Last night I watched the original Walt Disney’s Swiss Family Robinson. I haven’t seen it since I was a kid. It is a tale of a shipwrecked family building an new life in their island home. As you may also know that the Swiss Family Treehouse is the coolest attraction in Adventureland! Although dated in some respects it is a fun adventure movie with a fair amount of comedy. If you haven’t seen it yet I highly recommend you do. It is also a classic family movie so invite the kids and Aunty Tu-Tu too. It amazes me how many pirates were dispatched in the finale scene and I saw no real blood or guts. Now that’s Disney Magic! The movie starred John Mills as Father Robinson, Dorothy McGuire as Mother Robinson, James MacArthur as Fritz, Janet Munro as Bertie, Sessue Hayakawa as Pirate Chief Kuala, Tommy Kirk as Ernst and my favorite, Kevin “Moocchie” Corcoran as Francis. Since we were about the same age I really identified with Kevin’s role. He could run and play and capture and keep any wild animal to be his friend. At last count he had two Great Danes, a Giant Turtle, a Spider Monkey, and a baby Elephant. He also captures a Bengal Tiger single-handed. What boy wouldn’t want to do all of that!
Kevin in a publicity shot with his baby elephant.
Here is the Treehouse in Tobago that was used for the movie. I could live here! You can see all the production people getting ready to make a shot. They say the film made $40,000,000, making it the highest grossing film of 1960 ahead of mega hits Spartacus and Exodus. Wow, I didn’t know that! Question: Do you think this tree was the inspiration behind WDW Treehouse Villa’s?
Here are three fun Treehouse links on this site: Video Interlude: Disneyland Treehouse Waterfall – Sue and Mark in the Treehouse - and my favorite, The Kissing Tree
