James Algar Movies

Initially released to IMAX theaters at the crescendo of millennial fever and 60 years after the original Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 was meant to revitalize Walt Disney's goal of a constantly evolving film, with new segments replacing old ones with each re-release. Only The Sorcerer's Apprentice remains, with seven new shorts. Angular, abstracted butterfly-like shapes fly through the air in Beethoven's Symphony No. 5; computer-animated whales take flight in Respighi's Pines of Rome; Al Hirschfeld's caricatures of New York life come alive in George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue; Hans Christian Andersen's The Steadfast Tin Soldier is retold with computer animation against Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102; frantic flamingos try to stop their yo-yoing comrade in Camille Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals, Finale; Donald and Daisy Duck play Noah and his wife trying to manage the ark to Sir Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance; and the cycle of life, death, and rebirth are celebrated in Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. ~ Emru Townsend, Rovi

The Best of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures assembles the cream of Disney's "live action" short subjects crop. Since Disney usually equated "best" with what won at Academy Award time, this collection highlights the studio's Oscar-winning nature shorts. We are thus treated to the first of the "True Life Adventures" series, 1949's Seal Island, filmed in Alaska by nonprofessionals Alfred and Elma Milotte. Others in this compendium include Beaver Valley (1950), Nature's Half Acre (1951) and Water Birds (1952). The feature-length True-Life Adventures of the mid-1950s and 1960s have been packaged for video on a title-by-title basis. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Gnome-Mobile was Walt Disney's first all-out fantasy since Mary Poppins. Walter Brennan stars in a dual role, as kindly lumber tycoon D. J. Mulrooney and the irascible (and much tinier) 943-year-old gnome Knobby. Mulrooney likes Knobby and his fellow gnomes, but the feeling isn't reciprocal, since Knobby considers Mulrooney a threat to his beloved forest. Meanwhile, the tycoon's vice-president Ralph Yarby (Richard Deacon), hearing his boss' claims that he's been consorting with gnomes, decides that the old guy is insane and has him committed. Rescued by his grandchildren Rodney (Matthew Garber) and Elizabeth (Karen Dotrice), D.J. seeks out Knobby and Knobby's own grandson Jasper (Tom Lowell), who are hiding somewhere in the woods with gnome-king Rufus (Ed Wynn, in his final film role). There follows an amusing rite of passage wherein Jasper becomes engaged to gnomette Shy Violet (Cami Sebring), leading to a happy ending for all concerned. The film's title refers to D. J. Mulroney's precious 1930 Rolls Royce, which is "adopted" by the gnome population. Gnome-Mobile is a virtual inventory of Disney's most beloved trademarks, ranging from excellent miniature and special-effects work (including the producer's newest innovation, audio-animatronics) to a zany slapstick car chase. Walt Disney did receive a producer credit on this film, which was actually made in 1966 - the year of his death - and released nationally in 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

At only 67 minutes of running time, this Disney animal adventure story by James Algar is still slow-paced. The star of the tale is Lobo (which means "wolf" in Spanish), a legendary wolf who lived in the region of New Mexico at the turn of the 20th century. The story begins with Lobo as a young pup, just finding out about life in the wild. One of the unusual moves he makes is to befriend a baby antelope, normally a brief snack for a wolf. Even though Lobo is different, he soon learns that he has to defend himself against all sorts of four-legged creatures. It also does not take long for him to learn that the two-legged creatures with guns and traps are the most dangerous of all. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Another of Walt Disney Presents' "hybrid" episodes, this one is comprised of two previously released short subjects. The first is '60s Gala Day at Disneyland, a tour of the famous Anaheim theme park. For the purposes of this telecast, new footage is added to showcase Disneyland's most up-to-date attractions. The remainder of the episode consists of the "True-Life Adventure" entry The Olympic Elk, a saga of the annual elk migrations in Washington State's Olympic Peninsula. (This sequence was first telecast as part of the 1955 Disneyland installment Behind the True Life Cameras - Olympic Elk). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Co-produced by Ken Nelson Productions, this episode of Walt Disney Presents weaves together newsreel footage of several different storms to represent one huge and dangerous "big wind." Based on a book by George R. Stewart, professor of meterology at the University of California and the man credited with the idea of "naming" storms, the episode traces the storm called Maria from its origins in Japan to the coast of California. Though professional stormtrackers do their best to warn the populace and the local officials work overtime to prepare for Maria, widespread havoc, destruction and death is inevitable. The cast is comprised of "real" people, among them dam superintendent George Kritsky, telephone lineman Walt Bowen, and highway superintendent Leo Quinn. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This Disney "True-Life Adventure" was filmed on location in the Arctic. Covering the period from the Spring thaw to the winter freeze, the film offers rare and fascinating glimpses of polar bears, walruses, wolves, caribou and ermine. The "suicidal" migration of the lemmings is covered, as is a harrowing life-or-death situation involving a wolverine and a rabbit. According to Disney's publicity machine, White Wilderness was three years in the making, requiring a team of nine cameramen. For its original release, the film was paired with the appropriately wintry Donald Duck cartoon Donald's Snow Fight (1942). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This 1957 Disneyland episode is essentially a promotional film for the upcoming Disney theatrical release Johnny Tremain. An early segment, chronicling man's struggle for liberty as manifested in the Magna Carta and the exploits of Robin Hood, leads smoothly into a lengthy excerpt of the new film, wherein young Johnny Tremain (Hal Stalmaster) joins the 18th century underground group, the Sons of Liberty. The remainder of the episode consists of the 1953 cartoon featurette Ben and Me, based on the book by Robert Lawson and told from the viewpoint of Amos the Mouse (voiced by Sterling Holloway, friend and confidant of none other than Benjamin Franklin. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The first half of this live-action Disneyland episode is an entertaining promo for the upcoming Disney theatrical feature Old Yeller. Narrated by Dorothy McGuire, one of the film's stars, this segment features behind-the-scenes footage pertaining to the training of the dogs used in the film, as well as random vignettes of Man's Best Friend eagerly performing a variety of tasks (Swiss rescue dogs, seeing-eye dogs, bloodhounds, etc.). The episode concludes with a telecast of Arizona Sheepdog, a 1955 entry in the Disney theatrical short-subject series "People and Places." When "The Best Doggoned Dog in the World was rebroadcast in February of 1961, the Old Yeller segment was replaced with a newly filmed promo for Disney's animated feature 101 Dalmations. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This episode of Disneyland is set in the basement of the Disney studio, storehouse for many a fantastic and phantasmagoric prop. Walt Disney turns the hosting duties over to the Spirit of the Mirror, originally seen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and here played by the ineluctable Hans Conried. In demonstration how the art of magic has been utilized in animation, the Spirit introduces clips from several Disney cartoons, including Mickey Mouse's "Sorceror's Apprentice" sequence from Fantasia. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This episode of the ABC anthology Disneyland is an extended promo for Walt Disney's then-upcoming theatrical feature The Great Locomotive Chase. Narrated by the film's star Fess Parker, the episode offers a thumbnail history of railroads in the United States with stopovers at trainyards in Baltimore and Los Angeles where vintage Civil War locomotives are kept on display. These engines are then shown in use as props in Great Locomotive Chase, a dramatization of the famous Andrews raid in 1862, in which several Northern spies went behind enemy lines to capture a Southern train (the same story served as the basis for the 1926 Buster Keaton vehicle The General, which curiously goes unmentioned here). Also shown are the efforts by the Disney Studio staffers to scout out appropriate locations and vintage buildings to be seen in the film. Technical adviser Wilbur Kurtz is interviewed, as are several Georgia residents who appear as extras. Once the sets are construction, the props are in place and the cameras are ready, the episode offers tantalizing glimpses of the film itself, featuring actors Fess Parker, Jeffrey Hunter, Jeff York, John Lupton and others. As a bonus, the viewer is treated to "Sons of Old Aunt Dinah", a song specially written for this episode by Stan Jones and Lawrence Edward Watkin. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This Disneyland episode served to promote the upcoming theatrical feature Westward Ho the Wagons, with that film's star, Fess Parker, acting as narrator. After a brief segment in which host Walt Disney relates the history of the Oregon Trail (the pioneer route from Kansas City to the Pacific Coast), the episode segues into a dramatized sequence, combining footage from the feature film as well as some freshly-shot vignettes. Several of the actors appearing in Westward Ho the Wagons repeat their roles in this portion of the program, in which the preparations made by settlers to undertake the 2000-mile westard trek along the Oregon Trail are meticulously detailed. Also heard are two songs from the film, the title number and "Pioneer's Prayer" (the film's popular ditty "Wringle Wrangle" was reserved for a special presentation of Disney's The Mickey Mouse Club. Ironically, while one of the stars of the Westward Ho the Wagons, George Reeves of Superman fame, does not appear in "The Oregon Trail", Phyllis Coates, who'd previously played Lois Lane to Reeves' Clark Kent, shows up in an important supporting role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi