Toon Talk Trivia:

• Robert Stevenson was one of the most prolific, and diversified, directors ever to work at the Disney Studios. His feature films ranged from historical adventures (Johnny Tremain, Kidnapped) to fantasy-comedies (The Absent-Minded Professor, The Love Bug) to big budget musicals (Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks). He was nominated for an Academy Award for his direction of Poppins. With 19 Disney blockbusters to his credit, Variety named him “the most commercially successful director in the history of films” in 1977.
• Fess Parker, of course, is best known for his star-making role in the Davy Crockett serial from the Disneyland television series and the two features it spawned. Parker also appeared in the films The Great Locomotive Chase, Westward Ho the Wagons! and The Light in the Forest, and on television in Along the Oregon Trail and several theme park specials, including Dateline: Disneyland, the opening day celebration of Disneyland. Parker was named a Disney Legend in 1991.
• Jeff York starred opposite Parker in The Great Locomotive Chase, Westward Ho the Wagons! and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, in which he played the memorable Mike Fink, self-proclaimed King of the River. He also appeared in Johnny Tremain and The Saga of Andy Burnett.
• Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran, Jeff York and screenwriter William Tunberg returned in 1963 for Savage Sam, the sequel to Old Yeller, also based on a Fred Gipson novel. The story focused on Yeller’s pup, named Savage Sam, and also starred Brian Keith as Beck Coates, the boys’ uncle.
• The “Old Yeller” theme song was written by staff composer Oliver Wallace (Oscar-winner for Dumbo) and lyricist Gil George, a pseudonym for Disney Studio nurse Hazel George, whose side job also produced songs for Westward Ho the Wagons!, Perri and Tonka, as well as the second set of lyrics for “The Pollyanna Song”.

Coming Soon in Toon Talk:

• The fourth and final Vault Disney title, The Parent Trap starring Hayley Mills, Hayley Mills, Maureen O’Hara and Brian Keith, now available.
• Catch a wave with the 41^st feature from Disney Feature Animation, the eagerly anticipated Lilo & Stitch, opening June 21^st.
• Nickelodeon goes back to the movies with Hey, Arnold, opening June 28^th.