Program Recap: Walt Disney’s Worlds of Nature

As early as 1942, Walt Disney had considered the possibilities of making a live action nature film. He had gone so far as to engage in discussions with the New York Zoological Society in 1944. At this time, the Walt Disney Studio was occupied by the military, and commercial film production had given way to making military training films. With war raging, the nature film became one of many of Walt’s dreams that were put on hold for the duration.

On Saturday, February 25^th, Don Hahn, producer of such acclaimed Disney features as Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, treated the audience in The Walt Disney Family Museum theater to a visually dazzling, and sometimes hilarious, behind the scenes look at the history of Walt Disney’s True-Life Adventure films. This highly-popular, award-winning series was the precursor to the current series of nature films produced under the Disneynature brand.

(L to R): Volunteer Frank Teurlay with Don Hahn.The first True-Life Adventure, Seal Island, came about as a result of viewing a vast amount of film footage shot in Alaska while filming a story about Eskimos. There was enough footage of the Alaskan wildlife that a nature film emerged. As Walt Disney attempted to sell the film, Disney's film distributor, RKO, argued that no one would pay to see such a film. This rejection eventually led Walt and Roy Disney to create the Buena Vista Distribution Company so that the Walt Disney Studios could control its own film distribution. With no distributor for the film, Walt arranged for Seal Island to play for one week at a theater in Pasadena. The film then qualified for Academy Award® consideration and was awarded the Oscar® for best short subject in 1949.

The few "nature films" made up to that time tended to focus on showing the human dominance over wild creatures. These pseudo-documentaries did not show life from the perspective of the animal. Rather, the animals were, sometimes, mistreated objects used to further a human conquest story. Seal Island ushered in a new type of wildlife film; one based on an interesting story as experienced by the animals in their own natural environment. The True-Life Adventure films boasted that the action was pure “unrehearsed” and “unbelievable” adventure. Audiences embraced the new form of entertainment. It brought to life a beautiful and exciting natural world filmed in locations that had been seen by very few in the days before television.

While the True-Life Adventures were exciting to watch, few realized the painstaking efforts that were required to capture good film footage of wild animals in their natural habitat. Don pointed out many of the difficulties faced by the wildlife filmmakers of the day. To capture nature in its raw form, filmmakers went out into the wild for long periods of time far from civilization. They battled insects, weather and sometimes exotic creatures that wandered into their camps. As an example, Don shared the story of Al and Elma Milotte. They were nature filmmakers assigned to shoot wildlife footage for Walt Disney. The studio provided the couple with a custom made vehicle that served as both living quarters and filming platform during their months long filming trips. In carrying all the supplies and filmmaking equipment, the vehicle ended up being so heavy that it regularly got stuck in the mud. In the 1940s and 50s, outdoor movie film cameras only allowed for three continuous minutes of shooting time. The film had to be changed frequently, which kept the cinematographer busy with tasks far beyond simply pointing and focusing the camera. The film could not be developed out in the wild, so it was shipped, unprocessed, back to the Studio for processing. This meant that the filmmakers never really knew if what they were filming was turning out well or not. Hundreds, if not thousands, of feet of film shot in the wild might only produce a few seconds or minutes of footage used in the final production. It was painstaking work.

Don went on to highlight some key players in the development of the True Life Adventures. James Algar, who had directed "The Sorcerer’s Apprentice" sequence in Fantasia directed the films. Winston Hibler served as both writer and narrator. The late Roy E. Disney, nephew of Walt Disney and son of Roy O. Disney, cut his teeth in film production on the series.

Don Hahn shared an hilarious clip of Roy explaining how he had to find some critical footage for Vanishing Prairie. In reviewing raw footage, the staff came across an interesting shot of a duck attempting to land on a pond which had actually frozen over. As the duck went sliding across the ice, the film abruptly ended. Seeing the comic potential for the film, Walt Disney asked where the rest of the film sequence was. Roy recounted several failed attempts to find more footage, finally resigning himself to the fact that he would have to recreate the scene so as not to disappoint Walt. A crew was sent to the northwest during the winter. A frozen pond was found and ducks were assembled. One duck was slid across the ice and into the other ducks causing them all to slip and fall. It was a form of “duck bowling” as Roy recalled. Several takes were required to get the shot right. Soon the ducks knew what was coming and began to run away even before their comrade came careening toward them, so further filming became pointless. The audience in The Walt Disney Family Museum theater broke into uproarious laughter at seeing this footage, and hearing Roy E. Disney’s account of his trials and tribulations. This sequence, with ducks sliding on the ice, is still one of the highlights of the entire True-Life Adventure series.

Inspired by the success of The March of the Penguins, distributed overseas by Buena Vista International; Disneynature was created as an independent film label of The Walt Disney Company on April 21, 2008. This series re-kindles the original vision Walt Disney had for the True-Life Adventure series; first to entertain then to educate. The subject for each film must have an interesting story that will capture the interest of the audience for a sustained period of time. Don reminded the audience “we are storytellers first.” The film must also be visually engaging on the big screen. To that end, the Disneynature films are produced using the finest nature cinematographers and directors in the world. Their previous work includes the popular BBC series, Planet Earth.

© DisneyDon showed excerpts of the first films in the series Earth, Oceans and African Cats. The cinematography was exquisite and left one with the feeling of being out in the wilderness. There were also clips of how the films were made, highlighting the difficulties endured by today’s filmmakers as they strive to get the “perfect shot” for the film. One amazing sequence shared how a helicopter shot of Angel Falls in Venezuela was achieved. The film crew and pilot overcame updrafts and poor visibility to finally get a shot directly above the falls showing the water make a steep 1200 foot drop. The result was literally breathtaking as the audience gasped in wonder as the ground seemed to fall out from under during the flyover.

As during Walt Disney’s lifetime, innovation in filmmaking is at the forefront. One clip showed the “torpedo cam” created by Disneynature filmmakers to capture never before seen camera angels of yellowfin tuna and dolphins swimming in the open ocean. The result gave the audience a sense of being among the fish rather than watching from afar.

In some ways, nature filmmaking has been made easier. The digital cameras today can record continuously, leaving the filmmaker only to “save” what is desired for the final film. However, the other hardships endured by the early filmmakers have not changed. One clip showed the film crew being attacked by bees. Strange spiders, scorpions and snakes invaded their tents at night, The clips gave an appreciation for the dedication these filmmakers have for their craft. They want so deeply to capture, preserve and share images of the natural world, that few of us ever get to see in person. The images they capture can go a long way toward raising awareness about our fragile planet and the wildlife it sustains.

To bring the event to a close, Don delighted the audience with a preview of the newest Disneynature release, Chimpanzee. Interestingly, Don reported that the film had just been completed late the night before. Chimpanzee tells the story of three year old Oscar and his extended chimpanzee family. Filmed deep in the jungles of Ivory Coast in Africa, the crew worked in very remote areas and was hampered by political unrest which delayed shooting for a year. The result, however, is the best of the Disneynature series to date, according to the producers.

The film must have hit the mark. Don ended his presentation by recounting a delightful story of having breakfast with Jane Goodall, noted chimpanzee researcher and head of the Jane Goodall Institute. He noted that she was rather quiet and reserved, which had left him a bit unsure of what the world renowned primate expert really thought of his team’s work on Chimpanzee. After a period of quiet, Ms. Goodall asked Don if she could give him a “chimpanzee hug.” Don agreed and the otherwise reserved Jane Goodall embraced him and proceeded to emit hoots, hollers and panting sounds just as chimpanzees in the wild would do when showing their affection for each other. This was high praise indeed from the person who knows chimpanzees best. Don stated that it was the greatest moment in his life.

Chimpanzee opens in theaters on Earth Day, April 20^th, 2012. A portion of the proceeds from each theater ticket sold during the first week of release will be donated to the Jane Goodall Institute. This provides a wonderful opportunity to see high quality, big screen family entertainment; while benefitting one of the most respected conservation organizations in the world.  The release of Chimpanzee is proof that Walt Disney’s vision of bringing the wonders of the natural world to a wide audience lives on.

Frank Teurlay

Volunteer at The Walt Disney Family Museum

Look Closer: True-Life Adventures Summer Camp!

This month, the Education Staff has decided to do something a little different, and write about an Educational Program that was inspired by Walt Disney’s True-Life Adventures. The juxtaposition of the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge view (on a non-foggy day) and the entertaining True-Life Adventure clips in Gallery 8 demonstrates why The Walt Disney Family Museum is the perfect place for the exploration of the incredibly rich area that surrounds us.

"Direct your own True-Life Adventure Summer Camp" came from the desire to connect Walt Disney’s groundbreaking series with the innate wildlife and natural history of the Presidio of San Francisco. I developed a summer camp where groups of middle school students could create True-to-Life documentaries of their very own.

The original concept was to focus on the wildlife, however—unlike the True-Life Adventure camera crews who had years and an unlimited supply of film—we had four days, ten Bloggie touch cameras, and ten 11 to 13-year-olds. Therefore, we created some story ideas (perhaps based more on the "People and Places" series) and presented The Presidio as the "place." We also focused on the “edutainment” aspect of the original True-Life Adventures series—which was first and foremost for entertainment.

We took the students on the entire process of creating a documentary film. Taking our cues from Walt, we (of course) started with story. Although we focused on the storyboard as the starting point, their films developed based on the footage they were able to get. After four days of sore feet, some minor sunburns, and some great footage; the students came up with films showcasing anything from fun places to visit in the Presidio to interviews with the dogs being walked in Crissy Field (yes, the dogs talked)—as well as interviews with Darth Vader and Yoda at the Letterman Digital Arts Center.

In groups, they edited their films adding voiceover, music, and special effects with our Mac computers in the Digital Media Studio. Each group worked collaboratively to come up with their True-Life Presidio films.

I was blown away by the creative stories the students came up with, they took the very basic ideas of story, filming and editing and ran with it. We have put together some clips of what these very creative students came up with. Please Enjoy!

Hillary Lyden

Museum Educator

From Diane: 50th Anniversary of John Glenn's Orbit

John Glenn okays the artwork for his Friendship 7 spacecraft.Last week's 50th anniversary of John Glenn's orbiting the earth reminds me of something. My parents were in New York at that time, staying at the Plaza Hotel, I think. They were walking down the hall to the elevator that evening, when they passed a suite with an open door, and a group of people inside. It was all the other astronauts and their wives (minus, of course, John Glenn, who had come down in his capsule somewhere in the Atlantic.) Someone…I think it was Alan  Shephard…recognized Dad and called to him to come on in. They did, and I believe they had a drink with them. Dad found a sheet of hotel stationary, and asked them all to sign a note he wrote to Chris, who was then 8 years old. Alan Shephard's wife took the note to give to John Glenn to sign when he returned. I reminded Chris of this yesterday, and he had no recollection of the letter. I'm thinking I must have put it in a safe place. We've moved three times since then…but I'll search.

Diane Disney Miller

Co-Founder of The Walt Disney Family Museum

 

Mercury-Atlas 6 (MA-6) was a human spaceflight mission conducted by NASA as part of Project Mercury. It made three orbits of the Earth on February 20, 1962, piloted by astronaut John Glenn, who became the first American to orbit the Earth. The Mercury spacecraft, named Friendship 7, spent four hours and 56 minutes in flight, and re-entered the Earth's atmosphere, splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean, and was safely taken aboard the USS Noa.

Celebrating Bambi's Entry in the National Film Registry

The original Bambi poster celebrated its literary pedigree and the well-known reputation of its filmmaker © DisneyThe Walt Disney Family Museum is celebrating the perpetual preservation of the beloved Bambi by the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry with two special screenings of the classic 1942 animated feature. Presented in the Museum’s state-of-the-art digital Fantasia-themed theatre on Saturday March 3 at 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m, these screenings—and supplemental discussions—will be free with Museum admission. 

Hosted by Disney Historian J.B. Kaufman, the screenings bookend a discussion of the Museum’s extensive collection of Bambi artifacts. Each screening includes a question and answer session.

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington selected Bambi, along with 24 other films from more than 2,000 nominations to be preserved as cultural, artistic and historical treasures in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

One of Walt Disney’s timeless classics (and a personal favorite of his), this animated coming-of-age tale of a wide-eyed fawn’s life in the forest has enchanted generations since its debut 70 years ago.

"Bambi was one that we had a little trouble starting," Walt said, "because we had the book and we were trying to retain certain things from the book. And it was quite a fight there, ‘til we finally decided that for our medium there were many things in the book that were not right, and then we made the changes.  And when we finally we got our own little plan for Bambi, why we begin to roll—we had a lot of fun with it."

Filled with iconic characters and moments, the film features beautiful images that were the result of extensive nature studies by Disney’s animators. Its realistic characters capture human and animal qualities in the time-honored tradition of folklore and fable, which enhance the movie’s resonating, emotional power. Treasured as one of film’s most heart-rending stories of parental love, Bambi also has come to be recognized for its eloquent message of nature conservation.

"There’s something in Bambi I think," Walt recalled, "that will last a long time."  

Other Walt Disney films in the National Film Registry include Fantasia (1941), Pinocchio (1940), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Steamboat Willie (1928), and Three Little Pigs (1933).

For each title named to the registry, the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation works to ensure that the film is preserved for future generations, either through the Library’s massive motion-picture preservation program or through collaborative ventures with other archives, motion-picture studios and independent filmmakers. The Packard Campus is home to more than six million collection items, including nearly three million sound recordings. It provides staff support for the Library of Congress National Film Preservation Board, the National Recording Preservation Board and the National Registries for film and recorded sound.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. It seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs and exhibitions.

Hope to see you here to celebrate this milestone film and the honor of its preservation with us on March 3.

Member Event Recap: Brain Storming with Don Hahn

On Saturday February 25 at 10:00AM, select Members were able to meet and spend time with Academy Award®-nominated producer and author Don Hahn, in the Special Exhibition Hall at The Walt Disney Family Museum.

Don produced the classic Beauty and the Beast, the first animated film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar® from the Academy of Motion Picture of Arts and Sciences. His next film, The Lion King, broke box office records to become the top-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time, and a blockbuster Broadway musical. Don also served as associate producer of the landmark film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

His other credits include The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Disneynature films Earth, Oceans, African Cats, and the upcoming Chimpanzees; and the short The Little Matchgirl—which earned Hahn his second Oscar Nomination. He is currently Executive Producer of Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie, a stop motion animated feature due out in 2012. His latest book, Brain Storm: Unleashing Your Creative Self is out in bookstores—and was included in the ticket price of this special Member Event.

Don produced the classic Beauty and the Beast, the first animated film nominated for a Best Picture Oscar® from the Academy of Motion Picture of Arts and Sciences. His next film, The Lion King, broke box office records to become the top-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time, and a blockbuster Broadway musical. Don also served as associate producer of the landmark film Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

While enjoying a fresh cup of coffee and mingling with other Members, guests were able to enjoy Don's bright personality and conversation—and even get their photo taken while Don signed their copies of his book.

This was the second special signing event for Museum Members only (Sam Gennawey and Jeff Kurtti met Members and signed books in January), and departing Members were pleased and beaming, thanks to Don's charm and generosity.

Don, along with Jeff McCall and family, demonstrate the general mood of the event.Membership in The Walt Disney Family Museum has many benefits, including a membership card that grants free admission into the galleries plus one free guest every visit (per membership), complimentary film tickets, a quarterly newsletter, up-to-date info with eblasts and 10% discount in the Museum Store—as well as discounts on selected educational and public programs. In addition, several times a year, special events for Members only are held within the Museum itself. You can purchase immediate membership at the Ticket and Member Services Desk at the Museum during regular operating hours (Wednesday through Monday, 10:00AM to 6:00PM), or online by clicking here.