Steve Collins's Articles in Arts & Entertainment

  • Baby Boomers still remember the Micke Mouse Club
    Older Americans remember with fondness coming home from school in the latter years of the 50's to watch Walt Disney Studios' Mickey Mouse Club. The second television show offered by Disney, The Mickey Mouse Club was televised in part to help finance the creation of the Disneyland theme park. From 5:00-6:00 in its first two seasons and from 5:00-5:30 in its last two, U.S. teens were glued to the set.
  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - a new step in Film Making
    The production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs began sometime in early 1934. This was Walt Disney's first crack at producing an animated film. To this point, Disney had effectively drawn a series of animated shorts entitled The Alice Comedies as well as Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies.
  • Disney DVDs are Not Just for Children to Enjoy
    Nobody wants to be the parent who permits their children watch movies all the time or who uses the television as a baby sitter. However, on a rainy day or for a special occasion, it is welcoming to be able to have a shelf of movies that are favorite fare for kids. It is also a wonderful idea to have a portable DVD player to entertain kids on long car rides or airplane flights or on the occasional days when your children have to accompany you to the office!
  • When XBox Meets Disney, the Results are Great
    Because of the internet, the world is a different place, and changes happen overnight. It has metamorphosed the way we make friends with one another, the way we study, and the way we entertain ourselves. About a year ago, for instance, the Xbox Live Marketplace was started to allow users to download movie rentals on demand. This innovative service was embraced immediately. Within seven months, more than 10 million movies had been accessed via Xbox's online downloading service. Currently, it is the only company renting on demand movies in high definition.
  • Sharkboy and Lavagirl, A Quirky Classic
    The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl takes viewers on a wild ride in the grand tradition of fantastical films such as Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which is set in a bizarre world, and films such as The Never-ending Story, in which mistreatment by bullies sends the victim into a dream world where he can be a hero. The merger of fantasy and reality in the film is intriguing.
  • The Country Bear Jamboree
    When Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom premiered in 1971, it featured a great audio-animatronic show called The Country Bear Jamboree. As the name suggests, the show featured bears performing country music. The show was such a hit that capacity was expanded, Disneyland got its own Jamboree, and a second theatre was built to accommodate the crowds.
  • Bambi, Disney's Moving Masterpiece
    In 1942, Walt Disney released his fifth animated movie, Bambi. It was based on the Austrian book Bambi, A Life In The Woods, by Felix Salten. Published in 1923, the book followed the adventures of a male roe deer from birth to maturity. The book was popular both in Europe and the United States. Salten, whose real name was Siegmund Salzmann, was Hungarian by birth but spent most of his time in Vienna. The popularity of the book inspired Salten to write a sequel entitled Bambi's Children.
  • Dumbo, Disney's 4th Animated Classic
    In 1941, Walt Disney distributed his fourth animated feature, Dumbo. Based on the children's book of the same name, written by Helen Aberson and drawn by Harold Perl, Dumbo follows the adventures of Jumbo, Jr., a baby elephant. Because of his unnaturally large ears, which give him the power to fly, Jumbo, Jr. is nicknamed "Dumbo." His only friend, other than his mother, is Timothy the mouse.
  • The Birth of the Pioneering Disney Studios
    The Walt Disney Company was created in 1923 by brothers Walt and Roy Disney in Los Angeles. The Disney brothers started by producing a series of live-action/animated short films communally named The Alice Comedies. Within four months of the initial screenings, the brothers were urged to move to larger facilities, dubbed "Disney Bros. Studio." According their official website, in 1925 the Disney brothers placed a deposit on a lot on Hyperion Avenue in the Silver Lake district of Los Angeles. This lot would house the Disney Studio for the next 14 years, seeing the dawn of such beloved characters as Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald Duck.
  • The Shaggy Dog - Disney's First Live Action Comedy
    The Shaggy Dog is a black and white 1959 Walt Disney movie about a youngster who is turned into a sheep dog by a cursed ring. Aside from its comic merit, it is noteworthy as being the first Walt Disney live-action comedy ever made. A testament to its appeal is the number of remakes and spin-offs based on this source material.
  • Beauty and the Beast, the Epitome of the Disney Renaissance
    Beauty and the Beast is the 30th animated feature made by Walt Disney Studio. Based on the traditional French fairytale made popular by Madame Beaumont's story published in 1756, the film premiered at Disney's El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles in 1991. Beauty and the Beast is still one of the best known and beloved films in the Disney canon.
  • Mary Poppins, An Oscar-Winning Classic
    Mary Poppins is the beloved musical produced by Walt Disney and starring Julie Andrews. Released in 1964, the film was based on the best-selling children's book written by P.L. Travers and illustrated by Mary Shepard. It enjoyed phenomenal success when it was released, and was ranked by the American Film Institute as the 6th best musical of all time, just above A Star Is Born and below Cabaret.
  • Cinderella iii Lives Up to the Magic of the Original
    People are fond of referencing Cinderella, gleefully joking about the magical midnight alteration of the star character from an enchanted princess into her old self. The 1950 Disney full length cartoon was nominated for three Academy Awards and has remained a classic for nearly sixty years.
  • Pocahontas - A Legend Comes To Life
    In 1995, Walt Disney Pictures released the first Disney feature where, as the tagline states, "an American legend comes to life." Pocahontas, the first Disney film based on an genuine historic figure, was the 33rd animated film ever released by Disney Studios and marked the high-watermark for the Disney Renaissance which had begun in 1989 with The Little Mermaid. This film was one of the few Disney films to ever portray an interracial romance (between Pocahontas and John Smith).
  • Atlantis: The Lost Empire - A Gem to Rediscover
    Atlantis: The Lost Empire was released by Walt Disney Pictures in the summer of 2001. It was written for the screen by Tab Murphy, who had also co-written Tarzan and The Hunchback of Notre Dame for Disney. This is the 40th movie in the Walt Disney animated film canon, and only the second Disney film ever, since The Black Cauldron, to be stamped with a PG rating.

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