by Steve Collins
Robin Hood, the twenty-first animated film released by Walt Disney Studios, premiered on November 8, 1973. It was the first feature the studio released that had no creative input from Disney himself, who died in 1966, and had many Hollywood insiders doubting the ability of the studio to carry on without him. The …
by Steve Collins
In 1941, Walt Disney released his fourth animated feature, Dumbo. Based on the children’s book of the same name, written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Perl, Dumbo follows the exploits of Jumbo, Jr., a baby elephant. Because of his unnaturally large ears, …
by Steve Collins
2008 ushered in the 85th year for the movie giant the world all refers to as Disney in general. Disney, specifically, began very simply in 1923. The first productions were called “Alice” comedies, beginning with “Alice’s Day at Sea.” Many folks today have no memory of Alice, but the name Mickey Mouse rings a bell with almost everyone in the …
by Steve Collins
Fantasia is the third film Walt Disney produced and is perhaps the most ambitious. The film has no dialogue, relying instead on a sumptuous soundtrack performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski. Though the film is mostly animated, it does have some live-action sequences featuring Stokowski and the Orchestra. Fantasia was also notable for being the first major film to be screened in stereophonic sound.
Disney originally exhibited the film as a two-hour special engagement …
