Originally Posted By Doobie This topic is for discussion of the June 13th Toon Talk: Old Yeller at <a href="News-ID114500.asp" target="_blank">http://LaughingPlace.com/News-ID114500.asp</a>.
Originally Posted By dizneelover Thanks for another great review Kirby!! I love this movie SOOO much and I am Very VERY glad Disney released this wonderful classic!!
Originally Posted By arstogas Good review, Kirby... I've owned this set for weeks, and it's truly a breath of fresh air. However... >>>(In contrast, he hated cats; note that the first film to prominently feature sympathetic felines was the first animated film made after his death, The Aristocats.)<<< And what was Figaro? Chopped Liver? I'm not a cat lover at all... (they make me itch) but I don't think there's any evidence Walt "hated" cats... his notes on Figaro during development and production of PINOCCHIO are quite affectionate... he loved that character and invested a lot of time in Figaro. The cat also reappeared at least once as Minnie's cat. And didn't the "Three Orphan Kittens" win an oscar? I know it's a short, but the boss had to have something to do with it. The Cheshire Cat was pretty prominent in Alice, but he was not exactly a "warm" character... still quite important to the story (though by Walt's own admission, he was not very fond of the way ALICE turned out). I assume because of LADY AND THE TRAMP and CINDERELLA, you make the statement about Walt "hating cats"... But I think this is more presumption than reality, and the creatures were convenient as villains every so often simply because they ARE less interactive than dogs... And as an animator, I can tell you it's a lot easier to make a CAT look satanic than a Canine.
Originally Posted By JimG A well-done review. I own this DVD and highly recommend it. Of course, I am one of the early baby-boomers who saw "Old Yeller" on its first release, so I'm somewhat nostalgic and prejudiced about it. I hope the Disney Company continues to re-release its classics in wonderful packages such as this. I'd like to see "Savage Sam", "Darby O'Gill and the Little People", "Greyfriars Bobby", "Perri", "Rob Roy", "Third Man On the Mountain", "Robin Hood"(live action version), "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", and (especially) "Song of the South"--a great childhood favorite-- released in the "Vault Disney" format, complete with plenty of extras and lots of commentary.
Originally Posted By ToonKirby The fact that Walt hated cats was mentioned in one of his biographies. Figaro was a rare exception to this 'rule', although even he is a bit rambunctious and is generally considered a supporting (or even minor) character in "Pinocchio". The Cheshire Cat is generally considered a 'villain' in "Alice in Wonderland", although I don't wholly agree with that. One could also site Sgt Tibbs in "101 Dalmatians", but he to was a supporting character. I should note that there was a typo in that sentence, it should read "the first animated film to prominently feature sympathetic felines ... was "The Aristocats". Another reader mentioned "Three Lives of Thomasina", "That Darn Cat" and "The Incredible Journey" as Walt era live action features that starred cats. Regardless, my point was that Walt did feature a lot more dogs in starring roles then cats.
Originally Posted By arstogas Point well made... though in all the biographies I've read of Walt... never saw a note about hating cats. I forgot about 3 Lives of Thomasina... nice movie.. .very heartfelt. But if Walt DID hate cats, that would definitely make him all the more a regular guy... The fact that he loved dogs is clear. He did seem to like BIG cats, though...
Originally Posted By arstogas >>>"20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"<<< It's ready to go, but they are having some legal problems. Not sure, but I think it might have to do with the music. The film is on hold right now, but they've authored a great 2 disk set for release.
Originally Posted By kirbysloan My Father refused to watch Disney films for years because of the usual portrayal of cats. Thomasina was the major exception. By the time Aristocats came out, he wasn't paying any attention to Disney films anyway. He bred Persian cats for years before I was born and even authored a Newspaper article in the 50s about how cats were maligned by the media. --- TVKirby (The other Kirby!) Visit My Disney Theme Parks Related TV Web Page at <a href="http://www.bartlett-sloan.net/disneytv.html" target="_blank">http://www.bartlett-sloan.net/ disneytv.html</a> Web page about our October 2000 WDW trip at <a href="http://www.bartlett-sloan.net/ccaidisneyy2ka.html" target="_blank">http://www.bartlett-sloan.net/ ccaidisneyy2ka.html</a>
Originally Posted By arstogas Well, Cats are evil. But they are also tasty when in the hands of an accomplished chef. ...Or in the jaws of a hungry doberman.
