Flea Market Find: The Best of the Mickey Mouse Club DVD

By: Nick Maglio

I picked this The Best of the Mickey Mouse Club DVD up at the Columbus Flea Market in New Jersey for $5.

It was brand new in it's shrink wrap!
I love the old Mickey Mouse club, which had 3 original seasons which aired from 1955-1957, before being syndicated.

Each day of the original Mickey Mouse Club featured a different theme.

Included on this DVD are 5 episodes, representing each day. 2 episodes are from the 3rd Season of the series, after it had been paired down from an hour long program down to a half hour show.
The other 3 are from it's syndication days of the 1960's, when original hour long episodes were edited down.

• Monday - Fun with Music Day, from September 30th, 1957, gets this disc off to a slow start. There is a cute musical number about a young lady at a pet shop, but then we have a lengthy preview of a 'Hardy Boys" Serial, titled "The Mystery of Ghost Farm", which made me just want to see said serial! Before you know it, Jimmie is singing farewell.

• Tuesday - Guest Star Day, which the box says aired in October of 1957, but the DVD itself says originally aired August 28th, 1962. (?) This episode is much more entertaining, with guest star Olympic ice skating medalist Ronnie Robertson doing a comical skating routine, before showing off his skill as the "Fastest Spinner in the World". This is followed by a "Mousekartoon", the excellent Academy Award winning Ferdinand the Bull  from 1938. I'll take a closer look at Ferdinand in a future Musings article.

• Wednesday - Anything Can Happen Day, aired November 12th, 1964. You know anything can happen on Wednesday by the surreal opening cast parade, followed by Disney animator Ward Kimball's Dixieland Band, The Fire House 5+2, playing a couple of tunes, with Mouseketeer Cubby playing drums with a guy in a Tiger Costume cavorting around! Whew! There is also a great Mickey Mouse cartoon from 1932 called Mickey's Nightmare. This sounds like it might be scary, but Mickey's nightmare is about the stork delivering too many kiddy mice to him and bride Minnie to take care of!

• Thursday - Circus Day, from October 11th, 1962. The cast is properly adorned circus performers, and the guest stars are jugglers, the Hap Brothers. The "Mousekartoon" is Silly Symphony The Pied Piper from 1933. 

• Friday - Talent Round Up Day, aired October 25, 1957. A rather light episode to end this collection on, with a young lady from Chicago becoming an Honorary Mousekeeter, who sings and dances. Then comes a Mickey Mouse Newsreel featuring Annette in Hawaii. The episode is wrapped up with a fable from Jimmie about a cat who is unable to outsmart a bird.

All and all, it's a nice little diversion, and a nice look back at history.

Mary Poppins Record and Movie Book

By: Nick

Today, Disney releases the film, Saving Mr. Banks, and to say I am excited to see this is an understatement.
Both Barbie and I have grown up with Mary Poppins.

The film centers on the life of P. L. Travers, creator of Mary Poppins, shifting between her childhood, and the negotiations with Walt Disney in the making of the motion picture, Mary Poppins, in 1961 

If you haven't seen the trailer, it looks absolutely amazing. I just re-watched it, and have goosebumps, and, okay, a tear in my eye.

As much as we both love Mary Poppins, we actually only have 2 items from Mary Poppins, if you don't include a VHS, DVD, and the just released Blu-ray copy of the film!

One is this record album Barbie has had since childhood.

It includes a very brief synopsis of the movie, and even a brief telling of how Disney came to discover Mary Poppins and produce this masterpiece.

And what more can I say about the music by the Sherman Brothers other than it is absolutely brilliant?

This 1964 Mary Poppins movie book from Golden Press was bought just a few months ago at our local flea market.

Originally priced at $.69, I paid $2.

Not in the best of shape, but, having just seen the trailer for the first time the day before, I felt it was fate that I came upon it, and had to buy it!

It tells a bit about the production, and the 2 primary stars, Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, on the inside cover, before going on to tell the story of the motion picture, with photos from the film.

We'll be seeing Saving Mr. Banks this weekend, so please stop back for a review.

The Writer's Stop at Disney's Hollywood Studios

By: Nick

Back in a quiet corner of Disney's Hollywood Studios is one of our favorite spots in all of Walt Disney World.

The Writer's Stop is located next to the Sci-Fi Dine In Theater Restaurant.

Doing some research, I've discovered that this was originally built to resemble the set of the  bookstore in Ellen DeGeneres' sitcom Ellen, which was named "Buy the Book," which is why you will find many items, such as the ceiling lights, that convey a TV set atmosphere.

The Writer's Stop is a small bookstore, cafe, and gift shop all in one. 

You'll find many of the prepackaged goodies you can find at many other gift stores throughout Disney property here.

In the center of the store you'll find comfy seats, a television playing Disney related programs, Disney themed games, a good selection of DVDs, Blu-rays, and books.

The book selection is pretty terrific; appealing to a wide audience, representing many of the Disney owned properties and assorted attractions, such as The Twilight Zone, that you'll find at the Studios, as well as books about Walt Disney, Disney art, and children's books.

Proceeding to the back, you'll find an even more eclectic book selection, including best sellers and biographies, among others. You'll also find tables and and more seating.

 

This cozy area is also where you'll find kitchen items displayed beautifully: mugs and tea and biscuits that you'll find at other stores as well.

They also offer a wide selection of drinks, including coffees, teas, espresso, cappuccinos, waters, juices and sodas.

Lastly, but certainly not least, are thr bakery items, such as bagels, muffins, pastries and cookies, including one of my favorite snacks in the World, the Carrot Cake Cookie.

As far as I'm aware, The Writer's Stop is the only place on Disney property to get the Carrot Cake Cookie.

It's approximately the size of my head, but I have NO trouble finishing it off myself, but you may want to share it with a friend or 3!

The Skeleton Dance, A Disney Silly Symphony

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The Skeleton Dance was released in 1929, the first Silly Symphonies animated short.

If you haven't seen it, it involves, well, skeletons dancing! There are plenty of sight gags revolving around the skeletons using various bones and a hapless cat as instruments.

I bought this Skeleton Dance Cinemagic Films Volume One figure along with several other capsule toys off of eBay.

Other capsule toys can be found here and here, and I will be sharing more in the future.

The Skeleton Dance is available on the Walt Disney Treasures - Silly Symphonies DVD collection, as a bonus on the video game, Epic Mickey 2, and can be found on YouTube. It makes for perfect Halloween viewing!

Mickey Mouse and Lonesome Ghosts

One of my favorite cartoons is a Mickey Mouse short from 1937 called Lonesome Ghosts.

 

It stars Mickey, Donald Duck, and Goofy as Ghost Exterminators. Essentially, this is Ghostbusters. In fact, the Ghostbusters theme song has the line "I ain't afraid of no ghost," echoing a memorable line by Goofy in Lonesome Ghosts, "I ain't scared of no ghosts."

Lonesome Ghosts can be found on the animated feature The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad on DVD, which I watch annually at this time of year, as well as several other cartoon collections.

As a child I watched Lonesome Ghosts over an over, literally forward and back, on my Fisher Price Movie Viewer. This little hand cranked toy was the DVD Player (or maybe more accurately, VHS) of it's day. The cartoon came in a cartridge you would pop into the player, and crank to watch. It being 1973 or 1974, when I was 5 or 6, I don't remember many details, such as if Lonesome Ghosts was included with the player, but I don't recall watching any other cartridge. I found this Fisher Price Movie Viewer and Lonesome Ghosts cartridge on eBay.

Just pop the movie in, and you can watch it forward, or, as I used to do, for whatever reason, in reverse.

There are several Disney movies available for this player, such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Bambi. But, as when I was a little kid, I'm fine just watching Lonesome Ghosts forward and back.

Disney Animation Collection 2: The Three Little Pigs

I confess, I was never a big Three Little Pigs fan. I knew the song of course, what Disney fan hasn't heard "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf'? But I never got it. Well, I thought I didn't. Then I read a terrific article in D23 magazine, which prompted me to watch it on YouTube. Then I downloaded it from iTunes!

This classic Academy Award winning Silly Symphony released in 1933 is one of the most famous Disney cartoons, and a leap forward for character development.

Watching it brought back a wave of nostalgia. I had seen this as a child, and the scenes with the Wolf blowing down Fifer and Fiddler Pig's homes was especially vivid.

On the right, the Wolf about to blow the house down. 

Photo taken at The Walt Disney Family Museum.

There are some edgier little visual gags, such as the picture of "Father" as a link of sausages, which hangs in Practical Pig's house, and the Wolf's disguises are especially funny.

I was happy to discover the Disney Animation Collection 2, available on Netflix, not only features the The Three Little Pigs, but 2 of it's 3 sequels (I'm not sure why all 3 aren't on this) along with 4 other shorts.

Following the Three Little Pigs is it's 1934 sequel, The Big Bad Wolf, which adds Little Red Riding Hood and her Grandma into the mix.
While this isn't as strong as a whole, I feel the animation is better. The edginess continues, with the Wolf dressing as Grandma and breaking the 4th wall by asking how he's doing at one point. There is even a moment which "dates" this, when the Wolf imitates Jimmy Durante at one point.

This is followed by another sequel, Three Little Wolves, from 1936. By now I started wondering why Practical Pig continued saving his ungrateful and lazy brothers. But save them he does with his "Wolf Pacifier". This is even edgier, and, well, a bit odd, when at one point the Wolf dressed as Little Bo Peep, locks Fifer and Fiddler in behind him, to which the Pigs reply with a blush, "Why, Bo Peep!"
It's interesting to see the progression in the skill of the animators from one short to the next, and while this is the weakest of the 3 cartoons, it's the strongest animation.

The next cartoon is a wonderful short from 1952, which I featured here on Disney Musings in the past, Lambert the Sheepish Lion about a lion cub who is mistakenly left with a flock of sheep by a stork.

I've used the word edgy several times in this post, and this next animated short is the edgiest of the bunch, if not one of the edgiest cartoons by Disney ever! Chicken Little, released in 1943, is obviously an allegory for World War II, and has a very dark, disturbing, and cautionary ending.

The next cartoon is a Silly Symphony I'd never seen, The Three Blind Mousketeers, from 1936, which takes the 3 blind mice and makes them swashbuckling Musketeers, fighting a tyrannical cat trying to keep them from feasting. It starts rather slow, but gets more enjoyable as it goes on.

Rounding out the set is another Silly Symophony I'd never a seen, even though I've seen the star several times. Elmer Elephant, from 1936, is invited to Tillie Tiger's birthday party. Tillie loves Elmer, but the other animals incessant teasing drives him off, until an emergency flares up, and Elmer saves the day, and Tillie reveals her love for our hero. This is a very sweet cartoon, and a nice way to end the set.

Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox D23 Vinylmations

When I was a kid in the 1970's my favorite show was, not surprisingly, The Wonderful World of Disney. I have distinct memories of seeing certain cartoons, such as "In the Bag", featuring Humphrey the Bear, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" from "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad", "Casey at the Bat", from "Make Mine Music", and "Paul Bunyan" an animated short released in 1958.
I have a few Humphrey the Bear items in my collection, but had nothing from the other 3 cartoons listed above, until just recently.
I won this 2013 D23 Expo Paul Bunyan Vinylmation set on Ebay.

It's a limited edition of 1000. It originally sold for $29.99, so I was pretty happy to get it for $33, including shipping!

Paul Bunyan is discovered washed ashore a small Maine town after a storm. Paul is adopted and raised by the town. It takes a village to raise the boy because he is a giant. Paul grows, and discovers his true calling as a lumberjack. As he grows, the town grows with him, and he decides to move west to wide open spaces. Wide open spaces that he himself clears with his prodigious strength and ax.

 The only complaint I have about this figure is that Paul should have a double-blade axe, 

which is a prominent plot point.

On his travels he encounters and saves the life of a Big Blue Ox, and Paul names him Babe.

As they cross the country, they create many of the topographical features we enjoy today, such as the Grand Teton Mountain Range and Pikes Peak.
Things are going wonderfully, with Paul the king of lumberjacks, until he comes upon a slick salesman and his steam saw and steam locomotive.
I won't give away the ending, but Paul and Babe stick together through thick and thin, eventually winding up in Alaska.

It is a terrific cartoon, with a wonderful song that narrates and drives the story, and very stylized animation. Paul is voiced by Thurl Ravencroft, who is most well known as the voice of Tony the Tiger. Thurl did many voices for Disney throughout his long carrier, for both animated productions and theme park attractions.
 Paul Bunyan can be found on Disney's American Legends DVD set, the Walt Disney Treasures, Disney Rarities DVD set, and on YouTube.

Name That Disney Bear

Can you name the characters on this Totem Pole, which sits outside the Mercantile store at Disney's Wilderness Lodge?
Got Mickey, Goofy and Donald pretty easily, I would imagine, but who's that bear?

While staying at the Wilderness Lodge a couple of years ago, we took the  excellent ranger guided tour. When the ranger asked who in our group of about 12 could name the characters, only my wife and I knew this bear is Humphrey.

I have a few Humphrey collectibles. One is a 12" resin reproduction of the Totem Pole above which I purchased at the Wilderness Lodge Mercantile for $20.95.

Humphrey first appeared in a Goofy short from 1950, titled "Hold That Pose", though he is bearly (pun intended) recognizable as the bear he would develop into. This short can be found on the "Walt Disney Treasures: The Complete Goofy" DVD set.

Next he went on to appear in four classic Donald Duck cartoons: "Rugged Bear", 1953, "Grin and Bear it", 1954, "Bearly Asleep", and "Beezy Bear", both from 1955. All 4 of these can be found on "Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald: Volume 4" DVD set.

He even starred in his own cartoons in 1955,"Hooked Bear", and one of  my favorite short cartoons of all time, "In the Bag" both of which can be found on the "Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities: Celebrated Shorts: 1920s-1960s" set.

I'll share more Humphrey in the future here on Disney Musings.

Disney's Little Hiawatha

I recently bought several Disney capsule toys off of eBay. The seller shipped me 1/2 of my order rather quickly. But, you'll note, I only got 1/2 of my order. When I wrote the seller to inquire about the other 1/2, they were very apologetic, and sent me a couple extra toys, a very nice surprise. One of them was this Little Hiawatha from the Cinemagic Films Volume 1 collection.

One of the wonderful things about these little one inch figures is the unique and often obscure characters they present from the entire history of Disney animation.

 

Little Hiawatha is a Silly Symphonies animated short released in 1937 about a young Indian brave who sets off into the forest prove his worth by hunting big game. After a series of misadventures he becomes a friend to all (well, most) of the woodland creatures.
Why are his drawers falling down? This is a running gag throughout the cartoon.

 

I watched this wonderful cartoon on YouTube, but it can be found on Walt Disney Treasures: More Silly Symphonies Volume Two DVD set. In fact, Little Hiawatha is on the cover!

 
Seeing the cartoon jogged my memory. I have a couple of Disneyland Magazines from childhood. I went to my box of Disney Magazines, and sure enough, on the cover of one I found our little friend here.

He is featured in a Cinderella's Disneytime story inside!

We'll take a more in depth look at Disneyland Magazine in the future.