Making Of Documentaries

Perhaps no other Walt Disney film has had more TV specials devoted to it than Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs. This one tied in with the 1983 rerelease and is hosted by comedy star and character actor Dick van Patten. He was in several sitcoms in his career but may be best known to today's audiences for his numerous cameos in Mel Brookes comedy feature films. This TV special only aired once on CBS. This documentary was filmed by former Disney CEO Card Walker who'd been at the studio since the 1938 when he started as a mail clerk and personally knew all of these people and their important contributions to the studio. Walker cared very much about history and understood the importance of the Walt Disney legacy being preserved. He went on to make The Walt Disney Family Album after this. What makes this TV special unique is we see so many of the people involved with the film. This may be the only TV special on Snow White where many of them ever appeared. We hear from legendary Disney artists including Ken Anderson, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Woolie Reitherman, Ward Kimball, and Eric Larson. We also see a brief interview with Adriana Caselotti and Harry Stockwell who played Snow White and the Prince. Disney voice actors Paul Winchell and Clarence "Ducky" Nash also have a few comments. Wayne Allwine demonstrates some of the sound effect props that Jimmy MacDonald used in the original film at the Los Angelos Childrens Museum. We also see several very young Disney artists very early in their careers such as Glen Keane, John Lasseter, Phil Nibbelink, and Cyndee Whitney. We also see a comment from Joseph Bottoms who portrayed Major Effects in the infamous episode from Walt's TV show. There's also contemporary 1980's stars of time as well as vintage footage of Walt from the time of the film's original release. This is an important record of Walt Disney history and we're blessed it was produced at all. Original air date May 28, 1983 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

Although Walt had devoted glimpses at animated films in production on his TV shows since his very first Christmas specials, this was the first time a formal Making of documentary was ever produced for a Disney animated project. Mickey's Christmas Carol was an ambitious project for the time. It was produced largely by the team of young animators who came to work at the studio in the late 1970's and early 80's. Some of them you see in this film and they both revered the past and were seeking to prove themselves. We even see a few shots filmed in the studio morgue where the original artwork from the films were kept. Although such documentaries are commonplace today, this was very unusual for the time and was produced for the brand new Disney Channel. Mickey's Christmas Carol was conceived as Mickey's return to the big screen for the first time in over 30 years but the real star is Scrooge McDuck. It had originally been intended for the TV special market after its theatrical run and so it had to be a shorter running time than other Disney featurettes from the past. As a result, some scenes were left on the cutting room floor that involved Pluto and Minnie Mouse. The entire concept is based on a 1974 LP co-written by Alan Young who also provided the voices of many of the characters. Although there are some differences between the LP and the animated film, there are passages that are similar. Disney legend Burny Mattinson led this project. He started at Disney in 1953 with Floyd Norman and started out as an animator but primarily worked in the story dept until his death in 2023. When he wanted off The Black Cauldron, at the urging of his wife, Burny approached CEO Ron Miller with the idea and the LP. The project was immediately greenlit. The plan was to release the film in 1982 and a comic strip tying in was released that Christmas, but due to an industry wide animation strike the film was delayed until 1983 with the first reissue of The Rescuers. Burny co-directed The Great Mouse Detective after this. In many ways, Mickey's Christmas Carol is a historic film. Aside from being Mickey's return to theater screens, it marked the first time Wayne Allwine voiced Mickey in a theatrical project. He took over from Jimmy MacDonald and would remain Mickey's voice until his death in 2009. This was the final film featuring Clarence "Ducky" Nash as Donald Duck. He'd originated the character in 1934 and would pass away shortly after its release. In fact, the film was tied in with Donald's 50th birthday. This also marked the first time Alan Young provided the voice of Uncle Scrooge McDuck in animation. He had supplied the voice in the original 1974 LP. In this documentary he talks about how he got to also portray the voice in animation. He would voice the character across the board until his death in 2016. Hal Smith and Will Ryan are also interviewed. Smith was a prolific character actor and voice artist. He's perhaps best known as Otis the Drunk on The Andy Griffith Show. In Mickey's Christmas Carol he portrays Goofy. He'd also appeared as multiple characters on the original LP. Will Ryan portrays multiple characters in Mickey's Christmas Carol but the most prominent are Willie the Giant and Pegleg/Black Pete. Ryan was a talented voice artist of the time being part of the primary voice cast of multiple Disney Afternoon shows in the 1980's, a regular on the Focus on the Family radio series Adventures in Odyssey, but he may be best known at that time as the voice of Grubby in the Teddy Ruxpin toy line and animated series. Mickey's Christmas Carol was also the first major project made up of the next generation of animators without the Nine Old Men. Glen Keane animated Goofy and Willie the Giant. He would go one to be one of Disney's top animators. Mark Henn animated Mickey and he also went on to be the lead animator for many of Disney's princesses in the forthcoming animated features. The other animator interviewed is David Block. He was a lesser known animator of the Eisner era because he spent much of his career at Walt Disney Television developing animated series for TV and direct to video cheapquels before returning to Walt Disney Feature Animation. For decades Mickey's Christmas Carol was broadcast on network TV as a Christmas special and has aired on all three major networks (CBS, NBC, and ABC.) It was often paired with vintage Disney cartoon shorts with a winter theme and a behind the scenes segment on the latest animated feature from the studio. It's become a perennial favorite but this behind the scenes documentary is rarely seen. Also of note is this documentary features interviews originally shot for the Disney Channel series The Walt Disney Family Album. Original airdate December 1, 1984 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is the first of the Making Of specials that aired on the Disney Channel at the time of their latest animated film releases. As each successive film was released, some felt they became monotonous but each film is a different story with different challenges behind it. The objective of The Little Mermaid was the jumpstart Walt Disney Feature Animation with a classic film and this documentary demonstrates how much the filmmakers revered those earlier films from Walt's time. As we all know, they succeeded. A Highlight of this documentary include the only interviews with Howard Ashman who died before Beauty & the Beast and Aladdin were released. He was regarded as the instrumental figure in rebooting Disney animated features. He understood the past and was able to build the future on it. Many of the filmmakers who worked with him were still utilizing lessons he'd taught them on story, character, and music well into the 2000's. He only cared about story and character, he wasn't for this wokeness. In recent years, there's been a push by the woke to make Ursula a drag queen in reimaginings and performances of the music because one of Ashman's inspirations for the character was a drag queen known as Divine. However, this was NOT the only inspiration for the character and when the animators were going too far with the Divine influence, it as Howard who told them to pull it back. Howard Ashman didn't just write the songs and work on the stories and characters for The Little Mermaid. He was one of the film's producers and that made a huge difference in what came later in the late 90's and early 2000's. His influence was pivotal in restoring Walt Disney animated features to the artform they became known for again. In this documentary, you also get to see many of the actors and artists who worked on this special film. It's interesting to see these people at the beginning of their journey, not realizing just how much Walt Disney history legacy was before them that they'd all play a role in rebuilding. Alyssa Milano is the host as she was one of the models for the design of Ariel but not the only one. Original air date November 11, 1989 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is the second of the Making Of specials that aired on the Disney Channel at the time of their latest animated film releases. As each successive film was released, some felt they became monotonous but each film is a different story with different challenges behind it. The objective of The Little Mermaid had been to jumpstart Walt Disney Feature Animation with a classic film, the objective of Beauty & the Beast was to solidify it. This documentary demonstrates how that was accomplished. The Walt Disney Studios knew they had something extra special with Beauty & the Beast and that would be affirmed in the coming months with unprecedented box office returns, award wins and nominations. David Ogden Stiers, who plays Cogsworth and the Narrator in the film, hosts this documentary in what would become the standard template for such Making of specials. Stiers would go one to portray several more characters in both Disney live action and animated films but Cogsworth was his first Disney role. We meet the voice cast, the animators and many of the behind the scenes figures who produced this film. Given how much of this sort of thing we see today, the unique novelty of this may have worn off. There was still a lot of Walt Disney history legacy ahead of this team and it's exciting looking back at this time knowing the heights they would reach in only a few short years. Original air date November 16, 1991 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is the third of the Making Of specials that aired on the Disney Channel at the time of their latest animated film releases. As each successive film was released, some felt they became monotonous but each film is a different story with different challenges behind it. The objective of The Little Mermaid had been to jumpstart Walt Disney Feature Animation with a classic film, the objective of Beauty & the Beast was to solidify it. Aladdin continued to build on it. This documentary demonstrates how that was accomplished. The Walt Disney Studios felt that Aladdin was a unique film in their canon. They'd hired Robin Williams to portray the Genie and he was really the first A-list celebrity to voice an animated character in the modern era. That trend has continued where quite often casts of animated features are comprised only of A-list celebrities. Walt always used radio actors for his animated films because they understood how to act with their voice. Robin Williams ended up having a strained relationship with Disney over Aladdin. In 1992, he was starring in Toys in direct competition with Aladdin. He didn't want Disney to market the film on his back so he wasn't allowed to be mentioned in advertising. (He wasn't mentioned in the Making of book either and after this making of special initially aired, he segment was edited out.) However, the Genie was everyone's favorite character in testing so Jeffery Katzenberg went back to Williams asking to amend the agreement to advertise with the Genie. Robin agreed but Katzenberg took it too far. Robin Williams refused to work with Disney until after Katzenberg had left the studio. Actor John Rhys Davies hosts this documentary in what would become the standard template for such Making of specials. Davies had no connection with the film but was cast because of his affiliation with the Indiana Jones franchise as Sallah. He would go one to portray Aladdin's father in the direct to video cheapquel Aladdin & the King of Thieves. We meet the voice cast, the animators and many of the behind the scenes figures who produced this film. Given how much of this sort of thing we see today, the unique novelty of this may have worn off. There was still a lot of Walt Disney history legacy ahead of this team and it's exciting looking back at this time knowing the heights they would reach in only a few short years. This making of would later air on ABC in extremely edited form a few years later. Aladdin was an even bigger hit than Beauty & the Beast had been and the future of Walt Disney Feature Animation never seemed brighter. Original airdate November 25, 1992 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This Disney Channel TV special was created for the 1993 rerelease of Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs. While not as in depth as the making of documentaries they'd produce for the contemporary films, the reason this program is so valuable is because it features some of the last interviews ever conducted from the people who made this film. We hear from Snow White's voice Adriana Caselotti and several of the Nine Old Men including Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Marc Davis, and Ward Kimball. There's also a few soundbites from Roy Disney, Jr and animation historian Charles Solomon. There's lots of historical footage and we also get a segment on the restoration of the film as well as a few clips of both celebrities and average Americans discussing how they feel about the film. It's interesting to note just how diverse the audience is and they all universally praise the film. It's a shame this documentary has never been officially released on one of Snow Whites DVD releases. It's an important record of Walt Disney History. *Quality note - This is the best quality print of this film that could be located and opening is missing. If a better quality/complete print ever surfaces we will replace it in this archive. Original air date June 10, 1993 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is the Disney Channel making of special about the Disney Movietoons' film A Goofy Movie. Disney Movietoons was an animation studio established in Paris to create theatrical feature films based on the Disney Afternoon properties. Before this, they'd produced the film Ducktales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp. That film had not been the huge success Disney had hoped so production was scaled back for A Goofy Movie. A Goofy Movie is directed by Kevin Lima who later directed such films as Tarzan and Enchanted. His wife is Brenda Chapman who co-directed such films as The Prince of Egypt and what became Brave. Eventually the concept of using satellite studios to make animated features transitioned into making cheapquels to the Walt Disney animated features. The Paris studio was eventually folded into Walt Disney Feature Animation with scenes of Tarzan, Atlantis: the Lost Empire, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and others being made there. They also made the Mickey Mouse animated short cartoon Runaway Brain. A Goofy Movie is loosely based on the Disney Afternoon series Goof Troop as some characters from that series don't appear, although they had been planned to. It was released in 1995 a few months before the studio's big release Pocahontas. Although Pocahontas was the more successful film at the time. Because it had been a Jeffery Katzenberg project, the film was dumped out into theaters with little fanfare, although it had originally been planned to be the Christmas 1994 release. It was a spring 1995 release instead. A Goofy Movie came to enjoy a longevity as a cult classic, even garnering it's own direct to video cheapquel in 2000. This making of special is hosted by Jenna Van Oy who voiced the supporting character of Stacey in the film. She was also a sitcom star of the time of the show Blossom. The hosting sequences were filmed in Mickey's Toontown. What makes this making of documentary unique is it's one of the few to focus on one of Disney's foreign animated films. You get the usual type of behind the scenes interviews involved but with a unique twist to them. A Goofy Movie was created long distance in the analog days which makes how it turned out all the more remarkable. Original airdate January 20,1995 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is the fifth of the Making Of specials that aired on the Disney Channel at the time of their latest animated film releases. As each successive film was released, some felt they became monotonous but each film is a different story with different challenges behind it. Actress Irene Bedard hosts this documentary and she was the speaking voice of Pocahontas in the film. Her segments were filmed on location of the real Jamestown Settlement site in Virginia. Pocahontas was designed to be the Romeo & Juliet of the Disney animation canon. An earlier version of the story was in development that was more in the tradition of Walt Disney animated features where the animals talked and there was more comedy. When Beauty & the Beast was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, the film was rebooted to be more serious in tone in hopes of tailor making a Best Picture winner. John Candy and Stephen Fry had recorded dialog for animal characters in that version but it was all tossed aside for this new approach. Pocahontas was the first Disney animated feature to draw from history but that created a controversy at the time with the liberties taken with the historical events. The descendants of Pocahontas who'd consulted on the film became some of its harshest critics upon release. They went on a media tour educating viewers on the historical Pocahontas. Some American Indian advocates hailed the film for how they felt it portrayed their narrative on their ancestors. Whether that's accurate or not is up for speculation. Even though Disney consulted with all of these PC groups, decades later the film would come under fire by these same groups for being "racist." Maybe it's best to just do the best film you can and not worry about the "experts" like Walt Disney himself did. In this documentary we meet many of the key talent from the directors and animators to the voice talent and songwriters and beyond. It's a fairly standard format by this point but each film has its unique backstory and Pocahontas has one of the most interesting histories of the Eisner era animated features. Sadly, this documentary doesn't get into this backstory. When Pocahontas was released, while it was more successful than The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, and Aladdin had been, it did not top The Lion King, which had been the most successful animated feature ever up to that time. Because of that, Pocahontas is believed to be a flop. It wasn't. It's a beautifully made film and the first of the string of animated epics Disney would make in the late 1990's. It didn't garner the awards that had been anticipated and it quickly faded away. Even today, very few people cite it as their favorite Disney film. Disney had also followed every PC edict of the "experts" on how they handled the American Indians in this film. This same crowd now claims the film is "racist" under their woke ideology. Perhaps Disney would have been better off just producing the best film they could without trying to force things into it. Original airdate June 11, 1995 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is Making Of special is a bit of an anomaly because there's nothing about it online. It's not the same one that aired on The Disney Channel in 1995 and may have been produced for the international english speaking market. Actor David Ogden Stiers hosts this look behind Walt Disney Feature Animation's 33rd animated feature Pocahontas. He portrayed both Wiggins and Governor John Ratcliffe in the film and also hosted the Disney Channel Making Of for Beauty & the Beast. Pocahontas was designed to be the Romeo & Juliet of the Disney animation canon. An earlier version of the story was in development that was more in the tradition of Walt Disney animated features where the animals talked and there was more comedy. When Beauty & the Beast was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, the film was rebooted to be more serious in tone in hopes of tailor making a Best Picture winner. John Candy and Stephen Fry had recorded dialog for animal characters in that version but it was all tossed aside for this new approach. In this making of we meet many of the filmmakers and get the typical PC spin that surrounded the film at the time. We meet some of the animators, the executives, the actors, the songwriters, and more but this documentary is unique from others for a few reasons. One aspect that makes this documentary a valuable resource is because the animators discuss how they collaborate to have their characters interact together in a scene. In Walt's era one animator who handle all the characters in a scene alone. In the Eisner era one animator mostly handled only their character in a scene. Each method has his merits but are very different ways of working. No other documentary gets into this aspect of a hand drawn performance. Another aspect no other making of covers is how Disney animated features are dubbed into other languages. This may be the only Disney documentary that covers how precise this process was done at the time. Also worth noting is during the segment on the songs, if you listen close you will hear Alan Menken singing a deleted song called Powerful Magic. This demo has never been officially released while many others from the film have. When Pocahontas was released, while it was more successful than The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, and Aladdin, it did not top The Lion King, which had been the most successful animated feature ever up to that time. Because of that, Pocahontas is believed to be a flop. It wasn't. It's a beautifully made film and the first of the string of animated epics Disney would make in the late 1990's. It didn't garner the awards that had been anticipated and it quickly faded away. Even today, very few people cite it as their favorite Disney film. Disney had also followed every PC edict of the "experts" on how they handled the American Indians in this film. This same crowd now claims the film is "racist" under their woke ideology. Perhaps Disney would have been better off just producing the best film they could without trying to force things into it. Original airdate Summer 1995 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.