Robert Ripley's Believe It or Not comic panel proved so popular that many similar features, including Strange As It Seems by John Hix, appeared in newspapers, as well, to try to capitalize on its popularity. Hix's version proved to be the most popular and long lasting of the imitations, and he even had his own string of paperback books, radio show, newsreel appearances, and live shows.
But It's True…, It's Amazing!, Stranger Than Fiction, Odd But True, Hard to Believe, Nuggets of Knowledge, and more, including some that focused just on a particular state of the union also appeared.
While Ripley was annoyed about these competitors, especially Hix's version, he realized that factual material cannot be copyrighted and that the imitations paled in comparison to his original and often brought attention to it. Ripley's ever-increasing bank account seemed to indicate that these other versions were never a serious threat.
However, their existence was proof that readers everywhere love odd stories and facts. Once again, in keeping with that tradition, here are some more unusual oddities from the Vault of Walt archives…believe it or not!
The Drunk Pinocchios
Disney's classic animated feature film Pinocchio premiered in New York City on February 7, 1940, at the Center Theatre, part of the Rockefeller Center complex.
For the opening, the RKO publicity department hired 11 little people and clothed each of them in identical Pinocchio costumes. (At least one city had a little person in the Pinocchio costume riding a donkey down the street to promote the film.) They were placed atop the platform walkway on the marquee surrounding the front of the theater. They were told to interact with the crowd down below by waving, dancing, and similar activities.
At lunchtime, sandwiches and some beer were hoisted up to the performers. In the warmth of the afternoon, and effected by the alcohol, they started to remove parts of their itchy costumes. By 3 p.m., they were all completely naked, loudly belching, peeing over the side, and shouting obscenities at the crowd gathered below. Some were involved in a boisterous craps game to alleviate their boredom.
Despite fervent pleas to put back on their costumes and to climb down, they all adamantly refused the requests. The local police arrived and climbed up ladders to reach them, covered each of them in pillow cases and carried them back down to the street where they were taken away.
Duck. Donald Duck.
In Film Daily, February 21, 1938, an article titled “Disney His Despair” appeared with the following information: “A little kid in the first grade at the suburban Springfield, Pennsylvania, school, though his heart is heavy from the gibes of his fellow pupils, bravely smiles. The boy’s name is Donald Duck. His classmates invariably leave him with the farewell: 'See you in the movies!' or 'See you in the funny papers!' Even his teacher laughs when she reads his name at roll call. But Donald grins through it all and says resignedly, 'What else can a guy do?'”
While many parents have recently given their children some very odd names, it is important to remember that the situation is not a just a modern occurrence. Some people's legal name is actually “Donald Duck” showing that parents don't mind emotionally scarring their children.
A young British Donald Duck saved his younger sister and brother from a fire in 1949; an American Donald Duck joined the Navy in 1967; in 1958, Donald Duck of London was fined for driving with a defective muffler. My favorite is the Southern California Donald Duck who, in 1956, was arrested for strolling naked—except for a duck hat.
Backward Masterpiece
Igor Stravinsky was the only living composer whose work was represented in the Disney feature film Fantasia (1940). Curious about how his “Rite of Spring” composition was being handled by the Disney artists, Stravinsky visited the Disney Studios.
Walt was excited to take the composer on a tour through the studio, especially since his artists were working on that very sequence at that time. When Walt took Stravinsky to the animation department, and they poked their heads through the doorway to get a candid glimpse of the work in process, they were taken aback by what they saw.
Disney Legend Woolie Reitherman who was then an animator working on the sequence recalled, “We were all taking a break. None of us was at his desk doing work. We were standing around laughing, talking, eating and drinking soda pop, and generally blowing off steam. Generally, we were cutting up to Stravinsky's music which we were playing backward on the Moviola.”
Walt was annoyed until Stravinsky said, “Doesn't sound bad backward, either.”
Knott's Berry Farm's Old Betsy
On July 17, 1955 for the Dateline: Disneyland ABC-TV broadcast, a reporter wanted a picture of actor Fess Parker carrying Davy Crockett's famous rifle, Old Betsy. It was discovered that Disney had forgotten to bring the important prop. This was also a major problem since there was a big dance number staged to the song “Bang! Goes Old Betsy,” written by lyricist Gil George (the pseudonym for the Disney Studios nurse Hazel George) and musician George Bruns, that was to prominently feature the rifle.
Buddy Ebsen was a friend of Walter Knott, who operated the nearby Knott's Berry Farm, which had a display of antique firearms. Ebsen made a quick phone call and an authentic rifle from Knott's collection on display at his amusement park was on its way to Disneyland, with a police escort to get through the traffic and protect the valuable artifact.
Miriam Nelson, who choreographed that dance number, also had rifle problems since they were not ready for rehearsals. She substituted wooden dowels for the inventive dance moves that included the female dancers stepping on the rifles and being flipped over among other things. When the actual rifles arrived just in time for the performance, they were not as sturdy as the dowels and several of them broke during the lively performance.
Wild West Bambi
Avid outdoorsman, nature photographer and artist Maurice “Jake” Day arranged for two four-month-old fawns to model for Bambi and Faline during the making of the animated feature classic Bambi (1942), thanks to the Maine Development Commission. They took a four-day train ride from the Maine woods to the Hyperion Disney Studio in Hollywood in June 1938.
During the time they were being sketched, they lost their spots and grew into adulthood, and were eventually donated to the Griffith Park Zoo in 1942. They lived in a big pen built behind one of the buildings on the lot. Other animals, such as skunks Herman and Petunia, squirrels, birds, rabbits and chipmunks, shared that little homemade zoo, as well.
The Disney team had a real-life Bambi situation on their hands in Griffith Park when a young buck fell for their “Faline.”
One misty October 1938 morning, animators were surprised to see a wild young buck who lived in Griffith Park had come to visit Faline, responding to his instinctual urges. As the animators approached the visitor, it lowered its young sharp antlers defiantly.
Cars raced along Hyperion Avenue and curious people came outside to watch this real life drama. The ASPCA was called, but things escalated as the buck began to panic, desperately looking to find a way out of the crowd.
Larry Lansburgh, assistant director on the film, had once been a rodeo stunt rider. He came out of the studio with a lariat in his hand.
As Disney Legend Frank Thomas recalled the event in later years: “As the buck bolted across a vacant lot, a carefully thrown loop from Larry's lasso settled around his neck, halting his flight. Quickly, Larry had him down and hogtied, rodeo style, before the buck could hurt himself or any of the spectators.”
“Larry kept the buck under control until the ASPCA crew arrived while we studied the defiant animal, impressed by his intensity and vitality,” Thomas said. “Faline looked wistfully after him in the departing truck and the rest of us returned to the studio with a new understanding of the animals we were trying to draw.”
Human live action reference models were used as well for the animators. According to the film's pressbook, the models for Bambi and Thumper's ice skating were actress Jane Randolph, who had never skated before, and Ice-Capades star Donna Atwood.
The world premiere was originally scheduled to be in the tiny Lincoln Theater in Damariscotta, Maine, Maurice Day's hometown. However, the State of Maine objected, fearing that hunters would be offended by the film.
Driving a Dog Crazy
In one of the key scenes in Disney's first live-action comedy feature The Shaggy Dog (1959), “Shaggy” drove a Ford hot rod. Training began with making Sam the dog comfortable in a wheelbarrow with the long hair held out of his eyes by rubber bands so he could see clearly. Over a period of days, the dog adjusted to not only sitting in the wheelbarrow, but being moved slowly around as he sat in it over bumpy ground, different speeds, steep grades, tight circles, and more.
Then, Sam was brought to the Disney Studios to go through the same exercises on a “flat,” a four-wheel platform used for moving heavy items from the Set Decorating Department to the Sound Stages. There was a raised metal rail at each end used for pushing or pulling the flat, so Sam could learn to place his front paws on a designated spot. Sam enjoyed daily tours around the lot and moving from bright sunlight into darkened stages. Apparently, the Disney Studios employees enjoyed seeing the happy dog, as well.
During this time, Sam also had to go to fittings in the Special Effects area. A bucket seat for the hot rod had been skillfully contoured to his large rear end and was adjusted so he was comfortable. To add to his stability, hair-covered mittens were laced to the steering wheel for him to slide in his paws. They also made a seat belt for him, which was also covered with hair to blend in with his own fur.
Stuntman Carey Loftin was the driver in the hot rod that was a “blind drive car.” Metal was cut away under the dashboard and right through the hood on the right side so he would be able to see the road.
Loftin's steering wheel was synchronized with the wheel that Sam held by a series of sprockets and a cycle chain. When Loftin turned his wheel, Sam's wheel would turn and it looked like Sam was moving the wheel as long as the dog offered no resistance.
“Driving the car was the dog himself and it worked beautifully,” said assistant director Arthur Vitarelli in an interview with John G. West Jr. “The dog would look over the top of the windshield and out the side. It looked like he was really driving.”
Disney's Doctor Who?
Canadian television producer Sydney Newman, who was responsible for initiating the creation of Doctor Who in 1963, once said in an interview that in 1938 he was offered an animator's job at the Disney studios, but that he had to turn it down due to visa complications because he was Canadian.
In 1974, there was a proposal for one of the Doctor Who serials to take place at Disneyland, where the Doctor would be tracking down an alien. The premise, of course, was that Disneyland is a pretty alien place of its own, so it would be the perfect place for an alien to hide. Unfortunately, the limited budget for the show killed the idea.
Disney CEO Michael Eisner was actively looking for franchises to purchase, and made several attempts to buy the rights to Doctor Who and its video library. Preliminary plans were drawn up for a walk through attraction at Disneyland's Tomorrowland that would have taken guests through the inside of the TARDIS. There were also discussions for a film with an elaborate official announcement of the new Doctor to be made at a special press conference in Tomorrowland. Unfortunately, negotiations stalled and Disney looked for other options.
A Mickey Mouse Miracle
Stan Brooks, producer of A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: The Annette Funicello Story (1995,) told the following tale:
“When Annette was pregnant with her first son, Jack, in 1970 she gave birth at a hospital in Los Angeles. She was taken to a recovery room and was able to hold her new child. The first person to get to see her and the new addition to her family? Not her husband or her mom. No, that honor went to her dear friend Mickey Mouse, who arrived with a big bouquet of balloons.
“This was a scene we had to recreate in the film. But, as a little independent studio myself, I would have to get permission from the Disney Corporation to portray Mickey in my film. From Vancouver we called the appropriate folks at Disney and asked for a one-time license to recreate Mickey.
“As we worked our way up the legal ladder at The Mouse House, all we heard was 'no.' Apparently, Mickey had never appeared in any film that wasn't owned by the Disney Corporation. It appeared as though we were going to have to scratch that scene from our movie.
“My one last shot was to see if Annette could help. I called her at home. She was (as always) optimistic and enthusiastic. “Let me make a few calls and see what I can do about this…”
“Later that day, reviewing a budget in a tiny production office in a Vancouver warehouse, the phone rang. It was Michael Eisner.
“Listen. I spoke to Annette and she wants Mickey to be in your film. We will do anything for Annette—she's a cultural icon and a treasure at this studio. Will you take good care of Mickey and not embarrass us? I'm going to put you on the phone with my assistant who worked for Walt and still works here—she was the one that originally sent Mickey to the hospital when Jacky was born.”
“Mickey flew up from Disneyland on the day we shot at the hospital. He was a champ and nailed his scene on the first take. With a few hours to spare before his flight home, Mickey asked if we were shooting at a working hospital. I told him we were and—on his own—made his way to the Children's Ward and spent three hours there, making some very sick kids very, very happy.”
Wrong House
On the CBC September 25, 1963 television show Telescope, that focused on profiles of notable Canadians, Walt Disney recounted an interesting story. Since Walt's father, Elias, was born in Canada, Walt was invited to be interviewed by Fletcher Markle.
“My father and I had planned to go back and see my dad's old homestead 'cause as a boy, my father always told me about his boyhood in Canada. I always wanted to go up there with my father because as a youngster, you know, he told me about all these different things that he did. And the country. He thought it was the most beautiful country in the world and yet he came down here to live. And he died before we had a chance to do that.
“Yes, I finally made it. I took Mrs. Disney along, and she's not too interested in ancestors and things, you know. We got up there and she really fell in love with the town of Goderich. It was a beautiful town and she was quite happy about it. But I wanted to find my homestead where my grandfather went out and cut the trees down and pulled the rocks apart, where my father was born.
“So they gave me directions and everybody was trying to be helpful and everything and Mrs. Disney reluctantly went along and I found this old place and I said, 'This is it … there.' It was really deserted.
“There were cows running through the house and chickens around and I had my camera and I got out and photographed that thing from every angle. When I got through I found out I had photographed the wrong homestead. [Walt laughs.] Ever since, Mrs. Disney has never forgot. She tells that to everybody. About when Walt went up to Canada and he photographed the wrong homestead!”
In 1971, Roy O. Disney asked Disney Archivist Dave Smith to create a genealogy of the Disney family.
“Determined to complete Walt's quest, I, too, searched for the elusive abode,” Smith told Disney Archivist Steven Vagnini. “With descriptions and coordinates in hand, I stumbled upon what I figured had to be the right location. Later on, however, I found picture of the house taken in 1949 and realized that like Walt, I’d photographed the wrong place! Upon closer inspection of one of my other Bluevale photos, there it was, off in the distance.”
Roy Williams: Rest-in-Peace Mooseketeer
Gag man Roy Williams recalled that he was sitting in Walt's office one day, when Walt “looked up at me and said, 'Say, you're fat and funny looking. I'm going to put you on [The Mickey Mouse Club television show] and call you the Big Mooseketeer.' The next thing I knew I was acting.”
Roy was a “gag man” at the Disney Studio who, remembering the gag in the 1929 short The Karnival Kid, where Mickey tips his ears to Minnie, invented what is still the most popular item at Disneyland: Mickey Mouse ears.
He was a coarse man who told off-color stories. Others at the studio delighted in playing practical jokes on him.
As noted Disney historian John Canemaker wrote in his book Paper Dreams: The Art and Artists of Disney Storyboards by John Canemaker (Hyperion, 1999)
“When Williams did die [on November 7, 1976] as a result of a heart attack, he took part of Disney with him. 'Ever a colorful character,' reported the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists Newsletter, 'Roy stipulated that he, much to the astonishment of morticians, but not his many friends, be interred wearing his Mickey Mouse Club hat and his Mickey Mouse Club T-shirt, with his name inscribed on the front thereof, in full regalia. It was so done.'”
