films. It looks as gorgeous as ever, and is surprisingly more engaging than you'd think as we see what the titular mill goes through during a storm. This was a good way to end the Silly Symphonies, all things considered. A recreation of the mill used to be a part of Disneyland's Storybook Canals, but was removed for some Frozen props last year. However, Disneyland Paris has a much bigger recreation of The Old Mill, as a snack station.

Also, I have this on my copy of Bambi, so I know what I'm watching right now.

10:15- The Plausible Impossible

This episode from the Disneyland TV series shows us how art, particularly animation, is able to show us that anything we dream can be done. It's done in Walt's general respectful, yet fun to watch style that set his work apart. This includes some clips from his shorts, Fantasia's "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence, and even a deleted piece from Snow White.

11:15- Escape to Witch Mountain

Considered one of the studio's small handful of highlights from the 70's, this is a clever little sci-fi story of two orphans with great, unexplained powers who get to discover where they come from at just the right time. The kids are good actors, and the supporting cast also do a good job, including Sam Loomis himself, Donald Pleasance. From a period when Disney was desperate to recreate past successes or just throw Dean Jones and/or Don Knotts into whatever wacky circumstances a team of stoned writers could crap out, this feels like a nice diversion, and it's still pretty fun today.

1- Lonesome Ghosts

Easily one of the best Mickey, Donald, and Goofy shorts, this gem is a solid precursor to Ghostbusters. What else needs to be said?

1:15- Frankenweenie

Before Tim Burton became the big name that he is, he made this half-hour featurette about the perils of re-animation. It's a quirky little thing that's rough around the edges, especially considering some of Burton's later triumphs, but still worth checking out. And of course, he made a full-length remake of this flick almost 30 years later, in stop-motion no less.

And this is another one that I own, on my Nightmare Before Christmas Blu, so I'll watch that in a few minutes.

2- Mr. Boogedy

A bit of a surprising addition, this was a movie that aired as a part of the 80's Disneyland revival, in which a gag gifts salesman moves into a house that is haunted by colonial ghosts. Cause why not? A silly but pleasant thing, there has been a cult following for the movie (although at 45 minutes, it's not exactly a feature at all), and was recently released on DVD from the Disney Movie Club, along with its sequel.

3- The Ghosts of Buxley Hall

Another TV movie, this aired near the end of Disneyland's run, in the early 80's. This aired as two parts, which gives it enough run time to count as a movie, though. I'm not too familiar with this or the previous film, this is another silly ghost story, in which a long-standing military academy has its alumni come to life after word of it allowing girls in. This is another TV movie with a cult following, and one that had a release from DMC. It looks decent enough.

5- Return from Witch Mountain

The Witch Mountain franchise got itself a failed TV pilot in the early 80's, a forgotten made-for-TV remake in the mid-90's, and a lame reboot attempt a few years ago. That's more than a lot of Disney's live-action films get, but none of them have anything on this remake. As the title suggests, the kids return from their original home, as they return to Earth for a little while until one of them is kidnapped by... Bette Davis and Christopher Lee. I shit you not. And they're as delightfully awesome as you'd expect. This movie goes batshit, and in an enjoyable manner A good way to end this set.

The next lineup is scheduled for December 17, and this is it.

8:00- So Dear to My Heart
9:30- Rescue Dog/The Grasshopper and the Ants/Corn Chip
10:00- Babes in Toyland
12:00- Never Cry Wolf
2:00- White Wilderness
3:30- Polar Trappers
3:45- The Island at the Top of the World

Also cool! I'll get to it when it's closer to airtime.

[Commode]

I haven't been watching these, but that sounds like a good night.  Was that last night?

[Avaitor]

Nah, that was from about 2 weeks ago.

I did get to see some of these recordings. Besides the shorts being as entertaining as ever, I caught The Ghosts of Buxley Hall. It's pretty indistinguishable from the kind of silly live-action movies Disney was making at the time, just without a fairly big name attached. It's a little cute, but it's also the kind of movie that is easily forgotten.

And it was a treat to see "The Plausible Impossible" in color, sequences and all. It's usually forgotten that Walt had his show shot in color, since even its rebroadcasts were in black and white. But his "studio" looks nice, and it's a welcome treat to see the cartoons he used in their original color. And we take the age of special features for granted, as the soup-eating scene from Snow White is easily accessible now. But any unused footage from films were usually locked tight in the studio vaults and were never made public. Getting the chance to see the test for this on TV must have been a huge deal!

[Avaitor]

Tonight's Treasures from the Disney Vault lineup is a good one!

8:00pm-The Whalers (1938)
8:15pm- Sea Scouts (1939)
8:30pm- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
10:45pm- Operation Undersea (1954)
11:45pm- Merbabies (1938)
12:00am- Secrets of Life (1956)
1:30am- Nikki, Wild Dog of the North (1961)
3:00am- Return to Snowy River (1988)
4:45am- Lt. Robin Crusoe USN (1966)

The highlights have to be 20,000 Leagues, which is easily one of their best movies period, and "Operation Undersea", which despite its importance (winning Walt his first Emmy and being among the first documentaries for movies), it isn't easily available to find nowadays. The DVD somehow only has a clip of it!