The Exhibitor (1966)

PRODUCT PREVIEW • The music will include 12 songs by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman, the Academy Award winning team that created the music of “Mary Poppins.” Choreography is by Marc Breaux and Dee Dee Wood, who lent their talents to “Mary Poppins” and “The Sound of Music.” The story is adapted from the book and play, “My Philadelphia Father,” by Kyle Crichton and Cordelia Drexel Biddle. “The Happiest Millionaire” will be followed at Christmas by the second Disney giant of 1967, “Jungle Book,” a fulllength cartoon feature based on the Rudyard Kipling classic. “Jungle Book,” Ludwig declared, “promises a breakthrough in entertainment. The many levels at which this motion pic¬ ture can be enjoyed give it a widely expanded audience poten¬ tial. In this respect, it parallels the broad appeal of the original Kipling masterpiece. It goes far beyond any cartoon that has been made to date. “In addition, ‘Jungle Book’ has highly imaginative music by the Shermans, an outstanding cast of voices, including those of Phil Harris, Louis Prima, Sterling Holloway, Sebastian Cabot, and George Sanders, and Walt Disney animation that establishes a new measure of excellence.” The production time of “Jungle Book,” from acquisition of rights through the completion of filming, spanned more than a decade and utilized all the technical resources of the Disney organization. A recent addition to Buena Vista’s 1967 schedule has created something of a sensation in exhibition circles. In an unprecedented move, the company has made available, as a program, two of Walt Disney’s most successful live-action comedies, “The Absent-minded Professor” and “The Shaggy Dog.” This program is an expansion of the “total entertainment” concept that gave birth to such boxoffice hits as the combina¬ tion of “The Ugly Dachshund” and “Winnie the Pooh.” It is scheduled for Decoration Day release. “Another picture that unquestionably could have been made only at the Walt Disney studio is ‘The Gnome-Mobile,’ our July release. The miracle men at our studio have turned a most charming group of young ladies into miniature Gnomettes for this lively comedy-fantasy, which is based on a book by the Nobel Prize winning author, Upton Sinclair. “But ‘The Gnome-Mobile’ is much more than a specialeffects picture. Walter Brennan appears in two magnificent character roles, along with the youngsters from ‘Mary Pop¬ pins,’ Matthew Garber and Karen Dotrice, and Tom Lowell, the comedy surprise of ‘That Darn Cat.’ Much of the action takes place in the breathtaking wonderland of America’s great redwood forests. ‘The Gnome-Mobile,’ in short, will be funny, fantastic and fabulous.” Working back from the summer period, June will see the release of the cartoon feature that is synonymous with Walt Disney pre-eminence in animation, the all-time favorite, “Snow White.” In the last two years, “Cinderella” and “Bambi” have soared to new boxoffice heights in the June, July and August periods. These Disney cartoon features have demonstrated that there is a largely untapped family audience for drive-in theaters throughout the country. “With all the doors now thrown wide open, ‘Snow White’ promises to establish unheard-of grosses in its newest release,” Ludwig declared. Buena Vista’s Easter attraction will be “Bullwhip Griffin,” a wild west spoof starring Roddy MacDowall, Suzanne Pleshette, Karl Malden, and a “ring-tailed varmint by the name of Mountain Ox,” played by Mike Mazurki. This off-beat comedy makes ingenious incidental use of spe¬ cial effects and animation to enhance the stylized story of a proper Boston butler who finds fame, fortune, and fair damsel in the gold fields of “Californy.” Ludwig commented that “the whole nation will have a roottin’ tootin’ holiday of fun at Easter time!” Also designed for fun is the Walt Disney February attrac¬ tion, “Monkeys, Go Home!” The story takes place in France, and so there is also romance — between Dean Jones and Yvette Mimieux. They are brought together by Maurice Chevalier, playing an exuberant priest who underlines his happy philos¬ ophy of life with lovely songs, and a mischievous quartet of chimpanzees. The fun stems directly from the incomprehen¬ sible (to an American) psychology of the French villagers and the vagaries of the olive growing business. To round out the 1967 line-up, “Follow Me, Boys!,” after its Radio City Music Hall engagement and its broad release at Christmas, will be the current attraction for Buena Vista as the year opens. Some of the marketing highlights of 1967 are as follows: The first three releases of the year — “Monkeys, Go Home!,” “Bullwhip Griffin” and “Snow White” — will have the benefit of personal appearance tours. Yvette Mimieux will tour key cities, coast to coast, in January for “Monkeys, Go Home!,” the Mountain Ox will tour the country for “Bullwhip” in February-March, and a merchandise-oriented tour for “Snow White” during April and May will include live costumed per¬ formers representing all the cartoon characters— Snow White, Happy, Sleepy, Dopey, Grumpy, Bashful, Doc, and Sneezy. The company’s music division will go all out with singles, albums and specialties on “Snow White” and “Jungle Book,” and the same two features will spearhead unparalleled activity by the merchandise division in the fields of books, toys, games, apparel and national tie-ins with major advertisers and top retail organizations. A unique tour group made up of the Gnomettes will make personal appearances on behalf of “The Gnome-Mobile,” which also will be backed by national tie-ins. The greatest merchandise-music-promotion-publicity effort of all will platform the release of “The Happiest Millionaire.” Music will run the entire gamut of recording, sheet music, song books, etc., and merchandise will go beyond all previous boundaries of licensed products and national tie-ins. The tours, recorded music and merchandise are in the “plus” area of the “total marketing” that supports each and every Walt Disney-Buena Vista release. Seven Arts By JAMES V. O’GARA 1966 was a most fulfilling year for Seven Arts Pictures. The growing pains continue, but our young distribution com¬ pany’s future looks brighter with each film we release. With the new year upon us we look forward to an exciting lineup of important films geared to the widest possible audience. A well-balanced mixture of comedy, drama, adventure and ac¬ tion motion pictures will be available from Seven Arts throughout 1967, and exhibitors and public will be treated to what we feel is exceptional product. The highlights for the first six months include “You’re A Big Boy Now,” starring Elizabeth Hartman, Julie Harris and Geraldine Page, which has already played a special one week engagement in Los Angeles to qualify for Academy Award nominations; “The Young Girls Of Rochefort,” a lavish color musical starring Gene Kelly; “The Birds, The Bees And The ( Continued on page 57) 48 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR December 28, 1966