Our Digital Archivist, Lynn Zook, worked behind-the-scenes with the staff of Turner Classic Movies to make her dream of The Walt Disney Family Museum participating in the TCM Classic Film Festival a reality. We asked Lynn to share the story.
Last year I attended the first-ever TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, and was immersed in four days of classic film heaven. The Festival was so successful that on closing night, the wonderful TCM host, Robert Osborne, announced to the appreciative crowd that the Festival would return to Hollywood in the Spring of 2011. I returned to the museum with a hope and a dream...
It seemed like a perfect fit: The Walt Disney Family Museum and TCM. Classic film fans love Walt’s films. "How cool would it be," I thought, "if the museum could present a program at the 2011 Film Festival?" I contacted the museum’s consulting historian J.B. Kaufman to see what he thought. A fellow film buff, he loved the idea and we mulled various program concepts over. I made phone calls, sent emails, and followed up with the staff of TCM. They liked the idea, and we entered a dialogue.
Then, last fall, the Museum of Modern Art announced that two more Laugh-O-grams, long thought lost, had been discovered. I contacted, Charlie Tabesh, the Senior Vice President of Programming at TCM, about the discovery. He was enthusiastic , and shortly after Thanksgiving, he called with good news. The Walt Disney Family Museum, in partnership with MoMA, was being asked to introduce a Laugh-O-grams presentation at the TCM Film Festival in 2011.
As J.B. Kaufman wrote last week, The Walt Disney Family Museum will present a program of the recently-restored Laugh-O-grams, including the newly-rediscovered Jack the Giant Killer and Goldie Locks and the Three Bears. In addition, the uncut version of Puss In Boots will be screened, including the "homage" to Rudy Vaselino, er, Valentino—one of the leading romantic male stars of the silent film era.
So, if you are attending this year’s TCM Classic Film Festival, please join us at 6 pm on Thursday, April 28th at the famous Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, as we kick-off the Festival with J.B. Kaufman introducing the Laugh-O-grams. There is also an encore screening on Sunday, May 1st at 5:45pm. Silent film musician Ben Model will provide live musical accompaniment at both screenings.
If you already have your pass to the Festival, I look forward to meeting you! If you live in Southern California and wish to attend either screening, individual tickets for the Laugh-O-grams programs can be purchased at the theater box office just prior to the start of the screening. Tickets will be $20 (and cash-only according to the Festival website).
So, a big shout-out of thanks to Charlie and TCM for making this happen!