After the Mouse.com

It the world of classic movies Disney have a niche it is half a mile wide filled with talking animals, slick animation, great songs and a whole heap of happy memories. There are a few however that over the years I and many others just assumed were Disney films but are not.

Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang.

Take Dick van Dyke, as a nutty inventor called Caractacus Potts (Crack Pot - get it?) and add the Sherman Brothers music plus an anthropomorphised flying car. It is the classic of family musical adventure and it must be Disney... Right?

Nope – in fact it has more to do with James Bond than Mickey Mouse.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang has thrilled families since it motored into the cinema in 1968. More than three decades later it is still a real classic. The flying car is the star and it's impossible not to feel a surge of thrilling relief as the wings kick in when she plunges over the cliff and soars off on her great adventure. The songs might not be the greatest in the Sherman brothers catalogue, but they are delivered with style by Dick Van Dyke and Sally Ann Howes (as Truly Scrumptious). Two of England’s finest Character actors James Robertson Justice and Lionel Jeffries round out a great cast. The Bond connection? Well…

• Onscreen you have ‘Q’ - Desmond Llewelyn tinkering with car.
• Goldfinger himself - Gert Fröbe as the villain.
• The screenplay was written by You Only Live Twice writer Roald Dahl,
• The design by the iconic Ken Adam who dreamed up all those Bond villains volcano hideaways
• The film is made by Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzmann
• Did I mention it was written by Bond’s creator Ian Flemming?

really if that isn’t a Bond Film I don’t know what is… If you have never seen this film do us both a favour click the Amazon link here and get a copy.

Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines.

Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines is another of those Classic, quirky live action films of the 1960s, think of an airborne Herbie movie and you’re getting the idea. It is one of those ‘Saturday afternoon’ classics. The story of an air race in Europe in 1910 and was a favourite of my childhood. The look and feel of the whole film is again just so 60’s Disney. And it was a ‘Quality’, award winning film.

The film was nominated and received awards in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

• The original screenplay written by Ken Annakin and Jack Davies was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing Directly for the Screen.
• The film was also nominated in the category of Best Writing, Story and Screenplay - Written. At the 1966 Golden Globes,
• The film won Best Motion Picture Actor - Musical/Comedy for Alberto Sordi.
• It was nominated in Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy
 
• Most Promising Newcomer - Male for James Fox.

A real quality film, again if you never saw this classic do yourself the favour, it is worth it for Terry Thomas’ moustache twirling villainy alone.

The Lassie Franchise.

Okay I’ll keep this short but I know many people who think or just assume that Lassie is a Disney property. The plot of the original lassie movie - Lassie come home; “After her destitute family is forced to sell her, a collie named Lassie escapes from her new owner and begins the long trek from Scotland to her Yorkshire home.” Could it be more Disney?, tears, separation, anthropomorphic four legged hero character and a vaguely happy ending… With Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowall in the human leading rolls - just add the Disneyland Castle pre-roll to the film and it is a guaranteed Disney classic.

Based on a 1940 novel by English-born author Eric Knight. The original novel was adapted for the movie by Canadian-born screenwriter Hugo Butler. Lassie Come Home was followed by Son of Lassie, Courage of Lassie, Hills of Home aka Master of Lassie, Challenge to Lassie, The Sun Comes Up, and The Painted Hills aka Lassie's Adventures in the Goldrush, eventually leading to a long-running television series, ‘Lassie’. Really between the sequels and the TV spin off should have been the ultimate Disney franchise. But sadly no. It is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer property.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

The Half - At first it appears to be a Classic Disney film for the children, but this is a somewhat complicated murder mystery. The animated title character has been framed and now he is out to clear his name with the help of a human detective played by the excellent Bob Hoskins.

But why isn’t this a Disney film? A clue is in the production line up. Walt Disney Pictures purchased the film rights to ‘Who Censored Roger Rabbit?’ in 1981. Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman wrote two drafts of the script before Disney brought Steven Spielberg and Amblin Entertainment to help finance the film. Zemeckis was hired to direct the live action scenes with Richard Williams overseeing animation sequences. For inspiration, the writters studied the work of Walt Disney and Warner Bros. Cartoons from the Golden Age of American animation, especially Tex Avery and Bob Clampett cartoons. Production was moved from Los Angeles to Elstree Studios in England to accommodate Williams and his group of animators.

This is the accepted story but what does it say that Spielberg, Zebecks and Richard Williams an out of house animator all working on a bought in script modelled on Warner Bros and Tex Avery. Written again by outsiders. Disney may have paid for the film but I don’t think it is fair to say they made it.