Disney’s Great “Scarecrow” Plus, Late Night Licks
The spooky Scarecrow
Okay, this is gonna really date me.
I can remember when Sunday night’s big show on TV was DISNEY’S WONDERFUL WORLD OF COLOR. (That would be the equivilant to saying Disney’s Wonderful World of HD by today’s standards.)
The show, hosted by Walt Disney himself, showcased various made for television films from Disney.
Many of these TV shows would then be released overseas as theatrical films. “Davy Crockett” starring Fess Parker was one of these and created a run on Coon Skin caps in the late 50s. THAT was before I was born.
I don’t remember “Davy” but one of these Disney telefilms I did see made a big impression on me.
It was called “Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh.”
Recently Disney released one of their terrific Walt Disney Treasures DVD sets of the film. I was anxious to watch it to see if it lived up to my memories.
And you know what, it did!
The DVD tin case
The story is essentially a Robin Hood tale set in Great Britan at the time of the American war of independence. The British citizens are also being overtaxed. Dr. Syn is a respected member of the church during the day but by night assumes the role of “The Scarecrow” robbing from the British and sharing the wealth with the poor citizens of Romney Marsh.
The great Patrick McGoohan stars as Dr. Syn/Scarecrow. And the digitally remastered widescreen visuals of the Scarecrow on horseback galloping across the English countryside at night are chilling.
A great DVD package. A great Disney movie. And great extras.
Definitely worth a look.
******
The Best Supporting Actor
“The Dark Knight” is one of the best movies of 2008. I want to see this up for Academy Awards in February. And the DVD mastering of the new release is terrific.
WIth a movie this good, I expect more in terms of extras on a release like this. But the extras are lackluster. My guess is that Warner Bros. will release this one on DVD again in the next year or so with a more impressive set of behind the scenes features and extras.
DVD fans call it ”double-dipping” when studios release films…then rerelease them with a few more extras.
The movie is still worth adding to a collection. Just don’t expect too much from disc two (though it does include a digital copy for your phone, computer, other device.)
*****
I had to share these from the web. The late night comedians get in some last minute late night licks on the outgoing President. The Shoe Flies!
“As you know, yesterday in Iraq, President Bush was attacked by a ’shoe-icide’ bomber. President Bush was speaking at a news conference in Iraq when a journalist threw two shoes at him [on screen: the video of Bush having shoes thrown at him]. You see what President Bush did? You see what he did to keep from being hit? Something he’s never done before. Lean to the left. He’s never done that.”
- Jay Leno
“Well, folks, looks like we finally found something President Bush is good at. Dodgeball!”
- Jay Leno
“I was impressed by how nimbly President Bush was able to dodge those shoes. I know he’s got a lot of dodging experience from his years during the Vietnam War, but this was pretty slick.”
- Jimmy Kimmel
“President Bush told reporters that the shoe-throwing incident was one of the weirdest moments of his presidency. Yeah, Bush said the only thing weirder was the time he got re-elected.”
- Conan O’Brien
“You’ve got to give Bush credit. I mean, the guy moved pretty quickly. … Too bad he didn’t react that way with bin Laden or Katrina, bin Laden or the mortgage crisis, bin Laden or Afghanistan, bin Laden or the Lehman Brothers.”
- David Letterman
“As you know, the Bush administration has a new slogan: ‘Duck!’”
- Jay Leno
“It turns out this guy was described as a hot head. He’s a guy who is an Iraqi journalist. They say he’s a hot head with poor journalistic skills. Well, no surprise, today he was offered his own show on Fox News.”
- David Letterman
“Right now, they’re trying to find out, they arrested the guy, trying to find out if he’s a Shoe-ni or a Shoe-ite. But it’s the same old story. You hear this over and over again, a guy, this crazy guy, goes into a Payless store, he purchases a pair of Rockport shoes, and they didn’t even do a background check on him.”
- David Letterman
“By the way, this is the country we thought had nuclear weapons. It turns out they have a pair of size 9 Hush Puppies instead.”
- Jimmy Kimmel
“Now, here’s my question, and no offense here, but where was the Secret Service? I mean, shouldn’t they at least have jumped in front of the second shoe? mean, you know what I’m saying? Come on. Seriously. Aren’t these guys supposed to take a bullet for the president?”
- Jay Leno
“Have you watched this tape? Some people are criticizing the Secret Service, because the shoe thrower caught them off guard. The man was able to throw a second shoe. A spokesman for the Secret Service said, ‘Sorry, but we were laughing our asses off.’”
- Conan O’Brien
“See, that’s when Bush realized he was on his way out, when the Secret Service are going, ‘Yeah, we’re guarding the new guy now.’”
- Jay Leno
“So the guy who threw the shoes is now a hero in Iraq. They say he’s shown the world that Iraqis have no masters, but I think what he really showed the world is that Iraqis have no aim, because he was like four feet away and couldn’t hit him.”
- Jimmy Kimmel
“The man who threw his shoes at President Bush is being hailed as a hero in Iraq. In fact, when he dies, he’ll be greeted in heaven by 72 podiatrists.”
- Conan O’Brien
“Well, here’s my favorite part. Cable news just over-thinks this. On CNN, they brought in an expert on Iraqi culture. And he said, ‘Let me clarify what happened here.’ He said, ‘In the Arab world, throwing your shoes at someone’s head is considered an insult.’ Oh, really? As opposed to here in America, where it’s a huge compliment.”
- Jay Leno
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