FOOD WILL WIN THE WAR - 1942

Today's delve into Disney history deals with a morale boosting film from 1942 that debuted on this day named "Food Will Win the War."

It was produced in the wake of World War 2 to spread the word on the importance that farms have on the war effort.

"Who's afraid of the big bad wolf? Not the farmer of the United States who works and sacrifices to fill the holds of victory ships..."

Watch it Here, or below... (And look for an appearance by the Three Little Pigs!)

FINDING NEMO 2

To add to today's Disney... history... ummm... stuff, there are now rumors of a possible sequel to 2003's Finding Nemo, with a release date of sometime in 2016 after the release of Pixar's upcoming films "Monsters University", "The Good Dinosaur", "The Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside the Mind", and "The Untitled Dia De Los Muertos Film".

With the Finding Nemo 3-D release in September and the film's Blu-ray release in December, it wouldn't surprise me if we had an announcement fairly soon!!!

JULY 17th 2012

Wow. Today is a big day for Disney history. Let's start here...

On this day in 1992, the sequel to Disney's 1989 film "Honey I Shrunk the Kids", "Honey I Blew Up The Kid" was released in theaters. It stars Rick Moranis as Wayne Szalinski, Marcia Strassman as Diane Szalinski, Robert Oliveri as Nick Szalinski, John Shea as Dr. Charles Hendrickson, Lloyd Bridges as Clifford Sterling, Keri Russell as Mandy Park, Amy O'Neill as Amy Szalinski, Ron Canada as Marshall Brooks, Joshua Shalikar as Adam Szalinski, Daniel Shalikar as Adam Szalinski, Gregory Sierra as Terence Wheeler, Michael Milhoan as Captain Ed Myerson, and Leslie Neale as Constance Winters.

The film was shown in theaters following the short animated feature, "Off His Rockers", which is a story about an old fashioned rocking horse that vies for the attention of a boy who has left the horse to play video games.

It was an experiment with the new Computer Graphics systems that would be employed extensively in Disney films to come. If you click Here, you can watch it!!!

Over in California, Disneyland park is celebrating it's 57th anniversary today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DISNEYLAND!!!

(See ya in a month :)

NOW YOU SEE HIM NOW YOU DON'T

“Proud are we of mighty Medfield, Alma-Mater dear. All your sons and daughters hail to thee: Medfield College of Technology. And while we hold your banner high… Rah! Rah! We shout your praises to the sky. Rah! Rah! For proud are we of mighty Medfield, loyally we cheer, “Medfield! Medfield! Rah! Rah! Rah! Our Alma Mater, Dear!”"

Today in Disney history, we have the 88-minute film, "Now You See Him, Now You Don't".

According to D23's official website...

"On this day in 1972, audiences were first able to see, or not see as the case may be, Now You See Him, Now You Don’t. Disney Legend Kurt Russell appeared… and disappeared… as Dexter Riley, but this wasn’t the first time audiences saw Russell as Riley. He first introduced the character in 1969′sThe Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, in which Riley possessed all the knowledge of a school computer. He again materialized as Riley in 1975, no longer with transparent capabilities, but this time becoming The Strongest Man in the World. All three Dexter Riley flicks were set at the prestigious Medfield College. In fact, Medfield appeared in seven Disney films of the ’60s and ’70s. But don’t start vying for a Medfield scholarship… the fictional college only existed in the world of Disney. However, you can learn the Medfield College fight song, which was featured in 1961′s The Absent Minded-Professor (and incidentally was the first Sherman Brothers song written for a Disney film)"

The cast of this film consisted of...

Kurt Russell as "Dexter Reilly", Cesar Romero as "A.J. Arno", Joe Flynn as "Dean Eugene (E.J.) Higgins", Jim Backus as "Timothy Forsythe", William Windom as "Professor Lufkin", Michael McGreevey as "Richard Schuyler", Ed Begley, Jr. as "Druffle", Richard Bakalyan as "Cookie", Joyce Menges as "Debbie Dawson", Alan Hewitt as "Dean Edgar Collingswood", Kelly Thordsen as "Police Sergeant Cassidy", Bing Russell as "Alfred", George O'Hanlon as "Ted, Bank Guard", John Myhers as "Golfer", Pat Delaney as "Winifred Keesely, Higgins' Secretary", and Robert Rothwell as "Driver".

According to Wikipedia...

"The Medfield College exteriors were on the Disney lot: the main Medfield College building and courtyard used in the title sequence was the old Animation Building at the corner of Mickey Avenue and Dopey Drive."

...and...

"The Green VW used by Schyler was two Herbie cars from The Love Bug: one was the vehicle carried by Tang Wu's Chinese Camp students, (this was a gutted car and a rubber truck tire tube was placed under the passenger door, and when inflated suddenly, it would tip the car over, this car used in the scene where AJ Arno rams it). The other car was used in the scenes with Schyler driving it on a flat tire. (The Art Dept. painted the car green, and dusted it to give a look of neglect. When the sunroof is open, the original Herbie Pearl white paint job under the tarp sunroof can be seen where the green was not painted.)"

It was released on DVD in 2004.

NO PROBLEMS, ONLY SOLUTIONS

Today, 30 years ago, Kevin Flynn entered "The Grid".

"The Grid. A digital frontier. I tried to picture clusters of information as they moved through the computer. What did they look like? Ships? motorcycles? Were the circuits like freeways? I kept dreaming of a world I thought I'd never see. And then, one day... I got in."

“Oh man, this isn't happening. It only thinks it's happening.”

"Tron", directed by Steven Lisberger and produced by Donald Kushner, was released on July 9th 1982. Running at 91 minutes, it made on a budget of $17 million, and made $33 million at the box office. 

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s the big master control program everyone’s been talking about…”

It starred Jeff Bridges as "Kevin Flynn" and "CLU" (Codified Likeness Utility), Bruce Boxleitner as "Alan Bradley" and "TRON", David Warner as "Ed Dillinger", "SARK", and the voice of the "Master Control Program", Cindy Morgan as "Lora Baines" and "Yori", Barnard Hughes as "Dr. Walter Gibbs" and "DUMONT", Dan Shor as "RAM" and "the guy who asks Alan for popcorn", Peter Jurasik as "CROM", and Tony Stephano as "Peter".

The film included score composed by Wendy Carlos, and songs by "Journey".

“On the other side of the screen, it all looks so easy.”

The film's sequel, "Tron Legacy" was released in 2010, and a TV show based on the world of Tron, "Tron Uprising" first aired in June 2012.

Watch a very funny, cheesy trailer for the film Here.

END OF LINE

ANDY GRIFFITH (1926-2012)

In memory of Andy Griffith, here are some of my favorite episodes form his beloved TV show...

"Rafe Hollister Sings" (February 11th 1963)
"The Pickle Story" (April 18th 1961)
"Barney and the Chior" (February 19th 1962)
"The Loaded Goat" (January 28th 1963)
"Barney's First Car" (April 1st 1963)
"The Mountain Wedding" (April 29th 1963)
"The Big House" (May 6th 1963)
"The Haunted House" (October 7th 1963)
"Ernest T. Bass Joins the Army" (October 14th 1963)
"The Education of Ernest T. Bass" (October 12th 1964)

You will be missed.

WISE WORDS FROM MARK TWAIN

I had the wonderful opportunity recently to converse and enjoy a good book with Mark Twain (don't ask how!!!) Here are some things he said...

"A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar."

"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter."

"All generalizations are false, including this one."

"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint."

WISE WORDS FROM BEN FRANKLIN

I had the chance to sit down and converse with Benjamin Franklin (don't ask how!!!) Here are some things he said...

"A learned blockhead is a greater blockhead than an ignorant one."

"A penny saved is a penny earned."

"All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move."

"Anger is never without a reason, but seldom with a good one."

"Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn."

"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing."

"Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days."

"He does not possess wealth; it possesses him."

"He that can have patience can have what he will."

Although, after watching this, I'm beginning to have second thoughts about the honesty of this "Silence Dogood" fellow... :)

Poor Richard!

WISE WORDS FROM THE GREAT EMANCIPATOR

I had the most amazing opportunity recently to sit with the sixteenth President of the United States, good 'ol honest man that he is, Abraham Lincoln!!!

Here are some things I really took to heart from this great man...

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

"A woman is the only thing I am afraid of that I know will not hurt me."

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother."

"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?"

"Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm."

"Common looking people are the best in the world: that is the reason the Lord makes so many of them."

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

GOOD PLACE

I sat down. It's a good spot.

:)