Disney Classics, Part 3

Part 3 of my favorite Disney classics includes two more wonderful films: Pollyanna and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. As before, the following contains spoilers of these classic films.

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Pollyanna is probably the saddest of these classic Disney films, but it's still a great story full of music and laughter. Based on a classic book written by Eleanor Porter, Pollyanna is the tale of a young orphan who moves to the town of Harrington to live with her wealthy aunt Polly. The daughter of poor missionaries, Pollyanna is a happy child who always sees the best in people and life, thanks to the "Glad Game" her father taught her. She makes a lot of new friends in the community, including a recluse Mr. Pendergast, the hypochondriac Mrs Snow, an orphan boy named Jimmy, and Reverend Ford, the town's minister. With her happy demeanor and bright outlook, Pollyanna changes the lives of everyone in town, except her unhappy Aunt Polly who actually controls the town.

When the town decides to hold a carnival to raise money for a new orphanage, Aunt Polly refuses to allow Pollyanna to participate. Unsurprisingly, Pollyanna sneaks out and has a marvelous time at the carnival. However, when she gets back home, she tries to sneak in by climbing the tree outside her room. Unfortunately, she falls and breaks her back, forcing her to keep to her bed and causing her to become depressed. Her aunt realizes that she truly loves the girl, and the whole town comes to see Pollyanna off to Baltimore for a surgery they hope will allow her to walk again.

While the film ends before we learn if Pollyanna walked again, it is still a wonderful movie about the power of hope. My grandmother introduced Bean to this film when she was 4, just like she introduced me and we both loved it.

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Bedknobs and Broomsticks is based on two books by an English children's author, Mary Norton. It is the story of a single Englishwoman, Eglantine Price, who decides that she can best help the war effort by becoming a witch. Her lessons are interrupted by the arrival of the three Rawlins children, Charlie, Carrie, and Paul, who have been sent to the country during the London Blitz. The children and Miss Price don't get along and wish to part ways as soon as possible.

However, when the children discover that Miss Price is a witch, they agree to keep her secret so long as she gives them something of value. She offers them a traveling spell that will make the old brass bed upstairs travel anyplace they wish to go in mere moments. Due to the sudden closing of the College of Witchcraft in London, Miss Price and the children seek out the college's Headmaster, one Emelius Brown, who it turns out is a charlatan. He never expected anyone to actually be able to perform magic, so when he runs out of pages in the book he was using for lessons, he simply closed the school.

Miss Price, the children, and Professor Brown head off on a wonderful adventure seeking the rest of the book. Their journey's take them to a mystical island and the bottom of the sea. They finally return home and Eglantine uses the spell to animate several items in the house, to the delight of the children. When a German raiding party takes over Eglantine's house, she uses the Substitutiary Locomotion spell to defeat them with an army of reanimated armor from the museum.

In the end, Eglantine and the children realize that they are better off together, and Professor Brown plans to join them when he returns from the war. This has long been one of my favorite movies. I love Angela Lansbury as Miss Eglantine Price and the songs are wonderful and memorable. Bean adores this movie too as it has a lot of fun moments.

I hope you've enjoyed this walk down memory lane as I've shared some of my favorite Disney classics. Be sure to watch these great old films as a family and enjoy the messages they bring. You'll be glad you did.

Disney Classics, Part 1

I grew up watching what I would call classic Disney films. Swiss Family Robinson, In Search of the Castaways, Summer Magic, Parent Trap, Pollyanna, Bedknobs and Broomsticks; there are many to choose from. These films were all about family, and adventure and making the best of what life gives you while never giving up. Recently, I've introduced Bean to several of my favorites. The following includes spoilers of these classic films.

We started with Swiss Family Robinson. This film is based on a book by a Swiss pastor named Johann David Wyss, who wrote the book to teach his four sons about family values and how to use the natural world around us. It is the story of the Robinson family, Father and Mother, and their three sons, Ernst, Fritz, and Francis.

While moving from Switzerland to New Guinea, the family becomes shipwrecked on a deserted, tropical island. At first, the entire family just hopes to be rescued, but soon realize that they need to start planning for an extended stay on the island. Father, Ernst and Fritz build an amazing tree-house with parts from the shipwreck, including the captain's pipe organ. A replica of the tree-house is still open in the Magic Kingdom at Disney World, and is a lot of fun to walk through.

The family begins to enjoy the island, but wishes to know if they are truly alone. Fritz and Ernst decide to explore the island and discover a band of pirates and their captives, including a girl masquerading as a cabin boy, Bertie. The film ends with a bang, literally, as the family band together to fight off the pirates and protect their home. I have always enjoyed Swiss Family Robinson and am glad that Bean thought it was "one of the best movies ever."

Our next classic was In Search of the Castaways. This film is based on a book by Jules Verne. It's the story of two children, Robert and Mary Grant, who are searching for their shipwrecked father, Captain Grant. They are helped on their journey by a Frenchman, Professor Paganel, played by Maurice Chevalier, who has found a message in a bottle in the stomach of a shark, that seems to have been written by Captain Grant. They bring the message to Captain Grant's boss, Lord Glenarvon and his son John, who reluctantly agree to help them find him based on the information in the message. What ensues is an amazing adventure around the world.

They start in South America, where they experience an earthquake and avalanche, a flood that strands them in a tree, and the heartbreak of not finding Captain Grant. Next, they head to Australia, where they find someone else who says he knows where to find Captain Grant. They end up stranded in New Zealand, captured by Maoris, and must flee the lava field of a volcano before finally being reunited with their missing father. Between the adventure and the songs, I've always loved this movie, and Bean did, too.

These are only two of the great Disney classics, and there are many more classics to explore. Be sure to check out part 2 tomorrow.

The Last Verse

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For many years, the Sherman Brothers were the creative force behind the songs in Disney movies and Parks. From "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" in Mary Poppins and "The Age of Not Believing" in Bedknobs and Broomsticks, to two of my favorite earworms from the Parks, "The Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room" and "There's a Great, Big, Beautiful Tomorrow", the brothers wrote many of Disney songs we all know and love. Shortly before he passed away in May of this year, Richard Sherman added one final verse to their most recognized song, "It's a Small World."

The Last Verse and The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story are available now on DisneyPlus.

Disney Classics, Part 2

There are a lot of great Disney classics to choose from. Here are my reviews of two more favorites: Parent Trap and Summer Magic. Again, the following includes spoilers of these classic films.

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Parent Trap is a hilarious story about a set of twins who were separated in infancy and meet up unexpectedly at summer camp. At first, Sharon and Susan don't realize they are related, and pick on each other with outlandish hijinks. Once they are forced to spend time in together in isolation, they realize that they have a lot in common, including sharing the same parents.

The girls decide to switch places; Sharon goes to California to meet her father and Susan goes to Boston to meet her mother. But when Sharon discovers that her father, Mitch, is planning to remarry an awful woman named Vicky, she decides to call Susan and their mother, Maggie (the fantastic Maureen O'Hara) to put a stop to it. They surprise Mitch, causing him a lot of confusion and trouble. The girls try to get Maggie and Mitch back together by recreating their first date. This is also where they sing "Let's Get Together", a great classic Disney song.

When the dinner fails, the girls refuse to tell which is which until after the annual family campout with their father. After a day spent tormenting Vicky, they convince their father that the woman he really loves is their mother.

The original Parent Trap starring Hayley Mills is my favorite, but the remake with Lindsay Lohan is actually pretty cute. Bean has watched both versions several times and requests them often.

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Summer Magic is probably my favorite of the Disney classics. I've seen it at least 100 times and I still love it. It's full of wonderful songs and a beautiful story about family and community. Based on the book Mother Carey's Chickens, Summer Magic is the story of the Carey family, the mother Margaret and her three children: Nancy, Gilley, and Peter.

The Carey's have found themselves in dire financial straights after the death of Mr. Carey and are forced to leave their Boston home. Nancy has decided that they should move to a home that they saw once on a vacation; the yellow house in Beulah. The Carey's have a bit of difficulty adjusting to country life, but are aided by the "yellow house's" kindly caretaker, Osh Poppum (the wonderful Burl Ives).

As life begins to settle down, an orphaned cousin, Julia, arrives to create a stir. Through it all, the family learns that being together as a family is what's most important, and that with a lot of love and a little luck, they can make the best of any situation.

There are many memorable songs throughout the film, including: "Flitterin'", "Beautiful Beulah", "Summer Magic", "On the Front Porch", and my two favorites: "Pink of Perfection" and "The Ugly Bug Ball". We haven't had a chance to watch this movie recently (we misplaced our copy in our last move and still haven't found it) but I highly recommend it. It's a great family film and a lot of fun to watch.

Tomorrow, the last of my favorite classic Disney films: Pollyanna and Bedknobs and Broomsticks.