Practically Perfect in Every Way

 60 years, Walt Disney released his greatest film, with Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson,Glynis Johns(RIP) and JULIE ANDREWS (later in PRINCESS DIARIES!!) as Mary Poppins,with kids Karen Dotrice & Matt Garber),plus appearances along the way by Ed Wynn and others! With classic songs by (two brothers already coming into their own in 50s) Richard M.Sherman and Robert B.Sherman, based on (the unwilling) P.L.Travers, story by Bill DaGradi,itself the subject of the Tom Hanks (Walt) and Emma Thompson (P.L.Travers) 2013 Disney/BBC flick SAVING MISTER BANKS, and finally with the Emily Blunt/Lin Manuel-Miranda(and adult and kid costars) in MARY POPPINS RETURNS (below), MARY POPPINS very earsily swept the box office AND Oscars with The Shermans's CHIM CHIMINY CHIM CHIM CHERIE (though, frankly, if you want MY Poppins tuppence, I stand firmly with Walt Disney himself with TUPPENCE A BAG sung so movingly by Mary/Julie to Jane and Michael.)

Historically, the history of this Disney musical masterpiece followed this narrative:

Walt was reading stories to his younger daughters Sharon (ignored by many biographies) and Diane of the nanny,with the girls themselves suggesting it.So Walt tried to get Aussie/Brit author Pamela L.Travers to agree, but we know how all that turned out..a) rejecting him, b)him trying to get her to agree, and then finally in 1961 (so says SAVING MR BANKS), PLT (VERY reluctantly) agreeing,  but making a LOT of conditions (you can go to Internet Movie Database to MARY POPPINS and SAVING MR.BANKS) and,of course, stream SMB on YT, Disney+, or Amazon or whatever.)

For additional cast,esp.in the JOLLY HOLIDAY and SUPERX, voices included Dal McKennon(The Fox), Dave Tomlinson, Paul Frees,and even Daws Butler (all of them various animals). Even Julie Andrews, the Shermans, choreographer Marc Breaux, and vocal director Mike Sammes were heard..as the laambs Ginny Tyler sings for them. Additional live cast members would be Reta Shaw & Hermione Baddely as Mr.Banks other domestic help, Don Barclay as Admiral Boom, and actor/fish and chips master extroadinare playing the constable(?) Arthur Treacher!!

As for the kids Karen Dotrice (Jane Banks, reappearing as an "Elegant Woman"in MPR) and Matt Garber (Michael Banks), had already appeared in 1963's Disney film, THE THREE LIVES OF THOMASINA (talk about forgotten Disney live films of the era!) and also as far as Disney's concerned, did one other, 1967's THE GNOME MOBILE (I'm from the same era, and harbored a little crush,by 1967 on Karen..:))

With Disney getting his ONE Oscar nomination for a movie itself in his lifetime, many awards, a big legacy for his choreography,music songs,setting (DISNEY's own American studio!!) and of course,,the performers,Karen and Mike included, MARY POPPINS remains a classic.One last thing, Dave Tomlinson contributed one other thing: the cameo of Mary's talking parrot head umbrella.

And always remember, she doesn't have to explain anything.

"I'm Mary Poppins, y'all"-Yondo, GUARDIANS OF THE 

GALAXY 2,2017

Our EMOTIONAL Return to Disneyland! (The FIRST Family in!) and I'm in a new locale

First, a MAJOR update, for the first time since I was three, I'm in a new area in Riverside County, near Orange. Now diff topic,main one:

Not actually animation itsaelf, but DISNEY related, the Bagel (NOT food related) fun loving, wholesome, teen youngsters known as THE (DISNEYLAND) INSIDERS, who dropped the DISNEYLAND part when they started

doing DISNEY WORLD, Eric, Cara, and Adam. Adam and Eric's the twin brothers. Cara's the older sister, with the honey blonde hair.

Here, they're part of the very first return family (post-Covid reopening) to Disneyland!!!!

Mary Poppins Returns - First Viewing

Want to see a rather fun review? (And a third Nostalgia Critic aka Doug Walker) review, okay!

Starring Emily Blunt, Lin Manuel-Miranda, Emily Mortimer, Ben Wishlaw, aad the new Banks kids Pixie Davies, Nathaniel Salre, Joel Dawson, Angela Lansbury

Fantasia - Disneycember

Sixty years ago RKO Radio Pictures released this Walt Disney musical antholkogy, his first.(There would be more.). Another Nostalgia Critic review. This is a Diseycemeber post, as is the previous.

Pinocchio - Disneycember

This will be the first ion a real serious series (:)) of posts, here from DOUG WALKER, alias., THE NOSTALGIA CRITIC (he remembers it so we don't have to. Thanks, Doug.) Here he reviews Walt Disney's Pinnochio.)

Three Little Pigs 85th!

The famous cartoon first appeared 85 years ago with the fresh, inspiring take on the pigs, introducing the song quoted above, :"Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf", and started a whole new chapter! Not by the hair of my chinny chinn chin hah..:)!

ADDITION as of Satuday, 10/13/201, 10:45-10:45:
After this, the distributor at the time, United Artists, was so enthused as had, and at least two generations later (it WAS at least a showing that we can always at any time, and certainly in that ersa fight "the wolf at the door") that the United Artists executives thought, if ONE "Three Little Pigs" short might be a blessing, image how TWO Three Little Pigs shorts or more.

So, it was, "Give us More Pigs", as the books and entertainment documentaries have quoted it (accurately)

Walt said, "okay", abd had his studio make more, ut alas, it didn't work. Thus, a new Disney quote  was coined:
"You can't top pigs with pigs"

Famous story, of course, but anyway.

The three sequels were
"The Practical Pig"
"The Big Bad Wolf"
plus a spinoff, The Big Bad Wolf.

Various elements, interestingly, got re-arranged into a later 1967 album. See below...

During another legendary, hard time, which became for later generations a learning tool to see what America fought for, i.e., World War Two, Disney used all of those characters and his others in films to help America thru tough times, another thing we all in 2018 can learn from, and kick-(donkey) training films. We all can use more of that today in war and peace.

The legendary and often mentioned (in nostalgia-history television/film retrospectives) cast were:

Practical/PINTO COLVIG

The others
MARY MODER, DOROTHY COMPTON (don't knwo about who played who)

Big Bad Wolf/BILLY BLETCHER (early major role-"I'll huff and puff! RAWRRR!")

Picture books, including the longtime family-friendly, always fun "Little Golden Books" followed.

These classic, books, beloved from day one for original material ranging from "The Poky Little Pokey',"Bow Wow Meow","A Visit to the Children's Zoo","Scruffy the Tugboat","the Tawny Scrawny Lion", and so on, as well as licensed properties, also, to quite the legendary comedian Jimmy Durante's tag, got into the act. There must have been at least six (the line owner WESTERN PUBLISHING CO. liked to do variaitons and updates of the lines>0

Many albums, including beloved comic, and sometime dramatic character actor STERLING HOLLOWAY with a 1967 album, followed. That one had the above witht hew different pig stores, and titled "The stories and song about Walt Disney's 'Three Little Pigs'" in a beautiful "Peter, Paul and Mary" (i.e., the very soon to follow "Partridge Family" show font, called Kalligraphia. ) The album was issued with a typical mid-century Disneyland records (the label) gatefold storyteller. Brillant and professional artwork, as always.

Of course trendy, and hip, t-shirts.

And finally a very funny postscript:
Made at least for Dr. Demento's longtime radio show, the novelty hard rock band "Green Jelly"'s late 20th century, "LITTLE LITTLE PIG", with a deep Iron Butterfly/KISS like heavy metal-vocalist doing a hilarious totally dead-on impression of the "beloved" Billy Bletcher's "Little Pig"(you knwo the rest) line. (Billy would be known for other sock-em villians)..

Oh, and during the film's inital run in 1933, another Disney legnedary yarn:
To show the run, the boss of a chain or theatre unit drew BEARDS on the one-sheet posters

Hansel? HANSELL??

As the Prince would say in "Bewitched Bunny".

Sorry for the three month wait for a new post, but there will be more.

So you think that you know about the voice of Sniffles, the cherubic WB cartoon mouse, or maybe some MGM squirrells, rabbits, dolls,mice,etc. or
Disney or Lantz cartoon animals. You probaly now have heard of BERNICE HANSEN. You know what the name is...
And she was a nonentity.,.
AND she was a child actresss.. blah blah..

Well...you'd be both right [on the roles EXCEPT Sniffles!] and MOSTLY WRONG...for starters:
Berneice Edna HANSELL [fill in your "Bewitched Bunny"[WB,`1954] quote]
was bkorn 7/11/1897 in Los Angeles, California, died 4/3/1981.
She was a seamstress as as well, and got into more trobule than her cute little animal alter egos ever did.
So you think that you know about the voice of Sniffles, the cherbuic WB cartoon mouse, or maybe some MGM squirrells, rabbits, dolls,mice,etc. or
Disney or Lantz cartoon animals. You probaly now have heard of BERNICE HANSEN. You know what the name is...
And she was a nonentity.,.
AND she was a child actresss.. blah blah..

Well...you'd be both right and MOSTLY WRONG...for starters:
Bernice Edna HANSELL [fill in your "Bewitched Bunny"[WB,`1954] quote]
was bkorn 7/11/1897 in Los Angeles, California, died 4/3/1981.
She was a seamstress as as well, and got into more trobule than her cute little animal alter egos ever did.

<a href=http://tralfaz.blogspot.com">Yowp's second blog</a> has the story.

She was just one of many of theser thirties-mid forties voices [including Sniffles, who lasted till the end of "Porky in a Drum" ending, 1945's "Hush My Mouse"]..and, now, here is the BIG thing..remember at the TOP when I wrote "she was the voice of the cartoon mouse S NIFFLES".?
Well, for ten years it was been mentioned the lamented ANIMATO! that someone else was..in addition to the CORRECT name given and date.. It is that real name BERNICE NAHSELL I plan to use when in reference to her.
As for the  REAL Sniffles, it was revealed and publicised by Keith Scott, Hames Ware and Graham Webb in ANIMATO!`, the 1990s animatiun magazine, that Gay Seabrooke was the voice as I and others have already mentioned, and Sara Berner took over.
As also known, Bernice Hansell retired in 1940 but DID NOT die [see top and Tralfaz Blog by D.M.Yowp]


So who did the other cute child voices in the thirties [and for a while into the WW forties]?

I posted early in this blog's history.

Ironically, didn't work at, at least one L.A. studio..
She was just one of many of theser thirties-mid forties voices [including Sniffles, who lasted till the end of "Porky in a Drum" ending, 1945's "Hush My Mouse"]..and, now, here is the BIG thing..remember at the TOP when I wrote "she was the voice of the cartoon mouse SNIFFLES".?
Well, for ten years it was been mentioned the lamented ANIMATO! that someone else was..in addition to the CORRECT name given and date.. It is that real name BERNICE NAHSELL I plan to use when in reference to her.
As for the  REAL Sniffles, it was revealed and publicised by Keith Scott, Hames Ware and Graham Webb in ANIMATO!`, the 1990s animatiun magazine, that Gay Seabrooke was the voice as I and others  have already mentioned, and Sara Berner took over.

As also known, Berneice Hansell retired in 1940 but DID NOT die [see top and Tralfaz Blog by D.M.Yowp]
So who did the other cute child voices in the thirties [and for a while into the WW forties]?
I posted in the second post on this..

The "little voices" that wne a long way through the long, impoverish Depression

As if no one else has done a bunch of classic theatrical golden age animation but here's another familiar fan's one..and the first POST-introductory post, that is.

Various posts, most recently a Golden Age Cartoons forum post by Sanek on "Sniffles takes a Trip" from 1940, whid references obsucre Margaret Hill-Talbot, and Graham Webb and Keith Scott and others who have explained the Shirley Temple like cute animal voices heard so often, especially in the early days, the Depression, which such blobgs as Steven Hartley's excellent Warner Bros.blog, Likely Looney, Mostly Merrie is chronologically posting, and such, have prompted this first post on my new blog, TOON SNOOT [pardon my palinbdrome based title.] Bernice Hansen, a elusive type if ever there was one, was pinned for many years as the voice until more later research in the 70s-80s turned up these.. In Hollywood alone: Bernice Hansen
Leone Le Deoux
Gay Seabrook
Margaret Hill-Talbot
Sarah Berner
Dorothy Varden
Rochelle Hudson
Dorothy Compton
Mary Moder [the two ladies above had the honors of playing Walt Disney's more dimwitting little pigs to Pinto Colvig's practical one]
and others.



In New York at Fleischer, which seems to have the memorable ones Mae Questel. This was largely before the MGM/WB etc. revolution where these were used less.. The late, much-missed Animato! mag had a bunch of articles by Keith Scott and Graham Webb and Hames Ware, who heard a 1969 tape identiofying Shirley Reed as Petunia. Bob Clampett rememebred Bernice Hansen as the voice of HIS cutie charcters, and, maybe in a way that further detracted from his status with the others, misidentified Bernice as doing CHUCK JONES":S Sniffles, yet Gay Seabrooke [the mother in Hal Roach's Little Racals, pre-MGM] was identified in the 1990s or earlier from a raido program with the role model for WB's Egghead, Joe "Wanna buy a Duck" Penner [1904-1941], and discovered the voice match, as well as seeing a Stooges Columbia episode "Men in White", with Bernice. Berner was presumed the voice for Sniffles and similair later through similiar means. Some boys nlike Tommy Bond also of Rascals appeared in WB shorts., Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising at MGM had a handful of others ["The Little Mole"'s title character, for one] whose voices are yet to be ID'd. And many others. You can look all of the names up on Google., Aren't you glad that there's Google? :-)

So many of these "cutie cutie" voices, apparently many Shirley Temple based, sound so similiar as unaninamously agreed, it can be hard to identify them..On Brandon Pierce's page, Keith Scott who I hope reads this mentioning much of what I wrote and then some, said pretty much the same thing!

However, it musty noted as http://tralfaz.blogspot.com [Yowp's second site along with the http://yowpyowp.blogspot.one], and in Thad Komoroski's excellent http://www.whataboutthad.com
blog, the Holy Grail on info on Miss Hansen, who is Berniece E.Hansell, has come out, and what she also did besides acting.

And finally, as you alreayd may have known through the grapevine [cue Marvin Gaye, CCR, Gladys and the Pips, Calif.Raisons] that Berniece Hansell NEVER played Sniffles.:) At least three have been identified, Gaye Seabrooke, Maragret Talbot and Sara Bernewr. Maragraet Talbot and Margaret McKay may be the same entity.

[None of those voiced my buddy Gumby's girlfriend Goo in the 1960s Gumby's; Norma MacMillan did.:) She did't enter cartoons till the 60s.]