The Fabulous Disney Babe
Page 1 of 2

After you've read this column
Discuss It on the LaughingPlace.com Discussion Boards

March went in like a lion, and is going out like a very soggy, cold and grumpy lamb. I promised you So Dear to My Heart, it being Disney's most lamb-oriented film. It's also my favorite Disney film, because I am a sentimental marshmallow. So Dear to My Heart is the only Disney film in my recollection without a villain. The closest thing to evil there is the town bully, who ends up with a rear end coated in honey, and Uncle Hiram, played by Burl Ives, who attempts to sweet talk Granny into letting Jeremiah take his black lamb Danny to the County Fair.

What was so important about So Dear to My Heart? Plenty. If you have a chance, dig up the out-of-print Midnight and Jeremiah; it's a great read. You can't get Song of the South on the American Market, this is the next-best thing. Utilizing a huge chunk of the cast (most notably the kids), the setting is in the same era, but in the Midwest, not the South, and of course, the blending of animation with live-action. Marc Davis' work on the film is charming and colorful.  

Walt had the barn built to echo his memories of his family's barn in Missouri; his backyard barn was built by the same architect in a similar style. The train station is another important structure in the film. The Fulton Corners station, gold with red trim, was a beautiful set piece and should look familiar to steam train and Disneyland fans alike. When filming was finished, Walt gave the set to Master Animator and General Creative Genius Ward Kimball, who collected trains. No, not model railroads, real, actual full-sized trains.  

Unfortunately, the Fulton Corners Station, being a mere movie set, was too flimsy for practical use, so Ward had to have blueprints created for it and spend countless hours building it up to it's present sturdy form. Grizzly Flats Station still stands today, and there is even a model version of it available on the secondary market.  

When Disneyland opened, Walt approached Ward and asked if he could have the station back for Disneyland. Ward gave Walt an answer that very few other people ever dared give Walt: "No."  

"But," he continued, "I'll let you use the blueprints." The Frontierland/New Orleans Square Station, across the tracks from the present loading area, was built from those blueprints...but it's not the only copy of the Fulton Corners/Grizzly Flats station. Next time you're heading into Mickey's ToonTown, take a good look at the Railroad Station. It's a Tooned-up version of that same Railroad station!

But back to the film: Marc Davis and Mary Blair created a beautiful "scrapbook-feel" look for the animated sequences, mostly set to Burl Ives' songs in the film. Mary is still considered one of the most brilliant color stylists and most original artists, years after her death. Her tragic life is outlined in John Canemaker's excellent Before the Animation Began. John, the model for Snoops in The Rescuers and sometimes host of Backstage Disney in the 80's, is now working on a Nine Old Men project, which promises to be a hell of a read. Every time I visit Alice I am sure to give a nod to Mary's Rose, a still life of a gorgeous full-blown rose that Marc painted in the fifties. Mary loved the painting and called it "My Rose".  

Alice Davis is in Japan right now where several galleries there will be showcasing Marc's non-Disney work. Alice and the rest of the folks at the Marc Davis Collectors' Society have restructured the membership levels: anyone can buy the art, you don't have to be a member. There are three levels of membership: Gold, Silver, and Bronze, each with different levels of discounts when you buy the artwork. For more information, please visit http://www.marcdavis.com . On Marc's birthday, in the thirties, he did some studies of a lion; he had so little money at the time that he worked on butcher paper. Alice found these lion drawings and will be putting them on items for the members, which is just so cool.

A treat for family and friends every year was the Christmas cards that Marc and Alice would send out. Marc drew them every year until his last Christmas when he was too ill, and Alice sat with him in his hospital room and sketched it out. Alice has given permission for me to show LaughingPlace.com readers a selection of those cards through the years. Look for them at Christmas time. (Will someone please remind me in December?) Alice handed me and Jim ours at the house when we were there for little Alice's birthday. Every year, Marc had drawn himself in caricature with his beautiful Alice by his side, and also their "children", mostly dogs. This year's card looks exactly like Marc drew it, and Alice replied to my comment saying so that he was there guiding her. Alice is at the bottom of the Christmas tree with Sir Virgil and Miss Chris (who crossed over about three weeks ago; she never got over Marc's death), while Marc, resplendent in angel wings, gown, and halo, zapped the star alight on the Christmas Tree.