[note]This article series promoted the book The Art of Walt Disney: From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdoms and Beyond written by Christopher Finch which was first published in 1973.[/note]
Altho Disney first struck movie pay dirt with Mickey Mouse, he realized the limitations and found that people worked just as well as animation. In this third excerpt from his book "The Art of Walt Disney," Christopher Finch expounds on Disney's use of live action and animation.
WALT Disney's greatest contribution to the motion picture industry was the genius he brought to the art of animation. Since World War II, however, his studio has become equally well known for its live-action movies and its television shows.
Many of the live-action features have been relatively modest productions, but others – such as "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "Mary Poppins" – have been lavish productions in the grand Hollywood tradition. The one thing they all have in common is that they are carefully designed for family audiences.
Segments of live-action footage began to find their way into package films such as "The Three Caballeros" and "Fun and Fancy Free," but the real breakthru came with "Song of the South," released in 1946, the first Disney film that used a full complement of professional actors to tell an entirely fictional story.
It also capitalized on the reputation of Disney animation by including three cartoon episodes, but from the point of view of future developments it was more significant that the live-action sequences were well conceived and executed. "Song of the South" displays the confident professionalism one expects from Hollywood movies of that period.
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