Mick C. Wrote:Disney finally released this on DVD, after years of waiting, in a very nice set that has the original 3-part series that aired on "The Wonderful World of Disney" in 1964, as well as the feature film that was edited from the 3-part series. My kids and I have been watching one episode a night (including the original introductions by Walt Disney), and they enjoy them as much as I did back when I first saw them as a kid. (Well, the first two episodes, anyway - the last episode coincided with the first appearance of the Beatles on American TV on the Ed Sullivan show, and my older sister pulled seniority and controlled the only TV in the house. I had to wait for reruns to finally see it.)

What's very cool, looking at it 45-odd years later is that:

a) It wasn't dumbed down for kids - very smart dialog and stylish acting. You wouldn't see something like this done for kids nowadays.

b) Patrick McGoohan remains the icon of cool for me that he was throughout my youth. He's genuinely scary as the Scarecrow, too, with that raspy voice that contrasts so sharply with McGoohan's naturally debonair voice as the Vicar of Dymchurch - He's like a Colonial-era Batman.

c) For a "Disney" movie in 1964, it's fairly violent - shootings, faked hangings, beatings - all accepted in action movies for kids back then.

And d) This is one of the most anti-tax films ever made! The Scarecrow and his masked men spend most of the movie fighting tax collectors and helping the poor avoid unjust taxes. Maybe those attending the Tea Parties should start dressing like the Scarecrow!

Maggers Wrote:I was a big fan of "Swamp Fox," a Disney series from that era, starring a young and very handsome Leslie Nielsen, long before we discovered his comedic genius. And I also loved "Elfago Baca." I can even sing the theme "The Nine Lives of Elfago Baca." I had crushes, needless to say, on Neilsen and Robert Loggia way back when.

Thanks, Mick and Ken, I shall have to search these out. They bring back memories.