SONG OF THE SOUTH (1946)

Studio: Walt Disney Productions.

Producer: Walt Disney.

Director: Harve Foster & Wilfred Jackson

Awards: This film won an Oscar for Best Original Song "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" and another Oscar as an Honorary Award. It was also nominated for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.

Interesting Fact: Though this fact is mostly well known, this film is the inspiration for the popular Splash Mountain ride in the Disney parks.

My Favorite Scene: The whole movie is full of song and story. I love every bit of it.

Uncle Remus: It happum on one ah dem Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah Days. Now dat's the kinda day where you can't opem yo mouf widout a song jumpin right out of it!

I am shocked and appalled by the negativity of which this film has received. It is a fine story about a fine lesson, but some people get too distracted by trivial fiction. I can think of a hundred other films that should be disgraced for their content other than this picture. When my mother watched this film, Uncle Remus became her best friend. She waited on his every word and admired him for his wisdom. I wish this film would be released on DVD, but it looks like it never will. I wish to state how much I loved this film as a kid. It taught me a lesson, not an ideology, that places existed I'd not even know about. It is truly a family classic and one of the greats.

This is a small clip from the movie.

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MOVIE?

DAVY CROCKETT: KING OF THE WILD FRONTIER (1955)

Studio: Walt Disney Productions

Producer: Walt Disney

Director: Norman Foster

Awards: None

Interesting Fact: The main theme "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" became an instant hit and held the #1 spot on the music charts for a couple months in 1955. Can you imagine a song from a kids movie doing that in our day.

My Mother's Favorite Scene: My mom loves the scene where he attempts to grin down a bear. I like the closing of the film, where Davy is swinging away.

Davy Crockett: I'm half-horse, half-alligator and a little attached with snapping turtle. I've got the fastest horse, the prettiest sister, the surest rifle and the ugliest dog in Texas.

This is another expression of Walt Disney's love for the American heritage. Some of his films on the topic were animated, but it was films like this one that he chose to tell in live action. Every boy in America now had a new hero, and any money they could muster would be invested into a coon-skin cap. I too, as a boy, admired this giant of man. He was a true American hero, who fought the battles that needed fighting and forged the terrain that needed forging. Whether Disney got all the facts right or not, this picture shed new light and amazement on a man who loved this country. That alone is good enough for me.

"The Ballad of Davy Crockett"

My mother's favorite scene.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SCENE?

JOHNNY TREMAIN (1957)

Studio: Walt Disney Productions

Producer: Walt Disney

Director: Robert Stevenson

Awards: None

Interesting Fact: Though Disney himself never saw the building of Disney World, he had intended that there was to be a Liberty Street. As they formulated the possibility of this road, they discovered a large elm tree near the Magic Kingdom, and moved it to it's current location as the Liberty Tree. In the tree hangs thirteen lanterns, which represent the original thirteen states.

My Mother's Favorite Scene: She loves to see that beautiful tree lit up in the film. My mother loves anything patriotic and scene is full of patriotism.

Samuel Adams: "This meeting can do nothing more, to save the country!"

Here is a film where we get to see the patriotic side of Walt Disney. This is one of my mother's favorite Disney films. One year she bought everyone in the family the DVD. Disney had a certain talent of teaching an audience about history. It is as entertaining as it is educational. though some aspects are purely fictional, Disney wove it very well into the story.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SCENE?

WALT DISNEY (1901-1966)

WALTER ELIAS DISNEY

Born: December 5th, 1901 (Cichago).

Died: December 15th, 1966 (lung cancer).

Marriage: Lillian Disney (1925-1966 His death).

Children: Diane Marie Disney & Sharon Mae Disney.

Awards: No one else has won as many Academy Awards as Disney. He has twenty-two Oscars and nominations for an additional thirty-seven. Among his other entertainment awards are a Directors Guild of America, an Emmy, three Golden Globes, ten Laurel Awards, two NY Film Critics Circle Award, six Venice Film Festival & two stars on the Walk of Fame. He also has received a few awards posthumously.

Interesting Fact: In 2000, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his work on the multiplane camera.

My Mother's Favorite Movie: Cinderella (1950). This has been my mother's favorite since she was a little girl. My favorite hidden gem of his, is Song of the South (1946). This is the film that Splash Mountain is based off of. It has been banned for it's use of the "N" word.

Cartoon Artist, Movie Director, Producer, Host, Actor, Writer, Inventor, CEO, Entrepreneur, Theme Park creator are a few of the titles he possessed. Walt did it all, and then he kept on going. I've always thought to myself, where this world would be if he had been allowed to live a little longer. In the short time he was with us, he recreated the entertainment industry on so many levels and established a legend that lives on to this day.

To state it simply, Walt Disney was a genius. His thoughts were original and his heart was always in the right place. He's given the world more joy and happiness than any other person I can think of on our day. His love of art and music recreated a whole different kind of expression. With his masterpiece of a film, Fantasia (1940), he helped the world see music in a whole new color.

With one foot in the past for heritage and the other foot in the future for progress, Walt created a trail for the bright minds of this country to follow. His ideas and dreams spread into the four corners of the world and soon his name became a household word for good. I love this man for his patriotism, vision and love for the pure. In an earlier post I suggested four men to be placed on a new Mount Rushmore. Today, I correct it to include: Ronald Regan, James Cagney, John Wayne & Walt Disney.

This clip expresses some of the work Disney did in creating a better future.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE OF HIS?