In this feature, Psychobabble looks at classic cult items beyond Horror and Rock & Roll.
Sound cinema’s first half century had no shortage of
magicians, from the Kong-conjuring Willis O’Brien to his greatest protégé Ray
Harryhausen, from the filmmaking team that brought L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz to the screen to the
one that realized Pierre Boulle’s Planet of the Apes. Of course, no name was so consistently
responsible for dazzling fantasies as Walt Disney. Beginning with 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Disney
seemed to effortlessly role out fairy tales tailored for children but with
enough pure artistic craft and cinematic scope to enthrall parents too. The
trend continued beyond Walt Disney’s 1966 death with such box office breakers
as The Jungle Book, The Aristocats, and The Rescuers. The latter film was released in 1977, and we all know
what happened that year. Suddenly, cartoons would not be good enough for young
filmgoers. Adaptations of old fairy tales and talking mice wouldn’t be either.
The new generation would require high-tech hardware and state-of-the art
effects. The name Walt Disney would instantly seem as though it was echoing
from a quainter past. The name George Lucas was roaring in from the future.
