# Forgotten Disney Live-Action Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 3, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888 "2005-01-03T20:55:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/1 "2005-01-03T20:55:39Z")
Disney seems to have concentrated mainly on big-budget animated features in recent years, but does anybody remember those live-action Disney films of the 50s, 60s, and 70s? They weren’t great cinema–there were a number that had a couple of kids somehow thwarting some inept mobsters (IIRC, films like _Million Dollar Duck, The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, and No Deposit No Return_ all seemed to have this basic plot). Some were adventure films (_In Search of the Castaways_), some dealt with smart animals (_That Darn Cat_), and some have been remade (_Freaky Friday_) Note that these aren’t the ones that Disney still trots out from time to time today, or that get shown occasionally on TV (_20,000 Leagues Under the Sea_, for example, or _The Love Bug_). No, I’m referring to the simple little films that probably didn’t take a lot to write or film, nor were they deep or significant in any way. They seem to be forgotten today, but they were fun for a kid, and I well remember enjoying them in my childhood. Did anybody else? ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/2 "2005-01-03T21:04:49Z")
Every Sunday night, ABC (I think) had The Wonderful World of Disney and would show one of these. The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes was part of a series starring Kurt Russel which included The Strongest Man in the World and one where he turnd invisible called Now You See Him, Now You Don’t. I guess the answer would be yes, I remember those. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/3 "2005-01-03T21:07:44Z")
There are plenty of truly forgotten Disney films. A lot of the ones you mention still showed up on VHS. But do you recall the live-action movie about a squirrel, **Perri**? How about the \*first[/i remake of **The Absent-Mnded Prfessor** , made long after the Fred Mac Murray version and long before the Robin Williams "Flubber version. The one that starred Harry Anderson (!) How about: **Never a Dull Moment** (starring Dick van Dyke, Edward G. Robinson, and Slim Pickens!!) \*\*Thomasina Lieutenant Robin Crusoe, U.S.N.\*\* (Dick van Dyke,again, with Nancy Kwan) \*\*Pollyanna Toby Tyler\*\* (a very young Kurt Russel) \*\* The Cat from Outer Space \*\* There was a 1960s Disney film about an astronaut, but I forget the title. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/4 "2005-01-03T21:18:28Z")
I enjoyed Kurt Russell’s Medfield College years. Dexter Riley rocked! Didn’t Disney also have something to do with the **Escape From Witch Mountain Pts. I & II**? ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/5 "2005-01-03T21:20:55Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I’m referring to the simple little films that probably didn’t take a lot to write or film, nor were they deep or significant in any way. They seem to be forgotten today, but they were fun for a kid, and I well remember enjoying them in my childhood. > > Did anybody else? The one that came immediately to mind was the **Apple Dumpling Gang** (w/Don Knotts & Tim Conway). God knows why, but I remember laughing hysterically at it as a child during a Disney summer fest at the local movie theater (circa 1976). I found it on video recently and thought my daughters (9 and 7) would like it. Wrong! It sucked. I guess being a kid of the 70’s I had a very ow ‘sense of humor bar’. Why I laughed that movie almost 30 years ago is a mystery to me (and my kids) now. ---
**Author:** ![ussentinel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ce7236/32.png) [@ussentinel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ussentinel)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/6 "2005-01-03T21:22:39Z")
Ah, memories! Yep, “Bedknobs and Broomsticks” and “Song of the South” were the first movies I can remember seeing at my local movie theater (Village Cinema in Memphis). As such in my young age, I used to think ALL movies were musicals and/or combined animation and live-action. Back then, the pickin’s for G-rated movies were slim and not cranked out regularly like the summers of today. I sorta felt like a big-shot as a kid going to a movie that was aimed for my audience. I don’t think today’s little kids think that going to the movies is a “big deal” or not; not sure. After seeing a few Disney flicks over the years, I noticed that the films had a certain look to them, clean-cut kids, and usual actors in the cast, like Kurt Russell, Dean Jones and Joe Flynn as some authority figure who disliked kids. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/7 "2005-01-03T21:22:46Z")
I saw **Toby Tyler** in the theater, that’s how old I am! It was the very first movie I ever went to. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/8 "2005-01-03T21:44:04Z")
How can forget and give no no love for T **he Barefoot Executive** or **the Shaggy DA \*\* or** Zebra in the Kitchen \*\* (starring Dennis the Menace yet) ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/9 "2005-01-03T21:56:37Z")
How about **The World’s Greatest Athlete** with Jan-Michael Vincent as a Tarzan-like character who is recruited to the track team of an American university? (With Tim Conway, too.) > [@CalMeacham](#): > > There was a 1960s Disney film about an astronaut, but I forget the title. Maybe not what you’re thinking of, but I remember **Unidentified Flying Oddballs** from the 70s. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/10 "2005-01-03T22:06:38Z")
**The Cat From Outer Space** was the first movie my parents ever took me to see at a theater. I remember nothing about it, except that the cat had a collar that glowed. Ooo, neato … ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/11 "2005-01-03T22:09:31Z")
I think that most of the movies mentioned are hardly forgotten. I still see them at various video rental stores, and have seen some on TV in recent years. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/12 "2005-01-03T22:22:16Z")
> [@jimmmy](#): > > How can forget and give no no love for … > > \*\*Zebra in the Kitchen \*\* (starring Dennis the Menace yet) [NITPICK MODE ON]\*\*Zebra in the Kitchen \*\* wasn’t a Disney movie.[/NITPICK MODE OFF] ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/13 "2005-01-03T22:46:01Z")
I remember seeing _Gus_ as a kid. Gus was a field goal kicking mule who joined a pro football team. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/14 "2005-01-03T22:51:27Z")
There’s one called _Grand Canyon_ which is supposedly where the guys who did _Koyaanisquatsi_ got most of their ideas from. I haven’t seen it, though, so I can’t comment. Disney also did a lot of educational documentary films in the 1950s and 60s. What was neat about them, is that they were made using the research footage taken for the various Disney animated epics that they produced once upon a time. It was a clever way for Disney to recoup a lot of the costs for the films, sadly, that genuis has been lost, IMHO. My favorite forgotten Disney film is _Donald Duck in Mathemagics Land_. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/15 "2005-01-03T23:03:39Z")
The “max” part of my username comes because I once reminded a teacher of the little kid in the movie **Ask Max**. Sadly, I have not scene this brilliant work of cinema myself. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/16 "2005-01-03T23:05:06Z")
> [@vl\_mungo](#): > > Didn’t Disney also have something to do with the **Escape From Witch Mountain Pts. I & II**? Disney made both of them (along with a live-action TV series). But the movies were titled _Escape To Witch Mountain_ and _Return From Witch Mountain_. ETWM was my birthday movie when I turned 8 (which if you’re interested can help you figure out how old I am) and RFWM was the first time I remember seeing Bette Davis (as Letha Wedge). X2 brought back happy memories of RFWM, in the scene where Cyclops and Jean Grey had their duel in the dam. Just like Tony and Tia’s duel in the power plant! I had the story record for ETWM and sold it on eBay a few years ago for like $50. ---
**Author:** ![Algul\_Siento](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@Algul\_Siento](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algul_Siento)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/17 "2005-01-03T23:05:14Z")
The Disney Channel used to show these movies occasionally. I remember them showing “That Darn Cat”, “The Shaggy DA”, and “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes”. They had a certain fondness for the Escape from Witch Mountain movies, and showed them often. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/18 "2005-01-03T23:06:53Z")
> [@](#): > > Maybe not what you’re thinking of, but I remember Unidentified Flying Oddballs from the 70s. No – now that I had a chance to ink about it, thew film as **Moon Pilot**. Betcha never heard of that one! By the way, I have a copy of **Donald in MathmagicLand** on VHS. We saw it in math class in high school. Great stuff! But I’ve never seen Moon Pilot on VHS or DVD. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/19 "2005-01-03T23:10:53Z")
God, the things you remember when someone brings up the topic. I saw **Robinson Crusoe, USN** when it came out… as I recall, at a drive-in with a neighbor’s family. What a stinker! ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888/20 "2005-01-03T23:13:26Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > There’s one called _Grand Canyon_ which is supposedly where the guys who did _Koyaanisquatsi_ got most of their ideas from. I haven’t seen it, though, so I can’t comment. > > Disney also did a lot of educational documentary films in the 1950s and 60s. What was neat about them, is that they were made using the research footage taken for the various Disney animated epics that they produced once upon a time. It was a clever way for Disney to recoup a lot of the costs for the films, sadly, that genuis has been lost, IMHO. I remember them. I saw _The Living Desert_ in the hallway of the UN hostpital in the Congo in 1962, where the staff showed it for my father. I didn’t know that was the origin of the footage - do you know which nature movies went with which animated ones? I loved those movies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-disney-live-action-movies/282888.md?page=2)