Ward Kimball Movies

Bedknobs and Broomsticks was produced several years after Walt Disney's death and released in the fall of 1971. As it turned out, Bedknobs was frequently compared to Mary Poppins -- probably thanks to several striking similarities between the two productions, notably the presence in the cast of David Tomlinson, the use of Cockney children as central characters, and the inclusion of sequences that combine animation and live-action. Set in wartime England, Bedknobs stars Angela Lansbury as Eglantine Price, a would-be witch who hopes to use her newly acquired conjuring powers to forestall a Nazi invasion. Saddled with three surly kids who've been evacuated from London, Lansbury wins over her charges by performing various and sundry feats of magic. And, yes, she manages to foil a few Germans along the way. The film's most famous episode is an elaborate undersea fantasy, which combines animation with live-action on a gargantuan scale, dwarfing all previous Disney sequences along these lines. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Long resistant to film adaptations of her Mary Poppins books, P.L. Travers finally succumbed to the entreaties of Walt Disney, and the result is often considered the finest of Disney's personally supervised films. The Travers stories are bundled together to tell the story of the Edwardian-era British Banks family: the banker father (David Tomlinson), suffragette mother (Glynis Johns), and the two "impossible" children (Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber). The kids get the attention of their all-business father by bedevilling every new nanny in the Banks household. Whem Mr. Banks advertises conventionally for another nanny, the kids compose their own ad, asking for someone with a little kindness and imagination. Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews in her screen debut) answers the children's ad by arriving at the Banks home from the skies, parachuting downward with her umbrella. She immediately endears herself to the children. The next day they meet Mary's old chum Bert (Dick Van Dyke), currently employed as a sidewalk artist. Mary, Bert, and the children hop into one of Bert's chalk drawings and learn the nonsense song "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" in a cartoon countryside. Later, they pay a visit to Bert's Uncle Albert (Ed Wynn), who laughs so hard that he floats to the ceiling. Mr. Banks is pleased that his children are behaving better, but he's not happy with their fantastic stories. To show the children what the real world is like, he takes them to his bank. A series of disasters follow which result in his being fired from his job. Mary Poppins' role in all this leads to some moments when it is possible to fear that all her good work will be undone, but like the magical being she is, all her "mistakes" lead to a happy result by the end of the film. In 2001, Mary Poppins was rereleased in a special "sing-along" edition with subtitles added to the musical numbers so audiences could join in with the onscreen vocalists. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This episode of the TV anthology Walt Disney Presents is an expansion upon the classic Academy Award-winning animated short Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (originally released in Cinemascope in 1954). When his students ask him, "Where does the music come from?" Professor Owl is only to eager to demonstrate the music is merely an organized series of sounds -- consisting primarily of the "toot" of the brass instrument, the "whistle" of the woodwind, the "plunk" of the string and the "boom" of percussion. Among the segments used to augment the original running time of Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom is an extended "cradle to grave" sequence from 1953's Melody, one of several successful Disney attempts to match and surpass the style popularized by the UPA studios. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A Disneyland salute to America's roadways--past, present, and future--this episode is an agreeable blend of animation (much of produced especially for TV) and live action. Chronicling the early days of motor transportation, the episode features rare newsreel footage of the opening of the Lincoln Highway in 1913. Also seen in this segment is a satirical recreation of the perils of driving in the first two decades of the 20th century (for example, a driver might have to disassemble his entire car so as not to frighten a passing horse), as enacted by members of the Horseless Carriage Club, Southern California chapter. The animated portion of the program offers amusing glimpse of contemporary driving problems (with lots of archaic "woman driver" jokes) before seguing into a fanciful speculation of the Highway of the Future. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The first portion of this Disneyland episode brings viewers up to date on construction of the Disneyland theme park as of the spring of 1957. Somehow or other, this segues into an illustrated history of American folklore. The episode's final segment consists of the "Pecos Bill" segment from the animated feature Melody Time, with Roy Rogers and The Sons of the Pioneers musically narrating the saga of the "toughest critter west of the Alamo" (remember how Pecos Bill rolled his own cigarettes in those pre-censored prints?) and his ill-fated romance with the haughty Slue-Foot Sue, "a heck of a cowgirl". Also appearing in this segment are Roy's horse Trigger and child actors Luana Patten and Bobby Driscoll. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In answer to viewer requests, Disneyland host Walt Disney explains how his story men come up with the ideas for their various cartoon shorts and features. In the first example, a Donald Duck-Chip 'N' Dale cartoon is inspired by the song "Crazy Over Daisy". Next, some "reality" footage from a "True-Life Adventure" short forms the basis of a cartoon featuring Mickey Mouse as a hunter. Then, one of the animators' army exam during WW2 leads to a similarly-themed Donald Duck cartoon. And finally, Walt Disney's own favorite hobby, model railroading, is incorporated in another Donald Duck-Chip 'N' Dale vehicle. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Another of Disney animation director Ward Kimball's "outer space" projects, this Disneyland episode was intended as a followup to the highly praised 1955 entry Man in Space. In the early animated sequence, the Disney staff illustrates the various theories and superstitions surrounding Old Man Moon throughout the centuries. We then move on to the pioneering tales of space travel, notably the fanciful moon flight undertaken by Cyrano de Bergerac (the same). Finally, a combination of animation and live action offers a speculation of what the first manned moon flight will actually be like. With rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun providing both narration and technical advice, the film was remarkably accurate, even though it would be 13 years before Man actually set foot on the lunar surface. Rebroadcast in 1959 under the title Tomorrow the Moon, Man and the Moon was later excerpted in one of the "Ludwig Von Drake" episodes on Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

A blend of live-action and animation, Fun and Fancy Free is comprised of two distinct tales linked by additional footage featuring Jiminy Cricket. Disney had been planning to use each story for separate feature films but the involvement of the United States in WWII disrupted his plans and the stories were shelved until after the war. The first is a musical story based on a children's story by Sinclair Lewis and is narrated by Dinah Shore, who also sings. It is the tale of a sad little circus bear named Bongo who is adored when performing but ignored after the show. Tired of travelling and being mistreated, he escapes into the forest where he discovers that life in the wilderness is not as free and easy as he thought. Despite the obstacles awaiting him, Bongo manages to find the thing he most longed for -- true love. By contemporary standards, the story is almost 'unbearably' sweet, but it should be remembered that such candy-coated fluff as "Bongo" was the remedy war-weary audiences needed to lift their spirits. The second tale is more zesty thanks to the peppery repartee between ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his two dummies Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Together the three tell would-be Disney child star Luana Patton, a story based on "Jack and the Beanstalk" featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy, who climb a magic beanstalk and try to retrieve a stolen singing harp to restore wealth to their impoverished kingdom.

In 1997, to commemorate the film's 50th anniversary, it was released on video tape in a restored version (the executive producers in charge of restoration were Phil Savenkic and Harry Arends) that has brought the colorful animated sequences back to their original depth and vibrance. This video version also contains a brief but informative documentary hosted by noted film historian Leonard Maltin and narrated by Corey Burton at the end that gives the fascinating history of the films. It also contains rare footage of the making of the films and a priceless segment in which Walt Disney performs as Mickey Mouse. "Mickey and the Beanstalk" was the last time Disney provided his voice. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Three Caballeros is the first Walt Disney feature to combine animation with live action footage. Originally conceived as World War II propaganda promoting good relations between the United States and Latin America, the film details the adventures of Donald Duck as he meets two Latin birds--Jose Carioca and Panchito,--and the three head down to Rio. The film doesn't have a concrete story, choosing to follow the three animated birds through Latin America, as they sing a number of songs, get into trouble and have a number of very amusing experiences. Filled with achingly funny jokes, good music, and stunning, ground-breaking animation, The Three Caballeros remains extremely entertaining decades after its release. It is one of Disney's unacknowledged classics. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi

The very first Disney feature to include live-action footage, this behind-the-scenes documentary about the studio's animation process includes the cartoon short of the title, which in later years was often exhibited separately from this film. Robert Benchley stars as himself, a visitor to the Disney lot, where he intends to pitch an animated version of the children's fairy tale The Reluctant Dragon by Kenneth Grahame to Walt Disney himself. Benchley wanders away from his studio-appointed guide and tours the facilities himself, where he sees various new cartoons in the process of being storyboarded, including a Baby Weems short. Benchley also meets Clarence Nash, the voice of Donald Duck, and a young animator (played by Alan Ladd) before being corralled to Disney's screening room, where he is shown the company's new short, none other than The Reluctant Dragon. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi