The cross-company plans, which were detailed extensively in the New York Times, include TCM working with Disney to update the Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Orlando and Disney providing content for a Treasures from the Disney Vault series to air several times per year on TCM.
I was curious when I recently received my TCM Now Playing guide and noticed several Disney programs and movies airing on December 21st, including THE DISNEYLAND STORY (1954) and THE RELUCTANT DRAGON (1941). Now we know what was behind that programming! The schedule for December 21st is here; it also includes DAVY CROCKETT (1955), THE VANISHING PRAIRIE (1954), and THIRD MAN ON THE MOUNTAIN (1959).
The TCM press release details some of the additional titles coming to TCM in the next year, including THE THREE CABALLEROS (1944), THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD (1949), DARBY O'GILL AND THE LITTLE PEOPLE (1959), and POLLYANNA (1960). TCM also plans to air Disney documentaries such as WALT AND EL GRUPO (2008), about Walt Disney's 1941 South American tour, and WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY (2009), about the renaissance of animated Disney musicals in the '80s.
I'm very hopeful we might see some more relatively obscure Disney films air on TCM in the coming months, such as SO DEAR TO MY HEART (1948), THE STORY OF ROBIN HOOD AND HIS MERRIE MEN (1952), THE SWORD AND THE ROSE (1953), ROB ROY: THE HIGHLAND ROGUE (1953), WESTWARD HO THE WAGONS! (1956), SUMMER MAGIC (1963), MIRACLE OF THE WHITE STALLIONS (1963), THE MOON-SPINNERS (1964), SMITH! (1969), THE CASTAWAY COWBOY (1974), and NIGHT CROSSING (1982).
As I Tweeted this morning, it would also seem a natural fit if Disney and TCM would partner to resurrect the Disney Treasures DVD program, not to mention Disney's short-lived MOD DVD series.My husband and I have had occasion to discuss the Treasures sets with host Leonard Maltin in the past, and he spoke about Disney not having great interest in marketing sets made for such a niche audience, when they can make so much more selling their most popular titles.
Classic film fans would doubtless give the lesser-known but much-wanted "vintage" Disney titles brisk traffic at the TCM Shop. Let's cross our fingers that a partnership eventually emerges in this area as well.As the New York Times notes, for the past two years Disney and TCM have also partnered for the TCM Classic Film Cruise and the TCM Classic Film Festival. The cruise is now held on a Disney cruise ship, while Disney's El Capitan Theatre has hosted screenings at the festival. It's going to be exciting to see how the partnership further develops in the months to come.
In related news, Aurora has a great interview with TCM programmer Charlie Tabesh at her blog Once Upon a Screen. Be sure to check it out!
Looking forward to seeing more Disney treasures on TCM.
ReplyDeleteSome Disney movies on tv that have fallen under the radar have been airing quite frequently on BYU TV, it's the Bringham Young University channel. We get it up in the 500's on DirecTV. Anyhow, they have a great package of films that they run, including In Search of the Castaways, The Castaway Cowboy, The Wild Country and Night Crossing. Worth checking out if your tv provider carries it! I've been able to cross a few titles of the very small list of Disney films I haven't seen.
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