Jim on Film
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Unsung Disney
Live-Action Gems in Disney’s Treasure Vault

With the DVD releases of some of Disney’s recent animated features we’ve had an opportunity to experience some of Disney’s great unsung songs—Aladdin’s Proud of Your Boy and songs cut from Brother Bear, Alice in Wonderland, and Sleeping Beauty, among others. There are also some unsung Disney films, movies that have been known by Disney fans for many years but are generally unknown by the average filmgoer. Fortunately, many of these films are making it back into stores, allowing for news fans to discover them. Below are my picks for the most unsung of Disney films, great movies that deserve larger audiences.

(c) Disney

Victory Through Air Power (1943) Like most people, it was only recently that I had an opportunity to see Victory Through Air Power, after many years of waiting and hoping. What I expected to finally see was some great animation surrounding a dry documentary style of film, in the tone of the interstitchals in Fantasia. I wasn’t prepared for how fascinating the movie is, with its presentation of battle tactics and strategies. All ideas are clearly illustrated and vividly supported with great animation, making it an undiscovered treat. It begins with a funny section on the history of aviation, but because what follows is so interesting, it pales in comparison with the rest of the film. Probably many history buffs and couch-and-coffee PBS historians would find this a valuable record. Major Alexander de Seversky makes for a personable host and, combined with the animation, Victory Through Air Power makes for a very entertaining movie.

The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952), The Sword and the Rose (1953), and Rob Roy, The Highland Rogue (1954) These three swashbuckling adventures starring Richard Todd and James Robertson Justice and, added for the last two films, Glynis Johns and Michael Gough, are exciting retellings of historical tales. The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men is an excellent re-telling of the famous Robin Hood legend, giving the hero a sense of realism, history, and purpose. Joan Rice plays a beautiful Maid Marian, and James Robertson Justice creates a robust Little John.

The Sword and the Rose is a fictionalized account of King Henry VIII, in a story that was (unintentionally) paralleled by many of the plot points in Disney’s Aladdin. James Robertson Justice gives King Henry VIII life in what must be seen as a definitive portrayal of his legendary personality, known for killing wives at a whim and breaking with the Catholic Church. A young Glynis Johns, who would later play Mrs. Banks in Mary Poppins, is a stunning youthful beauty as Princess Mary, the princess with all the spunk and spark of Disney’s later-day animated women. Richard Todd is her commoner suitor, and Michael Gough, the villainous advisor to the King who wants the princess all for himself. It’s an exciting and romantic story stunningly visualized with extremely talented actors.

Rob Roy, The Highland Rogue does pale in comparison to its two forerunners; however, it has its own charms in the story of a Scottish hero who leads an uprising against a German-born king taking the throne in England. Like The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men and The Sword and the Rose, Rob Roy, The Highland Rogue suffers in its ability to appeal to modern audiences. The films themselves feature great storytelling coupled with great casting, direction, and action; however, they bear the mark of films from that period in visual appeal. In their early Technicolor splendor, they are lovely films, but they don’t have the instant richness of color that audiences have come to expect. Those who don’t give these films a chance, particularly the first two, based upon that alone are truly missing out on three of the studio’s strongest live-action charms.