- SWORD IN THE STONE, THE GOLD COLLECTION (DVD MOVIE)
Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 11/30/2010 Rating: PgThe Boys: The Sherman Brothers’ Story is an intimate journey through the lives of Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman, the astoundingly prolific, Academy Award®-winning songwriting team that defined family musical entertainment for five decades with unforgettable songs like “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocous†from Mary Poppins, “I Wanna Be Like You†from The Jungle Book and the most translated song ever written "It’s a Small World (After All)" from the Disneyland attraction. The feature-length documentary, conceived, produced and directed by two of the songwriters’ sons, take audiences behind the scenes of the Hollywood magic factory and offers a rate glimpse of a unique creative process at work. It also explores a deep and longstanding rift that has ! kept the brothers personally estranged throughout much of their unparalleled professional partnershipWhat songwriters' tunes have been covered by John Coltrane, Annette Funicello, Ringo Starr, Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Louis Prima, and Pink Floyd's David Gilmour, among others? Consider yourself an expert if your answer is Robert and Richard Sherman, whose long, fruitful, and often contentious partnership is chronicled in
The Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story. The fact that this documentary by directors Jeff and Gregory Sherman (sons of Robert and Richard, respectively) was released under the imprimatur of the Walt Disney Company, for whom "the Boys" did their most renowned work, is an indication that this isn't exactly a hard-hitting exposé; although the estrangement between Bob and Dick, as they were known, isn't ignored ("We perpetrated a façade for 50 years," says one), far more attention is given to the music. That's precisely as it should be. Talking heads! like Van Dyke, Andrews, Randy Newman, Ben Stiller, and Hayley! Mills h elp tell the tale of lyricist Bob and composer Dick, who were themselves the sons of a successful songwriter, Al Sherman. They began writing together in the early '50s, scored a hit with Funicello's "Tall Paul" late in that decade (Annette is also seen here singing "Monkey's Uncle," backed by none other than the Beach Boys), and soon became staff writers for Walt Disney. Major successes followed, including an Oscar-winning score for
Mary Poppins and songs for
The Jungle Book,
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and others; they also wrote pop hits like "You're Sixteen" (a hit for Ringo in the '70s), and can take credit (or blame, depending on one's point of view) for "It's a Small World," one of the planet's most ubiquitous songs. The documentary has its flaws--it's overlong at 102 minutes, and the brothers' eventual estrangement, which continues to this day, is attributed to their opposite personalities (Bob, who served in World War II, is quieter a! nd more dour than his volatile younger brother) but not really explained. Still, the music, and there's lots of it, is very well handled, especially in a terrific bonus feature called "Sherman Brothers Jukebox," which details the creation of several Sherman classics.
--Sam GrahamRICHARD M. SHERMAN and ROBERT B. SHERMAN - They were hired by Walt Disney himself as his first and only staff songwriters. Their music has been an important part of motion pictures, theme park attractions, television productions, records, compact discs and Broadway shows - entertaining millions of people all over the world. Presented here are 59 songs highlighting The Sherman Brothers' incredibly prolific Disney years - from Annette's 1959 hit "Tall Paul" to their work from The Tigger Movie in 2000. Newly restored with the latest digital technology, this collection features not only their landmark hits from Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh, The Jungle Book, and "it's a small world", but ! a number of their other classics - many available for the firs! t time o n CD. Their voluminous repertoire is only matched by their musical versatility - composing in styles from Rock 'n Roll and English Music Hall to Samba and March. These genres and more are represented as we travel through the Sherman Brothers' Disney career from the very beginning. The extensive Liner Notes reveal the stories behind the songs; illustrated with candid photos of the Shermans at work, and with the star-studded gallery of artists who performed their classic songs. Artists such as - Annette Funicello Fred MacMurray Tommy Sands Maureen O'Hara Hayley Mills Maurice Chevalier Burl Ives Rex Allen Julie Andrews Dick Van Dyke Annette and The Beach Boys Louis Prima Tommy Steele Lesley Ann Warren John Davidson Ann Shelton Louis Armstrong The Mike Sammes Singers Angela Lansbury Kenny Loggins Walt Disney
Also included are three Bonus Tracks from the 1969 Disneyland Records recordings of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", "Hushabye Mountain", and "Me Ol' Bam! boo" performed by by The Mike Sammes Singers. The Sherman Brothers wrote the soundtrack to our lives - more than you may even know. It is certain, that as you listen, you will inevitably find yourself saying, "They wrote that too?" Yes, they did. * 2 CD set * 59 tracks total * 26 rare tracks * 6 tracks - first time on CD * 3 Bonus Tracks from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - first time on CD * Newly restored with the latest digital technology * Artists - Annette Funicello Fred MacMurray Tommy Sands Maureen O'Hara Hayley Mills Maurice Chevalier Burl Ives Rex Allen Julie Andrews Dick Van Dyke Annette and The Beach Boys Louis Prima Tommy Steele Lesley Ann Warren John Davidson Ann Shelton Louis Armstrong The Mike Sammes Singers Angela Lansbury Kenny Loggins Walt Disney * Extensive Liner Notes chronicling the Sherman Brothers' Disney Career * Behind-the-scenes photos * Songs from - Annette The Absent-minded Professor The Parent Trap The Wonderful Wor! ld of Color The Horsemasters In Search of the Castaways Sum! mer Magi c Disneyland The 1954 World's Fair Mary Poppins The Monkey's Uncle That Darn Cat Winnie the Pooh The Jungle Book The Happiest Millionaire The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band Chitty Chtty Bang Bang The Aristocats Bedknobs and Broomsticks EPCOT Tokyo Disneyland The Tigger Movie * Over 2 and a half hours of total playing timeThey built their home on the timeless mountain that bears their name. They built their lives on even stronger stuff: the bedrock of family. This 5-disc set features all 24 Year-One episodes of the beloved series that ran 9 years and won 5 Emmy Awards its inaugural year, including Outstanding Drama Series. Richard Thomas plays the key role of John-Boy Walton, a youth on the verge of manhood during the Great Depression and a fledgling writer whose observations are filled with the growing-up lessons and love he receives from father John, mother Olivia, Grandma, Grandpa and all the rest of The Waltons.The Waltons' nearly 10-ye! ar run on network television grew out of the popular, 1971 made-for-TV movie The Homecoming, which was derived from a Depression-era, rustic setting ("Walton's Mountain"), and characters based on Earl Hamner Jr.'s autobiographical novel Spencer's Mountain--itself the source for a very nice 1963 feature film starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara. That's a lot of entertainment sprouting from Hamner's prose. But something about his seminal story of family values, rugged independence, and big dreams amidst a hardscrabble existence captured the hearts of American audiences, many of whom personally recalled severe economic adversity in the 1930s.
The Waltons: The Complete First Season collects those initial episodes from the series building on the strengths of the Homecoming pilot, which introduced the extended Walton clan led by a strong-willed mill owner, John (Andrew Duggan), and his equally resolute wife, Olivia (Patricia Neal). The Walt! ons recast those key roles (as well as a few others) with ! Ralph Wa ite and Michael Learned (yup, a female), but Richard Thomas carried over as oldest child John-Boy Walton, an aspiring writer whose cusp-of-manhood view informs the series. Will Geer (Seconds) replaced Edgar Bergen as Grandpa Walton, Ellen Corby remained as Grandma, and John and Olivia's large brood (seven kids in all) were filled out by largely unknown, young actors. The episodes, still delightful and touching, strong on production values and unusually tight and polished for primetime drama, tended to focus on creator Hamner's pet themes of self-sacrifice and heroic effort when the going got tough.
Year 1 highlights include "The Carnival," in which the impoverished Waltons, who can't pay for tickets to see a circus performance, end up sheltering stranded carney folk. "The Typewriter" is a classic about John-Boy "borrowing" a museum's antique typewriter, only to have his sister Mary Ellen (Judy Norton) sell it as junk. "The Sinner" concerns the arrival of a fundam! entalist minister on Walton's Mountain, finding comfort in the words of religious iconoclast John Walton after the clergyman makes a fool of himself with moonshine. That's Hamner himself providing touches of narration. During the long run of the multiple-award-winning The Waltons, there were many changes in casting and storylines. But this boxed set reveals a fine series in its pristine state. --Tom KeoghSWORD IN THE STONE, THE (GOLD COLLECTION
