Note that I don't mind if we deviate and discuss other studios' G Rated live action films as well. We seemed to have grown up in the "G" Golden Age and I myself will address some of those movies below*.
I can remember occasionally traveling to the Studio Theater that existed in a nearby neighborhood. It was a mysterious box of a building down busy 95th street in the Southwest suburbs of Chicago. It had a large parking lot adjacent to one of those giant slides that you rode a potato sack down. And the theater always showed the Disney movies and usually in a double-feature format. I can remember driving over there in our family's red station wagon; I rode backwards facing the rear window on hot summer days. We'd park and get our tickets and look at the movie posters. No candy or pop for us, unless my mom hid some M&Ms or Good and Plenty in her purse. It didn't matter because I was mesmerized by Dexter Riley's adventures, or The Apple Dumpling Gang, or Escape to Witch Mountain.
I know I didn't see every Disney film, but we sure saw a lot of them. In the 70s it seemed like the studio produced more live action vehicles than it did animated films. My memory may be cloudy on where I saw the movies, as many also appeared on Disney's Sunday night program Wonderful World of Disney. I also saw some made for TV movies there as well like the great Mystery in Dracula's Castle.
Besides those already mentioned, here is an incomplete list of the Disney movies in this category that I viewed somewhere back in the haze of my youth:
Big Red
Emil and the Detectives
That Darn Cat!
The Ugly Dachshund
The Gnome-Mobile
The Boatniks
Superdad
The Barefoot Executive
The Million Dollar Duck
One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing
The Shaggy D.A.
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo
The Cat From Outer Space
Hot Lead and Cold Feet
The North Avenue Irregulars
The Devil and Max Devlin
The Black Hole
The Watcher in the Woods
Seeing these again, the storylines are sometimes quite vapid, the special effects cheesy, and the acting is a bit hammy. But I love them anyway. Sometimes nostalgia beats artistry.
So here are my Top Five Disney Live Action Films and some notes about each:
1) Now You See Him, Now You Don't is the second film in the Dexter Riley trilogy starring Kurt Russell. The others were The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and The Strongest Man In The World. In 1972, five-year-old me couldn't get enough of the invisibility hijinks at Medfield College and the treachery of Caesar Romero's A.J. Arno. Oh, I so wanted to turn invisible!
2) Gus is the story of a field goal kicking mule and the beleaguered professional football team that hires him and his caretaker. The joy of seeing slow motion muddy football craziness cannot be beat. Plus it has Tim Conway as a criminal and Don Knotts as the coach. I still cannot figure out what the magic word is that makes Gus kick (it sounds like "oyage') but I loved this movie.
3) The Mystery In Dracula's Castle. The above mentioned made-for-TV movie always captivated me. Two brothers who decide to film a Dracula movie during their summer vacation stumble upon some jewel thieves at their lighthouse castle location. They of course manage to foil the criminals in a particularly spectacular fashion when they light off fireworks to draw attention.
4) The Parent Trap. I saw this one on TV also. I laughed heartily along with my sisters when the camp pranks were in action. I could not wrap my tiny mind around the fact that Hayley Mills was playing both roles of the twins.
5) Freaky Friday. I was mesmerized by the thought of a mind switch. Oh boy, if I could be somebody else for a day - how much fun would that be? Redartz and I better not make any magic wishes!
So those are my top picks, but there were also some movies that I did not like. I have to say that One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing left me cold. I saw it on a double bill with The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again. I don't remember much about it other than a group of nannies chased down the skeleton of a dinosaur stolen from a museum. I remember really not liking it at the time.
And now for the asterisks...
*How can there be a discussion of great children's movies without including the 1968 classic from Warfield Productions, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (boy did that Child Catcher creep me out) or the 1971 Wolper Pictures' masterpiece Willy Wonka &The Chocolate Factory? Those honestly would be way up on my list if I didn't limit the favorite five to Disney flicks.
*On the other side of that coin, I have to say that when I was in grade school, Benji seemed to be everywhere. I remember posters, numerous sequels, books in the monthly Scholastic offerings, etc. And the kids in my school seemed to love the little mutt. But he bored me to tears. Sorry animal fans - Benji is in the doghouse in my book.
The Ugly Dachshund
The Gnome-Mobile
The Boatniks
Superdad
The Barefoot Executive
The Million Dollar Duck
One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing
The Shaggy D.A.
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo
The Cat From Outer Space
Hot Lead and Cold Feet
The North Avenue Irregulars
The Devil and Max Devlin
The Black Hole
The Watcher in the Woods
Seeing these again, the storylines are sometimes quite vapid, the special effects cheesy, and the acting is a bit hammy. But I love them anyway. Sometimes nostalgia beats artistry.
So here are my Top Five Disney Live Action Films and some notes about each:
1) Now You See Him, Now You Don't is the second film in the Dexter Riley trilogy starring Kurt Russell. The others were The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and The Strongest Man In The World. In 1972, five-year-old me couldn't get enough of the invisibility hijinks at Medfield College and the treachery of Caesar Romero's A.J. Arno. Oh, I so wanted to turn invisible!
2) Gus is the story of a field goal kicking mule and the beleaguered professional football team that hires him and his caretaker. The joy of seeing slow motion muddy football craziness cannot be beat. Plus it has Tim Conway as a criminal and Don Knotts as the coach. I still cannot figure out what the magic word is that makes Gus kick (it sounds like "oyage') but I loved this movie.
3) The Mystery In Dracula's Castle. The above mentioned made-for-TV movie always captivated me. Two brothers who decide to film a Dracula movie during their summer vacation stumble upon some jewel thieves at their lighthouse castle location. They of course manage to foil the criminals in a particularly spectacular fashion when they light off fireworks to draw attention.
4) The Parent Trap. I saw this one on TV also. I laughed heartily along with my sisters when the camp pranks were in action. I could not wrap my tiny mind around the fact that Hayley Mills was playing both roles of the twins.
5) Freaky Friday. I was mesmerized by the thought of a mind switch. Oh boy, if I could be somebody else for a day - how much fun would that be? Redartz and I better not make any magic wishes!
So those are my top picks, but there were also some movies that I did not like. I have to say that One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing left me cold. I saw it on a double bill with The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again. I don't remember much about it other than a group of nannies chased down the skeleton of a dinosaur stolen from a museum. I remember really not liking it at the time.
And now for the asterisks...
*How can there be a discussion of great children's movies without including the 1968 classic from Warfield Productions, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (boy did that Child Catcher creep me out) or the 1971 Wolper Pictures' masterpiece Willy Wonka &The Chocolate Factory? Those honestly would be way up on my list if I didn't limit the favorite five to Disney flicks.
*On the other side of that coin, I have to say that when I was in grade school, Benji seemed to be everywhere. I remember posters, numerous sequels, books in the monthly Scholastic offerings, etc. And the kids in my school seemed to love the little mutt. But he bored me to tears. Sorry animal fans - Benji is in the doghouse in my book.
Did you see a lot of these films? Below are some posters and photos of some of the "classics", but there are countless others. What were your memories? What were your favorites? And what did you not like? Were you more of an animation fan or did you enjoy these fictional forays as well? Rate them. Rank them, And share your thoughts. Cheers!
