An Interview with Leonard Maltin
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Walt Disney Treasures: Silly Symphonies
(c) Disney

LP: Can you talk specifically about what’s on the DVDs

LM: Sure. Our first four releases are all coming out in December., Two are animated and two are live action. For the animated we have the best of the Silly Symphonies which is a pretty wide ranging collection of the Silly Symphonies cartoons in black and white and color. Some classic, some little known films, some that have gotten very little exposure in recent years. And, of course, these films were so much the foundation for all the features that followed. In part they were Walt's research and design lab. But never at the expense of the entertaining. Audiences loved them. And I think this is a cornucopia of delight that will surprise and please a lot of people. In addition to a great many cartoons we have a couple of special features. I do an interview about the music of the Silly Symphonies with Richard Sherman. We shot at the piano. And then we have a really fun segment with Dave Smith shot at the archives where we do show and tell of Silly Symphonies merchandise of the 1930s. A lot of rarities, a lot of wonderful things that I've never seen before. And then I do some specific introductions to certain cartoons where I feel something needed to be said or I wanted to call people's attention to certain things about the film.

The Band Concert (c) Disney

The other animated DVD is Mickey Mouse in Color. And we start, of course, with The Band Concert, his first color cartoon, which is a great way to start because it may be the greatest Disney cartoon of all. So it's a wonderful way to start any disc. And it goes from 1935 to 1938. And a little visual essay about Mickey accompanies it. Mostly that one's just packed with cartoons.

Dave Crockett - what we wanted to do was present Davy Crockett the way he was originally shown, in TV segments introduced by Walt, not as the feature film that was later released. So that's how you’re going to see them on this disc. Five separate segments, each one introduced by Walt Disney on his Disneyland TV show. Then accompanying that we have a newer interview I shot with Fess Parker who's just charming. He really, I think, pried his memory a bit more than he had in quite a while. Then a really good interview with Paul Anderson about Davy Crockett and the phenomenon and Davy Crockett collectibles.

And the fourth disc is Disneyland on Disneyland. And it's the opening day show plus three other complete hour long programs that celebrated Disneyland on the Disneyland TV series. The Dateline Disneyland has been excerpted a number of times as has Operation Disneyland, but I don't know how many people have seen them in their entirely. Plus, Disneyland After Dark which is not as well known which has performances by everybody from The Osmonds to Louis Armstrong. And then the one that frankly I didn't know well until we were preparing the disc was Disneyland's 10th Anniversary Show. And this is a real gem for real Disney buffs. There is Walt in 1965 talking about plans for the new Disneyland attractions the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean and talking about it with Marc Davis and Mary Blair, people like that on camera. That's pretty exciting stuff.

And I'm happy to tell you the folks at Disney have committed to four more for next year. I'm not at liberty to tell you what they are yet, at least they haven't told me I'm at liberty, but it'll be four equivalents - for the real Disney fan.

LP: I'm just curious - why did you choose to start with Mickey Mouse in color instead of black and white?

LM: Because there is a Laserdisc set of Mickey in Black and white. Even though Laserdisc never reached as big an audience as DVD is, for the first one out I wanted to do one that hasn't been done before. Then we'll go and do Mickey in black and white.

LP: How long have you been on Entertainment Tonite?

LM: Coming up on 20 years. It's been a great experience. One day I got a call saying we're putting Old Yeller on ABC, the first network showing, would you like to come and do an interview to promote the showing with Fess Parker, Dorothy McGuire and Tommy Kirk? I said yep. We were talking about where to do it and they said they had a conference room I could use and I said no I don't want to talk to them in a conference room, this is Old Yeller we're talking about. So we did it on the backlot. And I have a wonderful photo of me with an ET mike in my hand and the three of them standing there on the street that was still there with the Summer Magic house behind it. That was a wonderful day.

LP: Who are some of your favorite people to interview?

LM: Katherine Hepburn. First one that comes to mind when anyone asks about great interviews. I've now interviewed her four times which is pretty amazing. The first was an especially memorable day. I spoke to her in her home and she was just great, she's an interviewer's dream because she's opinionated and forthright and never dull. And as we were packing up that day I noticed that she had on the wall a caricature of her and I said "did you see the Walt Disney cartoon Mother Goose Goes Hollywood in which you're caricaturized?" And she immediately said "I'm little Bo Peep, I've lost my sheep." And she told me she had a signed cell from Walt on her wall upstairs and I thought it was beautiful that she had it. And years later when I was interviewing her again I had just acquired a cell of her which she was kind enough to sign for me.