Walt Disney Art Classics Convention 2004 - Part 2,

Walt Disney Art Classics Convention 2004 - Part 2
Page 6 of 33

To prove the validity of that thesis, they began with a lively radio spot for The Absent Minded Professor. It sounded like an announcement from NORAD, complete with warnings of unidentified flying objects. The conclusion: “It’s a flying flivver!�? The spot then went on to promise that flubber was, “The greatest discovery since laughter!�?

With those hyperbolic words echoing through the room, Kurtti and Tieman spoke of Medfield College of Technology (its full name, they explained), as a typical small town college, somewhere in the midwest. Medfield was constantly undergoing changes in Administration, as well as deplorable financial difficulties. A photo showing one of the signs for the college illustrated this; it was mounted in an apple crate.

While the entire college, its faculty, students and locations were created and largely shot at the Disney Studios in Burbank, nearby Pomona College was also used on occasion. Among the photos they showed to illustrate this was an ivy covered PC hall, which was used as the location for Ned Brainard’s laboratory in The Absent Minded Professor.

Ned Brainard was, of course, played by Fred MacMurray. Kurtti and Tieman pointed out that MacMurray was on the third phase of his long career by this time (1961). He was first a light romantic player, then had a successful career playing “heavies�? in the 1940s, and wound up playing comedy. This third phase was largely due to Walt Disney’s casting of him in Disney films.


Fred MacMurray as he appeared in Son of Flubber

A photo of love interest Nancy Olsen was next seen. Her career was notably launched in Sunset Boulevard. She also appeared in Pollyanna for Disney. Kurtti and Tieman also made much of the fact that she was one of song writer Alan Jay Lerner’s NINE wives.

Photos of romantic rival Elliott Reid and Keenan Wynn as the villainous Alonzo Hawk were also shown. When Leon Ames, playing Medfield President Rufus Daggett appeared, the crowd was asked if his face was familiar. Several correctly identified him as the stubborn father from the MGM classic Meet Me in St. Louis.

When a photo of Tommy Kirk as Ned Hawk was shown, Kurtti and Tieman noted the amusing pose. Kirk’s head was tilted, and he was giving a big wink. They decried the lack of “novelty�? publicity photos in contemporary films, then added that the shot had actually been achieved by poking Tommy Kirk in the eye.

Viewing a shot of Walt Disney with Ed Wynn, they mentioned that Walt was a big fan of the performer. His appearance as a fire chief was a direct reference to his many years on radio as the Texaco Fire Chief.

Several publicity shots of Fred MacMurray brought a few observations. When the film was originally colorized (a move Kurtti and Tieman dismissed with contempt), flubber appeared purple. In the full color remake, flubber was green. And in looking at a shot of Brainard and his dog, they dryly noted, “You should never try to teach a dog physics. It wastes your time and annoys the dog.�?