(If this is your first time on this blog, I ask you to read my About page first! You can find a link to it at the top left-hand corner of this blog. Thanks!)
If you’re like the normal person in the street, when you think Disney movies, you think political plot points!
Yeah, I was being sarcastic. Even I was surprised after watching this movie that politics played an integral part to this movie’s plot. Based on a memoir written by one of the characters in the film (I don’t know how loosely or strongly this film is based on the memoirs), this musical film is not well-known, as you might imagine. So without further ado, let’s jump into reviewing The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band!
(If this is your first time on this blog, I ask you to read my “About” page first! You can find a link to it at the top left-hand corner of this blog. Thanks!)
After Disney had HUGE success with “Mary Poppins”, they naturally looked for a way to recreate that success. This is where “The Happiest Millionaire” comes in.
Based on a non-musical play which was in turn based on a true story of an eccentric millionaire in early 1910s Philadelphia, this movie musical featured much of the same crew who worked on “Mary Poppins”.And sadly, this was also the last film that Walt Disney personally worked on as he died during its production in 1966. The film would be released to theaters in 1967.
And would the film be a hit? Umm….no.
The film didn’t do well at all, not even coming close to the unprecedented success of “Mary Poppins”. One factor that may have caused its downfall was its extremely long running time. The film was actually 172 minutes long, making it the longest live-action Disney film till date. Heck, it’s STILL the longest live-action Disney film ever!
“You mean there’s actually a Disney movie longer than me?”
So, due to the failure of the film, it was later cut down to 164 minutes and even later cut down to 144 minutes!
But, we are lucky to be living in this era because the film in its entirety (all 172 minutes of that entirety) would be released on DVD in a special “Restored Roadshow Edition” of the movie. Yay, us!
So the question arises, was the film actually “bad” or was it because the runtime was just too darn long? Well, let’s find out together! Ladies and gentlemen, this is “The Happiest Millionaire”. Continue reading “The Happiest Millionaire (1967)”→
My Live Action Disney Project 