Celebrity News and Gossip NOW

The book adaptation of the film was the first children’s book illustrations by the legendary storyman Bill Peet, who would later find a successful career as a children’s book writer and illustrator. A part of the film ended up in the backyard of animator Ward Kimball, but it resulted in some unusual problems. A significant part of Walt Disney’s personal childhood in Marceline is physically represented in the film, including a classic structure that provided Walt with countless hours of private pleasure at his own home until his death. It was the film that directly inspired the creation of Disneylandia and,eventually, Disneyland. The film featured an Academy Award-nominated song sung by “America’s favorite balladeer” and gave him his first hit single. There were plans for it to be the first all-live-action Disney film.

It was meant to be an affectionate and respectful look at country life at the turn-of-the-century rather than to snicker at the antics of country yokels. It is quite easy to imagine this heartwarming rural story being on the Hallmark Channel today. , released nationwide on January 19, 1949, by RKO Radio Pictures, is a sentimental snapshot of a bygone period close to the heart of Walt Disney. Yet, this simple story of a boy and his black lamb is largely forgotten today.

They are not innovative classics, but merely well-made films that have some charming moments that no one seems interested in discussing despite Walt’s direct participation. In the past, I’ve written about (link), (link) and (link), to try to provide some information about these neglected live-action films.

Of course, there are tough challenges along the way, especially when the grown Danny, in typical Disney film fashion, becomes comically destructive and wrecks havoc on the farm and the local store. Jeremiah’s dream of entering Danny at the Pike County Fair are almost crushed by the objections of his loving but strict grandmother, Granny Kincaid (Academy Award-winning actress Beulah Bondi). He is also supported by his best friend Tildy (Luana Patten, also from ) although we never see her parents—even at the fair. Jeremiah’s only adult ally seems to be the blacksmith, Uncle Hiram Douglas (Burl Ives in one of his very first film roles) although Jeremiah also gets encouragement from his animated daydreams featuring the Wise Old Owl that magically spring to life from his scrapbook. Set in 1903, in the fictional Fulton Corners, Ind., tells the tale of a young boy named Jeremiah Kincaid (Bobby Driscoll, fresh from his appearance in ) who adopts a rejected and mischievous black lamb named Danny (named after the famed champion race horse, Dan Patch, who was also black). Eventually, Jeremiah does earn enough money to enter Danny at the fair and there is a clever and satisfying ending.

That same year, producer Perce Pearce had gone to Indiana in the summer of 1945 to get a sense of the atmosphere for . Pearce would later do some second-unit directing on the film. The final credits list the screenplay by John Tucker Battle (the same screenwriter responsible for 1953’s still-frightening ) with adaptation work by Maurice Rapf and Ted Sears (both of whom had done some work on ). Walt had begun meeting about adapting the story with screenwriter Edwin Justus Mayer in 1945.

In actuality, Walt’s contract with RKO indicated that the features he would make for RKO distribution “shall be animated cartoon or may be part animated cartoon and part live-action.” There was no provision for just a wholly live-action feature and, truthfully, when the public saw the name “Disney” there was the expectation of animation and that may be why the first two minutes of the film is completely animated. RKO salesmen argued that it would be hard to sell a Disney picture without cartoons, so some feel that Walt was pushed into adding short animation sequences that sometimes feel intrusive.

Schuster later claimed that the lamb was the hardest one to direct, even though it was often tempted with food to provide the appropriate actions. Walt Disney was fond of the film (1943), directed by Harold Schuster, who over the years had risen in the ranks from actor to cameraman to finally being a director. In fact, Walt’s wife and daughters loved the film so much that they ran it many times in their home theater. Under contract to 20th Century Fox, Schuster was lent to the Disney Studios to do the live-action scenes for .

The great racehorse, Dan Patch, was a hero to us. “ was especially close to me. We had Dan Patch’s grandson on my father’s farm,” claimed Walt Disney when the film was released. Why, that’s the life my brother and I grew up with as kids out in Missouri.

Working as an architect at the Disney studio was John Cowles Jr., the son of Dr. John Cowles, who had been a financial supporter of Walt Disney’s first animation studio that produced the Laugh-O-Grams cartoons. also helped plan many of the permanent buildings at the Burbank studio as well as the blueprint for the layout of Walt’s backyard railroad, the Carolwood Pacific. In addition to his set designs, Cowles Jr.

Walt had Cowles Jr. was responsible for designing the authentic red barn in that reminded Walt so strongly of the one from his own childhood on a farm in Marceline, Mo. So a piece of remained close to Walt until his death and it was one of his favorite locations to get away from the burdens of work and just have fun. Cowles Jr. adapt that same structure for Walt’s backyard workshop. The only variations in that new building was a concrete slab foundation, windows along the east wall and a small room housing the central track control board for Walt’s railroad.

Related Stories