Jim on Film: Disney MVPs
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5. Fred MacMurray—Starring in seven Disney features, Fred MacMurray brought to the studio a shot of marquee talent and a genial charm and warmth. He is best known among Disney fans for his turns in the hit comedies The Shaggy Dog (1959), The Absent-Minded Professor (1961), and Son of Flubber (1963), but to me, he will be best remembered as Anthony J. Drexel Biddle in what is usually considered Walt Disney’s final feature film, The Happiest Millionaire (1967). In that film, MacMurray brings to life the tenacious head of the Biddle family who plows over everyone with his personal philosophies and ideologies, only warming up to those, like John Lawless, who withstand his orations and answer back. The key to making Biddle a successful characterization is the same problem we ourselves all face on any given day of the week—making someone who is flawed an endearing person for his positive traits so that we can overlook his blaring imperfections. With MacMurray’s gifts, he was able to highlight the goodness of Biddle, a man whose annoying traits are derived from his three unending passions—for God, for country, and for family. Just as he struggles to let his beloved daughter grow up and almost scares away the man she loves, he is able to step in and reunite them using the offensive demeanor that almost tears them apart.
Another favorite performance is of scout leader Lemuel Siddons in the rambling but charming Follow Me, Boys! (1966). In a film that is the quintessence of Walt Disney, MacMurray gives life to a role that is typical of those for which Disney fans know him best, the simple and straightforward man, hard-working and irreproachable. In some ways, he is playing the quintessential Disney character and seems to almost be close to the heart of Walt Disney himself.
4. Tommy Kirk—The only challenge Tommy Kirk probably ever really had in a Disney movie was playing Travis Coates in Old Yeller (1957), in which he took on the responsibility of shooting Old Yeller, once a beloved companion and family pet, and now a rabid threat to his little brother. To play the horrific scene in which he must do the unthinkable, Kirk had to have been more than just a child actor, more than a kid who could make good expressions. The scene, in which he completes his transformation from boy to man, is froth with nuanced control, his emotion communicated genuinely and with heart-breaking reserve.
Acting challenge aside, Tommy Kirk also earns his spot in this list for the amount of work he did for the studio in a variety of fun film comedies and television shows. Of his ten feature films, his second deepest imprint would probably be as Ernst Robinson in Swiss Family Robinson (1960). As the middle, less mature son, Kirk gives Ernst the realism of a boy struggling under his brother’s shadow, a boy who can compete intellectually but not in maturity, strength, or charm.
In many of his Disney films, in which he played various contemporary teenaged boys in kooky situations, Kirk demonstrates not only acting talent but a pleasant screen presence that can only be communicated through both talent and natural ability.
3. Annette Funicello—How can you not adore Annette Funicello? Like Hilary Duff today, here was a singer who had a self-proclaimed three note range and an actor who had the dramatic chops of Lassie, but what makes Annette Funicello such an endearing Disney presence is her personality, which shines so brightly in her various Disney projects. In the collection of her music, Annette: A Musical Reunion with America’s Girl Next Door, it’s very easy to get Annette’s appeal. Her music, written to suit her talents, is pure, unadulterated fun. There’s nothing particularly remarkable about Tall Paul, First Name Initial, or Dance Annette, for example, but they are Annette. You can’t help but feel that these head-bobbing ditties, which are so easy to sing along to, reflect the simple fun of Annette’s personality, which is confirmed in her autobiography A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes.
In her Disney films, her appeal is much the same. In The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964) and The Monkey’s Uncle (1965), which are essentially 1960s versions of Saved By the Bell set in college, Annette plays the sweet and kind-hearted girlfriend Jennifer to Tommy Kirk’s Merlin Jones. Like all of her Disney roles, she displays no particular acting talent except essentially being herself, American’s Girl Next Door.
2. Dean Jones—In re-watching The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit (1968) recently, I was reminded of Dean Jones’ affable screen presence and versatility. There’s a charm about him in whatever he does, a charm that permeates the screen, even in his early Disney films where, as illustrated in his autobiographical book Under Running Laughter, that charm wasn’t present in his off-screen life. In a number of his Disney films, Jones plays potentially unappealing characters, such Frederick Bolton, the character he plays in The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit. Bolton is an uptight, stressed-out man who unknowingly puts the pressure on his daughter to keep his job. Like his roles in The Love Bug (1969), $1,000,000 Duck (1971), and the remake That Darn Cat (1997), Jones coats his character’s faults in charm and honest human failing. His characters are human, so that even when Jim Douglas, for example, is betraying the little car who made him win, or as Albert Dooley, he is scheming to make money off his illegal golden eggs at the expense of his son, they are vulnerable men making the same mistakes we might ourselves make.
Dean Jones appeared in eleven Disney feature films, most of which have become standard Disney classics. My favorite of his films are the original That Darn Cat! (1965), The Ugly Dachshund (1966), The Love Bug, The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit, and $1,000,0000 Duck. In the remake That Darn Cat, his bookending scenes as rich man Mr. Flint were the only memorable and truly humorous moments in the movie. And that is the talent of Dean Jones.