Tony® Winner and Three-Time Oscar® Nominee Angela Lansbury to Narrate Documentary Special,Which Will Feature Interviews with Such Stars as Kurt Russell, Dick Van Dyke, Dean Jones and Tim Conway
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is set to conjure up some pure movie magic this December, when the network debuts TCM PRESENTS: THE FAMILY CLASSICS. The festivities will include Sunday movie showcases featuring more than 25 Disney live-action classics, plus an all-new original documentary entitled THE AGE OF BELIEVING: THE DISNEY LIVE-ACTION CLASSICS, to be narrated by Tony® winner and three-time Oscar® nominee Angela Lansbury. The showcases will begin each Sunday at noon and feature such films as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), Freaky Friday (1976), The Parent Trap (1961), The Love Bug (1968), Treasure Island (1950), The Shaggy Dog (1959) and Swiss Family Robinson (1960), as well as Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), which stars Lansbury.
“With Walt Disney Pictures’ legacy of groundbreaking animated films, it can sometimes be easy to forget that since the 1950s, the studio has also produced an extensive collection of lovingly made live-action films perfect for the entire family,” said Charles Tabesh, senior vice president of programming for TCM. “So it is with great pride that we will present them in all their glory in the tradition of TCM ─ uncut and commercial free. With more than 25 outstanding movies and an insightful documentary special narrated by Angela Lansbury, TCM’s salute to these live-action films is a perfect family programming event for the holiday season.”
THE AGE OF BELIEVING: THE DISNEY LIVE-ACTION CLASSICS, which comes to TCM from FitzFilm, Inc. and writer/producer/director Peter Fitzgerald, will follow the studio’s history as it ventured beyond its animation legacy to develop non-animated family fare. It was slated to premiere at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 14.
The special will feature interviews with a number of people who have contributed to the studio’s live-action oeuvre, including Kurt Russell, Dick Van Dyke, Dean Jones, Tim Conway, Lesley Ann Warren and Michele Lee; former child stars Karen Dotrice and Kim Richards; director Ken Annakin; and songwriter Richard M. Sherman. The special will also feature interviews with Walt Disney Company Board Director Emeritus Roy E. Disney, film critic and film expert Leonard Maltin, film historian Les Perkins, film writer Richard Schickel, author and film expert Paul Sigman-Lowery and author Bill Cotter. The following is the complete schedule for TCM PRESENTS: THE FAMILY CLASSICS:
Sunday, Dec. 21
Noon The Black Hole (1979) – starring Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Yvette Mimieux, Robert Forster and Ernest Borgnine.
2 p.m. Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) – starring Eddie Albert, Kim Richards, Ike Eisenmann, Ray Milland and Donald Pleasance.
4 p.m. Return from Witch Mountain (1978) – starring Bette Davis, Christopher Lee, Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann.
6 p.m. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) – starring Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson,
Roddy McDowall and Sam Jaffe.8 p.m. Candleshoe (1977) – starring Jodie Foster, David Niven and Helen Hayes.10 p.m. Freaky Friday (1976) – starring Jodie Foster, Barbara Harris and John Astin.
11:45 p.m. THE AGE OF BELIEVING: THE DISNEY LIVE-ACTION CLASSICS – narrated by Angela Lansbury.
Sunday, Dec. 28
Noon The Shaggy Dog (1959) – starring Fred MacMurray, Jean Hagen and Tommy Kirk.
2 p.m. The Shaggy D.A. (1976) – starring Dean Jones, Tim Conway and Suzanne Pleshette
4 p.m. The Love Bug (1968) – starring Dean Jones, Michelle Lee and Buddy Hackett.6 p.m. Herbie Rides Again (1974) – starring Helen Hayes, Ken Berry and Stefanie Powers.
8 p.m. Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977) – starring Dean Jones and Don Knotts.
9:45 p.m. Herbie Goes Bananas (1980) – starring Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman.
11:30 p.m. The World’s Greatest Athlete (1973) – starring Tim Conway, Jan Michael Vincent, John Amos and Nancy Walker.
Turner Classic Movies, currently seen in more than 75 million homes, is a 24-hour cable network from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company. TCM presents the greatest motion pictures of all time from the largest film library in the world, uncut and commercial-free. The network also offers critically acclaimed original documentaries and specials, including the Martin Scorsese Presents: Val Lewton—The Man in the Shadows, the Emmy®-winning Stardust: The Bette Davis Story and the Emmy®-nominated Brando. More information is available at TCM. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.
This information can also be accessed on TBS, Inc.’s press site at News Turner.
Would you like to win a copy of this DVD? Here are the rules: Just let me know who in your family would enjoy The Age of Believing: The Disney Live-Action Classics DVD? This contest is open to everyone with a USA mailing address....bloggers and non-bloggers.
You may come back each day and enter (again) after you do the first rule, just leave a comment about what is one of your favorite classics movie or show. Click here to see how you can earn extra credits to win, and click here to see guidelines and the official rules. This contest will end on December 28th at 11:59 PM.
