New Disney Streaming Service: Disney+

[Daniel]

It's actually 27 shorts. Cool for Skeleton Dance.

[Ben]

Yeah. I just ran that, again from the Treasures, on the front of Treasure Island (I'm currently doing a twice monthly series of significant live-action features to celebrate Disney100 with our usual kino crowd), and that too could do with a nice cleanup. Hope some of these come to disc…

[James]

I do note, though, the lack of Marvel logo on the title, which is usually part of the logo thesedays..

Nice catch. On Disney+ the Marvel Studios logo has been added.

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[Ben]

The lonely man…

[Daniel]

I'm currently doing a twice monthly series of significant live-action features to celebrate Disney100 with our usual kino crowd

That's so cool and I always appreciate that you pair films with shorts! Are you planning on running a certain title about a song that was sung in the south?

[Ben]

I often get good comments on the shorts I pick, which I try and have *some* theme to them (The Skeleton Dance's skulls and crossbones for Treasure Island, etc…!).

We had done the Big Five before Covid, so I didn’t just want to repeat so many animated classics, and wanted to do something different to the obvious things. I’ve often thought about Walt's live-action films and how, generally, they have been seen as underdogs or "lesser" than most Hollywood fare. You know, "it's Disney, it’s not serious", or "for kids" or not "good".

There’s a fair level of criticism in this, since as much as we love them, some of the lesser films *are* a little too quirky, or rely too much on the "gimmick comedy" aspects, which is especially true of the later, post-Walt titles. But a whole heap of Disney live-action films were big deals and, in my opinion, bona fide classic films, across many genres.

My thinking was that I’d pick a number of such titles, running a couple a month to take us up to Christmas, which have the Walt connection. Purely live-action, so no certain southern singing (we actually did already show that anyway!) and no other films we already showed (so no Poppins or Love Bug, which is, on more recent viewings, a pretty adult comedy, and don’t forget was the biggest hit of 1969!).

I can go into the ins and outs of what’s here and why, or not (I send out a weekly email detailing each movie — we do two a week, roughly on Wednesdays and Saturdays — which would "explain" each choice a little more), but this has been carefully thought out. I’d place any of these films against the best of Hollywood in their given genres…

And so, the "significant" *Walt* Disney live-action rundown:

TREASURE ISLAND
20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA
DAVY CROCKETT: KING OF THE WILD FRONTIER
OLD YELLER
THE SHAGGY DOG
DARBY O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE (previously shown, so not in this run)
POLLYANNA
SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON
THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR
THE PARENT TRAP
THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY
MARY POPPINS (previously shown, so not in this run)
THAT DARN CAT
THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE
BLACKBEARD'S GHOST
THE LOVE BUG (previously shown, so not in this run)
BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS

Sorry for the CAPS! This was from my own comp list that I just copied. I also have the shorts that I’ll run with them, but I haven’t finalised that yet, the idea being that I’ll run some of the one-shot standalone "Specials" that don’t really otherwise lend themselves to other features.

Criteria was a combination of four things: cultural significance, critical appraisal, commercial success and of historical importance to the studio. So, yeah, Blackbeard's Ghost may seem out of place, but it was the last film shooting that Walt was on the set of and will be even more poignant when we also show Walt: The Man Behind The Myth for the actual studio birthday in October.

Also, were films successful enough to get sequels, or remakes? Which ones did well as evergreens on video, or get Special Edition treatment, indicating a preference from the Studio itself? So very many little things like that have all been taken into account. I think it’s a pretty fair, balanced and solid list of films that prompt the studio's live-action output to be taken seriously, in so far as some of these titles are obviously "better" than others, but they’re all there for a reason, and all "valid" examples of their type.

And now I’ve blown the surprise for Rand, who gets my weekly mailouts and will now see what’s coming up!

I’m also doing the same for Warners, but that's MUCH more loose and just mostly a bunch of stuff I haven't seen in a while, or never ran the most current discs of. The Disneys are what I’ve really spent time "curating", though, running my own Disney100-branded trails for the next one the week before and such, and running the Disney100 logo at the top of each screening.

It’s pretty good showmanship, even if I do say so myself!

[Randall]

I only lament that I have only been able to attend a few of those evenings, while visiting England in 2014 and 2019. They are special nights, with Ben's "eccentric British friends," as my son refers to Ben's charming guests. Ben does put on a good show, which has only gone more high-tech since I was last there.

I also enjoy programming theme nights with friends. The last one paired Invaders from Mars with - what else? - a Marvin the Martian cartoon carnival! Not all choices are so obvious, and it can be fun finding links between cartoons and features.

[Ben]

2014…2019…guess that means I’d better start getting things ready for next year, then…

"Eccentric" *and* "charming" both fit! Sadly, not only due to Covid breaking things up, and people moving away, etc, but our regular crowd of 12-18 (and occasional full houses of 21!) means we have been down to around six people since we stated up proper again towards the end of last year. Sometimes it’s been even fewer if people are away or can’t come, though we’ve had a couple of near full ones: everyone and more came to Everything Everywhere, and the Victor/Victoria show Saturday for my sister’s birthday was pretty good as she brought along some extras. It’s be great to build it back up a little more.

Sometimes finding the right toon can be a head scratcher! I like Marvin with Mars — good one! Tough to think of something to go with Austin Powers a couple of weeks back, but luckily The Mouse From HUNGER eventually came to mind. Victor/Victoria was another nut to crack: I wanted a "Bugs Bunny dresses like a girl bunny" cartoon, but while there are a few of them, he never does so for any real length. I got it down to two: Rabbit Of Seville made sense (it’s set in a theatre, he’s a girl Bunny for a bit, Vic/Vic has a song about Seville in it), but after the first half it actually gets quite monotonous and repetitive. It was 50/50, but I went with What's Opera, Doc?, which is very similar, but it’s a better cartoon and Bugs was girl bunny for longer.

The only thing that just slightly "mars" (not Mars!) things is the near ten second gap between switching input sources on the receiver so that the "digital handshake" can occur as invisibly as possible, since I cue up everything beforehand so the "audience" doesn’t see the warnings and menus, etc, and if I jump the gun I’ve found the sound doesn’t quite kick in straight away. So that’s a slight annoyance. That and that the curtains aren’t currently working as the remote pickup became temperamental and didn’t always open or close on cue, an "easily" fixed thing that I just haven’t gotten to yet. In the meantime I’ve got red/blue gels on the "stage" lights, so we have also-traditional fade up/fade down lights onscreen as the show starts and ends, which also looks cool.

And since Rand came I’ve installed my older amp so that I can play intro music without having to take up the input on the main receiver that’s all cued up with the discs for the programme to come, which is pretty snazzy. Again, the CD, tape and now vinyl collection (since I got a new turntable last year) come in handy there to play a film's soundtrack as people find their seats (or a generic "Hooray For Hollywood" type compilation of famous film themes if I don’t have a specific title).

We also do occasional "tribute" films if someone dear to us has recently passed, or at least some acknowledgement (like a Muppet Show episode; hoping to run the Glenda Jackson one tomorrow!).

Yessir, it’s pretty darn cool!

[Randall]

2014…2019…guess that means I’d better start getting things ready for next year, then…

I figured you'd do the math! I thought of that, too. Sadly, I don't think that's likely for the next couple of years. With a daughter about to move away for school, our potential travel money may be getting spoken for.

Anyway, we're still waiting for you to come here!

[Ben]

Indeed! Was just kidding. A bit.

I’d love to come over for a spell. When I win on the horses, eh!?

[Daniel]

Dropping today:

:
Secret Invasion – Episode 1
Extraordinary Birder
Minnie's Bow-Toons - Camp Minnie
World's Best

:
NCIS – New Episode
True Lies - New Episode
Will Trent - New Episode
Saving Giraffes - The Long Journey Home

:
Class of ’09 – New Episode
Will Trent
Jacinta
Station 19 - Season 6
9-1-1 - Season 6

:
Good Trouble – New Episode (Season 5)
Miraculous Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir - New Episodes (Season 5)
Special Force: Anarchy
Home in the Wild
Raven's Home - Season 6

[Ben]

Warners and Disney started a trend; culling continues, now over at Paramount:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv ... 1235522633

What’s the point of these things if they’re just going to remove stuff that may be niche but are sure to have their fans somewhere somehow? These services need to cater to all tastes, or people will stop starting to watch new shows in case they never finish!

[Daniel]

Yes, a very deadly trend. It's one thing to cancel a show, but to remove it completely shortly after the finale aired? That's brutal. Talking Rise (or I guess now Fall) of Pink Ladies. Some people wait for a show to end so they can binge it, or are busy and haven't had a chance, or re-subscribe when there's enough to catch up on/frugal. They should really take all that into account.

[Bill1978]

I tend to play TV catchup when I'm on my term breaks as I have more free time. This idea that I need to be watching a show the moment it drops is ludicrous and just as ludicrous as removing original content created for the streamer off their service. I guess the early days of streaming where the services were promoted as watching TV when it suits you, is out the window with these recent decisions. And I don't care how they spin it; it is clearly driven by not wanting to pay residuals to the talent.

[Ben]

Although the upside is that this is why amounts of people are starting to sneak back towards physical releases…