The Strange 1941 Film Packed with Disney Legends

Comments · 201

• WE

  @WestofNeverland · 1 month ago · pinned

  What do you think of The Reluctant Dragon? Do you think Walt’s idea of blending a real behind-the-scenes studio tour with animated shorts could have been a massive hit under different circumstances, or was the format best left to short promotional reels?<br><br>Also, let me know if you spotted any other animator cameos in the background that I missed!

  28

• RO

  @ronkemperful · 1 month ago

  I saw this pseudo documentary a few years ago; and it interested me because my grandmother was one of three telephone operators for Disney Studios at the time. She related that she used to take her lunch breaks in the sound effects department, enjoying watching the performers breaking glasses, making odd sounds often with ordinary household items. One of her biggest impressions was with Walt Disney himself as he walked through the studio and that he knew everyone’s first name. Maybe that was why the animation strike was so devastating to Walt as he thought that he had a happy workplace family?

  51

• TE

  @temong0long054 · 1 month ago (edited)

  One can only dream of seeing writing and animation this great being made nowadays. It was good while it lasted.

  8

• FI

  @FieryDiscourse · 1 month ago

  I feel like the biggest thing was that this was the seed for Walt Disney Presents. You can tell that trying to do it as a film format was awkward but it wouldn&apos;t gel until TV took shape in the early 50s. Walt was such an early adopter of television that it really gave him a leg up.

  25

• DA

  @davidpumpkinsjr.5108 · 1 month ago

  An amusing behind-the-scenes production. Laying the groundwork for the kind of thing often seen in The Wonderful World of Disney.

  15

• JO

  @JosephDavies · 1 month ago

  Sounds like Walt sabotaged this attempt at a resurgence by not negotiating and letting the labor strikes get so bad they affected the film&apos;s release.

  6

• TE

  @TerrickTerran · 1 month ago

  Very fun to see Clarence Nash doing Donald onscreen. Also very neat to see all these people. 1941 was just going to be tough with everything going on.

  22

• ME

  @mevb · 1 month ago

  The part where Benchly gets delivered to Walt Disney, is spoofed in the Superstar Limo (the former dark ride of Disney California Adventure, now replaced by Monsters, Inc. Mike &amp; Sulley to the Rescue!) commercial where Barry Boswick and Richard Kind are delivered to Michael Eisner (the then-CEO of The Walt Disney Company at the time of the ride&apos;s opening) in a similar manner.

  4

• GD

  @GdSza · 1 month ago (edited)

  You&apos;ve made the connection for me that the Asian woman in the life drawing class is illustrator Gyo Fujikawa! Only in recent years I became aware of her work. Her Pidgin English accent is a put-on for the script; she&apos;s a born American. She spoke highly of Walt, who transferred her to New York during WWII to avoid the internment of Japanese.<br>I think The Reluctant Dragon must be one of my favourites; I&apos;ve watched it many times over the last 45 years. It&apos;s a fantasy to imagine what it was like working at Disney studios back then, not to mention the great cartoonier animation. It would seem to me &quot;lower budget&quot; animation for Disney meant cartoonier, like Dumbo and The Reluctant Dragon.

  10

• ZA

  @zacharyjohnson598 · 1 month ago

  The early foley artist. Making sound with everyday objects.

  2

• JA

  @jasobres · 1 month ago

  While most of the interior shots <i>were</i> done on soundstages, the multiplane camera scene was actually shot in the studio, since the camera itself was too big and heavy to be moved. Also, the Goofy short was inserted at the insistence of RKO, replacing a Ward Kimball animation of Mickey doing a crazy dance, which would later be used in <i>Mickey&apos;s Birthday Party.</i>

  12

• TK

  @TKGentryArt · 2 weeks ago

  This has been a fave of mine since childhood.