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Fans of Disney and classic films alike should consider attending this year’s Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival. Stitch Kingdom reports that for 2011 TCM joined up with D23, the official Disney fan group, to dedicate a portion of the festival to the works of Walt Disney.
The Disney films and shorts presented all fit into this year’s theme of Music and the Movies. Thus the only feature length Disney movie shown at the festival will be a recently restored copy of 1940’s “Fantasia.”
The four-day event will also include a screening of select Silly Symphonies shorts introduced/curated by film historian Leonard Maltin, and a tribute to Disney’s live-action musicals. But perhaps the most intriguing Disney-related happening at the festival is the presentation of Disney’s Laugh-O-Grams.
Before moving to California Walt Disney set up shop in Kansas City, MO and started the Laugh-O-Gram studio. There he began his professional animation career, creating several fairy tale shorts including Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and the Beanstalk. Popular legend attests that Walt Disney found his inspiration for Mickey Mouse while at the Laugh-O-Gram studio.
Many of the original Laugh-O-Gram shorts, dating from the 1920s, were recently found and restored by the Museum of Modern Art. The MoMA then collaborated with The Walt Disney Family Museum to bring them to this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival.
“When it comes to the merging of music and motion pictures, no single studio has made as consistent and important contributions as Disney,” said TCM host Robert Osborne. “We are proud to join with Disney’s D23 fan club to celebrate that legacy as an important part of the festival. It is also a rare opportunity for everyone to experience the magic of Disney through beautifully restored feature films and rare shorts from the early days, shown on giant movie screens for the first time in years.”
Passes are currently on sale for the festival, which will take place from April 28 to May 1 of next year. Some of the other non-Disney films on the schedule for the event include “An American in Paris,” “Citizen Kane,” and “Night Flight,” a 1933 film starring John Barrymore, Clark Gable, and Helen Hayes that hasn’t been screened since it stopped circulating in 1942.
There are several levels of passes for the Classic Film festival, ranging in price from $300-$1200. Even the most basic pass gets you into all film screenings and panels. The perks tagged on to the higher levels of passes include nighttime receptions, red carpet access at Grauman’s Chinese Theater, meet and greet events, and more.
Because the Disney connection for the 2011 Classic Film Festival results from a partnership between TCM and D23, I checked the latter’s official website to see if there would be special prices or passes to the event for D23 members. I couldn’t find anything at all about the festival, so as far as I know at the moment D23 members will not be granted special access.
For full details on the festival, including pass information and purchasing, and the complete schedule of events for the four days, check out the official TCM Classic Film Festival website here.
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*(This image by Average Jane is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
