Ward Kimball

Mickey Mouse is one of the most enduring symbols in our history. Those three simple circles take on meaning for virtually everyone on the planet. So ubiquitous in our lives that he can seem invisible, Mickey is something we all share, with unique memories and feelings. Over the course of his nearly century-long history, Mickey functions like a mirror, reflecting our personal and cultural values back at us. "Mickey: The Story of a Mouse" explores Mickey's significance, getting to the core of what Mickey's cultural impact says about each of us and about our world.

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National Geographic's riveting effort recounts all 12 crewed missions using only archival footage, photos and audio.

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By the mid-1980s, the fabled animation studios of Walt Disney had fallen on hard times. The artists were polarized between newcomers hungry to innovate and old timers not yet ready to relinquish control. These conditions produced a series of box-office flops and pessimistic forecasts: maybe the best days of animation were over. Maybe the public didn't care. Only a miracle or a magic spell could produce a happy ending. Waking Sleeping Beauty is no fairy tale. It's the true story of how Disney regained its magic with a staggering output of hits - "Little Mermaid," "Beauty and the Beast ," "Aladdin," "The Lion King," and more - over a 10-year period.

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Documentary focusing on the making-of the 1940n adaptation of Pinocchio by the Disney studio, often considered the artistic pinnacle of the Disney feature.

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A look at the first years of Pixar Animation Studios - from the success of "Toy Story" and Pixar's promotion of talented people, to the building of its East Bay campus, the company's relationship with Disney, and its remarkable initial string of eight hits. The contributions of John Lasseter, Ed Catmull and Steve Jobs are profiled. The decline of two-dimensional animation is chronicled as three-dimensional animation rises. Hard work and creativity seem to share the screen in equal proportions.

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The making of Cinderella (1950).

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Film critic Joel Siegel gets together with a group of animators, directors and producers to discuss and pay tribute to their mentors and Walt Disney's core group of animators, The Nine Old Men

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Documentary about other potential concepts floated for Disney's Cinderella.

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Two classic animated shorts from the Disney studios. In 'The Reluctant Dragon' (1941), a young boy and a famous dragon fighter team up to teach a docile dragon the art of being a force to be reckoned with. In 'Mickey and the Beanstalk' (1947), Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck confront the fearsome Willie the Giant to try to retrieve the magical singing harp to Happy Valley.

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This documentary showcases the making of "Pinocchio".

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Documentary on the making of Walt Disney’s Fantasia.

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From all the cartoons Walt Disney and his team create a full length feature film fun and fancy free . Learn the story of how ww2 Changed bongo and the rest of the cartoons . How Edgar burgan got to play himself and his puppets.

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The making of the Disney classic hosted by Robby Benson.

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The story of Walt Disney and the company he built.

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A Hollywood filmmaker makes a short for an evil film studio. Unbeknownst to him, the producer has placed a bet of $25,000 that he won't come up with anything with a use. Luckily, our film creator gets the help of his friends.

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A behind-the-scenes documentary hosted by Joanna Cassidy on the making of Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

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Former Disney child star Hayley Mills returns to the Walt Disney Studio for a look at the techniques of animated film production, with various veteran Disney animators illustrating said techniques.

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"Walt Disney was utterly mad, in a constructive way... Only fanatics in this world accomplish anything, everyone else drifts. What he accomplished is an unrealistic ambition... a delusion of grandeur. My god... those films are hand painted frame by frame."

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Part cartoon and part documentary, this film offers a humorous look at birds and the ways people perceive them.

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The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.

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Walt Disney and Art Linkletter co-host a live celebration of Disneyland's 1959 expansion that consisted of the debuts of Matterhorn Bobsleds, the Disneyland-Alweg Monorail, and the Submarine Voyage, a project so massive that it was called "The Second Opening of Disneyland". Highlights include a mammoth, star-studded parade and the official launching of the Disneyland submarines by U.S. Navy officers. Among the guests are then-Vice-President Richard Nixon and family, Clint Eastwood, and Meredith Willson, who leads the Disneyland band in his own "76 Trombones." Sponsored by Kodak, the commercial spokespersons include Ozzie and Harriet Nelson.

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Walt answers the often-asked question of just where the stories for his studio's cartoons come from, which is from practically anywhere.

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The moon is the subject here. Man's fascination with the moon (via animation) is presented, as is the moon's usage in popular culture (from Shakespeare to nursery rhymes to popular songs). Also, superstitions and suppositions associated with the moon is presented. Then scientific research on the moon is shown, followed by plans for (and then a simulation of) an actual trip around the moon.

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With a combination of documentary footage and animation, the science and history of rockets, and the effects of space travel on man are illustrated.

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Walt Disney presents a preview for both his upcoming park called Disneyland and several episodes of the show to come. Then the show focuses primarily on the career of Mickey Mouse.

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1951 behind the scenes featurette of the Walt Disney animated classic.

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Airing on Christmas Day, 1950, this holiday special was the first Disney TV production. It features Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd at Walt Disney's Christmas party. The show includes clips of movies and animated shorts and the first appearance of the Fire House Five Plus Two jazz band.

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Mickey courts Minnie in the Gay Nineties: they take in a vaudeville show and go for a drive in his horseless carriage, to the strains of "While Strolling Through the Park" and "In the Good Old Summertime". Goofy rides by on a penny-farthing bicycle, and the whole Duck family rides by on a bicycle built for five.

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Humorist Robert Benchley attempts to find Walt Disney to ask him to adapt a short story about a gentle dragon who would rather recite poetry than be ferocious. Along the way, he is given a tour of Walt Disney Studios, and learns about the animation process.

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The Mouse Factory is an American syndicated television series produced by Walt Disney Productions and created by Ward Kimball, that ran from 1972 to 1974. It showed clips from various Disney cartoons and movies, hosted by celebrity guests, including Johnny Brown, Charles Nelson Reilly, JoAnne Worley and many more, visiting the Disney studio and interacting with the walk-around Disney characters from the Disney Theme Parks. It was later re-run on the Disney Channel in the 1980s and '90s. The theme played over the previews of each episode was a fast instrumental version of "Whistle While You Work" from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The song played over the end credits is "Minnie's Yoo Hoo", the theme song from the original Mickey Mouse Clubs that met in theaters starting in 1929. However, due to low ratings, the series was canceled after its second season.

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A live-action short, using many avant-garde film techniques, that looks at American car culture in the late 1960s. The main section deals with the many trials and obstacles a teenager must face on the path to being able to drive. Surviving the driver's education class is only the first step, as the teenager must then pass his driving test, and then finally get permission to borrow the family car.

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Part cartoon and part documentary, this film offers a humorous look at birds and the ways people perceive them.

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All roads lead to magical, merry Toyland as Mary Contrary and Tom Piper prepare for their wedding! But villainous Barnaby wants Mary for himself, so he kidnaps Tom, setting off a series of comic chases, searches, and double-crosses! The "March Of The Wooden Soldiers" helps put Barnaby in his place, and ensures a "happily ever after" for Tom and Mary!

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Rare Walt Disney Space series from 1959, speculating about the use of satellites, including controlling the weather of the Earth!

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The moon is the subject here. Man's fascination with the moon (via animation) is presented, as is the moon's usage in popular culture (from Shakespeare to nursery rhymes to popular songs). Also, superstitions and suppositions associated with the moon is presented. Then scientific research on the moon is shown, followed by plans for (and then a simulation of) an actual trip around the moon.

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With a combination of documentary footage and animation, the science and history of rockets, and the effects of space travel on man are illustrated.

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