Toon Talk: 1970s Live-Action DVDs
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Bonus Feature Highlights:
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All three DVDs have optional Audio Commentaries: Apple’s features cast members Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Susan Clark and Brad Savage, while both Witch Mountain films’ features stars Iake Eisenmann and Kim Richards along with director John Hough.
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Accompanying each movie is a similarly themed classic animated short: the western Apple has Two-Gun Goofy (1952, previously available on The Complete Goofy DVD); Escape has Pluto’s Dream House (1940), wherein a magic lamp (a la Aladdin) makes life easier for Mickey and Pluto; and Return has The Eyes Have It (1945), in which Donald tries out hypnotism on poor Pluto.
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Each film also has a slightly abbreviated Vault Disney section: Apple has the making of feature A Look Back with the Gang, featuring Conway, Knotts, Clark, Savage and his onscreen siblings Clay O’Brien and Stacy Manning (who reveals she doesn’t like apple dumplings); in Conversations with Tim Conway, the Emmy Award-winning comedian looks back on his Disney career, which including sharing scenes with a man-eating Bengal tiger, a field goal-kicking donkey and a midget in a dog suit; Disney’s Rootin’ Tootin’ Cowboy Stars includes both animated (Pecos Bill) and live action (Davy Crockett) stars of Frontierland; and the excellent Lost Treasures: The Disney Back Lot is a historically rich peek back at the Studios’ late Burbank back lot, where many live action films and television series were shot throughout the years.
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Escape’s Vault includes: Making the Escape, featuring Eisenmann, Richards, Hough and Dermott Downs (who played the red-headed bully Truck), relates that Jodi Foster was originally considered for the role of Tia and that Eisenmann taught himself how to play the harmonica for the role; Conversations with John Hough, which covers both Witch Mountain films but curiously omits his later film for Disney, The Watcher in the Woods (which also starred Bette Davis); the techno mix-clip Disney Sci Fi (including footage from Tron, The Rocketeer and Armageddon); and Lost Treasures: Disney Effects, Something Special, another fine retrospective covering everything from Treasure Island and Mary Poppins to Dick Tracy and The Rookie and featuring special nods to Ub Iwerks’ pioneering optical effects and Peter Ellenshaw’s glorious matte paintings.
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Return’s Vault includes: Making the Return Trip adds associate producer/former Moochie Kevin Corcoran and ‘Earthquake Gang’ members Savage, Christian Jutner and Erik “Poindexter�? Yothers to the mix; the latter three also reunite for The Gang’s Back in Town; Dexter Reilly, Merlin Jones and Peter Pan join Tony and Tia in Disney Kids with Powers; and Lost Treasures offers Christopher Lee: The Lost Interview (of note: thanks to Lee's resurgent career in the latest Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings trilogies, he has a significant presence on the DVDs packaging).
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And finally, each Vault section includes a Disney Studio Album (1975 for Apple and Escape, 1978 for Return) and a Gallery section including production stills, cast and director biographies and advertising art.
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Toon Talk
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-- Kirby C. Holt
Kirby, a former Walt Disney World Resort Cast Member (and Trivia Champ), is a lifelong Disney fan and film buff. He is also an avid list maker and chronic ellipsis user ...
Took Talk: Disney Film & Video Reviews by Kirby C. Holt is posted whenever there's something new to review.
The opinions expressed by our Kirby C. Holt, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future plans of the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted September 15, 2003