Found Disney: Mickey Mouse Meets Carol Burnett

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Dis-LEE

Once again I have found a Disney reference in an unexpected place. My wife and I have been watching the lost episodes of The Carol Burnett Show:

Episode #108 – November 4th, 1968

The above episode started with a Q&A session between Carol and the audience. For some reason, an audience member asked “Why is everyone wearing Mickey Mouse watches?” In answer, Carol extends her left arm and shows that she is indeed wearing a vintage Bradley MM watch:

That is very hard (ne: impossible) to see, so here is an image of what a Bradley Mickey Mouse watch looks like:

She informs the audience that Soupy Sales had given it to her the year previous when he was a guest star on the show. For those unfamiliar with this man, Milton Supman (January 8, 1926 – October 22, 2009), was an American comedian, actor, radio/television personality, and jazz aficionado. But I digress…

She goes on to give a little history of the watch and some advice. We are told that an original Bradley MM watch sold for just $2.95 US but now (in 1968) could fetch a price between $150 and $175.00 US.

Her advice? If you had one at home: Keep it safe!

Today you can pick up a Bradley MM watch for between $40 and $75.00 US on eBay. The drop in price is due to the availability of merchandise from around the world on sites such as eBay, and also due to the fact that literally millions were made. So they aren’t as rare as one might suppose.

You can get a less-than-mint version without its original strap for under $10.00 US.

Posted in Collectibles, Found Disney, Television | Tagged Bradley, Carol Burnett, Collectibles, Found Disney, Mickey Mouse Watch, Q & A, Soupy Sales, Television, Watches | 3 Comments

Found Disney – Mickey Mouse Meets Carol Burnett

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Dis-LEE

Once again I have found a Disney reference in an unexpected place. My wife and I have been watching the lost episodes of The Carol Burnett Show:

Episode #108 – November 4th, 1968

That is very hard (ne: impossible) to see, so here is an image of what a Bradley Mickey Mouse watch looks like:

Her advice? If you had one at home: Keep it safe!

You can get a less-than-mint version without its original strap for under $10.00 US.

Posted in Collectibles, Found Disney, Television | Tagged Bradley, Carol Burnett, Collectibles, Found Disney, Mickey Mouse Watch, Q & A, Soupy Sales, Television, Watches | 3 Comments

BOOK REVIEW: Hardcover Disney Books by Whitman

Posted on April 9, 2016 by Dis-LEE

Whitman Publishing was a subsidiary of Western Publishing that produced a popular line of children’s books the early 1900s to the mid-1970s. Whitman published a variety of genres including westerns, mysteries, science fiction, and adventure stories. Eventually they also published authorized editions of popular television shows and book adaptions of many Walt Disney films.

Among the most popular Disney adaptions were a series of mystery novels featuring Annette Funicello. And although I don’t have one of those, yet, I do have two Disney-related titles to share with you today:

Toby Tyler is a film produced by Walt Disney Productions and was released January 21, 1960. The book version above is copyrighted the same year. The story is based on the 1880 children’s book Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with a Circus by James Otis Kaler.

Film Synopsis: Ten year old Toby runs away from his foster home to join the circus. There he soon befriends Mr. Stubbs, a chimpanzee. However, the circus isn’t all fun and he has some rough times. At one point, he departs the circus for home but is brought back to the circus against his will. His family is in attendance during one particular performance and a reunion ensues. Along with his chimpanzee sidekick, he creates a new act and is a big hit at the Big Top!

The book basically follows this plot with less detail than the movie version. Here are a few pages to show the artwork. The crude one-color printing is indicative of the period in publishing for children’s books:

Inside leaf, front and back

Title Page

The next book that I have does co-star Annette along with Tommy Kirk as the title character, Merlin Jones:

Inside leaf, front and back

Title Page

The Misadventures of Merlin Jones is a 1964 Walt Disney production where Kirk plays a college student who experiments with mind-reading and hypnotism, leading to run-ins with a local judge. Funicello plays his girlfriend (and sings the film’s title song written by brothers Robert and Richard Sherman). This film led to a 1965 sequel called The Monkey’s Uncle which featured another title song sung by Annette but this time with The Beach Boys. The book version is also copyrighted 1964.

Film Synopsis: Midvale College student Merlin designs a helmet that connects to an electroencephalographic tape that records mental activity. He is brought before a Judge for wearing the helmet while driving and his license is suspended. Merlin returns to the lab and discovers accidentally that his new invention enables him to read minds. This leads to a misunderstanding between himself and the judge, with hilarity ensuing!

Merlin’s next experiment uses hypnotism which he uses on lab chimp. Merlin gets into a fight over this and ends up in front of the same judge as before. After some explaining, Merlin and the judge enter into an experiment involving dishonesty with hilarity ensuing!

Let’s have a look at the artwork, which is again one-color renderings of key scenes:

I would give these two books, and the series from Whitman in general, a 4 out of 5 Stars. I think they are a great way to get your tween into reading but being as the series was discontinued in 1970’s it may be hard to interest them in the subject matter.

These books are very common and so can be found at almost any flea market. I paid only a few dollars for each of these. Condition issues are usually prevalent as the clear protective film that covers the hardcover binding tends to peel off, and the spines are often cracked.

Page yellowing is another common issue due to the cheap grade of paper used in printing, but this is expected and so doesn’t affect the price as much. Still, be careful what you pay, and only pay more for a copy that is in absolute mint condition.

Posted in Books, Movies, Reviews | Tagged Annette Funicello, Book Reviews, James Otis Kaler, Kevin Corcoran, Movies, Reviews, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, Toby Tyler, Tommy Kirk, Western Publishing Company, Whitman Publishing | Leave a comment

Secret Disney Obsessions – We All Have Them!

Posted on April 6, 2016 by Dis-LEE

Today we are sharing some of our secret Disney obsessions.

So what is it with men and transportation? If it has wheels and moves, we’re all over it! I never miss a chance to ride the Tomorrowland Speedway/Autopia cars, even though I can’t breathe while doing so.

DL Hotel: I’ll even drive indoors!

I use snuggling with my wife as an excuse to ride the PeopleMover, although technically it doesn’t have wheels, but it does move! For more on my obsession with this form of Disney transportation, and many other Disney ride vehicles, just click the link.

I also love the vintage vehicles on Main Street.

DL: Up or down?

I even prefer to drive to Walt Disney World instead of flying! Let’s face it, I’m hooked on Disney transportation!

But I think I come by this obsession honestly as I share it, not only with every other man on the planet, but also with Walt Disney himself. After all, who do you think put all of those wheeled wonders in the parks?

DL: I even love riding the trams!

But my top two transportation-related Disney obsessions are the trains and monorails, both at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

WDW: Frontierland Station, as seen from Splash Mountain queue

DL: Casey Jr. chugging around the track

There’s nothing like the sound of a real steam locomotive! And when it travels along a scenic route such as in a Disney park, one can’t help but love the trip.

In contrast, there is also nothing quite like gliding silently along the cement beam of the monorial!

WDW: Monorail Purple in Epcot

DL: Monorail Red traveling over Finding Nemo subs

Maybe it’s the extreme difference in technologies between the steam engine and the monorail that makes riding these forms of transportation so special for me. Leave it to Walt Disney to include the nostalgic right alongside the modern!

Before I conclude this post, I should confess one final transportation-related obsession:

WDW: I even like riding the buses!

So those are my obsessions involving Disney! What are yours? Let me know in the comments. Thank you!

Posted in Attractions, Disneyland, Theme Parks, Transportation | Tagged Attractions, Autopia, Casey Jr., Disney Trams, Disneyland, Main Street Vehicles, Monorail, Omibus, Secret Disney Obsessions, Steam Trains, Theme Parks, Transportation, Walt Disney World | 10 Comments

Sleeping Beauty Read-Along Book and Record

Posted on April 5, 2016 by Dis-LEE

In 1955 Walt Disney named the Disneyland castle after a new Princess who wasn’t to bow on the world stage for another two years. He thought it would make for good cross-promotion. Unfortunately, the film didn’t do as well with audiences as the theme park did, but has since become a Disney Classic.

But like every Disney property, it spawned many pieces of merchandise, like this wonderful record book:

These record books allowed young children to read along by themselves. They would know when to turn the pages as a chime would sound at the appropriate time.

Narration, original dialogue, authentic sound effects, musical backgrounds, and songs from the original properties were all features of these record books.

But let’s have a look at some of the artwork inside the Sleeping Beauty record book:

A coloring page was also included in this edition. Fortunately for me, as a collector, no one had actually colored in the characters!

Disneyland Records

It’s fun to read along with these shortened versions of the classic Disney films! I picked this one up for just $4.00 CAN.

If you’d like to see more record books, please check out these posts entitled The Black Hole Record Book and Mickey Mouse/Brave Little Tailor Record Book.

And if you just can’t get enough of Aurora, check out this post entitled Disney Tiny Kingdom – Sleeping Beauty.

Posted in Books, Music, Reviews | Tagged Books, Disneyland Records, Music, Read-Along, Reviews, Sleeping Beauty, Western Publishing Company | Leave a comment

Monday Topics: Disney Essentials

Posted on April 4, 2016 by Dis-LEE

W E E K O N E

DISNEY ESSENTIALS

Our friends over at Love Our Crazy Life have asked some of their blogging friends (like me) to participate in a Blogging Challenge. So for four weeks in April, on every Monday morning, I will be covering a different Disney-related topic. You can click the link above to find all of the other participants and their entries. Enjoy!

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For Collecting

So you just love Vinylmations! You look for them everywhere you go: Disney Parks. Flea Markets. Yard Sales. But are you really ready to sensibly add to your collection? If you’re not careful, you could lose the find, or pay too much, and be disappointed!

Here are my Top Five Essentials that you must have to be a great collector:

Number One – Patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will your collection of Disney matchbooks be!

How much would owning each one of these cost you?

There are two factors that play on completing a collection: Availability and Price. Availability is usually more of a problem if what you are collecting is vintage, like postcards or Park Maps. It could take many years to find each piece of a set by searching eBay and local sellers. Price can make things difficult to complete a collection quickly if the line of merchandise is extensive, such as the flat plushes above.

So it is best to have patience and be happy with what you have found to date, and thrilled when you find each new piece, year after year. And… it usually does take years to complete a comprehensive collection of anything worthwhile!

Number Two – Organization. Have you ever bought something only to find that you already have it? Twice! This can lead to disappointment and inconvenience as now you have to liquidate your new find in order to invest in the next.

“Oh no! I bought one too many!”

Using your Smart Phone is the best defense against this problem. Simply use a notes app to list what you already have, or take photographs. You can upload these images to iCloud, or some similar service, and retrieve them when you need to check your stock.

Number Three – Budget. A find might be worth the world to you, but that is way too expensive, so haggle! Many times it is all too easy to get caught up in the moment and overpay for an item. Before you even leave your home on a buying trip, settle on the maximum amount you will pay for an individual piece, and the total expenditure for the day.

Don’t let your budget get caught in a money whirlpool!

Always remember that paying the mortgage/rent, buying food, and clothing your family is a tad more important than having a shelf full of trinkets!

Number Four – Curb Your Enthusiasm. The actual action thereof, not the television show! If you let a seller know you just have to have something they are selling, the price may go up (if not labeled) or at the very least there will be no price negotiation.

True Story: I was looking at a Disney Monorail Watch at a flea market. I was playing it cool by showing only mild interest and was about to start the negotiation process. At that moment my wife came up, saw the watch, and started to gush about how much I loved monorails and that I should definitely buy it! The man looked at me and smiled… and I paid his asking price.

Tip: If you are accompanying someone on a buying trip… zip it!

Number Five – Display Space. If you have nowhere to show off your latest find, maybe it’s time to rethink your strategy!

Those who collect big items know this problem only too well. A collection can outgrow available space quickly. So if you have limited space, it may be best to choose a smaller item to collect, like ephemera.

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Be sure to check out all four of my posts in this series of Monday Topics:

Topic One – Disney Essentials (You are here)

Topic Two – Disney Tutorial

Topic Three – Best Of Disney

Topic Four – Looking Back at Disney (April 25)

Posted in Collectibles, Lists, Tips | Tagged Blogging Challenge, Collectibles, Collecting, Disney Essentials, Lists, Love Our Crazy Life, Monday Topics, Plush, Tips | Leave a comment

BOOK REVIEW: Alice in Wonderland – Big Golden Book

Posted on April 2, 2016 by Dis-LEE

This over-sized wonder is a nice retelling of Lewis Carroll’s famous story of a little girl who falls into a rabbit hole and has some… pretty strange adventures.

9 1/2″ x 12 1/2″ with 22 pages

We’ve all heard of the Little Golden Books. Published since 1942, the line originally featured standard themes like the alphabet, prayers, barnyard animals, and bedtime stories. Later the line branched out and started releasing stories based on licensed properties from companies like Disney.

Back Cover

Undeniably the artwork is beautiful and is attributed to the Walt Disney Studio as adapted by Al Dempster from Disney’s motion picture version.

It’s time to start the story! Let’s look at a few pages from the book:

Walt Disney’s version of the story (1951) didn’t really work with audiences upon its theatrical release but has become more popular in recent times. Some even think that little Alice should be one of the Disney Princesses, but this wouldn’t make much sense, as she doesn’t come from or marry into royalty.

This Big Golden Book may have been more popular than the movie as the edition I have is the 29th printing as of 1976. And there is no denying that these books are popular overall, for at the time of the lines’ Golden Anniversary, Golden Books claimed that a billion and a half Little Golden Books had been sold!

I would give this book a 5 out of 5 stars, as it achieves all that a book of this kind, aimed at young children, would need to achieve. And really, how do you argue with the success of a book that has 29 or more printings to its credit?

Want more Alice? Check out my earlier post entitled Kathryn Beaumont Live-Action Film and see what the voice actress was up to before she fell into the rabbit hole for Disney.

Posted in Books, Reviews | Tagged A Big Golden Book, Al Dempster, Alice in Wonderland, Book Review, Books, Golden Press, Lewis Carroll, Reviews, Western Publishing Company | Leave a comment

People: My John Lasseter Story

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Dis-LEE

Back in 2013 I attended a publicity event in the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood and got my first glimpse of Disney/Pixar’s John Lasseter:

Pretty sure that’s a Wreck-it-Ralph shirt

I say ‘glimpse’ because I was in the audience and not in the front row! After the event, there were several after-parties, but I wasn’t invited to the one Mr. Lasseter attended.

So I was as close to a major Disney celebrity as I was going to get! But all was not lost, as I had another Lasseter moment on the street:

I walked all over him!

Is there a Disney celebrity you’d like to meet? Or see from a distance? Or see a picture of? Or read a post about?

Posted in Cast Members, People, Special Events | Tagged Cast Members, El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood, John Lasseter, People, Special Events, Stars | Leave a comment

Chef Mickey Platter

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Dis-LEE

Chef Mickey has a full line of kitchen products that are available at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. I don’t usually like this merchandise, but every once in a while, I find a piece that catches my eye:

9″ x 12″

Made by Oneida

Someone had glued a wire on the back so that the plate could be hung on the wall as a decoration. So I thought we’d take advantage of that and:

This will do until I install the range hood over the stove this summer. Until then, we finally have something appropriate to fill the empty space!

What about you? Would you use something like this for decoration, or would you want to use it to serve food?

Posted in Decorations, Merchandise | Tagged Chef Mickey, Decorations, Merchandise, Mickey Mouse, Oneida, Plates, Platters | Leave a comment

Schmid Musical Cruisin’ Mickey & Minnie

Posted on March 30, 2016 by Dis-LEE

Both my wife and I are into Disney and so I like to find collectibles that feature both Mickey and Minnie when I can. We have quite a few pieces that represent our togetherness as they depict Disney’s most famous couple doing something together!

I found this newest piece to our collection on Kijiji:

Mickey even has a personalized license plate

I picked this up for $15.00 CAN from a local woman who buys to sell. I’ve always liked the musical pieces that Schmid produces. And having Mickey and Minnie in a vintage car is an extra treat!

On/off stopper to prevent overwinding

Song: Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You

This song was released in 1967 as a single by Frankie Valli. Here are the lyrics:

You’re just too good to be true.
Can’t take my eyes off you.
You’d be like Heaven to touch.
I wanna hold you so much.
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I’m alive.
You’re just too good to be true.
Can’t take my eyes off you.

Pardon the way that I stare.
There’s nothing else to compare.
The sight of you leaves me weak.
There are no words left to speak,
But if you feel like I feel,
Please let me know that it’s real.
You’re just too good to be true.
Can’t take my eyes off you.

I love you, baby,
And if it’s quite alright,
I need you, baby,
To warm a lonely night.
I love you, baby.
Trust in me when I say:
Oh, pretty baby,
Don’t bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay
And let me love you, baby.
Let me love you.

And here is a video of Frankie singing, or crooning, the tune for us:

You can just imagine a moonlit night as you and your love drive down some lonely stretch of highway!

If you like Schmid musical collectibles like I do, check out a Belle Musical Figurine (from Beauty and the Beast) by clicking the link.

Posted in Collectibles, Figurines, Music, Transportation, Videos | Tagged Can't Take My Eyes Off of You, Collectibles, Figurines, Frankie Valli, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Music, Schmid, Transportation, Videos | Leave a comment

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