People & Places

Last updated

People & Places is a series of short subject documentary films released by Walt Disney Productions from 1953 to 1960 and was later revived in 2024. The original series (except The Alaskan Eskimo, Siam, Sardinia, and The Blue Men of Morocco) was filmed in CinemaScope in various locations around the world.

Contents

The original series received critical acclaim, including four Academy Award nominations and three wins for Best Two Reel Live Action Short.

In October 2019, Disney announced the studio would revive the series for the Disney+ streaming service, with the production company Supper Club producing the initial releases. [1] In November 2023, Disney acquired the short subject documentary film Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó by filmmaker Sean Wang. The short had premiered at the South by Southwest film festival in March 2023 and relaunched the series in February 2024; [2] Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó would start airing on Disney+ on February 9, 2024. The short received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film.

Original series

#TitleRelease dateDirectorHome releaseNotes
1 The Alaskan Eskimo February 18, 1953 James Algar Won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short
2 Siam December 24, 1954 Ralph Wright Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short (Two Reel)
3SwitzerlandJune 16, 1955 Ben Sharpsteen Released with Lady and the Tramp . Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short (Two Reel)
4 Men Against the Arctic December 21, 1955 Winston Hibler Released with both The Littlest Outlaw and The Great Locomotive Chase . Won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short
5SardiniaFebruary 15, 1956 Ben Sharpsteen
6Disneyland, U.S.A.December 20, 1956 Hamilton S. Luske Walt Disney Treasures: Disneyland-Secrets, Stories and Magic Released with Westward Ho, the Wagons! .
7SamoaDecember 25, 1956Ben SharpsteenNominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short (Two Reel)
8Blue Men of MoroccoFebruary 14, 1957Ralph WrightReleased with a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs re-release
9LaplandJuly 3, 1957Ben SharpsteenReleased with a Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs re-release
10 Portugal December 25, 1957Ben SharpsteenReleased with Old Yeller . Nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short.
11WalesJune 10, 1958 Geoffrey Foot
12ScotlandJune 11, 1958Geoffrey Foot
13 Ama Girls July 9, 1958Ben SharpsteenWon the Academy Award for Best Short Subject Documentary. Released with The Light in the Forest . Later released on 16mm as Japan Harvests the Sea.
14Seven Cities of AntarcticaDecember 25, 1958Winston HiblerReleased with Tonka
15Cruise of the EagleMarch 19, 1959Ben SharpsteenReleased with The Shaggy Dog
16 Japan April 6, 1960Ben Sharpsteen
17 The Danube April 27, 1960Ben Sharpsteen

Revival

#TitleRelease dateDirectorHome releaseNotes
1 Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó February 9, 2024Sean WangStreamed on Disney+

DVD release

"Disneyland U.S.A." was released as part of the limited edition Disney Treasures DVD entitled "Walt Disney Treasures: Disneyland Secrets, Stories & Magic".

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mickey Mouse</span> Disney cartoon character and mascot

Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves. Inspired by such silent film personalities as Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, Mickey is traditionally characterized as a sympathetic underdog who gets by on pluck and ingenuity in the face of challenges bigger than himself. The character's depiction as a small mouse is personified through his diminutive stature and falsetto voice, the latter of which was originally provided by Disney. Mickey is one of the world's most recognizable and universally acclaimed fictional characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Disney</span> American animator and producer (1901–1966)

Walter Elias Disney was an American animator, film producer, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film producer, he holds the record for most Academy Awards earned and nominations by an individual. He was presented with two Golden Globe Special Achievement Awards and an Emmy Award, among other honors. Several of his films are included in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress and have also been named as some of the greatest films ever by the American Film Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Walt Disney Company</span> American multinational mass media company

The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy Disney as Disney Brothers Studio; it also operated under the names Walt Disney Studio and Walt Disney Productions before changing its name to the Walt Disney Company in 1986. In 1928, Disney established itself as a leader in the animation industry with the short film Steamboat Willie. The film used synchronized sound to become the first post-produced sound cartoon, and introduced Mickey Mouse, who became Disney's mascot and corporate icon.

The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards, covering the year 1931–32, to the present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oswald the Lucky Rabbit</span> Early animated Disney character

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is an animated cartoon character created in 1927 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for Universal Pictures. He starred in several animated short films released to theaters from 1927 to 1938. Twenty-seven animated Oswald shorts were produced at the Walt Disney Studio. After Universal took control of Oswald's character in 1928, Disney created a new character similar in appearance to Oswald as a replacement: Mickey Mouse, who went on to become one of the most famous cartoon characters in the world.

<i>Plane Crazy</i> 1928 Mickey Mouse short by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks

Plane Crazy is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The cartoon, released by the Walt Disney Studios, was the first appearance of Mickey Mouse and his girlfriend Minnie Mouse, and was originally a silent film. It was given a test screening to a theater audience on May 15, 1928, and an executive from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer saw the film, but failed to pick up a distributor. Later that year, Disney released Mickey's first sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie, which was an enormous success; Plane Crazy was officially released as a sound cartoon on March 17, 1929. It was the fourth Mickey film to be given a wide release after Steamboat Willie, The Gallopin' Gaucho and The Barn Dance (1929).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Disney Pictures</span> American film studio and a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios

Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, a division of Disney Entertainment, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios unit, and is based at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Animated films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios are also released under the studio banner. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributes and markets the films produced by Walt Disney Pictures.

This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are announced and presented early in the following year. Copies of every winning film are held by the Academy Film Archive. Fifteen films are shortlisted before nominations are announced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney anthology television series</span> Anthology television series

The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, The Wonderful World of Disney, was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 onward. The program moved among the Big Three television networks in its first four decades, but has aired on ABC since 1997 and Disney+ since 2020.

Searchlight Pictures is an American film production and distribution arm of Walt Disney Studios, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Entertainment division. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures for 20th Century Fox, the studio focuses primarily on producing, distributing, and acquiring specialty films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Disney Animation Studios</span> American animation studio

Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene from its first synchronized sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie (1928). Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney, it is the oldest-running animation studio in the world. It is currently organized as a division of Walt Disney Studios and is headquartered at the Roy E. Disney Animation Building at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California. Since its foundation, the studio has produced 62 feature films, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Wish (2023), and hundreds of short films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Disney Television Animation</span> American animation studio

Disney Television Animation (DTVA) is an American animation studio that serves as the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a division of Disney General Entertainment Content, which is a division of Disney Entertainment. The studio was originally established in 1984, by Gary Krisel during the reorganization and subsequent re-incorporation of Disney following the arrival of then CEO Michael Eisner that year.

<i>The Old Mill</i> 1937 American film

The Old Mill is a Silly Symphonies cartoon produced by Walt Disney Productions, directed by Wilfred Jackson, scored by Leigh Harline, and released theatrically to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on November 5, 1937. The film depicts the natural community of animals populating an old abandoned windmill in the country, and how they deal with a severe summer thunderstorm that nearly destroys their habitat. It incorporates the song "One Day When We Were Young" from Johann Strauss II's operetta The Gypsy Baron.

<i>The Princess and the Frog</i> 2009 Disney animated film

The Princess and the Frog is a 2009 American animated musical romantic fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is inspired in part by the 2002 novel The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker, which in turn is based on the German folk tale "The Frog Prince" as collected by the Brothers Grimm. The film was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements and produced by Peter Del Vecho, from a screenplay that Clements and Musker co-wrote with Rob Edwards. The directors also co-wrote the story with the writing team of Greg Erb and Jason Oremland. The film stars the voices of Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Michael-Leon Wooley, Jim Cummings, Jennifer Cody, John Goodman, Keith David, Peter Bartlett, Jenifer Lewis, Oprah Winfrey, and Terrence Howard. Set in New Orleans during the 1920s, the film tells the story of a hardworking waitress named Tiana who dreams of opening her own restaurant. After kissing a prince who has been turned into a frog by an evil voodoo witch doctor, Tiana becomes a frog herself and must find a way to turn back into a human before it is too late.

<i>The Rainbow Road to Oz</i> Disney unreleased 1950s film

The Rainbow Road to Oz was a proposed, but never finished, Walt Disney Studios 1950s live-action film about characters in the Land of Oz. Inspired by L. Frank Baum's early 20th century Oz novels, it was to have starred some of the Mouseketeers, including Darlene Gillespie as Dorothy Gale and Annette Funicello as Princess Ozma, as well as Bobby Burgess as the Scarecrow, Doreen Tracey as the Patchwork Girl, Jimmie Dodd as the Cowardly Lion, Tommy Kirk as the villainous son of the Wicked Witch of the West, and Kevin Corcoran.

<i>The Pointer</i> 1939 Mickey Mouse cartoon

The Pointer is an American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures on July 21, 1939, shown in theaters with Way Down South. The short was directed by Clyde Geronimi and animated by Fred Moore, Frank Thomas, Lynn Karp, Seamus Culhane, Ollie Johnston, Preston Blair, Lester Norvi, John Lounsbery, Claude Smitha, Art Palmer, and Josh Meador. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoon) in 1940. It was the 106th short in the Mickey Mouse film series to be released, and the third for that year.

Sean Wang is a Los Angeles-based film director whose first feature-length film, Dìdi, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it received the U.S. Dramatic audience award. His documentary short, Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó, originally premiered at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival, where it won both the audience and grand jury award and then went on to be nominated for the 96th Academy Awards.

Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó is a 2023 documentary short directed by Sean Wang about his Chinese immigrant paternal and maternal grandmothers. It was acquired by Disney Entertainment for distribution and premiered on Disney+ and Hulu on February 9, 2024. The film is nominated for Best Documentary Short Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

References

  1. Hipes, Patrick (18 October 2019). "Disney+ Revives 'People & Places', Adds Mickey Mouse And Wolfgang Puck Documentaries To Growing Nonfiction Slate". Deadline.
  2. "Sean Wang's Award-Winning Documentary Short 'Năi Nai and Wài Pó' Acquired by Disney Branded Television". Disney General Entertainment Press (Press release). November 10, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.