"Boo Bop Bopbop Bop, I love you, too!" Elliott and Pete (Sean Marshall) are the best of friends as can be seen in this lobby card from Walt Disney's Pete's Dragon (1977).
From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we share photos from the Silverbanks Pictures collection. Some of these may have been sold in the past, and others may still be available for purchase at our eBay store : http://stores.ebay.com/Silverbanks-Pictures
"A fortune in treasure....waiting to be discovered!"
Walt Disney Studios made a number of television movies in the 1960s and 1970s to air on their television series The Wonderful World of Disney...most of which have been forgotten now except among Disney fans. Secrets of the Pirate's Inn is one such title. Most people never heard of this film, but those who saw it when it first aired remember it well.
The story is set down south in Georgia in the present times. Three children - Scott, Tippy, and Catfish - like to play on the grounds of an old abandoned inn belonging to an Irish sea captain ( Ed Begley ). It is rumored in town that Jean Lafite, the pirate, had at one time buried treasure on the property but no one knows where. The children and the captain decide to piece together clues to find the whereabouts of the old pirate treasure....but they soon discover that someone else is searching for the loot and is desperate to get their hands on it!
Secrets of the Pirate's Inn was based on the book "The Secrets of the Pirate Inn" ( 1968 ) by Wylly Folk St. John, a popular author of children's mystery stories in the late 1960s and 1970s. It is a simple story and yet one that quickly captures your imagination. Who can resist that potent mixture of sea captains, hidden treasure, and pirates? Director Steven Spielberg enjoyed stories like these when he was a youngster and most likely had watched this on television as a boy because the similarity between it and The Goonies, made 16 years later, is obvious.
Secrets of the Pirate's Inn was popular enough when it first aired that all three children revised their roles in the sequel The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove ( 1971 ) which featured Burgess Meredith as a teacher who believes he saw a lake monster. It was a good idea, but that film lacked the secret staircases and cobweb caves that made Secrets of the Pirate's Inn so engaging.
Also in the cast is Charles Aidmen, Paul Fix and Disney regular Bill Zuckert. Secrets of the Pirate's Inn has not yet been released on DVD but can be viewed on Youtube here.
Today we have a real treat to share! A few months ago I stumbled upon a great website called Mockingbird Lane where a cinema-loving woman named Marina Coates shares her love of architecture and design....especially set designs found in films and television series. Two great features of the site are her virtual TV/Movie Home Tours and her Cinematically Inspired Design tutorials.
The TV/Movie Home Tours began with a behind-the-scenes virtual CG tour of the Petrie home from The Dick Van Dyke Show and has since grown to include the Bewitched house, Lucy and Ricky's apartment and country home from I Love Lucy, the Family Affair apartment, the Cleaver's home in Leave it to Beaver, and many more from classic TV shows. These are fantastic videos that show you all of the details of the houses you have seen countless times on television. Most are 15-25 minutes in length and honestly, you feel like you are walking in the house with a tour guide listening to fun facts about the show and all of the items in the house.
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| Look familiar? It's the Ricardo's country house. |
The Cinematically Inspired Design tutorials are even more amazing. Here, Ms. Coates shares her architectural experience with us and gives in-depth analyses of why the interiors of classic cinema houses look so good and tips on what we can do to improve our own interior designs. If you ever wanted to attend a class on classic Hollywood set design, this is it.
Dean Jones is sharing a cup of beer with his pal Aspercel after a successful competition at the International Horse Show in Washington D.C. in this still photo from Walt Disney's The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit ( 1967 ).
From the Archives is our latest series of posts where we share photos from the Silverbanks Pictures collection. Some of these may have been sold in the past, and others may still be available for purchase at our eBay store : http://stores.ebay.com/Silverbanks-Pictures
Disney is one of the largest entertainment corporations in the world today but way back in 1923 it was just one man and a little mouse named Mickey.
Help us celebrate this colorful film studio by joining in on the fun! We will also be giving away some terrific prizes and on Silver Scenes you can enjoy Disney-themed posts all month long leading up to the event.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with blogathons, they are simply a hosted theme writing event that you can take part in if you have a blog. All you need do is create a supercalifragilistic post that goes along with the theme ( Walt Disney ) and share the link to your post with us so that we can include it on a master list for others to enjoy.
For this event, you've got a TON of topics you can write about. There's a great big heffalump-size of material waiting for your selection! You can make a post about Walt Disney himself, any of the animated films and shorts that the studio made, the live-action films ( over 150 titles! ), the television series, the actors and actresses who had contracts with the studio or one of the numerous behind-the-scenes personnel ( e.g. Peter Ellenshaw, Robert Stevenson ). You could also write about a Disney character ( e.g. Goofy ), a role in a film ( Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins ), or a history of the studio itself. You can even write a review of a Disney record album or book - including coloring books and comic books. If it has anything to do with Disney you are good to go!
Here's a recap of that above mess:
Rules? Who needs rules? We have no rules here. Well, alright....maybe one. You can pick any topic that is related to Walt Disney Studios provided it is focused on something between the years 1923-1996. After all, this is a classic film blog!
Old posts are always welcomed, too, if you re-post them with one of the new Disney banners ( down below ).
We'll be announcing the prizes in our giveaway at a later date, but for now.....every entry in the blogathon gives you an extra "ticket" for the giveaway, so the more posts the merrier!
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