The Parent Trap / The Sign of Zorro / Jungle Cat

Reviews #40-42: The Parent Trap / The Sign of Zorro / Jungle Cat

Every now and again, I think about the blogs I've started and let fall dormant. This is one of them. There's a good reason for this one: it's not like anyone is going to find this blog and ask me to review anything for them! And, yes, I did have that in mind when I first started this blog.

I've given some thought to restarting this ever since I took a bunch of DVDs from my brother's apartment when I was cleaning it out. Most of the DVDs I donated to a local church for its community center. Another thing that happened was that I recently got a cheap deal for Hulu with Disney (with commercials) last Christmas (or was it Thanksgiving?).

The last time I had Disney Plus, I started doing a deep dive into the catalogue going all the way back to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, using a list I found on Wikipedia. A couple of discoveries:

There were more movies than I remembered and some I didn't know about, including a few made in the UK. Also, not all of these movies are available on Disney Plus -- and I'm not talking about Song of the South. For some reason, Make Mine Music, which my in-laws had on VHS for the grandkids (my kids, included), isn't available on Disney Plus. I found a few on Amazon Prime, but there was an additional fee for them.

One nice discovery was to learn that Disney actually made a live-action version of Robin Hood, one that I don't remember ever seeing. That was fun.

The last time around, I skipped many of the wildlife documentaries. The first ones I saw were a little silly (and I've heard that some of the antics in creating them weren't entirely ethical, but that's a subject for another day.

Which brings me to this update. The last thing I remember watching was Polyanna (which, incidentally, is one of the DVDs from my brother's apartment -- he and my late sister-in-law, God rest them both, were big Disney fans), and I recalled that I was up to The Parent Trap. The original movie came up in conversation on reddit recently, and I was encouraged to watch it.

So I did. But then I checked and discovered that there were several movies in between Pollyanna and The Parent Trap. These include The Sign of Zorro, Jungle Cat, Ten Who Dared, Swiss Family Robinson, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, and The Absent-Minded Professor. In addition, before Pollyanna was Toby Tyler and Kidnapped.

Going down this list Toby Tyler, Kidnapped and Ten Who Dared are not available on Disney Plus. I saw part of Toby Tyler a long time ago on The Wonderful World of Disny. Swiss Family Robinson I definitely saw because I remember all the people from the previous movies, plus it had Janet Munro, who seemed younger here than she did in Darby O'Gill when she was being courted by Sean Connery. I think I saw One Hundred and One Dalmatians then, so I'll likely skip a rewatch, but I don't remember watching The Absent-Minded Professor.

The Jungle Cat I skipped because of my wildlife documentary bias back then. And upon viewing, I'm pretty sure I watched Zorro even though I wouldn't have been able to tell you anything about it in advance, other than its star.

So I've watched three films in the past week, and I'm updating this for the first time since my Abbott & Costello rewatch (which stopped at 12 films).

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40: The Parent Trap (1961)

I have no memory of ever seeing the original version of the movie with Hayley Mills (sister of Juliet Mills of Nanny and the Professor fame) who starred in Pollyanna, playing Susan and Sharon (and I already forget which was which). Disney didn't let talent go easily. I didn't remember that Maureen O'Hara or Brian Keith were in this.

I've seen the remake many, many times as my daughter was the right age for that particular DVD (or was it a VHS?) with Lindsay Lohan. It turns out that the remake is pretty true to the original, with a little extra material to fill out an extra half hour running time or so.

The movie starts with the two girls going to camp (one from Boston and one from California) where they meet and take a dislike to each other. And a few pranks go wrong, the two are put in an isolation tent to learn to get along with each other. They bond over their mother's picture, which Susan (or is it Sharon) has only seen once. They scheme, including cutting their hair but not piercing ears, to take each other's places. Some of the supporting characters are different. The mother's butler/chauffer isn't a big part but the mother's mother is, and the father has an extra handy man. And the father'sgirlfriend more obviously a gold-digger as is her mother. The priest that is to marry them is played by Leo G. Carroll, who has a good time at the situation.

One thing that did seem a little racy for Disney in 1961, was that one of the pranks included cutting the back of the skirt off one of the girls so her her underwear was showing. There were no close-ups but she was visible for a moment before she's rescued by her friends while being laughed at.

It was a fun movie that didn't need the extra scene from the remake as Maureen O'Hara seems to be onboard with a reconciliation from earlier on, although she'll settle for a six-month split if that's what it comes to.

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41: The Sign of Zorro (1960)

This was released in Europe as a movie, but in the United States, it was a television series. Scenes from eight episodes were compiled into this film. (There were 82 episodes.) It shows as plots are resolved and no stories begin. Even the flamenco dancer changes for the final act.

The main villain is the commandante, Capitán Monastario, who according to IMDB, appears in 13 episodes. According to wikipedia, there were two seasons of 39 episodes each, plus four one-hour specials later on.

I only really know Guy Williams from Lost in Space, which I wasn't a fan of. This was a fun movie, and I wouldn't mind watching the TV show if it were available somewhere. Zorro is based on a book (or books), so I could always look for those. I know there are new ones being published.

I wonder if Sgt. Garcia wasn't a prototype for Sgt. Schultz on Hogan's Heroes.

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42: The Jungle Cat (1960)

Nature film. Not as goofy as the older ones -- not hoedown dancing insects or anything like that. Instead there are jaguars, tapirs, anteaters, and monkeys. Some fight each with sharp claws or talons ready. None of the animals are clawed or slashed to death.

Fun for the nature lovers. A Disney-fied version of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, I guess.

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The rest of 1961 involves The Absent-Minded Professor; Nikki, Wild Dog of the North; Greyfriars Bobby; and Babes in Toyland (not to be confused with Laurel & Hardy and The March of the Wooden Soldiers).

It'll be interesting to see which of these is available on Disney Plus. Edit: Not Nikki, but Greyfriars Bobby is there. Also the Babes in Toyland search also brought up a Babes in the Woods cartoon from 1932, so that might be a two-fer for me!

MY NEWEST BOOK IS OUT Burke's Lore Briefs: Yesterday's Villains, the following to Tomorrow's Heroes is now available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. If Heroes who don't die live long enough to become the villain, what happens to Villains who live long enough? When do schemes of global conquest become dreams of a quiet place away from all those annoying people you once wanted to subjugate? And does anyone really want to rule over the world's ashes if it means we can't have nice things?
My older books include three more books in my Burke's Lore Briefs series, and the anthologies A Bucket Full of Moonlight and In A Flash 2020. Vampires, werewolves, angels, demons, used-car salesmen, fairies, superheroes, space and time travel, and little gray aliens talking to rock creatures and living plants. Plus pirates, spies, horror, and kindergarten noir! If you enjoy my books, please consider leaving a rating or review on Amazon or on Good Reads. Thank you!