Things I've Noticed About Disney Movies

I'm sitting here working (well, clearly, I've stopped working and am now blogging) and watching "Summer Magic" with Hayley Mills. I'm not digging it, but I feel compelled to watch it because, well, it's Hayley Mills. I'm not even 100% sure of what the plot is because I am only sporadically paying attention, but I'm paying close enough attention to notice the following:

Disney apparently employed only 10 different actors in the '60s and '70s. There is of course, Hayley Mills, who was in Parent Trap--possibly one of my favorite movies of all times, The Moon-Spinners, Pollyanna, That Darn Cat, In Search of the Castaways. Heck, I didn't even know about that last one. And how about Johnnie Whitaker. Wasn't he in a bunch of Disney stuff? The kids from Mary Poppins showed up in like three other movies together. And now there's this woman in Summer Magic who was also in Parent Trap. She played the maid in Parent Trap. She's Burl Ives' wife in this movie.

Speaking of Burl Ives, he's also in this movie. He just collapsed on the floor. I don't think I've ever seen him in anything other than Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Although I guess I really only heard him in that.

Anyway, that's Thing One about Disney movies--the same 10 people over and over.

Thing Two is: why does everyone sound like they have an English accent in the movies from the '60s and '70s? Of course, Hayley Mills is actually English, but they all sound that way. And yet, they're not.

Thing Three: The pre-recorded dog barking is exactly the same in this movie as it is in the Shaggy Dog, 101 Dalmations, and I swear, even Lassie. They're not even the same breed, or even alive--101 Dalmations was animated, you can't fool me!!--and they have the same bark.

Thing Four: Same soundtrack. OK, probably not really, but it all has that same tone.

Thing Five: This isn't about this movie, but it's more from all of the Disney cartoon movies like Bambi--the mother always dies. What the heck? I think Disney must have a thing about mothers. Brother Bear, Finding Nemo, and others I can't think of right now. Or the mother dies and we never see her at all: Snow White, Cinderella, Aladdin, Little Mermaid, etc. etc. etc. Are orphans big sellers?

Ok, then.

I have no idea why I wrote this post. I think it all started when I heard the barking dog...