The Good, The Bad, and The Apple Dumpling

[Tref]

Having all this time off as I do, I have been renting a whole lot of movies; including an attempt to re-connect to the old Disney live action films from the 1960s and 1970s. I had not seen many since my childhood and some stood up to the test of time and some most definitely did not. They range from the good (The Three Lives of Thomasina) to the abysmal (The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes) but then there is The Apple Dumpling Gang. I sort of knew the film was not going to live up to what I remember, but I was surprised it missed the mark as many times as it did, especially in the scenes with Knotts and Conway. Those two brilliant improvisators seemed to be coasting a bit. Nevertheless, when it was all said and done and the last potty joke had been told, I liked it. I could even watch it again. Am I sick? Maybe.

Perhaps, I am letting nostalgia cloud my judgment as I have been wont to do, but then nothing could have made The Gnome-Mobile any better -- that film is maybe the worst of the lot. However, would I have been so forgiving to the rest had the films not been produced by Disney? Good question.

Disney films from this era (especially during the early 1970s) have many recognisable marks in style (or, some could argue, lack there of) that make them instantly identifiable to the eye. Sort of like when you rapidly are flipping through the channels and come across a Twilight Zone episode -- you stop, not because you might want to watch the Twilight Zone but the images, lighting, casting are all familiar, even to those episodes you might not have seen before. Disney films, like the Twilight Zone exist in their own reality, apart from all other TV and film.

There is also the matter of the casting, though Disney was known as the last stop of a career (which, apparently, Don Knots, considered, but fortunately for us, disregarded) something could be said about films that bring with them so many warm character actors. How can you dismiss a comedy (even of the lite variety) with actors like, the great Joe Flynn, Dean Jones, Helen Hayes, Keenan Wynn, Raymond Baily, Cloris Leachman, Phil Silvers, Susan Clark, Cesar Romero and on and on and on ...

Though, I will say that while nostaligia may play a big role in my opinion of Disney live action films, they definitely are fun to watch and re-visit. Most of them, anyway.

Which Disney live action films from that period (besides, Mary Poppins) hold up the best for you?

You know how I feel. What you think I do not know. Pray tell.

[Ponine]

I too have recently watched The Apple Dumpling gang.
Not for nostalgia, but because I knew that my eight year old could watch it, and i didnt have to worry about gay bashing, or jokes about male body parts, etc.

Because I knew people got hit with things, and older people were being dumb. He loves that.
But I will refrain from my dissertation. I will instead address Witch Mountain.
But before I do, let me say that I agree with many of your statements.
I know TZ when I see three seconds of it. Though I am the person who would know the episode number as well. But the same can be said for TZ, MASH, Beverly Hillbilies... They each have their style.

You can pretty typically know a Disney live action film in a beat or three. My personal faves are Pollyanna, and Summer Magic.

Anyway... I hold a very dear spot for the Witch Mountain movies. I wanted to be one of the other children. I wanted powers like Tia. I wanted her purse.

But when I watch them now....
What the heck was Betty Davis thinking??? Who talked her into that role??
And Christopher Lee.... luckily he pulled back out into other movies.

I Love Witch Mountain. But it does not stand the test of time.

I feel however that Pollyana does. Although now it plays as a period piece. I never saw it that way as a child.
I guess because when I was a child you could get a doll from a fishing game. :p

I lost track of my train.... catch it again later.

[innerSpaceman]

Oh, now I wished I'd gone and seen that Disney Live-Action series at the Aero.


Frankly, I think all those movies suck. If they didn't have "Disney" attached to the name, there would not even be the camp factor for me.


Of that era, dismissing Poppins from competition, I can say that only The Parent Trap and The Love Bug are worthy of your attention, though I'd really like to see The Three Lives of Thomasina again to see if it holds up to memory.

The rest of the monkeys that had uncles and the laptops that wore tennis shoes are really atrocious craptaculars. Even Swiss Family Robinson is a lame, lame film.


Disney lost it in 1960 when it came live action movies. And that makes the wonder of Mary Poppins all the more spectacular.

[Ghoulish Delight]

I'm a bit of an anomaly I suppose in that I didn't really watch any of them growing up. I'm slowly catching up, and I dare say that I've enjoyed several of them. Genuinely enjoyed.

Three that come to mind are Swiss Family Robinson, Bed Knobs and Broomsticks, and Pollyanna. I wouldn't call them spectacular movies, but they were enjoyable to watch, made me smile, and didn't bore the snot out of me.

[€uroMeinke]

Awwww - Swiss Family Robinson is such a delight just trying to figure out what continent they are near with it's Noah's Ark collection of animals. And Pirates! - I think the pirates in this film are among the best. And who wouldn't want to live in that tree house or ride an ostrich?

[Morrigoon]

I'm excessively fond of Summer Magic. Despite the outdated attitude toward the behavior of young ladies (which, in itself, I find hilarious, because whether or not we admit it, it still holds true), but also if you really pay attention, the direction is wonderful, and Hayley Mills' acting superb. Yeah, you have to get around the script and the random "Hey we have a lot of leftover bug footage from True Life Adventures" segment, but as an overall piece I find it absolutely delightful.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

No doubt - Herbie and Apple Dumpling Gang were a huge part of my childhood.

Tron, the Black Hole, Last FLight of Noah's Ark, Freeky Friday, Trenchcoat and Gus also. Plus the "newer" ones like Rocketeer, Newsies and Tall Tales were not bad at all.

Most of the live actions were great!

[CoasterMatt]

I love Tron, the Black Hole and Escape to Witch Mountain.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

Swiss Family Robinson, and the Love Bug are two of my favorites. I remember seeing them as a kid, and I enjoy watching them now, part for the movie, and part nostalgia.

[Prudence]

Have you noticed that Hayley Mills was always slightly flat when she sang?

[flippyshark]

Have you noticed that Hayley Mills was always slightly flat when she sang?

Well, until puberty, anyway.

[mousepod]

Well, until puberty, anyway.

*rimshot*

Disney live-action films tend to get a bum rap. I actually like quite a few. I've been revisiting the catalog lately as a result of joining the Disney Movie Club.

Now where the heck is The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh (aka Dr. Syn alias The Scarecrow) starring Patrick McGoohan? I sure hope it's as cool as I remember it.

[flippyshark]

Okay, joking aside, yes, Hayley Mills was no great talent as a singer. I recall reading somewhere that her songs were specially selected so that she wouldn't have to hold any notes out at length, but simply chop them out in short bursts. Still, unlike the talentless teens who proliferate these days, Hayley could get by on personality and charm. (I suppose if her songs had been through the digital pitch correction and artificial sweetening available to today's "artists," she might have been indistinguishable from them.) I had a Hayley Mills record when I was about ten or eleven. I'm sure I knew then that it was of dubious quality musically, but I had such a crush on her, it didn't matter.

As of a viewing about two years ago, yes, I think Dr. Syn holds up pretty nicely as nostalgic matinee entertainment. Boy, it sure will need a remaster, though. The episodes as shown on Vault Disney (ten years ago and then some) looked like they had been printed on whole grain toast.

I could go on at length about my fave live action Disney films, but I do want to give aquick shout out to Joe Flynn, a guy whose presence in a Disney comedy, no matter how dismal, guaranteed that I would collapse in a fit of giggles.

[Prudence]

Man, I go to all the trouble of putting in a punch line and no one reads it. I have not the Tref magic. Alas.

I haven't seen any of these films in a long time. I have probably seen every one at least once. When I was younger (and I mean teens), they were just about the only videos we were allowed to rent.

The one that really bugs me, that I never want to see again, ever, came later (Flight of the Navigator.) The earlier live action stuff is kind of charming, I think.

[Babette]

Darn you, Tref! Now I can't get that flippin' song out of my head!!! And I don't even know the right words! I just picture Jane and Michael from Mary Poppins bobbing her heads in the back seat of the car.
The gnome mobile, the gnome mobile, were riding around in the gnome mobile. Sooner or later we'll find 'em we will, we're riding around in the gnome mobile. :mad:

Witch Mountain all the way is my favorite series. I wanted to be Tia and wished Fej was Tony. I love Pollyanna, Herbie and Parent Trap, too.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

hehehe - I got Condorman on DVD recently - Oddly was not put out by Disney DVD. Huh? Anyway, it doesn't hold up sadly.

[flippyshark]

Condorman was one of a number of titles licensed out to Anchor Bay Entertainment back in the early days of DVD. Anchor Bay was not permitted to include the Disney name on the disc packaging. Their releases included special editions of The Black Hole, The Watcher in the Woods and The Happiest Millionaire, along with library titles like North Avenue Irregulars. I thought it strange that Disney had so little consideration for these flims that they just shuttled them off to another party. (Who, it must be said, cared about them more than Disney did.)

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Boo, iSm! How dare you actually claim that Swiss Family is lame. I think that a child today could still enjoy it. I bet my niece in Alaska has memorized a few lines, as it was a huge favorite in my house growing up.

Interesting about Pollyanna being a period piece, Ponine - I have always viewed it that way, and have always felt a twinge of jealousy watching it. Where was this world of nighttime fairs involving bicycle parades, and areas of wilderness where children run free? It's still a favorite of mine.

It's been a few years since I've seen the original Love Bug but I daresay I'd still enjoy it today. Over the top camp involving car racing, plus a fantastic cast. Everyone remembers Buddy Hackett, but David Tomlinson, anyone? I loved "Mr. Banks" as the bad guy adversary.

I saw Flight of the Navigator in the theaters and it is a full nostalgia piece for me. Seeing it again, I relive the gee-whiz feeling I got seeing it then, with total envy for the kid who gets to pilot his own spacecraft. Yeah, it's weak, with a half-hour storyline stretched to the breaking point, but I can't possibly have objectivity on that one.

I borrowed Rascal (http://imdb.com/title/tt0064875/) from the library once out of pure curiosity. You know, there's a reason I hadn't heard of it. It's pretty bad. Even the animal hijinks can't save it, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Never saw the Apple Dumpling gang. Tim Conway often makes me wince, Carol Burnett show notwithstanding.

[katiesue]

Candleshoe and Darby O'Gill are my two favorites.

I love both the old and new versions of Parent Trap.

I remember Blackbeards Ghost but I haven't seen it in decades.

[AllyOops!]

Aww, my brother & I grew up watching both Disney films & cartoons. We loved them so much. :)

My absolute favorite is The Ugly Dachshund (I'm a total dog freak & it's just so darling)! I own that movie on DVD and when I watched it, I found myself giggling and still enjoying it so much. When my brother & I were little, we thought it was just side-splitting. Plus, I admit, I had a mini-crush on Dean Jones. He's still so handsome in that film.

I saw Swiss Family Robinson only once, but I loved it. I also loved the attraction at Disneyland (although, to be fair, it was a big make-out point since Adventure Thru Innerspace was removed way before I was allowed to date).

The Herbie movies are so cute, and although I'm sure I'll be burned at the stake for saying this, I totally loved the Fully Loaded Lindsay Lohan version. I have, or rather had, little brothers (they're all grown up now, except the youngest. He's 12) and these movies were a safe joy to view with them. Watching Herbie with my Grandma is way more comfortable then when we watched The Sopranos together. Or The Departed. Oofah! that even made me blush. :blush: I may be in my 30's, but she's still my nana.

I barely remember Thomasina. Didn't that involve a cute tabby cat? Oh! That reminds me- I almost forgot about That Darn Cat. Cute! :)

[Ponine]

I forgot about the Ugly Dachshaund...!!!!
Thats a family favorite. Dogs never get outdated. :) And we have Great Danes in the family, so its that much funnier.

[Not Afraid]

There are soooooo many Disney L.A, films that i adore.

Short list off the top:

Charlie the Lonesome Cougar
20,000 Leagues.......
Swiss Family Robinson
Three Lives of Thomasina
Parent Trap
Cat from Outer Space
Happiest Millionaire
One and Only Genuine Original Family Band
Absent Minded Professor
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Old Yeller
That Darned Cat
Pollyana
The Love Bug