News

• Jim and I are doing our first-ever Disney Dish cruise in 2022.  We’re calling it “The Disney Dish on the Disney Wish”  

• Dates are September 23-26, 2022.  That’s a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday out of Port Canaveral
• We made it 3 nights so it’s as affordable as possible.
• We’ll have tons of chances to meet up while on board, we’re planning some exciting events so we can all get to know the ship, and we’ll record a special, live show while on board.
• We have 1 cabin left, and then that’s all we think we can handle in terms of group size.
• Storybookdestinations.com/disneydish
  

• Jim and I are doing the second annual Gingerbread Challenge in Walt Disney World, starting Friday December 2, 2022.  
  
• Also, we’re looking at March 30-April 1, 2023 for our group cruise on the Starcruiser Halcyon. That’s a Thursday check-in and a Saturday check-out, which is also, somehow appropriately, April Fool’s Day.  
  

https://storybookdestinations.com/DisneyDish/

https://touringplans.com/starwars2023

• Disney released yet another set of concept art for EPCOT’s Future World re-do:
  
  

Among the changes since the last set of art was released in 2019:

1) The Festival Center is now a single-story building instead of 3+ stories.

2) There’s really not a lot of … building going on here. There’s a small festival stage over in the general area of where Club Cool used to be, but that’s about it.  And maybe that’s a good thing - I don’t think the current generation of EPCOT management should be allowed to make long-term decisions about the park.

3) It’s called Communicore because they already had the signs made, right?
4) THE ARTWORK DOESN’T SHOW THE HARMONIOUS BARGES.

• Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind will use a virtual queue when it opens later this month.  And speaking of Guardians of the Galaxy, Jim, I got to ride it on Saturday.
  
  <Aaron, insert Len’s review of GOTG here>

• Alright, Jim, let’s get back to the show, with a quick listener question from Sean…
  

Surveys

Listener Questions

From Sean:

Have you heard when Magic Band+ will roll out?

What about the Hoop-Dee-Doo Review?

Do you know if Mears Connect will be offering luggage service any time soon?

Christina:

Gluten-friendly options

Tomahawk steak at California Grill

History of “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” at the Disney theme parks

Part One of Two (I think)

Johnny Depp / Amber Heard defamation trial has been all over the news this past week. Talk of a $22 million dollar deal for Depp to appear in “Pirates of the Caribbean 6” that Amber spoiled by making so much of this couple’s private business public. Which then got people talking about how the modern Disney Studio makes too many sequels. And how -- back in the day -- Walt would never do anything like that.

Which is a lie. By that I mean:

Disney Studios used to make an awful lot of money off of making a very specific type of gimmick comedy. One where some sort of scientific breakthrough / invention of brand-new technology then served as the jumping-off point for all sorts of hi-jinks.

Disney first discovered this niche back in March of 1961 with the release of “The Absent-Minded Professor.” Given that this Fred MacMurray movie did huge box office for that time, Walt quickly ordered a sequel. “Son of Flubber” arrived in theaters in January of 1963 (less than two years after “Absent-Minded Professor” debuted) and did just as well at the box office.

Following “Son of Flubber” ‘s strong ticket sales, Walt now saw this science-based gimmick comedy niche as something his studio could exploit. So he then ordered his creative team to cast around for similar stories and to then quickly put them into production.

February of 1964 saw the release of “The Misadventures of Merlin Jones.” This Tommy Kirk comedy did so well that Walt quickly ordered up a sequel to that Robert Stevenson movie. “The Monkey’s Uncle” arrived in theaters just 18 months later in August of 1965.

Just so you know: Robert Stevenson was the guy who directed “Mary Poppins,” Disney’s biggest hit of the era. He also directed “The Absent-Minded Professor” & “Son of Flubber,” which were written by Bill Walsh & Don DaGradi, the very same guys who wrote the screenplay for “Poppins.” So Walt put his A-Team on these science-based gimmick comedies.

 Walt’s death in December of 1966 temporarily put a pause on the Studio’s steady production of science-based gimmick comedies. But starting in December of 1969 with the release of “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes,” Disney returned to this particular line of business in a big way.

In short order, there was:

    • “The Million Dollar Duck” in June of 1971

    • “Now You See Him, Now You Don’t” in July of 1972

    • “The Strongest Man in the World” in February of 1975

“Star Wars” arrival on the scene in May of 1977 made Disney pivot from making science-based gimmick comedies to trying its hand at making really-for-real science fiction films. Their two very-expensive-to-make attempts at this genre, 1979’s “The Black Hole” and 1982’s “TRON” were often visually impressive but were seriously lacking storywise. Which is why both of these films -- during their initial theatrical runs -- were considered box office disappointments.

We now jump ahead to 1984. Where Ron Miller -- who’s then in charge of Walt Disney Productions -- is looking at all the money that raunchy teen comedies like “Animal House” and “Porky’s” is making. He’s just started up Touchstone Films at Disney Studios (Whose very first release is the adult fantasy comedy, “Splash.” Which arrives in theaters in March of that same year).

Ron wonders. Could it now be time for Disney to revisit its history of science-based gimmick comedies? Only this time with a wee bit of a raunchy edge?

With this mind, Ron greenlights production of “My Science Project.” Which actually has a really clever premise: It actually starts in 1947 with the infamous UFO crash in Roswell, New Mexico. President Eisenhower himself orders that the debris at the crash site be packed up and put where no one can find it.

Jump ahead to 1985 where high school senior Michael Harden needs something impressive to showcase at his school’s science fair or he will fail that class and not be able to graduate from high school. Desperate for something -- anything -- to showcase, Michael breaks into an Air Force aircraft boneyard  (which -- it is strongly insinuated -- is closely associated with Area 51). Harlan comes across this weird glowing orb thing. Which he runs off with once a guard at this airbase approaches.

Michael then hooks this thing up to a car battery and offers this thing up as -- you guessed it -- “My Science Project.” The only problem is, where Harlan fires up this weird glowing orb thing, it then promptly rips a hole in space & time. Which is how a T-Rex ends up in the school gymnasium.

Len, you’d love this movie if only because the cast features Dennis Hopper. Who -- towards the end of “My Science Project” -- is accidentally blasted back to Woodstock and then, when his Doctor Roberts character (Hopper plays the science teacher in this film) returns for the finale of “My Science Project,” Dennis is wearing the exact same outfit that he wore at the end of “Easy Rider.”

Okay. So “My Science Project” gets some of the time-line wrong. Roswell happened in July of 1947. Whereas Eisenhower didn’t become the 34th President of the United States ‘til January of 1953. But given the whole point of this movie was screwing with the space - time continuum, why quibble with a plot point like that.

Unfortunately, “My Science Project” never got the release that it deserved from Disney. By the time that this Jonathan Beutel movie had finished principal photography in November of 1984, Ron Miller -- the guy who set this project in motion -- was no longer the head of Walt Disney Productions. Michael Eisner was.

And Eisner -- to be honest -- didn’t really know what to make of “My Science Project.” By that I mean, while he was in charge of Paramount Pictures, that studio had made & released a number of raunchy comedies that appealed to teens. Among them Cheech & Chong’s “Up in Smoke” in September of 1978 as well as its 1983 sequel, “Up in Smoke.”

And what Michael saw when he looked at “My Science Project” was something of a camel. A movie that was too dirty … Well, edgy, really … to go out into theaters under the Walt Disney Productions. But at the same time, “My Science Project” really didn’t have enough edge to draw in teenage audiences.

Eisner’s choices -- at that time -- were to order reshoots of this Jonathan Beutel comedy to add some more edge & raunchy humor to this movie or just let this picture go out into theaters as is. And given that “My Science Project” was really a legacy production at this point (i.e., something that Disney’s previous management team had ordered into production. Which Michael was then obligated to release), Eisner opted not to throw good money after bad and opted to send “My Science Project” out into theaters as is in August of 1985 and -- predictably -- under-performed at the box office.

That said, when Michael arrived at Disney in September of 1984 and did his due diligence as the Company’s new CEO, he dug deep into Disney’s books. Looking for previous hits that he could then order up sequels to.

Because that’s what Michael did when he was over at Paramount, if he had a hit film of any kind (EX: “Saturday Night Fever” in December of 1977 and “Grease” in July of 1978), he immediately ordered sequels to be developed. Which is how we wound up with “Grease 2” in June of 1982 and “Staying Alive” in July of 1983.

Anyway … Michael noticed -- as he was going over Disney’s box office records of the past two decades -- that the Studio had a history of producing these science-based gimmick comedies which had consistently been successful. So Eisner put out word that he’d like to make one of these as well. Only one that was aimed at the modern family audience.

And you have to remember -- in the early 1980s -- Steven Spielberg’s “E.T. The Extra Terrestrial” was the gold standard when it came to family-friendly films. That Universal Pictures release originally arrived in theaters in June of 1982 and almost immediately became this box office phenomenon. By the end of 1983, it had surpassed the original “Star Wars” as the highest grossing film of all time. It also became the very first film to blow through the billion dollar barrier at the worldwide box office.

Which is why it probably wouldn’t surprise you to hear that -- when Michael Eisner put out the word that he was looking for a science-based gimmick comedy for Disney Studios produced -- he also let folks know that “Hey, if this script also has a few elements that make it similar to ‘E.T.,” I wouldn’t complain.

Which brings us to “Flight of the Navigator,” which was directed for Disney by Randal Kleiser. Who had previously directed the original “Grease” for Michael back when he was in charge of Paramount. More to the point, Mr. Kleiser will come again later on in this series when we get to the “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience” portion of this new series. So please remember Randall’s name.

Unfortunately, because “Flight of the Navigator’ tried to be two things at once -- a science-based gimmick comedy as well as a heartfelt, sincere science-fiction adventure -- it wound up being a hard project to promote properly. Disney clearly didn’t know how to market this movie prior to its arrival in theaters in August of 1986.

That said, when Buena Vista Home Entertainment released “Flight of the Navigator” as a video cassette in January of 1987, those folks knew exactly how to promote this Randall Kleiser movie. Which is when it became a solid, steady seller to home video enthusiasts.

Which is what convinced Michael Eisner that he was actually on the right track here. That there was actually an audience out there for an updated version of these old science-based gimmick comedies that Disney Studios used to make.

In fact, Eisner was so certain of this that -- when “The Wonderful World of Disney” weekly television series was revived for the 1988 - 1989 season on NBC -- he ordered that, as part of that anthology series, Disney create an “Absent-Minded Professor” show. Only this time around, Harry Anderson -- who was fresh off of his hit NBC series, “Night Court” -- star in the Fred MacMurray role.

But in the meantime, Michael was looking for some sort of theatrical release that could then get Disney back into the science-based gimmick comedy business. Which is when the script for a film called “Tweeny Weenies” landed on his desk.

Next week, we’ll get into how Disney got into the “Honey” business. More importantly, how Wayne Szelinski then became a theme park star.

One final note about “Flight of the Navigator.” It was Paul Reuben’s vocal performance as the alien intelligence that powered the craft in that Randal Kleiser movie that convinced the Imagineers that he’d be the perfect guy to voice Rex, the pilot of our Star Speeder, in the original version of “Star Tours.” Which makes it an important movie as far as Disney theme park fans are concerned.

Also … Since as far back as 2009, Disney Studios has been talking about either remaking “Flight of the Navigator” and/or creating a belated sequel. In September of last year, it was announced that Bryce Dallas Howard (the “Jurassic World” star who’s done an amazing job directing individual episodes of “The Mandalorian” and “The Book of Boba Fett”) has been tapped to direct a remake for this Randall Kleiser movie. Which will now be built around a preteen female’s adventures across space & time and will debut on Disney+ in late 2023 / early 2024.

BCX      

Flying Saucer BCX Feature

Part 3 of 3