"It was a good thing we set out to do. We were right, and all that hasn't changed just because we were shipwrecked."
Papa Robinson's plans of providing a new home for his family in the burgeoning colony of New Guinea go awry when the ship carrying them from Switzerland to the new land gets shipwrecked in the Pacific Ocean after a fierce storm. Robinson ( John Mills ), his wife ( Dorothy McGuire ), and their three sons Fritz ( James MacArthur ), Ernest ( Tommy Kirk ), and Francis ( Kevin Corcoran ) find themselves abandoned by the ship's crew and left to survive on their own. They construct a raft and make their way to a nearby island where they build a home and make a new life for themselves, all the while awaiting to be rescued.
Swiss Family Robinson is loosely based on Johann Wyss' classic novel of the same name published in 1812. Wyss' story had potential but it lacked the action that Disney was seeking for this family adventure film.
As director Ken Annakin recalled...
"While we were in the mountains near Zermatt shooting Third Man on the Mountain, I remember Bill Anderson saying to me that The Swiss Family Robinson was the subject Walt was toying with as a next picture. I read the book. It was very old-fashioned, and I wondered what Walt's approach was going to be. Bill Anderson and I returned to Burbank and we sat down with Walt. He said, 'Well now, let's throw the whole book out the window. Let's just keep the idea of a Swiss family emigrating, trying to emigrate to America. They get shipwrecked, but they are able to save all the things in the ship. They then make a life on an idyllic island, I think you ought to think of all the things you might like to do, all the animals you could use in an entertaining way. Let's make it a wonderful show for the whole family, with all ideas possible.'"
Walt Disney assigned sketch artist John Jensen to work with director Ken Annakin in creating a storyboard for Swiss Family Robinson. Every scene and every camera angle was plotted in detail. Disney then took the storyboard to screenwriter Lowell S. Hawley and told him to write a story based on what was drawn. It was a novel way to pen a script and turned out to be an excellent way!
Swiss Family Robinson became Walt Disney's grandest live-action film to date. The entire film took 22 weeks to shot at a cost of approximately $4,000,000. It was also one of the few Disney pictures to be filmed in widescreen. No Hollywood studio sets were used in the making of the movie. It was shot entirely on the Caribbean island of Tobago, providing an authentic tropical backdrop for the intrepid family's escapades. A menagerie of animals were assembled - exotic birds, snakes, tigers, zebras, elephants, lizards and monkeys - and flown to the island to give the appearance that the Robinsons got stranded on a South Pacific island filled with wild creatures.
The elaborate jungle sets, designed by John Howell, John Hoestli, and Peter Murton, took 5 months to build. The most impressive was, undoubtedly, the tri-level family treehouse which included a stove, hot running water, a skylight roof, and a pirate-proof living room....all the comforts of home. The treehouse became such a beloved edifice that it was given a permanent home at Disneyland, where it was re-constructed in 1962.
"The world is full of nice ordinary people living in nice ordinary little houses on the ground. But didn't you ever dream of a house up on a tree top?"
A previous film version of Swiss Family Robinson was released by RKO in 1940 starring Thomas Mitchell, Edna Best, Tim Holt, Freddie Bartholomew and Terry Kilburn. This adaptation focused on the father's desire to stay on the island and have his sons grow into capable men through the survival skills they were learning on the island, while his wife pined to go home to London to resume her social life.
Walt Disney's version had a much happier tone and the Robinson family displayed the proper attitude that one should have when getting stranded ( in any situation ) : to make the best of it.
As with most Disney films, casting was paramount and Swiss Family Robinson was filled with seasoned and attractive players. John Mills is ideal as the patriarch of the family striking just the right note of commanding know-how, tempered with humor. Clearly he was a man not disappointed with the situation but thoroughly enjoying the whole escapade.
Unlike Edna Best's portrayal of Mother, McGuire has her become a woman who supports her husband in his decisions and keeps quiet about the trials of the island...unless worry prompts her to cry out.
The lovely Janet Munro joins the cast as Roberta, the young woman whom Fritz and Ernst rescue from pirates when they take their kayak journey around the island. MacArthur and Kirk were certainly a drawing feature for the young female audience who no doubt would have loved to have been stranded on an island with the boys. Moochie is the only performer who gets out of hand in the film, and seems to be bent on getting himself, and the family, into danger. Rounding out the cast is the legendary Japanese actor Sessue Kayakawa as the leader of the pirates, and Cecil Parker as Roberta's grandfather.
Swiss Family Robinson was released just before Christmas, on December 21, 1960. Critic reviews for the film were mixed, with the New York Times calling it a "grand adventure yarn" while other reviewers found it overlong and the final pirate attack a slapstick travesty. Those critics had their blinders on and failed to realize that the film was made in the spirit of fun and reckless abandon. Nevertheless audiences realized this and they came in droves to see it. The film became the No.1 grossing picture of 1960, earning over 20 million dollars at the box office, nearly twice the return of the second top-grossing film of the year, Psycho.
Swiss Family Robinson gives audiences a ripping good adventure to enjoy and makes for ideal Saturday morning viewing. It has all the key ingredients of an entertaining film - a great story, perfect cast, stellar special effects, and beautiful cinematography. Through the Robinsons we can vicariously enjoy the life of castaways and live out the dream of having a sprawling tree pad...and all within the short span of two hours.
In the mid-1950s, Walt Disney gave ABC network their very first full-hour western television program - Davy Crockett. The series was such a success that the network soon launched many other similar series such as Maverick, Wyatt Earp, and Lawman. These westerns brought ABC so much income that in 1957, when Walt Disney approached them with a fresh idea for a sitcom (sans the gun belts and tumbleweed) they turned him away. This minor detail didn't bother Mr.Disney in the least since he turned the material that he had offered ABC into a feature film release. The Shaggy Dog became one of the top-grossing films of 1959 earning $9,000,000 at the box-office and out-performing The Diary of Anne Frank and North by Northwest. That's something to bark about.
What made this low-budget comedy such a smashing hit? For one thing, it was a novelty. After a decade of musicals, crime dramas, spectacles, and method-acting melodramas, here was a little film that played out like a television series, a Leave it to Beaver versus Enemy Agents. It was unique. It was fun. And above all, it was great family entertainment. Walt knew how to appeal to all ages and The Shaggy Dog provided entertainment and humor for the young and old alike. It was filled with excitement, clever dialogue, and plenty of visual gags. The studio went on to recycle many of these gags in their recurring films.
Unlike the other box-office hits of 1959, The Shaggy Dog did not have any moments of great splendor, instead it leisurely followed the story line only to stop occasionally to wittily comment on the social status at the time or sprinkle gentle humor. Writer Bill Walsh penned the amusing screenplay based on the 1930 novel, "The Hound of Florence", by Austrian author Felix Salten (Bambi).
The Shaggy Dog follows the adventures of a junior scientist who accidentally recites an ancient Borgia curse that releases a 400-year-old shape-shifting spell. With the magical words "In Canis Corpore Transmuto," Wilby Daniels transforms himself into a big, shaggy dog - a Bratislavian sheepdog to be precise - belonging to the new neighbors on the block. It is while being in the four-footed state that Wilby overhears a plot to steal a secret missile plan at the nearby air base. It's Shaggy to the rescue then as he tries to convince his father, and the local authorities, that Continental spies are at work in the neighborhood!
"In Canis Corpore Transmuto...In Canis Corpore Transmuto....it's a dosy do and awaaaay we go!"
The Shaggy Dog boasted a fine cast of young players, all of whom would come to be associated with the Walt Disney Studios. Tim Considine took a radical turn from his wholesome Spin and Marty role to play Wilby's scheming friend Buzz. At the expense of his good ol' pal, he whizzes around in his hot-rod wooing the most eligible girls in town. One of these girls just happens to be Allison, played by Annette Funicello in a brief part, her first film appearance. She is soon replaced as Girl No. 1 when sophisticated Franceska Andrassy (Roberta Shore) moves in with her father in the big Victorian manor across the street. If this street looks familiar, it is because it is the Universal cul-se-sac featured in The Munsters, The Burbs and Leave it To Beaver.
Tommy Kirk proves to be in top form as Wilby Daniels. Although he made many more films with Walt Disney during the 1960s, none of his roles would be as appealing as Wilby. Tagging along as a mischievous helpmate is his little brother Moochie, naturally played by Mickey Mouse Club "Moochie" himself - Kevin Corcoran. Moochie doesn't display much surprise when he discovers his brother is a dog, but rather jumps at the notion of having a pet playmate to take on walks and throw sticks to. Corcoran later went on to become a producer with the Walt Disney studios in the 1970s and 1980s.
Unlike the childish, bumbling crooks seen throughout the Walt Disney productions of the 1990s, The Shaggy Dog featured some pretty normal rough-and-tough criminals (played by Anthony Scourby and Jacques Aubuchon), although in this flick they are spies and quite debonair to look at. In fact, they are so suave that our damsel-in-distress does not even realize they are up to no good until after they kidnap her. Our devious villains conjure up images of the sophisticated foils that were so popular in series of the 1940s, such as those seen in Sherlock Holmes, Michael Shayne, or The Three Stooges shorts. These criminals are upstanding citizens loaded with wealth which they love to lavish on their collections of fine art and furniture. No one in the community would even dare consider them to be enemies of the state.
Fred MacMurray had been making films covering every possible genre since he began his career back in 1929. After making a number of mediocre pictures during the 1950s, Disney asked Fred if he would be willing to try his hand at comedy once again. The Shaggy Dog marked the beginning of a seven picture association he had with Walt Disney Studios. In the film, MacMurray plays a retired mailman and the father of our two leading lads. He has an allergic reaction to dogs that makes him despise the mere mention of their name and prompts him to bring out his trusty double-barreled shotgun from the hall closet.
"You know that dog thing is all in your mind"
"All in my mind?! I itch, my sinuses are bloating up, my throat is constricting so that I can hardly breath, those old Pekingese wounds on my ankle are throbbing like bongo drums...and you say it's all in my mind!"
One of Fred's best scenes involved him trying to convince the head of security at the missile plant that his son is a dog. Variety magazine noted, "It's a pleasure to see such a master of timing and emphasis as Fred MacMurray back in comedy again, even though he is somewhat limited in his material. Where he has a good line, he shows that he has few peers in this special field of comedy".
Playing his wife is the lovely Jean Hagen, another gal who had her share of duds before snagging this wholesome part. Cecil Kellaway, Paul Frees (a legendary voice-over actor for Walt Disney Studios), Forest Lewis and Gordon Jones rounded out the great cast, but let's not forget the film's star player - the shaggy dog. "Chiffon" was in fact Sammy's Shadow, a talented pooch belonging to a California State Division of Highways clerk. He had an illustrious pedigree and, after enrolling in William Koehler's obedience training classes at the age of 4 months, he joined the Allied Movie Dogs firm and landed this wild and woolly part. Twenty sheepdogs had been tested for the part but Koehler knew he had a winner with Sammy and it is truly the dog performing all of the stunts seen in the film ( except for one talking sequence where a hand puppet was used ). Sammy went on to win the 1960 PATSY (Picture Animal Top Star of the Year) award for his performance in The Shaggy Dog.
The Shaggy Dog has held up well over time, which is a testament to the enduring strength of a simple story told well. It is also notable for instigating important changes within Disney's production outlook for the coming decades. It was the first film to use animated title sequences and the picture's success told the studio that live-action comedy films were a profitable venture not to be overlooked. Unfortunately, they held to its "formula" so closely that many of the later Disney productions lacked novelty.
This post is our contribution to the Snoopathon, a celebration of spies and agents being held over at Movies Silently. Be sure to check out the site and read all of the great posts!
" Gold doubloons and Pieces of eight handed down to Applegate, from buccaneers who fought for years for Gold doubloons and Pieces of eight….pieces of eight "
Arrrgh….Old Man Applegate’s legendary chest of pirate’s treasure is gone a-missing. Some thieving scoundrels took his booty and it’s up to the intrepid Hardy Boys to find it!
On October 1, 1956 the first Hardy Boys serial "The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure" debuted on Walt Disney’s The Mickey Mouse Club. Composed of ten minute segments the serial ran for 19 days, gaining popularity and excitement with each subsequent episode. Little buccaneers from all across America scurried home from school each day to see what new clue the Hardy Boys had discovered.
Old Silas Applegate’s fabled chest of golden treasure had been missing for ten long years but when young Perry Robinson finds a solitary doubloon lying beneath a bush on Applegate’s creepy estate, the search begins anew!
The first season of The Mickey Mouse Club had featured a serial called “Spin and Marty” about two boys ( Tim Considine and David Stollery ) who spend a summer at the Triple R dude ranch. It was enormously popular, so in the wake of its success Walt Disney launched “The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure”, a mystery serial based on the popular Hardy Boys story The Tower Treasure by author Franklin W. Dixon.
The Studio considered reteaming the two young actors as the Hardy sleuths but instead chose to search for a younger actor to play Frank Hardy’s impetuous kid brother Joe. Tommy Kirk was the lucky lad chosen after dozens of applicants were scoured, and he went on to make many more films for Walt Disney in the upcoming years, becoming one of the Studio’s most famous child stars. Tim Considine was a natural to play Frank so no recasting was necessary there.
Iola Martin, the spunky little neighborhood girl who likes to join the Hardy’s in their sleuthing, was played by Carol Anne Campbell, and Sarah Selby and Ross Conway, two veteran television actors were cast as papa Fenton Hardy and worrisome Aunt Gertrude. Florenz Ames pranced around waving cutlasses as old man Applegate and Robert Foulk and Arthur Shields ( Barry Fitzgerald’s brother, and a man with just as fine an Irish brogue ) played our two “thugs”.
In 1957 "The Mystery of the Ghost Farm", another installment in the Hardy Boys series, premiered but alas, this one was much tamer due to some complaints from parents that the dangers encountered by the Hardy boys in the Applegate mystery were too exciting for their wee ones. Such a shame, because that triggered the end of the series and it would have been so nice had a few feature films been made in addition to them. At least “ The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure “ is available on DVD and on these cool and colorful October days we can sit back and enjoy a good mystery done in classic Disney fashion…..wholesome, humorous, and thrilling.
