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Episode 92 JIM HOLLIFIELD
68 Plays11 days ago
This week on Sharing the Magic, we’re thrilled to welcome the incredible Jim Hollifield, renowned Disney historian and author! 🎙️✨ Jim takes us on a captivating journey through the enchanting world of Disney, sharing his extensive knowledge and passion for the magic that has touched generations. 🏰📚
From uncovering hidden gems in Disney's rich history to exploring the evolution of beloved characters, Jim dives deep into what makes Disney storytelling timeless.
We discuss:
- The impact of Walt Disney’s vision on today’s animation
- How historical context shapes our understanding of Disney films
- The enduring legacy of classic Disney characters and their relevance today
🎧 Join us for a fascinating conversation that will ignite your love for all things Disney! Don’t forget, adventure is out there—just follow your dreams!
Follow 👉 @sharingthemagicpod for more enchanting discussions with the storytellers behind the magic. ✨
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Sharing the Magic, the podcast that sweeps you away into the enchanting realms of Disney. Each week, we're joined by a special guest, be it a magician casting real-life spells of wonder, or a Disney expert revealing hidden secrets in the heart of the happiest place on Earth.
00:00:20
Speaker
Together, we'll venture down glittering paths, uncovering tales of daring heroes, legendary places, and whimsical wonders that make Disney sparkle.
00:00:31
Speaker
So prepare to be enchanted, delighted, and transported to a place where dreams dance, fairy tales breathe, and the magic is real. Hello and welcome to the latest episode of Sharing the Magic. I'm your host, Barry, and as usual, we have another fantastic guest to bring you tonight.
00:00:52
Speaker
But before we dive into the deep and wonderful topic of Disney, let's go ahead and introduce our host tonight. First, we'll say hello to Dawn. Dawn, how are you doing tonight?
00:01:05
Speaker
I'm really good and I'm here from Houston, Texas. We have the rodeo in town. um I'm going Tuesday so I'm looking forward to that. That's a huge thing here in Houston and get ready to hear some Disney stuff now and looking forward to that. We always learn something on the podcast, at least I do, and I can't wait to learn tonight.
Meet the Hosts & Guest
00:01:27
Speaker
All right, next up we have Lisa. Lisa, how are you doing tonight? I am great. um Traveled again this weekend. Seems like every weekend here lately it's been been traveling. So just over to Ohio. no Nothing too too far away. um But it's good to be home. It's good to be back on the podcast and cannot wait to hear from our special guest tonight. Next up we have Brian. Brian, how you doing? I'm good. I'm from the Jersey Shore hanging out. We don't have a rodeo, but we do have Horseshoe crab mating season is starting right now, so you can see them all over the beach. But that's about all I have as far as excitement goes.
00:02:08
Speaker
But I'm really happy. but The great guests tonight, has some of the great topics. I'm like actually looking forward to this a lot. Awesome. right. And last but not least, our man of the hour, the moth, as we like to call him. I'm not the moth. Why am I the moth? You've never called me the moth. Do you have a tattoo of the moth? He has a tattoo of the moth, right? Don't you? No, it's a New Mexico symbol. I was born and raised it, but I'm not a moth. I don't know. Why am I moth? Moth. Man of the hour.
00:02:38
Speaker
Moth. Oh. thought were hurting my feelings. Okay. Okay. guest X, please identify yourself and tell us why you love Disney so much.
00:02:49
Speaker
Paulyfield Absolutely. It's a pleasure to be with you all. My name is Jim Paulyfield. Jim Paulyfield Oh, Jim, it's Jim. Jim Paulyfield Yeah, here I am. And you know, it's remarkable because um behind the scenes, that's usually where you'll find me. And so I serve as the co-editor with J.B. Kaufman, the noted Disney historian and and author for the Hyperion Historical Alliance Press. And so I've been working with the HHA Press for seven or eight years now.
00:03:18
Speaker
And how I came about loving Disney, i I came by it honestly because I grew up in East Tennessee about an hour north of morris of Knoxville in a town called Morristown. And that happened to be where Davy Crockett grew up. He was born in Limestone, Tennessee, but when he was two or three, his father opened a tavern in the future side of Morristown. And so on the way to school, you know, typically we would pass the Davy Crockett Tavern and Museum. And so my mom was a Disney fan.
00:03:50
Speaker
She had grown up loving Parent Trap. And her parents had been divorced. And I think a lot of that generation really responded well to the idea that, oh, you might get your parents back together. So so I grew up hearing about Disney films. When I was little, she would take me. I grew up in the 70s and 80s. And so i would go see Herbie Rides again, The Island at the Top of the World. i only have vague memories of those. I remember the chomping teeth in the Herbie dream sequence and Herbie Rides again. remember all the Herbie movies. I do.
00:04:22
Speaker
And and so the Mickey Mouse Club came back to syndication when I was about four and I had vague memories of that. But then something interesting happened. um My my parents became devout evangelicals and they banished television and movies hate from our lives.
00:04:41
Speaker
But my mom, though, to her credit, she. began buying up Disney records and Disney books. I also was in the Sesame Street and the Muppets and and Peanuts, you know, a lot of that kind of wholesome cultural fair.
00:04:58
Speaker
And so by the late 70s, early eighty s yeah at department stores back then, in the camera sections, they would have super eight millimeter digest. So you could buy segments of Disney films like from Robin Hood and The Jungle Book and The Rescuers and so forth. You said all the things I love just now.
00:05:16
Speaker
Yeah. And so I convinced my parents, can we get a movie projector and then we could watch these movies. But luckily by, ah you know, it's funny because um you you're not immune to the cultural influences around you. So I got into Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back and I had not even seen those movies. So I would listen to these records and the kids at school would tell me all about it. I'd pretend that I would have seen them. I could keep up, you know, and yeah.
00:05:44
Speaker
By the time Return of the Jedi came out, I just could not take it anymore. I was about 11, 12 years old, and I convinced them, let me see this. So the dam broke, and the Disney Channel had came come about, and VCRs. And so my mom convinced my dad that, you know, we can control the wholesome fare that we show our
Jim's Disney Journey Begins
00:06:05
Speaker
kids. And so I began watching um the Disney Channel movies.
00:06:09
Speaker
It was the golden age of home video. All of these Disney movies were coming out in those white clamshell videos. We would go from video store to video store and find the great locomotive chase or Darby O'Gill and the little people.
00:06:22
Speaker
And, um ah you know, another thing that in that absence, it was sort of like the forbidden fruit because um I was mesmerized by TV. If we went to somebody's house, you know, what what is that?
00:06:34
Speaker
It moves and it talks. But I was very lucky in that era that The schools I grew up in, they typically would have movie day. So they'd bring out the 16 millimeter movie projector and we would watch different movies. My middle school, I remember seeing movies.
00:06:52
Speaker
um the world's greatest athlete and Knight Crossing and Condorman. ah When I was in the elementary school, they showed us escape to which mount. So i I really filled in a lot of those gaps.
00:07:04
Speaker
And I wonder now culturally, it's so ubiquitous and it's so available on demand and streaming and so forth, but it was really remarkable and special.
00:07:16
Speaker
And so that's that's how I came about my love of Disney because it was just something so unique in my life. And, you know, if you are what you eat, maybe your mind reflects that about you and, you know, what you consume. And so, you know, had I been consuming marvel comic books and the incredible hulk and superman i might have turned out a little differently i don't know ah the other thing was the public library there in morristown also had movie day on saturday and so they would typically show animated segments so i remember watching peter and the wolf and little toot and disney cartoons and things like that and i really had a healthy dose of uh
00:07:57
Speaker
of Disney. And then, thank goodness. It was when we got that TV back, um, the wonderful world of Disney came back to syndication. And so I would come home from school at four in the afternoon and watch all of these wonderful programs that, uh, I necessarily hadn't seen on the Disney channel. That's how I saw Pollyanna as a three-parter, you know, on a Monday and a Tuesday and a Wednesday and yeah about, about 1985, 86, um,
00:08:27
Speaker
Star Wars had sort of receded. You know, there was nothing new yeah beyond those Ewok movies coming out. And so I sort of moved back into Disney and I discovered two books, the Disney films by Leonard Maltin and The Illusion of Life by Frank frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. And I was off to the races.
00:08:46
Speaker
And so by high school, I would go to the library every Saturday and I could i but read every film history book I could get my hands on. And Beyond that, though, what happened was I was always wanting to know more. the Frank and Ollie book really ignited that passion and drive. And so I found a hobby. i I found the Who's Who series of books, and you can find addresses for people.
00:09:14
Speaker
And I had seen the illusion of life. animated special that originally had aired in 1981. And they showed the making of the Fox and the Hound.
00:09:24
Speaker
And I was interested in that because that movie was coming back to theaters in 1988. And so ah I wrote Pearl Bailey. I found Pearl Bailey's address. And I said, I've seen you on this show.
00:09:37
Speaker
Tell me about the fox and the hound. And I guess I told a little bit about myself because my mom picked me up from from school and this package had arrived, a big package.
00:09:47
Speaker
And it was from Pearl Bailey. And I had told her I was interested in writing. And she said, you know, for a kid, you write pretty well. If you're really interested in this, here are all the books that that I've written. She had written several books.
Building Disney Connections
00:10:01
Speaker
And um she told me to keep in touch with her and let me know you know how my life progressed. And so I did that. And ah at the same time, I was writing other people.
00:10:12
Speaker
um I wrote Richard and Robert Sherman, you know, a lot of the names. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. um Another one I wrote was David Francom. He was the voice of Sergeant Tibbs, the cat in 101 Dalmatians. yeah.
00:10:24
Speaker
yeah He was also one of the 10 who dared. It's a 1960 Disney Western film. And what was his name again? I'm sorry. Sure. His name's David Francom. And I'm writing it down every Sunday night for many years. David Francom and I became friends. And so he's 99 years old.
00:10:46
Speaker
He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I'm from New Mexico. Is that right? Well, so or there's my tattoo. Yeah. Well, right there yeah yeah I see. Yeah. So David, David was remarkable because he did the same thing. He had started as a journalist at the BBC in London.
00:11:05
Speaker
and had dreamed of becoming an actor. he came to Hollywood, and he kept diaries. yeah And he was able to tell me in great detail how he came to work for Disney.
00:11:16
Speaker
He actually, to get his Screen Actors Guild card, he was a Revolutionary war War soldier as an extra in Johnny Tremaine. And came back to the Disney studio and voiced Sergeant Tibbs the Cat. and so i love his voice.
00:11:31
Speaker
ah So we became sort of like pen pals. And another one that had a North Carolina connection was the voice actor, Candy Candido, who was the voice of the Indian chief and Peter Pan and some of Maleficent's goons and fidget the bat and the great mouse detective. Well, he had a daughter who lived in North Carolina. And so when I was in college, I would drive over and and visit with him and,
00:11:58
Speaker
David Francom had been on an episode of Star Trek and I was an avid reader of Starlog magazine. They covered science fiction and fantasy films.
00:12:09
Speaker
And so he agreed to be interviewed. And so i wrote a pitch to Starlog and said, hey, can I do it a story about David Francom? He did this Disney voice. He was on Star Trek. He did some some other television things.
00:12:23
Speaker
And they did not know I was a high school senior. And they bought the article. So... I was off to the races and running, and then I also interviewed Candy Candido for a magazine. and decided i never you know I worked at the Disney store when I was young, and I never really aspired to work ah for Disney, but because I'd had this encouragement from Pearl Bailey and then David Francom to write, I was very interested in in journalism, and so that that's the the course that I took. Interesting.
00:12:52
Speaker
And so I went to to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. And, but you know, it's funny because all of these threads sort of connect. I had a history of media course.
00:13:05
Speaker
And one day the instructor gave us a test on American history. And if you had if you had it at least 15 of the 20 questions right, you didn't have to write an essay. But it was also, there was something else going on.
00:13:18
Speaker
um He called me and another guy up after the class and said, all right, we send one intern from this the school to New York City to work at Playboy magazine.
00:13:32
Speaker
um And so ah should you guys should apply for this. And so I did that. And much to the chagrin of my evangelical parents. but But my dad was actually supportive.
00:13:48
Speaker
My dad was supportive of it and said, well, if it's not you, it'll be the other guy. And so but here's here's the other remarkable thing about that. ah When I was starting that journalism kick, um I had lined up to interview Alex Haley, who was teaching at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. He was a Tennessee native. He'd written roots, had worked with Herb Ryman on Epcot Center, and ah but he he passed away. And so when he passed away, he had started his career at Playboy, and Hugh Hefner had endowed this scholarship. And so I ended up
00:14:22
Speaker
having my my senior year journalism school paid for by um the Playboy Foundation in honor of Alex Haley. And so that sent me to New York City. And and there I worked at the magazine assisting the the movie critic. His name is Bruce Williamson, a really fascinating guy.
00:14:40
Speaker
He had been the head usher for The Ed Sullivan Show. back in the fifties and sixties before he became a movie critic. And so but that exposure really got me off to the races and running. And so that's, that's how I came um by my love of Disney and to the work that I do now. So I love that story, Barry. it's There you go.
00:15:03
Speaker
Well, Barry, get let me out of my cage, Barry, let me out of my cage just for one second. Do it. Okay, fine. All right. So i love asking questions like this because i can relate a little bit to your story. It's sort of like when I hear your story, it's it finds you.
00:15:25
Speaker
it found you. And it's it's not so much that you forced your path to, you know, or you didn't you didn't just force your path. you're you're it kind of found you in various ways. And I think that is...
00:15:41
Speaker
that's sort of a lot of stories and it's the best stories and sort of the Disney stories that we always interview. And, but it's kind of my story. um You know, i I love voice acting and my great, great cousin,
00:15:55
Speaker
I always heard. I know everyone's like, no, no, I'm going to say it again. I know i'm going to I'm going to condense it more was Pat Buttrum. He was ah he was he was the label sheriff of Nottingham. And ham and what of course, I grew up with just and my great grandma told me like, oh, no, I know him. that Yeah, he's that's Pat. But no, you know, he's your cousin.
00:16:20
Speaker
What? No way. And so we i would watch Disney, Robin Hood or a bunch of different movies. And the narrative of of my life was like, oh, that's that's your great cousin. and And that was me as a kid. And so I used to i used to do his little his voice as a little kid. Label, sheriff of Blythe. And i I would even like.
00:16:41
Speaker
leave an answering like a answer you know uh answering machines you know remember those things people were like well if you'd like to leave them no i'm sounding like goofy sorry anyways but but i would but i would i would i would i would do his voice all the time and but then i forgot it just sort of left i didn't do it anymore and but later on it the voice of just voices started.
Cultural Impact of Disney
00:17:09
Speaker
it found me again. And it was sort of just, you know, in a car one day when I was, you know, I, I, I bought a Labrador and I used to sing him Disney songs. And I ran out of Disney songs. And then I started,
00:17:22
Speaker
ah you know like i did voices and then then it started moving to like goofy stuff and my dog just really loved it and then for whatever freaking reason i just started being like oh well actually that gorge it was like ups you know the ups and downs of pat buttram label up and down but then it's sort of up and down and up and down ye and It found me. But that's what I hear when sort of in your story a lot because sometimes the way things, whatever, life is weird.
00:18:00
Speaker
I don't know what this is. But it's, but a lot of times these things find you. And when I hear your story, it seems as if, boy, there were things in the beginning, sort of like me, that that sort of set, they paved the way But then later on, I mean, it wasn't, it wasn't like a, well, I don't know. Maybe you should, ah you could explain it better than I could, but I, but I can sense some sort of commonality in that sort of pattern, you know? Well, you know, everybody watches these movies, but some of us were really even more interested in them. And so, yeah, that's probably right.
00:18:45
Speaker
So in my case, um, I would pause the VCR to read the credits. and say Yeah, me too. beach so So, you know, I would scribble them down. if it was on the Disney channel and we weren't recording, I would be making little notes. yeah If I'd been smarter about it, I think I would have had a running start on the internet movie database before that was even a thing. Well, I used to do it for voice acting because I wanted to connect every, oh, that voice sounds like that voice. And I and i could just like watch anything and say, oh no, that's that's this person or that's that person. That's Sterling Holloway or that's, you know, whoever it is. But it sounds like you were doing the same thing.
00:19:24
Speaker
But not was voice acting, but in your own way, you know. and And so voice acting, I guess, was what really started it. I paid attention to the to the voices and then you would begin to learn about the animators. But then they and you would see the other names and go, well, you know, you got a sense at the Disney studio that it was a great ah perpetual collaboration that you'd see the same names over and over again yeah and so and now ah you know i when i see that on streaming you know how at the end of the the film the credits sort of minimize and they want to show you something else i go i wish they wouldn't do that because you can learn so much by paying attention to the credits yeah got get the remote and got to go like this and then you go off to the side and you got to click that's hard that's But also by by just looking up the names, you know I would go but we go look up, well, who was this? And you would pay attention.
00:20:18
Speaker
So you know when Sleeping Beauty came out in 1986 for that Springs reissue, i I did not know that Mary Costa was also a native of East Tennessee. And so I remember reading this in the newspaper. There was a story, ah an interview with her. i was amazed to to find that Sleeping Beauty ah was from the same part of the world that that I came from. And, you know, as a kid, I didn't get to go to Disney World until I was a maybe 14, 15. Disneyland was even further away. But, you know, you can find the Disney magic wherever you are. I've...
00:20:56
Speaker
talk to people about in the case of Tennessee, obviously there was that Davy Crockett connection, but I would start to pay attention. Well, who else is from Tennessee and then and so forth? And I knew that Phil Harris had lived in Nashville, for instance, you know, ah the voice of the witch snow in Snow White. Yeah.
00:21:16
Speaker
came from Nashville. The voice of Cruella DeVille came from Chattanooga. So, um but those kinds of things, you know wherever you are, um you know it's funny, last year when Cher published her memoirs, I heard her say something, I've heard other variations of this, What belongs to you comes to you.
00:21:36
Speaker
And i really believe that culturally we're all connected with this love of Disney. And so if you love it enough, it's sort of the same sentiment you hear. And when you wish upon a star, your secret longing, I wanted to know more about this world yeah and I appreciated these people. And i I was so grateful to Walt Disney for, you know, what, what he had to,
00:21:59
Speaker
set out to do and it was continuing and it was an exciting time in the late 1980s because new films would come out. And so, you know, when I moved on from Star Wars to Disney, there was this short transition period. You know, I really didn't want to tell kids in high school that I was going to go see Bambi. But I remember by the time I was in college, everybody wanted to go see Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin and The Lion King. It became very popular again. And so the that's really changed over time. And so now Disney is more popular than ever. So forever. Yeah.
00:22:32
Speaker
OK, I don't want to. So let's make sure our guests get our hosts, our guests, our hosts get all the time in the world and not just.
00:22:45
Speaker
So Barry I'm to turn it to you And you can Oh man and You're going to get some great questions because are Wonderful yeah So ah Jim let Let me ask you this So when you were um You were a youngin I guess that would be a good word um what So what were your friend your friends You you know how how How were they when you were watching these movies Because I mean I know showing like kids, um my kids, the movies of, you know, early Disney and, you know, outside of Mary Poppins or, you know, Broomsticks and Bedknaps and Broomsticks and movies like that, you know, you have a lot of movies that are, i would say generational, you know, you you can tell that they're,
00:23:41
Speaker
You know, not the movies. You know, there's no big... No big scenes, things like that, that you can pull off there. So what what drew you into that? And how how were your friends? i mean I mean, did your friends, were they into the movies as well?
00:23:57
Speaker
I had a few that we would talk about Disney. So ah I remember other kids that liked Escape to Witch Mountain and Bedknobs Broomsticks and and Pete's Dragon, the the big ones. But i you know I don't know that most kids that I went to school with but would have been as familiar with Perry, the little girl, the little girl squirrel story, you know, but I, but I had those records. And so I knew the songs. And so you would often talk about the the things you'd have in common, but in in many cases, it was sort of an independent journey. I would go just spend a lot of time at the library reading and learning And I would encourage still Disney fans to this day. There's so many remarkable Disney films and, you know, not most.
00:24:45
Speaker
We have to be honest, you know, many of those films maybe aren't on the level of Fantasia. or Mary Poppins as pinnacles of creative achievement. But the attitude that I adopted was, well, if Walt Disney was interested in the story material enough to give it the green light, he saw something about that that was had merit and interest to him.
00:25:08
Speaker
It made me interested. in So ah that's the approach I've always
Storytelling & Preservation
00:25:12
Speaker
taken. But um I, you know, through the years I have. It's funny. I have repeatedly been drawn to and found people who share these same interests. So um I think that's why we're all talking here tonight.
00:25:33
Speaker
Right. Who's next? I have a question. Sure. um Okay, so in your Hyperion Historical Alliance, which is the acronym HHA, one of the main, well, there's three, it's a threefold mission, correct? The one and is to preserve documents, history and artwork and other relevant items. So now that podcasts have become such a relevant item, is there any
00:26:05
Speaker
rating or ranking, because we have a ton of people that come on that are artists, you know, character artists that are actors that have written books, just all walks of life, Disney, you know, Imagineers. So they give some great tips that you may not see in your archive. So is there any type of a podcast that would start a new category for history for people that want to go back and hear these stories?
00:26:38
Speaker
you know it's a great It's a great question. It's come up at the HHA. And you know I should talk about that a little bit. So one of the reasons that the Hyperion Historical Alliance is allowed to exist is that we really respect the intellectual property that's owned by the Walt Disney Company. And so...
00:26:59
Speaker
ah how the HHA came about was there were, ah but there was a, there were a group of historians led by DDA Gez and about 15 years ago, Diane Disney Miller had said, you guys really should network and get together. And so that's where it originated. And it has a lot of people that who are lifetime imagineers, artists, historians, and then there are also members of,
00:27:25
Speaker
members like me who have come by this at a different approach. Either they've been journalists or they've written about Disney or they've been involved in the preservation. um yeah You know, a podcast in which you we were to take deeper dives into Disney history, ah there probably is the interest there. We have largely focused on the publishing side because the unique relationship we've enjoyed with the Walt Disney Company would allow us uh the ability to show images so we would not be able to do that you know on a visual podcast but on an audio podcast where you talk about some of these things it could be a possibility and that's where barry like when we when we talk about the barry you you say this all the time wonder you know when when barry says things like um we want to hear the stories behind the people behind the people barry's not being
00:28:18
Speaker
um like no, we get big people. We've had some amazing people in this here podcast. But here's the thing. But we've but this the podcast, according to Barry. Barry, can I speak for you? Do you mind? I'm so sorry.
00:28:34
Speaker
Sure. Okay. All right. ah I love Barry. we've We've been friends for a while. and And i know his heart. and And a big part of the podcast is to preserve these stories.
Hyperion Historical Alliance Mission
00:28:46
Speaker
Because we get to hear stories.
00:28:50
Speaker
And to slow it down and just to hear and to listen. And boy, do we have an archive. And it's sort of like, well, why do we exist as a podcast? Well, one is for fun. This is a blast. And we all love Disney and we all geek out. And we just, this is pleasure for us. And and I love, I just, you know, um for me, I just love having great conversations. But then the other part of it,
00:29:17
Speaker
is to just hear the stories. and ah and And we say this, maybe I say this, or I think story shapes life. And so the more that we hear the stories of people, that we archive it to where possibly that that might, it might do good tomorrow.
00:29:39
Speaker
It might do good tomorrow. years down the line but story shapes lives and you don't know how how the stories that like your story here we take every story seriously and we want to hear it because i mean you don't know how your own story will shape somebody else's life down the road i firmly believe that you know it's funny because um in the in When I discovered that book, the Disney film was by Leonard Maltin.
00:30:06
Speaker
ah Later, when i got to when I was able to meet Candy Candido in North Carolina, I wrote Leonard Maltin and said, I see on the Entertainment Tonight, back then Entertainment Tonight was in the 80s, was a little bit of a different show. And Leonard often would have historical segments.
00:30:24
Speaker
And, you know, a couple of years passed. And one day i opened the mail and there was a letter from Leonard Maltin. And he said, ages and ages ago, you encouraged me to interview Candy Candido. And so he had met him, taken him to lunch, and he did that story.
00:30:42
Speaker
And I'm really glad glad that he did that because just as you're doing here with the podcast, there are these repositories of interviews that become historically valuable.
00:30:53
Speaker
later to authors and researchers. One of the things that I found that we'll talk about for Darby o O'Gill and the little people, um we're we're very grateful that Sean Connery, when he did the ah the bonus feature interviews on the DVD about 20 years ago, we were able to access some and additional additional quotes that did not make it into that interview.
00:31:15
Speaker
And those facts become historically valuable because he's no longer here to help tell the story of of making the dart making darby O'Gill. so you're So what you're you're talking about is historically valuable. I should note that many of our authors spend so much time writing books that I can hear them right now going, when do I have time to be on a podcast or or host a podcast? So I'm very glad that you guys are doing. Well, we have the opposite problem. Sometimes we interview so many people on podcasts. We're like, when are you going to write a book? Yeah.
00:31:45
Speaker
Like, you this is great. When you going write a book? And they and they're like, well, I don't know. I'm like, well, I guess this is your book then. And we'll see. But so sometimes, yeah, I know. I gotcha. Well, I mean, books are good, too.
00:31:58
Speaker
Actually, books are better because, you know. Books are permanent. They don't say dumb things like this guy. so and Well, you know, we get questions. Well, why does it take so long to write the books? And ah that's a great question because we're really committed ah working with Disney to make sure they're as thorough as possible.
00:32:20
Speaker
We know that we may be only we'll get one shot at these stories, telling these stories. And we want them to be kind comprehensive and as thorough as possible. And so we spend years doing the research and the writing.
00:32:33
Speaker
And I'll be glad to talk about some of the titles that we have. and And, you know, I should clarify, how I'm sure there are people going, well, who's Jim? How did he get involved in this? Well, so by the 2000s, in the early days of eBay especially,
00:32:48
Speaker
um it became apparent to me it was sort of the Wild West. You know, I've heard people say, i went on to eBay and I just saw a lot of junk. Well, in my case, i was looking, I became interested in in vinyl Disney records in the late 90s.
00:33:04
Speaker
ah And I realized a lot of that material was inaccessible, really couldn't hear it again. And then I'd go, oh, I had that record, but I never saw this record. And so, I had bought some records on eBay, but in the early 2000s at one point, I don't know if people know this, but Disney sold things from its vast collections on eBay themselves. There was a Disney auction site. And i was starting out in life. And I had deeper pockets. I thought, oh, look i I remember they sold a prop from, I think it was Flight of the Navigator. I'm going, that's really cool. And you know sometimes they'd have more than one, that sort of thing. But along the way, ah in my quest to learn more about Disney, you would find that somebody would have retired or maybe their dad worked for Disney or or um they had gone to an estate sale. They bought up things. And so I started buying a lot of those kinds of things. And then I was reading Didier Gass's blog.
00:34:04
Speaker
And over the course of several years, he would put out a call and say, I'm working on an article and I found that someone sold this at this auction site or on eBay and our interest overlapped. And so I was buying some of those things and I felt guilty that I'm going, well, I have that.
00:34:26
Speaker
I should make my presence known. And so that's how I presented myself. And it's funny because at the same time, you would in the early days, I don't know if any of you, ah if you guys ever bought things on eBay, you at once point a time, you could see the IDs of other people. and so yeah So people would write and say, hey, you beat me for that and and so forth. Well, some of those people became friends. Some of my best friends came out about from that, just as we were talking about how we find each other.
00:34:56
Speaker
ah So that happened 20 years ago or so. And that's how eventually I came into the orbit of a lot of these people, because um we were bidding against each other on eBay or you were going to book signings and standing in line and going, oh, yeah, and you know, my friend so-and-so and that and that kind of thing.
00:35:14
Speaker
And so at one point I had. One, a newspaper section that was published in Los Angeles about the premiere of The Happiest Millionaire.
00:35:28
Speaker
And somebody contacted me and said, I can't believe you beat me for that. wanted it did so badly. And so I made copies. And I'll say this friend's name. His name is Mike Bond. And he had worked and managed sections of Disneyland. At one point, I think he supervised the Tiki rooms, for instance, on Main Street and other parts of the park.
00:35:50
Speaker
And He knew at that point that I knew Mary Costa and he was part of Tony Baxter's social circle. And Tony's a big Sleeping Beauty fan. And Tony had never met Mary Costa. And so we arranged that to happen.
00:36:07
Speaker
And it was just you know a remarkable time because... ah Mary, her favorite singer in Hollywood, was a singer named Norma Zimmer, who was the champagne lady on the Lawrence Welk show. If you've ever seen the Lawrence Welk show, it got spooked for a long time on Saturday Night Live.
00:36:24
Speaker
Well, one of Tony's best friends was Norma's
Insights on 'Darby O'Gill' & Sean Connery
00:36:28
Speaker
son. And so we had this great reunion because Norma sang on the soundtrack of Sleeping Beauty and Barry got to meet Norma Zimmer. So all of these interests began to overlap. And so that's that's how I came into the orbit of the Hyperion Historical Alliance.
00:36:46
Speaker
It's very fascinating. It is. That's a great story. Barry. We got Lisa. Don, we got Ryan? I got one. So I am very intrigued about the Darby O'Gill history that you're working on. and And so my first question is, it's is's probably a stupid one, but how is a Mr. Tough Guy, Sean Connery, in that role? I'm just curious to see um how he was in that kind of a role because he seemed to me did a good job and everything. But, you know, this is James Bond. um that must have been a ah a big change for him I know that was prior to James Bond right I think but um how but just knowing his you know the way you know his his reputation and his demeanor as Mr. Tough Guy you know from The Rock and all that um how was you know what was his what was the perception of him on the on Darby O'Gill did you did you get to hear any of that kind of stuff Well, you know, in many ways, we're very fortunate that Sean Connery turned out to be James Bond because that that fame, I think, plays a big role in interest, in part, being sustained in Darby O'Gill. So you you know how most people know that, or many disney Disney fans know, that Mary Poppins took many years to reach the screen. Well, that's the same for Darby O'Gill. So at the end of World War two
00:38:12
Speaker
Walt and Roy needed to to div diversify. They needed to branch out into live action. And so that's where the Darby O'Gill story actually came on onto the Disney scene.
00:38:23
Speaker
a writer pitched the script. Walt was interested. he He spent several years playing with the script, went to Ireland. um And it it wasn't and until Disney made 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea that he really demonstrated to Hollywood that he was very serious about live action films.
00:38:42
Speaker
So that's where Darby O'Gill sort of was dusted off and came back to life. But when they made Darby O'Gill... there When I went to the archives, I found some really interesting memos. And there was a memo on the advertising and promotional side where someone was complaining, there's not a name in this picture. Nobody knows who any of these actors are. So Sean Connery really wasn't a household name yet.
00:39:08
Speaker
ah Janet Monroe ah went on to make several Disney films, but she wasn't famous. Albert Sharp, who played Darby, ah he might have been known to the New York audience because he had been in Finian's Rainbow in the 1940s.
00:39:21
Speaker
But the the reply that came back from Card Walker, who later became Disney CEO, he was overseeing advertising, said, you got to remember there's one aspect about Darby O'Gill.
00:39:35
Speaker
We've got the most famous name in the world on this film and that's Walt Disney. So, um, so, so Sean Connery wasn't famous yet. It's funny. I probably won't be able to include this anecdote in the book, but he had made a movie before he came to Hollywood, uh, with Lana Turner and Lana, Lana Turner's, um, uh,
00:40:00
Speaker
Paramore had had been murdered and it was rep reputed to maybe be a mob hit. And so Sean Connery in his memoirs told the story that he had been in Hollywood for about a week and he got a threatening phone call.
00:40:16
Speaker
Someone insinuated, well, you might have had something to do with that. You should get you know you should get out of town. And so he left the hotel where he was staying in Hollywood. And he went and joined the rest of the Darby O'Gill cast, not far from the Disney studio.
00:40:30
Speaker
And I guess he thought if he stayed close to Burbank, he would be hiding out from the mob. So he had a bit of ah a tough guy demeanor. I mean, obviously, he had he had done that kind of thing.
00:40:43
Speaker
He seemed to be really fond of the role in later years, though. And when he when he won his Oscar for The Untouchables in 1988, the first thing he said was, I came to Hollywood 30 years ago, and and there he was 30 years later. So it was ah it was a start of a great a great adventure. ah There are numerous documented cases.
00:41:07
Speaker
I've heard people say, well, it's ah it's an old wives' tale or a Hollywood myth that James Bond came about because of Jarby O'Gill, but that's that's actually true. A few years later, when the producers of James Bond were looking to cast that role, um one of the producer's wives had seen him and said, run this film. And and that's partly how they discovered him for James Bond.
00:41:30
Speaker
And you see the transition. So here's the interesting part about the success of Jarby O'Gill. It was eclipsed in 1959 by the Shaggy Dog. When that movie came out, it was an enormous hit for Disney. Yeah, it was.
00:41:46
Speaker
And it had not cost that much to make mike by comparison. So audiences really responded to the Shaggy Dog more than Darby O'Gill. But by 1969, James Bond but but was just an international phenomenon. and So you see Sean Connery sort of in an obscure way in the promotional materials for the first release, but he's front and center in 1969. And that film is reissued and it did very well that year. And it's reissue so much so that in 1977, it had one more theatrical release. And so we're really glad that they cast Sean Connery. I think that's really helped keep interests alive in that picture.
00:42:31
Speaker
That's awesome. That's some great stuff. Thank you for sharing. I wish I could do a better Sean Connery impression. Oh, yeah, no, please. I can't do it. I won't even try. Yeah, don't even try. Don't please. No, I used to it. I used to do it. Sean Connery is goofy. It was like, oh, and then everything just comes out goofy. I'm tired. Y'all, I've had a long week, okay? At the end of the week, everything just comes out goofy. It's like mashup. Yeah, it's like this. Okay, remember James Bond was like, you know, where did you know judo, you know? Okay.
00:43:02
Speaker
Okay. you know You know that where he's like, GoldenEye. Have Goofy say, welcome to the rock. Then you go, that's it. Welcome to the rock. Oh, pussy. Where did you learn judo? That was the other one. he can stir Remember when like he meets his pussy, whatever her name is, you know in the GoldenEye. Pussy galore. Yeah. He's like, puss he where did you learn judo?
00:43:27
Speaker
Oh, pussy. Where did you learn judo? Yeah. Oh my goodness. That's as scandalous as I've ever gotten on here. I'm going to take some editing. Okay, just cut it out.
00:43:42
Speaker
That might be on the editing room. worse well Where did you learn judo?
00:43:48
Speaker
i'm so I'm sorry, Jim. We're pretty risque for Sunday here. It's not. this is joe it wasn't like It wasn't until Austin Powers that that stuff really got.
00:43:59
Speaker
and That is facts. I'm saying it. in the i will i don't like I don't exploit my goofy voice. I never said a cuss word only in front of...
00:44:09
Speaker
like very you know How about not now? yeah no no, I never do it. No, no, no. I maintain the sanctity. You know, it's a holy of holies. These voices are holy to me. So I i keep them. I keep them sacred. But i hate that one I felt was OK. I felt I wanted to branch out because thought that was OK. I have a silly question. um So I know that we we all know we can email and talk on the phone and Zoom and you don't have to actually be at the physical space. But the Hyperion Historical Alliance is in California, but you're in Tennessee, correct? That's right. And so um i go out to California, we're like when I've gone to the the archives for research and our network gets together for an annual meeting. And so we we all meet up in California.
00:44:56
Speaker
Nice. And so when you do get to go to Disneyland, because don't tell me y'all don't go to Disneyland. I'm sure you do. I love Disneyland. So what's your favorite ride? And what's your favorite? Lisa would ask you, what's your favorite?
00:45:12
Speaker
What, Lisa? Yeah. food that's a good question should always ask what your favorite snack snack yeah ah for me your favorite attraction and your favorite snack yeah we inquiring minds want to know absolutely so the snack i' i'll go backwards the snack would be the dole whip i love the dole whip at the tiki room and probably my favorite attraction in the whole part is storybook lane It's just old fashioned and quaint. I've always liked miniatures. I love the idea. You know, if I, if I had that space and the talent, would love to recreate that in my own backyard. And, you know, it's really cool. Maybe even in a more miniature form.
00:45:52
Speaker
And so for this Darby O'Gill and the little people monograph, you might've seen the publicity photos through the years, um, Janet Monroe and Sean Connery, um,
00:46:03
Speaker
often are seen in a photo at Autopia. Well, in the photo library, I was able to find some photos where they left that they let Janet and Sean tromp around in
Disneyland Favorites
00:46:14
Speaker
storybook land. And so I've selected a couple of those. I hope I get to use them because it was kind of cool seeing Sean Connery think that storybook land was as cool as I think it is. So you mean not in the boat, but actually tromp around on the grass?
00:46:29
Speaker
with Well, with next to the little miniature buildings. Yeah. We're we're not allowed to go. where we're We're not allowed to to go, but Janet and Sean were allowed to go up and inspect those. And they seem to have a lot of fun taking a club.
00:46:42
Speaker
That's so cool. I'm sure the premise was because the film was about leprechauns and little people. Sean and Janet were giants in the storybook land world.
00:46:53
Speaker
That makes sense. And then if you were to go to Disney world, do you have a favorite attraction there or is a snack different or is it the same? Yeah, probably the same snack, but I do love carousel progress. I think it's a, it's a connection to Walt Disney in Florida.
00:47:11
Speaker
So yeah that's a mess every time I go to. yeah ah You hit all the right fields. There's definitely certain must-dos, and that's a must-do. So Lisa has a question, but then I think Jeff has a character question that he wants some information on. No, I've been talking too much. well How does the HHA select their topics for the publications or for the study? Is there a specific way? Is it at those annual meetings? or How does that occur?
00:47:44
Speaker
It's a combination. So you know a big part of what we do relates to preservation. So sometimes it's it's it pertains to what we're preserving. And so in the case of the Darby O'Gill and the Little People monograph, how that came about was um one of our meetings we had in attendance by Brian Landsberg. His father was Larry Landsberg, a longtime producer at the studio.
00:48:10
Speaker
And he had gone with Walt in advance of of Walt's visit. And then while Walt was in Ireland in 1947, 48 to research Jarby O'Gill, he had a lot of photos. And so Didier Ghez, our president, said, you know, we've covered El Grupo and some of the other famous Walt trips, but that one's not really been seen.
00:48:33
Speaker
But it related to Darby O'Gill. And in my case, I had come into contact with a lot of photos from the family of Janet Monroe about the making of Darby O'Gill.
00:48:44
Speaker
Also, I secured Albert Sharp's script that he used to film Darby O'Gill. And so I had some of the historical elements. And so that that's how that aligned.
00:48:56
Speaker
we We produce an annual that you can buy on Amazon. And on that one, we have articles from different members. ah The second volume, for instance, we had a couple of members from the Walt Disney Archives. so Kevin Kern wrote the definitive history about the Mary Poppins premiere, for instance. and We had another story about the Walt Disney World Preview Center. So sometimes it pertains to the interest in the upcoming annual because I've been friends with Mary Costa for the last 30 years or so, ah one aspect of her life that sometimes gets overlooked was her marriage to Frank Tashlin.
00:49:34
Speaker
So a lot of people know that, for example, Marge Champion, the model for Snow White, had been briefly married to Art Babbitt, a Disney animator. Well,
00:49:45
Speaker
Mary's first husband, Frank Tashlin, had also been an animator story artist at the Disney Studios, more famously at Warner Brothers. But later he became a live action director.
00:49:57
Speaker
And they were married from 1953 until they were divorced in 1964. But they had a long creative marriage and they worked on some projects together.
00:50:08
Speaker
But because she went on to have a great career in the opera, And he did all those famous Jerry Lewis comedies that the French love so much. ah The connection sometimes isn't isn't made. And so a couple of years ago, I asked Mary, would you be willing to talk about your marriage to Frank Tashlin?
00:50:26
Speaker
And so we're really glad that she did. And so that's an article that covers their relationship in depth. And that'll be in one of the upcoming annuals. So they come from, so to your point, your question, the the stories come from the passion of the of the the members and sometimes the research that they've done or the preservation projects that the Hyperion Historical Alliance undertakes.
00:50:53
Speaker
And do you have multiple projects all going at the same time or can you talk about any of the future projects that you're looking forward to? Absolutely. We have a plethora of riches. So we got started with the publication projects at the encouragement of Becky Klein, the Walt Disney Archives director.
00:51:11
Speaker
um And the first volume came out, the making of Fun and Fancy Free in 2019. And then the pandemic app oh that then the pandemic happened.
00:51:23
Speaker
And so it sort of yeah things things sort of came to a screeching halt. But we can't. we kept working behind the scenes. And so now we have a very robust, healthy pipeline. So there are a number of of projects that are coming out right now under review is Mickey Mouse and Christmas in the 1930s by DDA Gez.
00:51:48
Speaker
That's under review at Disney Legal. Mickey became a cultural phenomenon in the 1930s. And so from the Macy's parade to department store displays,
00:51:58
Speaker
theyre There were so many wonderful aspects of just the holidays of Mickey Mouse. And so there's a whole volume on that. Another one of our members, Elizabeth Spatz, Libby Spatz, she's a senior archivist and librarian for Disney Consumer Products. She's taking a look at the Mickey Mouse clubs of the 1930s. Those were the movie theater clubs where kids would get together and watch Mickey Mouse on Saturday. And that preceded the 1950s Mickey Mouse Club. So that one's that one's underway. A couple of our other authors, Kevin Kidney, Jody Daly and Aaron Wilcott, they're writing about the making of Walt Disney's Swiss Family Robinson. So ah there are so many in the pipeline that it's a plethora of book.
00:52:46
Speaker
It's a plethora of preservation. That's what I think. and And this is why I was like, oh, dang it. Shoot. And I'm like, you know, i'm it's because that is that's my heart. I love it. I love it. And um i i i find old, goofy stories. And part of what I like to do is, you know, eventually um I'm in the woodwork, but I'm um putting out a bunch of.
00:53:13
Speaker
whether YouTube pages or whatever, to preserve them. Part of is just to preserve them. But, you know, i Barry, do you mind if i this is This is my... This is my... Because we... Jim, we talked about, ah you know, Bill Farmer a little bit earlier, and that... He's just my... i mean, he's he's my heart dog, as they say. You know, he's my... I love that man. He's a he's a sweetheart, and...
00:53:41
Speaker
I call him St. Bill. I've met him a ah handful of times and and just been nothing but kind to me. And and he's got, you know, his... I call call it an anchor voice. His anchor voice was was Pat Butcherum. That was someone he did as a Younger, younger
Disney & Media Connections
00:53:58
Speaker
person. And but I that's sort of how I discovered.
00:54:03
Speaker
Oh, I could do goofy because because I used to do Pat Buttram and and ah but I go into fun and fancy free all these things, all these things, just preserving.
00:54:15
Speaker
My passion is preserving voices. And i've I, Bill probably thinks I'm a weirdo. But I told, I said, Bill, i you know, i i there's nothing but kind. And I've talked, you know, but said, Bill.
00:54:32
Speaker
he didn it's real To be a voice actor and to have anybody else come up to you and be like, I study your voice. that could be That could be a threat. That could be something that feels... yeah And Bill has said this and other voice actors too. Oh, when are you going to die so that I could take over? like There are people that come up to people that... That's awful.
00:54:54
Speaker
And so and so i i I want Bill to be goofy forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. and But I go, Bill, there's I said, ah i you know, i talked to him about...
00:55:14
Speaker
Pat Batrum and stuff. I don't study Goofy's voice. I study your voice. And that's what I told Bill Farmer. I said, it's not, everyone wants to do, who bla la lou who you know, like they want to do Goofy in this sort of cheap, pentakulvic, you know, sort of It's not pinto either.
00:55:38
Speaker
But Bill, I don't think... I don't think Goofy ever found the voice until Bill came on the scene and it was... And then he, I think Bill gave Goofy the voice that Disney struggled with for years to give him. Disney did not know what to do with Goofy until Bill came. They're like, oh, okay, now we got Goofy. And I'm like, so i like Bill, i don't I don't study Goofy's voice. studied Bill's voice intentionally. and and But i think I think that stuff matters because if we're thinking of stories, I think of his story with –
00:56:15
Speaker
pat his story was a little bit with Pat Buttram and he used to go to i well I think anyways you have a story with Bill a little bit and that's where I I'm going off on a now I'm down a rabbit hole that I don't even know how to get out of well Bill is ah is a great he's a wonderfully charming Disney legend who happens to also be interested in Disney history and so In 2001, when we were emerging from the pandemic, the Walt Disney Archives brought its traveling exhibition to the Graceland exhibition space on the property that Elvis Presley owned. and It was an interesting was interesting mix of ah Elvis meets Disney. And so Becky Klein had asked me, well, what are some of the connections between Disney and Tennessee? And so I put together a little PowerPoint slide presentations. I mean, for example, Davy Crockett, when he was a Tennessee congressman, would have been Elvis's congressman. So he he actually he actually represented that district. But when they had the the grand ribbon cutting to open the exhibition, Bill Farmer and Brett Iwan came and... I had the privilege of driving Becky and Bill around Memphis and giving them a tour. So we took them down to the famous Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis.
00:57:44
Speaker
And they have a fountain where ducks come come down and do a little walk. And and and so... And Bill ended up entertaining some of the kids doing his his voices. And, you know, I don't know that these kids recognize that this voice of goofy. He probably did Donald. is donald's that i I think he might have done a little Donald for them. I think he he's more than capable. He's really good at Donald. He's he's actually really good at Donald.
00:58:13
Speaker
But the the fun part was when he went into one of the gift shops, he was sort of striking Elvis poses. ah It was sort of goofy meets Elvis. This is the stories I want to hear. This is the good stuff. Okay. All right. All right. You made my night. I got to digress. I'm going turn it over. This is when we talk about sharing the magic and preserving stories. I'm like, that's a story about Bill because I love that man.
00:58:39
Speaker
I love that man. That other people, nobody's out. no Who in the world could tell that story? Now we got, now to me personally, I'm like, now that's a story that nobody else in the world knows except me. And well, all of us here.
00:58:56
Speaker
Now, you know, but now we know Sean Connery. Thank you. Thank you for that story. That's. And somehow that trickled down because stitch. I think a bill just like posing, you know,
00:59:09
Speaker
Well, you know, there's another connection in 2002, I think that was the Lilo and Stitch premiere was held at Graceland because of the Elvis Presley connection and Roy E. Disney came and attended. It was a benefit for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. And so I imagine with the new film, the interest will be all fresh again.
00:59:33
Speaker
Wow. and the being it i good i'm go to say Now the goofy voice is coming. I'm like, oh, thank you for sharing. all this Blum dandy.
00:59:45
Speaker
yeah Elvis probably didn't dabble too much in the world of Disney, but there is a bootleg you can hear on YouTube of him singing the Mickey Mouse Club theme song one time.
00:59:56
Speaker
One of his Las Vegas shows. So we found that. So I have a question about Swiss Family Robinson. So I'm a big fan. That was one of my favorites. um My uncle had a movie theater. So i used to go we used to go, he used to replay it a lot on Sundays and stuff. So I've always loved that. But is it the truth that, now again, i know what James MacArthur was, um he was Dano from Hawaii Five-O, right? But he was in that. And then, so here's my question was, was um is it really true that
01:00:31
Speaker
My favorite sci-fi show of all time, Lost in Space, which always was my favorite, is that based based loosely on Swiss Family Robinson?
The Power of Disney Bonds
01:00:40
Speaker
I believe that is the case. I think that there that connection to Swiss Family Robinson, I think I have read that.
01:00:47
Speaker
a you know that That question probably would be best posed to the authors of of that that upcoming monograph. It was funny, as we record this, Kevin Kidney, Jody Daly, and Aaron Wilcott went to see a screening today of Derby O'Gill and the Little People. Oh, really? They're dabbling in Derby while I'm building questions about Svassily Robinson. But I believe that connection was there.
01:01:11
Speaker
That's interesting. Yeah. Cause I did see it on your, yeah. yeah and And that's to me, that's so cool. Like the thing when things like that happen, because I was looking at, so James MacArthur versus Mark Goddard, they kind of look alike. So um it's like really weird. And I've always put, you know people have said that and I'm like, I don't know if that's true. i even know I don't even know who to ask that to make sure if it is true or not. I had to bring it up. I apologize, but no, no. And you're lost in space has some other, you know,
01:01:37
Speaker
terrific disney connections guy williams had been zoro mark mark goddard had it been a guest star on zoro and then you had young billy moomy who had been in sammy the way out sill and some other disney productions and he has a new memoir out that came out maybe a year or two ago and it has some really good anecdotes about his time at the studio and working with walt i recommend that one too what do you think barry let's do something like this you want to slow it down Lisa's got good questions. Now, my questions are like, in in the moment, gosh, here's my voice. but Here's my thing.
01:02:15
Speaker
Now, Lisa typically slows it down. Don sometimes do. So, I think me... I think me... Barry's just a saint.
01:02:27
Speaker
You know, Barry asks questions when he wants, but then he just he'll just kick back and... hey It's my job. i'm like to I'm like the tennis player. I serve it and let you guys volley. Yeah, um you call your the Gosos. But what do you think, Barry? Do you think maybe give Lisa, Don, just a ah couple minutes or a few just to go, hey, let's slow it down.
01:02:49
Speaker
You know, because... And to ask maybe one one to two, just really thought. I have a really good slow question. Yeah. That's why i think. Barry, you're going to say okay, right? I'm fascinated with. You kind of to now.
01:03:06
Speaker
I'm fascinated with the HHA. Okay. So I'm reading membership requirements. Okay. So I'm I am gathering that you have to be elected. If you wanted to be a member, you would have to be elected. But then there's also student memberships um that also have to be qualified to participate. Can you elaborate on that and how many people are in the membership? I just find it fascinating because people that may have loved to study that are listeners, they that have are into history and Disney history may not even know this exists. And I always like to pretend I'm a listener and I'm hearing this and can't ask the question. So maybe elaborate a little for those on anybody that might be a history buff and have not known about this.
01:04:00
Speaker
Yeah. lost So but those are good questions. So the professional requirements usually involve that someone has either worked at the at the for the Walt Disney Company in some capacity, We have several members that are legacy members. Their parents maybe were longtime Disney employees. And so they grew up around Disney. um They tend to be historians or authors or journalists who have demonstrated serious scholarship. So these would be books that are subjected to rigorous academic or, you know,
01:04:38
Speaker
professional publishing standards. So we usually don't do self-published authors, for instance. But the student members are usually ah members who are vetted because they have expressed some interest in a particular project or a long-term ambition or a goal to to follow in the the kind of work that we're doing. And so but we've had a handful of ah of student members, and if I think a few have become full-time members. One comes to mind.
01:05:07
Speaker
His name is Lucas Seastrom, and he's written several terrific articles. He wrote an article about the Firehouse 5 Plus 2, and then he wrote another our article for our annual about the aviation career of one of the nine old men, Wolfgang Woolley Reitherman.
01:05:24
Speaker
And I learned so much reading that because he he worked with Woolley's sons and delved into a lot of the personal family history. And so we've had some really good articles come out about that. So if someone's interested in joining, they're certainly...
01:05:44
Speaker
encouraged to, you know, they can apply. It's vetted. they you also have to make sure that the Walt Disney Company reviews those members and and and the projects are officially approved.
01:05:56
Speaker
So everything we do is done in auspices or in in concert with the Walt Disney Archives. ah We like to do things by the book, so to speak. love that. All right, Barry. So let's go to... Unincluded and intended there. There you go.
01:06:14
Speaker
So, Barry, this is your podcast, buddy. yeah we're We're all We're all guests. We're just happy to be here. am. So... Well, we let's go to... Hold on. Because I'm like, Lisa... like I know Lisa. Let's go to Lisa. if And then Barry. Let's go to Lisa.
01:06:32
Speaker
And then Barry. want you to... Go, Lisa. yeah and And then you need to take over. Our co-hosts, they know that I love to talk about relationships and um the importance of um coming in contact with with others and and building upon those relationships. people that you met and I heard you go over a lot of the folks and how and how you made those connections you know someone knows this person someone worked at Disney someone you know all of those things what are some of the most meaningful connections that led you to where you are today through Disney
01:07:16
Speaker
disney Well, ah let me give you this really remarkable story because i I believe in fate and destiny and how this all works out. So I told you where I grew up. So there was a high school teacher in my high school and he loved Disney and he was the music teacher and he would talk about, oh, I love I love Haley Mills. He really loved Haley Mills. But one of the musicals that he liked was the film Summer Magic with Haley Mills and Dorothy McGuire.
01:07:44
Speaker
so Flash forward to decades later, and when I was talking to Richard Sherman, I said, you know, I had this high school teacher who always dreamed of adapting summer magic for the stage. And Richard Sherman said, tell him he should do it. I think that's a great idea.
01:08:04
Speaker
And so so i did. And he said, you know, is he for real? Is he serious? And I said, well, I i think he was. And so we made arrangements and he went out and met Richard Sherman and Richard was quite serious. Richard really liked the idea that Summer Magic might be licensed, perhaps eventually by Disney as a stage show that can be done by high schools or community theaters. And so with Richard's encouragement,
01:08:34
Speaker
this high school teacher, friend of mine named Gerald Boyd, he adapted Summer Magic for the stage. It was a nonprofit community theater there in East Tennessee.
01:08:46
Speaker
And ah he worked a few years with the encouragement of Richard to to get this and put this together. And when he eventually was able to stage this in the summer of 2012,
01:08:59
Speaker
two thousand and twelve um Eddie Hodges, who had been one of the actors who played Haley's brother in the film, he lives in Mississippi. He came up for the stage show.
01:09:10
Speaker
Richard Sherman and his wife Elizabeth flew out from Hollywood and attended the show. Several people from Disney came. Someone from Disney Theatrical came down from New York to see, might they be interested in in doing this? ah Mary Costa came up from Knoxville because she knew all of these people. It was a really remarkable gathering of Disney luminaries in this small East Tennessee town. But here's the here's the probably most remarkable thing about that.
01:09:41
Speaker
The entire production was funded in part by none other than Disney like legend now Harrison Ford and his wife, Calista Flockhart, because Calista Flockhart's parents had retired to this town and become involved in they become involved in the community theater there.
01:10:01
Speaker
And they were the largest benefactors and patrons of this community production that staged the show. so callista flo Calista Flockhart also came to see the show. Harrison Ford was away making a movie.
01:10:16
Speaker
And Calista Flockhart's parents came to the show as well. And if you had told me as a kid, when I was writing Richard Sherman, that Richard Sherman would someday in the future come to my hometown and bless and encourage the stage show put on by my high school teacher, and that one of the stars of Summer Magic would be there, and that Harrison Ford and his wife would be helping fund the production, I never would have believed that.
01:10:48
Speaker
But that just goes to show you the special connections and relationships that Disney fans make. And it tells you the kind of person that Richard Sherman was, that he really took such an avid interest and encouraged that. I think it really gave him pleasure to know that something that he and his brother had created in the 60s um it you before Mary Poppins. That was sort really a precursor to Mary Poppins. But I think it touched him to know that It meant something to people and there was still interest in it. And so if it ultimately was not licensed, it didn't get picked up by Disney, but it was a really...
01:11:29
Speaker
remarkable magic episode, you know, with all of these Disney stars who came together for this one special week in the summer of 2012. And so, and I, and I should note that the mother in the show was played by Kathy Garver, who had started on family affairs sitcom in the 1960s.
01:11:49
Speaker
And she had worked with Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot and Jody Whittaker, a lot of people who also called bill yeah yeah who had done Disney films. And so, It was a really amazing episode. So that one comes to mind.
01:12:02
Speaker
I met. That's an amazing example of the power of connection and, you know, relationship building through over time. So thank you for that.
01:12:14
Speaker
That's an amazing story. Okay, Barry. Hey, it's getting late. We got to respect the time of our guest. And so we were trying to do better.
01:12:25
Speaker
we've We've had people here over three hours before. And we're like, you know, we want to hear all these stories, but sometimes we just, we exhaust people. So we we want to respect your time. and And Barry, what what do you think, my friend?
01:12:42
Speaker
All right. Well, we can go ahead and wrap this episode up. We'll, um well, Jim, come back on again. so Jim, leaves why don't you go ahead and tell our listeners how they get ahold of you, any websites, any social media that you want to promote?
01:12:58
Speaker
Sure. You can find the Hyperion Historical Alliance Press on Facebook and Instagram. And we we don't post daily, but we do post when we have special projects or things that are coming up. You can read more about the Hyperion Historical Alliance at hyperionhistoricalalliance.org.
01:13:18
Speaker
And I should mention that the the publications we produce are distributed exclusively through StuartEggBooks.com. And there's a ah physical presence in California. You can go buy the books in person. And then sometimes we have them at the D23 events like the Disney Expos and so forth. And so some of the authors are out and about, and we promote that online when those opportunities come about.
01:13:53
Speaker
That's great because I think i think hearing about the Hyperion thing, I think we we have had Didier on here before for an episode and the amount of information he talked about and ah it's almost it's almost watching um American Treasures with him or something like that where he's just finding some amazing things.
01:14:19
Speaker
He is a dynamo. D.D. Ava lives and breathes Disney history. And he's done such remarkable work that it's a privilege for the others of us to to be able to to write and do research and share discoveries with Disney fans. So thank you for helping share the the magic.
01:14:41
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, you said the thing that we'd like to hear around here. the That's a good phrase. Yeah, we sure like that. And again, I want to thank Jim for coming on tonight. And I want to thank all our co-hosts. And until next time, keep sharing the magic.
01:14:59
Speaker
Thank you for joining us for another enchanting episode of Sharing the Magic. We have magical conversations that are crafted to your ears. The Edutainment Show, where education and entertainment collide each week.
01:15:11
Speaker
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01:15:23
Speaker
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01:15:36
Speaker
Until next time, keep sharing the magic and rattle the stars.