Disney Time (TV story)

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Disney Time 1975 was a special edition of the yearly Disney Time programme, a holiday schedule filler produced by the Walt Disney Company, in which clips from both new releases and re-releases of various animated and live-action Disney films were linked by new footage from celebrities.

For this particular edition, it was presented by Tom Baker, not as himself but in costume and in character as the Fourth Doctor.

Synopsis

The Fourth Doctor, frolicking in London's Disney Odeon cinema, tells a series of stories which introduce clips from various Disney films.

Plot

In a scene from the The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Mickey Mouse uses his master's magic hat to force a broom to carry buckets of water for him. The Disney Time title card appears, and as the music continues...

The TARDIS materialises outside the Disney Odeon cinema in St. Martin's Lane, London. The Fourth Doctor emerges and asks a passer-by if he knows Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse or Goofy. After some prompting, the man recalls that those are all "Disney toons". The Doctor then explains that, as he was passing by the planet Mars in the TARDIS, he realised he hadn't seen Mickey and the gang in a long time. He cites this as the reason for his arrival in London, "just in time for Clock Cleaners" — Clock Cleaners

In a clip from the Mickey Mouse short Clock Cleaners, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy attempt to clean a large clock. Donald is thrown around by the clocks interiors springs and gears. Goofy cleans the inside of a bell as it is knocked on the hour, knocking him to the ground.

After the cartoon concludes, the Doctor observes passers-by and muses that it would be "fun" to have a friend who was invisible to all but oneself. Even more fun, if it could be a pirate, or even... Blackbeard's ghost!

In a clip from the film Blackbeard's Ghost, Steve Walker is haunted by Blackbeard, as the two drive around in Steve's car. Blackbeard is terrified by the "craft" they cruise in, and becomes convinced it is powered by an animal under the hood. He attempts to take control of the wheel, shoving the pedal to the floor, causing the car to veer out of control. As the car drives through several yards and front porches, causing countless destruction, it nearly runs over a police officer, who gives pursuit. The officer finds a bottle of rum dropped by the (still invisible) Blackbeard, and incorrectly deduces that Walker has been drinking. Blackbeard tries to take back his rum, leading to a three-man hustle over the bottle that ends with it broken. Blackbeard intends to kill the officer with his sword over this, but Walker talks him out of it. Instead, Blackbeards takes the officer's notepad and pencil and begins destroying both mid-air. Blackbeard takes the officer's gun, shooting six rounds into Walker's car, barely missing both Walker and the officer. Blackbeard steals the officer's motorcycle, driving it around before crashing it into a tree. Walker offers his wrists up to the officer, who puts handcuffs on him.

The Doctor not sits behind the ticket booth, impersonating a collector. A girl walks to the counter and asks for two tickets, and the Doctor gives them to her free of charge, noting that he isn't entirely without influence. Turning back to the audience, the Doctor recounts that there was once a little bot named Mowgli, and he was lost in a jungle. One day, he met a cobra snake called Kaa...

In a scene from The Jungle Book, Kaa sings to Mowgli the song "Trust in Me", as he attempts to convince Mowlgi to trust him.
The Doctor notes that real animals are not much like animated ones, introducing a clip from the documentary African Lion.

After the segment wraps up, the Doctor admits that real wolves, tigers and snakes are "rather different" than what is shown in Disney's fantasy, introducing a sequence from the documentary African Lion.

The Doctor then sums up the stories of The Apple Dumpling Gang and Escape to Witch Mountain (introducing clips of both these features). Afterwards, standing on a stairway in the cinema, he tells his audience that fantasy can include such whimsy as talking fish and people breathing underwater, and argues that if they do not believe this, then they have obviously never seen the film Bedknobs and Broomsticks, from which a sequence is soon shown.

The Doctor then announces that Disney is making a new film, entitled Return of the Big Cat, set to come out at Christmas. No-one has seen it yet, but the Doctor, being a traveller in time and space, is able to show an extract from it. Following this, the Doctor muses on the life of dogs (who, he points out, rarely sing) before reminding his audience that all of this is null and void to Disney, at least as far as their film Lady and the Tramp is concerned. This leads directly into a scene from that picture.

"It's from the Brigadier. He's in trouble again."

The camera then cuts to the Doctor, alone in the cinema as the screening concludes. Even as he prepares to tell one more story, an anonymous hand rises from between the rows, holding a piece of paper. After reading this, the Doctor explains that it is a message from the Brigadier, who is "in trouble again", and needs his scientific advisor's help. The Doctor hurriedly returns to the TARDIS, telling his audience "And now it's time to say goodbye to all of you. But I'll be seeing you again soon. Next Saturday, in fact. Goodbye!" He enters the TARDIS, which dematerialises.

Cast

Archive recordings

Crew

References

to be added

Story notes

  • The ending of the programme, where the Doctor receives a message from the Brigadier about some urgent business, was meant to tie-in with the following regular Doctor Who serial which started broadcasting just a few days after the broadcast of this special, namely TV: Terror of the Zygon. Indeed, the Doctor and his companions begin that story hurrying to the Brigadier because of a message he sent them during TV: Revenge of the Cybermen.
  • The episode include clips from the real-life films Clock Cleaners, Blackbeard's Ghost, The Jungle Book, African Lion, The Apple Dumpling Gang, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Return of the Big Cat, Escape to Witch Mountain and Lady and the Tramp.
  • The Radio Times programme listing read as follows: "Fantasy, adventure and comedy are all included in our summer holiday look at Walt Disney films. Introduced by Tom Baker from the Disney Odeon, St. Martin's Lane / Including Jungle Book; The Apple Dumpling Gang; Lady and the Tramp; Bedknobs and Broomsticks; Blackbeard's Ghost; Clock Cleaners and Escape to Witch Mountain". (original published text) This was accompanied by a black-and-white publicity photograph of the Doctor standing next to a large plastic model of Mickey Mouse, with the accompanying caption "Who's your friend, Mickey? Who? Dr. Who? Of course that's who: 5.15".
  • Interestingly, two years earlier, previous editions of the Disney Time programmed had been hosted by Roy Castle (Ian Chesterton in Dr. Who and the Daleks) and Jon Pertwee (the Third Doctor), though not as their Doctor Who characters; Castle returned in 1976, followed in short order by Bernard Cribbins (Tom Campbell in Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. and, later, Wilfred Mott in Series 4).

Home media releases

  • The end sequence of the Doctor receiving the Brigadier's message and returning to the TARDIS where he says goodbye to his audience was released on VHS alongside Terror of the Zygons. This also appeared as an Easter egg on the DVD release.

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ While Mickey has dialogue in the original short, this material was cut for this special. The only audio that remains is Mickey whistling, and it is uncertain if this was Walt Disney. Disney did famously record Mickey's whistling in Steamboat Willie, so it is possible.
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