This year marks the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney Studios and we are joining in on the celebration by hosting the 100 Years of Disney Blogathon! There is a fantastic selection of posts from classic film bloggers across the web covering everything from Disney's humble beginnings to his television work to the studio's later films.
Diana and I are tickled pink to be hosting this three-day event which is beginning today and will run over the weekend. We will be offering giveaways to both readers and bloggers alike (scroll down for more details) and there will be a Disney trivia game at the conclusion of the event, so be sure to check back here throughout the weekend as we post updates.
Walt and his Wonderful Work
The fantasmagorical Disney entertainment empire all began with a visionary man and a little mouse named Mickey back in 1923. Walt Disney had worked in the film industry for almost a decade before he struck it big with his first Academy Award win for "Flowers and Trees". Walt Disney would soon be a familiar sight at the annual awards ceremony as he kept breaking new ground with innovative animation techniques. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) set a new standard for what animated films could convey and Disney has been setting standards ever since.
Disney's realm spread beyond television and live-action films to theme parks, restaurants, cruise ships, and who knows, maybe even a spaceship will soon be launched by Disney Corp! Since Silver Scenes is a classic film blog, we are here to celebrate the film and television work of Disney between 1923 and 1996....so without further ado, we proclaim that the weekend of The 100 Years of Disney Blogathon has officially begun! Let the blogs roll in!
THE ROSTER
Have you ever tried to pick your favorite Disney animated film? Rachel gave it a go and came up with ten surprising favorites.
Rachel also shares with us her favorite live-action Disney films from the classic Kidnapped (1960) to The Lone Ranger (2013).
Jodie Foster had a long career at Walt Disney Studios and one of her most famous films for them was the original Freaky Friday. On her blog, Gill shares with us her thoughts about this classic.
Disney's Silly Symphonies garnered numerous awards throughout the 1930s and Nitrate Glow shares with us her top ten favorites of these charming cartoons.
When Walt Disney entered television production in the 1950s, two of his most popular series were Davy Crockett and Zorro, starring Guy Williams. Rick shares with his readers 7 Things to Know about this classic adventure series.
The live-action classic Mary Poppins was Disney's biggest box-office success of the 1960s and Lizzie thinks its masterful storytelling may be one of the reasons why it is so endearing.
Disney also delved into the realm of science fiction with two films, The Black Hole and Tron, both of which are reviewed by Quiggy at The Midnite Drive-In.
Disney naturally made tons of movies and TV shows, but did you know they also made TV movies? We put together a list of 7 of our favorites from the 1950s-1990s.
Jess shares with us the story of Snow White and the real-life dancer who modeled for her....none other than Marge Champion!
Before Disney hit it big with his Silly Symphonies series, he made Laugh-O-Grams, silent shorts that were sure to tickle the audience. Lê shares with her readers the story of these cartoons.
Janet shares an insightful letter about distribution issues Walt had with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on her blog Stars and Letters.
We wrote a pile of reviews of Disney films and personnel throughout ten years of blogging, so we have gathered them all together in one big Disney Round-Up.
Winnie-the-Pooh and all his friends tooh are fondly recollected in this post from The Musical Man.
Kayla, over at Whimsically Classic, shares with her readers a review of one of Disney's most beloved animated classics Cinderella.
Growing up in the 1980s, every child remembers DuckTales and the fabulous adventures Huey, Dewey, Louie and Donald would go on. One of their best was The Treasure of the Golden Sun, reviewed over at Taking Up Room.
Disney made a lot of great movies and all of them had wonderful music, so Johanna shares with us her favorite movie soundtracks from Disney.
Johanna also shares with us her favorite of Disney's historical fiction shows: The Swamp Fox and The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca.
Kurt Russell at Disney - Phyllis Loves Classic Movies
The 100 Years of Disney Blogathon Giveaway!
Who can resist a giveaway? Not only do you get a free prize, you don't even have to do anything to earn it! Well, at least not much. For this giveaway, we are issuing virtual "tickets"...if you entered a post in the blogathon you already earned yourself a ticket (Entered two? That's two tickets!) and, for those of you who didn't enter the blogathon, you have an even easier way to get a ticket: Stop by any of the blogs listed above and then come back here and leave a comment in the box telling us which blog you've read. That's it! The more blogs you read, the more tickets you get.
The Drawing - We'll keep track of who has what number of tickets and then there will be a random drawing held on Friday, September 22nd. The first name drawn will get first pick of the prizes, second name drawn gets second pick, etc.
What are the prizes? Take a look below!
1. Sleeping Beauty Paper Doll PDF book (this will be sent via email)
2. A vintage 1973 re-release still from The Aristocats
3. The Strongest Man in the World DVD (not new, but like new)
4. A fab label pin featuring Walt Disney surrounded by his animated creations
5. Your choice of a vintage lobby card from any of 8+ film titles
