Jim on Film: Disney MVPs
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9. Janet Munro—The lovely and gifted Janet Munro blessed Walt Disney with performances in three Disney feature films and one television film. With the grace, beauty, and talent that must have radiated from a young Maureen O’Hara, Janet Munro brings to each of her characters class, romance, and warmth. As Roberta in Swiss Family Robinson (1960), Munro makes Roberta everything a youthful leading lady of the era should be. In one favorite scene, she pretends to not know how to shoot a gun so that James MacArthur’s Fritz can give her an impromptu tutoring session. When Fritz leaves, Tommy Kirk, as Ernst, makes his way to offer assistance, but she demonstrates that she thinks she’s got it down—and she shoots the gun with all the polish of an experienced gunman. It’s a funny and endearing scene.
As Katie O’Gill in Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959), Munro plays the devoted daughter of the town storyteller. She’s got Irish fire in her, which makes her budding relationship with Sean Connery’s Michael McBride particularly troublesome, as he is caught between his job duties and his love for Katie, and she is caught between her love for him and her dedication to her father. There are those who might say that Janet Munro was fortunate to star in a movie opposite the future James Bond, but I can’t help but feel that it is Sean Connery who should count himself blessed.
8. Kevin Corcoran— It’s hard to analyze his addition to so many Disney film classics except to say that in nine feature films and numerous television appearances, Kevin Corcoran was the quintessential Disney child actor. Cute and expressive, mischievous but appealing, Corcoran brought charm and humor to some of Disney’s most memorable live-action films. Everyone loves Corcoran for his turn as Arliss Coates in Old Yeller (1957), Moochie Daniels in The Shaggy Dog (1959), Toby Tyler in the extremely charming Toby Tyler, or Ten Weeks with the Circus (1960), and in Pollyanna (1960) as Pollyanna’s tree-climbing playmate Jimmy Bean.
Being a successful child actor may not rely on a strong technique or require years of study, but it does require a talent and natural ability that is not easy to come by. Whatever it takes, Kevin Corcoran had it and used it to bring joy to so many people through his important contributions to many Disney films.
7. Brian Keith—With seven Disney features under his belt, Brian Keith specialized in strong, father-type roles in his Disney films, often tempering rugged masculinity with comedy—as in The Parent Trap (1961) and Moon Pilot (1962)—or humanity—as in A Tiger Walks (1964) and Those Calloways (1965). Of course, Brian Keith will be best remembered by Disney fans for his role as Mitch Evers in the classic Disney comedy The Parent Trap. There’s something real about this father who can provide and love but struggles to do things right. While dining with Maureen O’Hara, he’s particularly real as he, long out of touch with how to tailor his words to women’s ears, struggles to compliment his attractive ex-wife, telling her, “As a matter of fact, Maggie, you look good . . . What did you do to yourself anyway?�? Another favorite scene is when he tries to explain the facts of life to Sharon (whom he thinks is Susan), getting flustered and confusing himself from his miscommunication. Both of these are very funny scenes.
Another favorite role is in the warm drama Those Calloways, in which he plays the flawed head of the Calloway family. He’s a man with a dream, to build a sanctuary for migrating geese, but in the process of trying to make it come true, he struggles with his own failings. Brian Keith creates Cam Calloway as a man who is not always likeable, getting drunk when life gets too much for him and bringing strife into his family, but nevertheless endearing for the passion he has for his cause.
6. James MacArthur—In four feature films with the studio, James MacArthur made an indelible mark in some of Disney’s highest quality films. Much of the credit for the quality of A Light in the Forest (1958), Third Man on the Mountain (1959), and Kidnapped (1960) belongs to MacArthur for grounding them in such strong, mature leading performances marked by genuine talent and skill. As the white boy raised by Native Americans and forced to live with his white birth family, MacArthur gives truthful flesh to the internal battle raging inside a hurt and betrayed young man who is learning how to honor his past while forging a new road in a new and strange culture.
His most memorable Disney role, however, would be oldest Robinson brother Fritz in Swiss Family Robinson (1960). Fritz would be the only Disney role that would allow him to grow up, playing a teenager on the cusp of manhood. He’s the strong older brother, leading the younger sons and providing sensible perspectives during times of crisis. As with his other Disney films, in Swiss Family Robinson, MacArthur really shows himself to be a young man of both talent and appeal.