Film & Movies
“Tarzan” drives “The Little Mermaid” to the “Hoopz”?! Late breaking sports news? Nah. Just what’s next from Disney Theatrical
So it’s going to be a few years ’til the stage version of “Mary Poppins” blows into town. Big deal. Jim Hill fills you in on what else the Mouse has currently in the works for Broadway.

No doubt you heard the news last week. All those high profile stories about how Disney Theatrical and Broadway impresario Cameron Mackintosh (the producer of such long running hits as “Cats” and “Les Miserables”) – after years of haggling – have finally come to terms. How these two theatrical giants have finally hammered out a co-production deal which will allow the long awaited stage version of “Mary Poppins” to go forward.
The only problem is … that’s ALL that’s been agreed upon to date. Mouse House reps and Cameron’s crew have yet to agree on who’s going to direct the show, who’s going to write the book, and – most importantly – which poor actress is going to attempt to fill Julie Andrews’ Oscar winning shoes as the “practically perfect” English nanny.
So – since all of these crucial creative decisions have yet to be made – it looks like it’s going to be at least three years before the stage version of “Mary Poppins” finally gets off the ground. Beyond that initial co-production agreement, the only other thing that Disney & Mackintosh have agreed on is that “Poppins” will have its world premiere in London, rather than Broadway.
Why London? Not for the reason that you might think (I.E. The story of “Mary Poppins” is actually set in London. Which is what might make it a somewhat logical choice for the stage version of this film to debut over there). But – rather — because Mackintosh insisted on it.
And – since Disney couldn’t go forward with a stage version of this much beloved movie musical without Cameron’s permission (Why? Well, because – while Mickey holds the copyright to the Sherman Brothers songs used in the 1964 Academy Award winning film – Mackintosh has the all-important theatrical rights to the P.L. Travers books that the Disney film was based on) – what Mackintosh wants, Mackintosh gets.
So – if the “Poppins” project sticks to its very tentative timetable – the stage version of the film (Which will reportedly feature Mary making her big entrance in the show by flying in directly OVER the audience) will debut in London sometime during the 2004 – 2005 season. The Broadway version of the show will allegedly pop up in NYC a year or so later.
So does that mean that all us stateside Disneyana / theater fans will have to wait ’til 2006 before we get to see a brand new Disney stage show? Hardly. According to my sources at Disney Theatrical, the Mouse has no less than four other stage shows currently in the works. And the current plan is to have one new brand Disney Theatrical production open on Broadway every season from here on.
So what’s up next from the Mouse? First up should be “Hoopz,” a musical that’s loosely based on the history of the Harlem Globetrotters. This is the show that Disney Theatrical has actually had in the works for a number of years now. Savion Glover – of “Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk” fame – actually starred in & directed a workshop version of the show back in 2000. At that time, “Hoopz” featured music by jazz artist Brandford Marsalis as well as choreographic contributions from Reg E Gaines & Kenny Leon.
But – in the end – Disney Theatrical decided that it didn’t really like Savion’s take on the material. So it shoved Glover aside (Not to worry, though. Savion’s already at work on another basketball themed musical. What’s that show’s title? The appropriate if somewhat simplistic “Ball.” Anywho … ) and brought in a brand new creative team.
Now riding herd on “Hoopz” is director Marion McClinton & playwright Suzan-Lori Parks. Parks – who is probably best known for her work on the Pulitzer Prize winning play, “Topdog/Underdog” – has radically overhauled the show’s book, while composer Jeanine Tesori has fashioned an all-new score.
If all goes according to plan, Disney Theatrical will mount yet another workshop production of “Hoopz” in NYC early next year (Perhaps Disney will end up unveiling its revamped Globetrotters musical at the Westbeth Theatre Center, the very same rehearsal space that Savion Glover used to stage his version of the show). After that (Provided – of course — that the new workshop goes well), Disney plans to take “Hoopz” out of town – staging a full blown production of the musical in Providence, R.I. as part of the Trinity Repertory Company’s 2003 – 2004 season.
Of course, should the new version of “Hoopz” not make the cut either, not to worry. Disney’s already got Ariel warming up in the wings.
“Ariel?!” Yep, You heard right, folks. Even as we speak, the Mouse is getting ready to mount an elaborate live stage version of Disney’s 1989 animated hit, “The Little Mermaid.” Director / choreographer Matthew Bourne (who’s probably best known in theatrical circles for his all-male version of “Swan Lake,” which won him the 1999 Tony Award for Best Choreographer as well as Best Director) is the guy who Disney tapped to translate Ariel’s tail … er … tale. Lez Brotherston has also been signed to design the sets & costumes for the stage version of the 1989 animated musical.
Speaking of “The Little Mermaid”‘s music … Given that the original film only had seven songs (“Fathoms Below,” “Daughters of Triton,” “Part of Your World,” “Under the Sea,” “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” “Les Poissons” and “Kiss the Girls),” the stage version is going to need at least 5 or 6 new songs to help pad out the evening’s entertainment. And given that Alan Menken’s original collaborator – the late, great Howard Ashman – is no longer with us, Menken had to recruit a new writing partner – lyricist Glenn Slater – to help him fashion some new numbers for Sebastian et al to sing.
So who’s Glenn Slater? He’s this extremely gifted lyricist who was recently named as one of Variety Magazine’s “50 Creatives to Watch.” Winner of the 1996 Kleban award for lyrics, Glenn has been collaborating with Alan for a couple of years now. Menken & Slater have already written songs for Disney’s forthcoming cartoon western, “Home on the Range” as well as the Mouse’s extremely ambitious (though currently on hold) live action / animated fairy tale spoof, “Enchanted.”
(I’ve also heard that Menken and Slater have put together a couple of new songs for that new “Aladdin – Live on Stage” show, which will be staged at DCA’s Hyperion Theater starting this December. A sampling of one of those songs – a new ballad for Princess Jasmine entitled “To Be Free” – is currently on file over at www.mouseinfo.com. To hear that sampling [as well as read Mouseinfo’s excellent coverage of the “Aladdin – Live on Stage” press conference], follow this link.)
Mind you, Disney’s live stage version of “The Little Mermaid” will have to wait ’til Bourne wraps up his next project. “And what’s that?,” you ask. A ballet based on Tim Burton’s “Edward Scissorhands” (Which will feature a new musical score by Danny Elfman).
And this delay is what may allow Bob Crowley – best known as the director / designer of Disney Theatrical’s Tony Award winner “Aida” – to get his own new stage project off the ground ahead of Bourne’s “Mermaid” and McClinton’s “Hoopz.” “And what show is that?,” you ask. How about an environmental musical based on Disney’s animated version of “Tarzan”?
And what’s an environmental musical? The idea behind this experimental staging of the show is that the legend of Tarzan (featuring Phil Collins’ Academy Award winning songs & score) would be played out all around the theatre-goers. With a set that’s made up of huge trees that jut right up out of the auditorium floor, which (in theory) would allow cast members to move about the theater by swinging on vines. Right over the audience’s head.
Disney Theatrical envisions Crowley’s proposed stage version of “Tarzan” as their opportunity to break into Cirque de Soleil’s niche. market. An extravaganza that they could stage in the round in an enormous circus tent that they’d be able to truck from town to town. Which would allow the Mouse to take their new stage version of “Tarzan” to parts of the country that typical Broadway shows don’t usually reach. Which (potentially) would allow Mickey to tap into virtually untapped markets.
Sounds like a fun show, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not the only innovative, somewhat edgy show that Disney Theatrical has in the works. I mean, let’s not forget about Julie Taymor’s ambitious follow-up to her Tony Award winning version of “The Lion King.” This time around, Taymor’s attempting to take Disney’s 1940 animated classic, “Pinocchio,” and adapt that to the stage.
Given Julie’s affinity for working with puppets, this project would seem to be a natural for the visionary director. But Taymor’s reportedly not taking the easy route. Based on what I’ve been hearing, she plans a very loose adaptation of the much beloved Disney film, which will mix Ned Washington, Paul J. Smith & Leigh Harline’s Oscar winning score in with a new book that the director will base on the film’s script as well as story ideas culled from Carlo Collodi’s original satiric novel.
Reportedly working with Taymor on her adaptation of “Pinocchio” are her long-term partner & collaborator, composer Elliot Goldenthal, as well as novelist Robert Coover (who’s actually written an adult novel, “Pinocchio in Venice”). Julie hopes that her take on the much loved story will be “a whacked-out, commedia dell’arte style, funky, hand-made, nasty-edge theatre, with a rambunctious, wild, edgy quality.”
Sounds pretty bizarre, eh? Well, keep in mind that – just because a show is announced (or even gets a workshop production) – that doesn’t necessarily mean that Disney will actually get around to producing a full blown version of that particular show. After all, look what happened with the first production of “Hoopz” and/or “When You Wish” (Tina Landua’s musical revue that featured a decontructionist take on classic Disney songs like “When You Wish Upon a Star,” “Someday My Prince Will Come” and “Bibbity Bobbity Boo.” This show had a full blown workshop production earlier this year which starred Faith Prince & Douglas Sills. But there’s no word yet as to whether Disney has any plans to do any further development of this show).
If none of the shows mentioned in this article ever make it out of the rehearsal hall, not to worry. Disney Theatrical has even more ideas for shows in the works. Among the concepts that they’re currently kicking around are a Broadway musical based on “Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas” as well as a play-with-music version of Touchstone Pictures’ 1989 release, “The Dead Poets Society.”
All this – plus supposedly a stateside tour of the live stage version of Disney’s “Hunchback of Notre Dame” (which is now the longest running show in Berlin theater history) – means that all us Broadway & Disneyana fans will have plenty to occupy our time while we wait patiently for the theatrical version of “Mary Poppins” to cross the Atlantic.
Provided – of course – that any of these proposed shows actually survive their workshop production. After all, how many of you folks out there got to see the “Invisible Man” musical that Disney Theatrical had in the works a few years back? See what I mean?
Your thoughts?
Film & Movies
Before He Was 626: The Surprisingly Dark Origins of Disney’s Stitch

Hopes are high for Disney’s live-action version of Lilo & Stitch, which opens in theaters next week (on May 23rd to be exact). And – if current box office projections hold – it will sell more than $120 million worth of tickets in North America.
Stitch Before the Live-Action: What Fans Need to Know
But here’s the thing – there wouldn’t have been a hand-drawn version of Stitch to reimagine as a live-action film if it weren’t for Academy Award-winner Chris Sanders. Who – some 40 years ago – had a very different idea in mind for this project. Not an animated film or a live-action movie, for that matter. But – rather – a children’s picture book.
Sanders revealed the true origins of Lilo & Stitch in his self-published book, From Pitch to Stitch: The Origins of Disney’s Most Unusual Classic.

From Picture Book to Pitch Meeting
Chris – after he graduated from CalArts back in 1984 (this was three years before he began working for Disney) – landed a job at Marvel Comics. Which – because Marvel Animation was producing the Muppet Babies TV show – led to an opportunity to design characters for that animated series.
About a year into this gig (we’re now talking 1985), Sanders – in his time away from work – began noodling on a side project. As Chris recalled in From Pitch to Stitch:
“Early in my animation career, I tried writing a picture book that centered around a weird little creature that lived a solitary life in the forest. He was a monster, unsure of where he had come from, or where he belonged. I generated a concept drawing, wrote some pages and started making a sculpted version of him. But I soon abandoned it as the idea seemed too large and vague to fit in thirty pages or so.”
We now jump ahead 12 years or so. Sanders has quickly moved up through the ranks at Walt Disney Animation Studios. So much so that – by 1997 – Chris is now the Head of Story on Disney’s Mulan.


A Monster in the Forest Becomes Stitch on Earth
With Mulan deep in production, Sanders was looking for his next project when an opportunity came his way.
“I had dinner with Tom Schumacher, who was president of Feature Animation at the time. He asked if there was anything I might be interested in directing. After a little reflection, I realized that there was something: That old idea from a decade prior.”
When Sanders told Schumacher about the monster who lived alone in the forest…
“Tom offered the crucial observation that – because the animal world is already alien to us – I should consider relocating the creature to the human world.”
With that in mind, Chris dusted off the story and went to work.
Over the next three months, Sanders created a pitch book for the proposed animated film. What he came up with was very different from the version of Lilo & Stitch that eventually hit theaters in 2002.
The Most Dangerous Creature in the Known Universe
The pitch – first shared with Walt Disney Feature Animation staffers on January 9, 1998 – was titled: Lilo & Stitch: A love story of a girl and what she thinks is a dog.
This early version of Stitch was… not cute. Not cuddly. He was mean, selfish, self-centered – a career criminal. When the story opens, Stitch is in a security pod at an intergalactic trial, found guilty of 12,000 counts of hooliganism and attempted planetary enslavement.
Instead of being created by Jumba, Stitch leads a gang of marauders. His second-in-command? Ramthar, a giant, red shark-like brute.
When Stitch refuses to reveal the gang’s location, he’s sentenced to life on a maximum-security asteroid. But en route, his gang attacks the prison convoy. In the chaos, Stitch escapes in a hijacked pod and crash-lands on Earth.


Earth in Danger, Jumba on the Hunt
Terrified of what Stitch could do to our technologically inferior planet, the Grand Council Woman sends bounty hunter Jumba – along with a rule-abiding Cultural Contamination Control agent named Pleakley – to retrieve (or eliminate) Stitch.
Their mission must be secret, follow Earth laws, and – most importantly – ensure no harm comes to any humans.
Naturally, Stitch ignores all that.
After his crash, Stitch claws out of the wreckage, sees the lights of a nearby town, and screams, “I will destroy you all!” That plan is immediately derailed when he’s run over by a convoy of sugar cane trucks.
Waking up in the local humane society, Stitch sees a news report confirming the Federation is already hot on his trail. He needs to blend in. Fast.
Enter Lilo
Lilo is a lonely little girl, mourning her parents, looking for a pet. Stitch plays the role of a “cute little doggie” because it’s a means to an end. At this point, Lilo is just someone to use while he builds a communications device.
Using parts from her toys and a stolen police radio, Stitch contacts his old gang. But Ramthar, now the leader, isn’t thrilled. Still, Stitch sends a signal.
Then he builds an army.
Stitch Goes Full Skynet
Stitch constructs a small robot, sends it to the junkyard to build bigger robots. Soon, he has an army. When Ramthar and crew arrive, Stitch’s robots surround them. Ramthar is furious, but Stitch regains command.
Next, Stitch sets his robotic horde on a nearby town. Everything goes smoothly until a robot targets the hula studio where Lilo is dancing. As it lifts her in its claw, Stitch has a change of heart. He saves her.
From here, the plot begins to resemble the Lilo & Stitch we know today. Sort of.
The Ending That Never Was
In Sanders’ original version, it’s not Captain Gantu who kidnaps Lilo, but Ramthar. And when the Grand Council Woman comes to collect Stitch, Lilo produces a receipt from the humane society.
“I paid a $4 processing fee to adopt him. If you take Stitch, you’re stealing.”
The Grand Council Woman crumples the receipt and says, “I didn’t see it.”
Nani chimes in: “Well, I saw it.”
Then Jumba. Then one of Stitch’s old crew. Then a hula girl. And finally, Pleakley pulls out his CCC badge and says:
“Well, I am Pleakley Grathor, Cultural Contamination Control Agent No. 444. And I saw it.”
Pleakley saves Stitch.


How Roy E. Disney Made Stitch Cuddly
Ultimately, this version of Lilo & Stitch was streamlined. Roy E. Disney believed Stitch shouldn’t be nasty. Just naughty. And not by choice – he was designed that way.
Which is how Stitch became Experiment 626. A misunderstood creation of Jumba the mad scientist, not a hardened criminal with a vendetta.
The rest, as they say, is history.

Ricardo Montalbán’s Lost Role
Here’s a detail that even hardcore Lilo & Stitch fans may not know: Ricardo Montalbán—best known as Mr. Roarke from Fantasy Island and Khan Noonien Singh from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan—was originally cast as the voice of Ramthar, Stitch’s second-in-command in this early version of the film. He had already recorded a significant amount of dialogue before the story was reworked following Roy E. Disney’s guidance. When Stitch evolved from a ruthless galactic outlaw to a misunderstood genetic experiment, Montalbán’s character (and much of the original gang concept) was written out entirely.
Which is kind of wild when you think about it. Wrath of Khan is widely considered the gold standard of Star Trek films. So yes, for a time, Khan himself was supposed to be part of Disney’s weirdest sci-fi comedy.
Stitch’s Legacy (and Why It Still Resonates)
Looking back at Stitch’s original story, it’s wild to think how close we came to getting a very different kind of movie. One where our favorite blue alien was less “ohana means family” and more “I’ll destroy you all.” But that transformation—from outlaw to outcast to ohana—is exactly what makes Lilo & Stitch so special.
So as the live-action version prepares to hit theaters, keep in mind that behind all the cuddly merch and tiki mugs lies one of Disney’s strangest, boldest, and most hard-won reinventions. One that started with a forest monster and became a beloved franchise about found family.
June 26th is officially Stitch Day—so mark your calendar. It’s a good excuse to celebrate just how far this little blue alien has come.
Film & Movies
How “An American Tail” Led to Disney’s “Hocus Pocus”

Over the last week, I’ve been delving into Witches Run Amok, Shannon Carlin’s oral history of the making of Disney’s Hocus Pocus. This book reveals some fascinating behind-the-scenes stories about the 1993 film that initially bombed at the box office but has since become a cult favorite, even spawning a sequel in 2022 that went on to become the most-watched release in Disney+ history.
But what really caught my eye in this 284-page hardcover wasn’t just the tales of Hocus Pocus’s unlikely rise to fame. Rather, it was the unexpected connections between Hocus Pocus and another beloved film—An American Tail. As it turns out, the two films share a curious origin story, one that begins in the mid-1980s, during the early days of the creative rebirth of Walt Disney Studios under Michael Eisner, Frank Wells, and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
The Birth of An American Tail
Let’s rewind to late 1984/early 1985, a period when Eisner, Wells, and Katzenberg were just getting settled at Disney and were on the hunt for fresh projects that would signal a new era at the studio. During this time, Katzenberg—tasked with revitalizing Disney Feature Animation—began meeting with talent across Hollywood, hoping to find a project that could breathe life into the struggling division.
One such meeting was with a 29-year-old writer and illustrator named David Kirschner. At the time, Kirschner’s biggest credit was illustrating children’s books featuring Muppets and Sesame Street characters, but he had an idea for a new project: a TV special about a mouse emigrating to America, culminating in the mouse’s arrival in New York Harbor on the same day as the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in 1886.

Katzenberg saw the patriotic appeal of the concept but ultimately passed on it, as he was focused on finding full-length feature projects for Disney’s animation department. Kirschner, undeterred, took his pitch elsewhere—to none other than Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg’s production partner. Kennedy was intrigued and invited Kirschner to Spielberg’s annual Fourth of July party to pitch the idea directly to the famed director.
Spielberg immediately saw the potential in Kirschner’s idea, but instead of a TV special, he envisioned a full-length animated feature film. This project would eventually become An American Tail, a tribute of sorts to Spielberg’s own grandfather, Philip Posner, who emigrated from Russia to the United States in the late 19th century. The film’s lead character, Fievel, was even named after Spielberg’s grandfather, whose Yiddish name was also Fievel.
Disney’s Loss Becomes Universal’s Gain
An American Tail went on to become a major success for Universal Pictures, which hadn’t been involved in an animated feature since the release of Pinocchio in Outer Space in 1965. Meanwhile, over at Disney, Eisner and Wells weren’t exactly thrilled that Katzenberg had let such a promising project slip through his fingers.
Not wanting to miss out on any future opportunities with Kirschner, Katzenberg quickly scheduled another meeting with him to discuss any other ideas he might have. And as fate would have it, Kirschner had just written a short story for Muppet Magazine called Halloween House, about a boy who is magically transformed into a cat by a trio of witches.
The Pitch That Sealed the Deal
Knowing Katzenberg could be a tough sell, Kirschner went all out to impress during his pitch. He requested access to the Disney lot 30 minutes early to set the stage for his presentation. When Katzenberg and the Disney development team walked into the conference room, they were greeted by a table covered in candy corn, a cauldron of dry ice fog, and a broom, mop, and vacuum cleaner suspended from the ceiling as if they were flying—evoking the magical world of Halloween House.
Katzenberg was reportedly unimpressed by the theatrical setup, muttering, “Oy, show-and-tell time” as he took his seat. But Kirschner knew exactly how to grab his attention. He started his pitch with the fact that Halloween was a billion-dollar business—a figure that made Katzenberg sit up and take notice. He listened attentively to Kirschner’s pitch, and by the time the meeting was over, Katzenberg was convinced. Halloween House would become Hocus Pocus, and Disney had its next big Halloween film.
A Bit of Hollywood Drama
Interestingly, Kirschner’s success with Hocus Pocus didn’t sit well with his old collaborators. About a year after the film’s release, Kirschner ran into Kathleen Kennedy at an Amblin holiday party, and she wasted no time in expressing her disappointment. According to Kirschner, Kennedy said, “You really hurt Steven.” When Kirschner asked how, she explained that Spielberg and Kennedy had given him his big break with An American Tail, but when he came up with the idea for his next film, he brought it to Disney rather than to them.
Hollywood can be a place where loyalty is valued—or, at least, perceived loyalty. At the same time, this was happening just as Katzenberg was leaving Disney and partnering with Spielberg and David Geffen to launch DreamWorks SKG, which only added to the tension. Loyalty, as Kirschner found out, can be an abstract concept in the entertainment industry.
A Halloween Favorite is Born
Despite its rocky start at the box office in 1993, Hocus Pocus has gone on to become a beloved part of Halloween pop culture. And, as Carlin’s book details, its success helped pave the way for more Disney Halloween-themed projects in the years that followed.

As for why Hocus Pocus was released in July of 1993 instead of during Halloween? That’s a story for another time, but it has something to do with another Halloween-themed project Disney was working on that year—Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas—and Katzenberg finding himself in the awkward position of having to choose between keeping Bette Midler or Tim Burton happy.
For more behind-the-scenes stories about Hocus Pocus and other Disney films, be sure to check out Witches Run Amok by Shannon Carlin. It’s a fascinating read for any Disney fan!
And if you love hearing these kinds of behind-the-scenes stories about animation and film history, be sure to check out Fine Tooning with Drew Taylor, where Drew and I dive deep into all things movies, animation, and the creative decisions that shape the films we love. You can find us on your favorite podcast platforms or right here on JimHillMedia.com.
Film & Movies
How Disney’s “Bambi” led to the creation of Smokey Bear

When people talk about Disney’s “Bambi,” the scene that they typically cite as being the one from this 1942 film which then scarred them for life is – of course – the moment in this movie where Bambi’s mother gets shot by hunters.
Which is kind of ironic. Given that – if you watch this animated feature today – you’ll see that a lot of this ruined-my-childhood scene actually happens off-camera. I mean, you hear the rifle shot that takes down Bambi’s Mom. But you don’t actually see that Mama Deer get clipped.
Now for the scariest part of that movie that you actually see on-camera … Hands down, that has to be the forest fire sequence in “Bambi.” As the grown-up Bambi & his bride, Faline, desperately race through those woods, trying to find a path to safety as literally everything around them is ablaze … That sequence is literally nightmare fuel.

Mind you, the artists at Walt Disney Animation Studios had lots of inspiration for the forest fire sequence in “Bambi.” You see, in a typical year, the United States experiences – due to either natural phenomenon like lightning strikes or human carelessness – 100 forest fires. Whereas in 1940 (i.e., the year that Disney Studios began working in earnest of a movie version of Felix Salten’s best-selling movie), America found itself battling a record 360 forest fires.
Which greatly concerned the U.S. Forest Service. But not for the reason you might think.
Protecting the Forest for World War II
I mean, yes. Sure. Officials over in the Agricultural Department (That’s the arm of the U.S. government that manages the Forest Service) were obviously concerned about the impact that this record number of forest fires in 1940 had had on citizens. Not to mention all of the wildlife habitat that was now lost.
But to be honest, what really concerned government officials was those hundreds of thousands of acres of raw timber that had been consumed by these blazes. You see, by 1940, the world was on the cusp of the next world war. A conflict that the U.S. would inevitably be pulled into. And all that now-lost timber? It could have been used to fuel the U.S. war machine.
So with this in mind (and U.S. government officials now seeing an urgent need to preserve & protect this precious resource) … Which is why – in 1942 (just a few months after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor) – the U.S. Forest Service rolls out its first-ever forest fire prevention program.
Which – given that this was the early days of World War II – the slogan that the U.S. Forest Service initially chose for its forest fire prevention program is very in that era’s we’re-all-in-this-together / so-let’s-do-what-we-can-to-help-America’s war-effort esthetic – made a direct appeal to all those folks who were taking part in scrap metal drives: “Forest Defense is National Defense.”

And the poster that the U.S. Forest Service had created to support this campaign? … Well, it was well-meaning as well. It was done in the WPA style and showed men out in the forest, wielding shovels to ditch a ditch. They were trying to construct a fire break, which would then supposedly slow the forest fire that was directly behind them.
But the downside was … That “Forest Defense is National Defense” slogan – along with that poster which the U.S. Forest Service had created to support their new forest fire prevention program didn’t exactly capture America’s attention.
I mean, it was the War Years after all. A lot was going in the country at that time. But long story short: the U.S. Forest Service’s first attempt at launching a successful forest fire prevention program sank without a trace.
So what do you do in a situation like this? You regroup. You try something different.
Disney & Bambi to the Rescue
And within the U.S. government, the thinking now was “Well, what if we got a celebrity to serve as the spokesman for our new forest fire prevention program? Maybe that would then grab the public’s attention.”
The only problem was … Well, again, these are the War Years. And a lot of that era’s A-listers (people like Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, even Mel Brooks) had already enlisted. So there weren’t really a lot of big-name celebrities to choose from.
But then some enterprising official at the U.S. Forest Service came up with an interesting idea. He supposedly said “Hey, have you seen that new Disney movie? You know, the one with the deer? That movie has a forest fire in it. Maybe we should go talk with Walt Disney? Maybe he has some ideas about how we can better capture the public’s attention when it comes to our new forest fire prevention program?”
And it turns Walt did have an idea. Which was to use this government initiative as a way to cross-promote Disney Studio’s latest full-length animated feature, “Bambi.” Which been first released to theaters in August of 1942.
So Walt had artists at Disney Studio work up a poster that featured the grown-up versions of Bambi the Deer, Thumper the Rabbit & Flower the Skunk. As this trio stood in some tall grasses, they looked imploring out at whoever was standing in front of this poster. Above them was a piece of text that read “Please Mister, Don’t Be Careless.” And below these three cartoon characters was an additional line that read “Prevent Forest Fires. Greater Danger Than Ever!”

According to folks I’ve spoken with at Disney’s Corporate Archives, this “Bambi” -based promotional campaign for the U.S. Forest Service’s forest fire prevention campaign was a huge success. So much so that – as 1943 drew to a close – this division of the Department of Agriculture reportedly reached out to Walt to see if he’d be willing to let the U.S. Forest Service continue to use these cartoon characters to help raise the public’s awareness of fire safety.
Walt – for reasons known only to Mr. Disney – declined. Some have suggested that — because “Bambi” had actually lost money during its initial theatrical release in North America – that Walt was now looking to put that project behind him. And if there were posters plastered all over the place that then used the “Bambi” characters that then promoted the U.S.’s forest fire prevention efforts … Well, it would then be far harder for Mr. Disney to put this particular animated feature in the rear view mirror.
Introducing Smokey Bear
Long story short: Walt said “No” when it came to reusing the “Bambi” characters to promote the U.S. Forest Service’s forest fire prevention program. But given how successful the previous cartoon-based promotional campaign had been … Well, some enterprising employee at the Department of Agriculture reportedly said “Why don’t we come up with a cartoon character of our own?”
So – for the Summer of 1944 – the U.S. Forest Service (with the help of the Ad Council and the National Association of State Foresters) came up with a character to help promote the prevention of forest fires. And his name is Smokey Bear.
Now a lot of thought had gone into Smokey’s creation. Right from the get-go, it was decided that he would be an American black bear (NOT a brown bear or a grizzly). To make this character seem approachable, Smokey was outfitted with a ranger’s hat. He also wore a pair of blue jeans & carried a bucket.
As for his debut poster, Smokey was depicted as pouring water over a still-smoldering campfire. And below this cartoon character was printed Smokey’s initial catchphrase. Which was “Care will prevent 9 out of 10 forest fires!”

Which makes me think that this slogan was written by the very advertising executive who wrote “Four out of five dentists recommend sugarless gum for their patients who chew gum.”
Anyway … By the Summer of 1947, Smokey got a brand-new slogan. The one that he uses even today. Which is “Only YOU can prevent forest fires.”
The Real Smokey Bear
Now where this gets interesting is – in the Summer of 1950 – there was a terrible forest fire up in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico. And over the course of this blaze, a bear cub climbed high up into a tree to try & escape those flames.
Firefighters were finally able to rescue that cub. But he was so badly injured in that fire that he was shipped off to the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. and nursed back to health. And since this bear really couldn’t be released back in the wild at this point, he was then put on exhibit.
And what does this bear’s keepers decide to call him? You guessed it: Smokey.

And due to all the news coverage that this orphaned bear got, he eventually became the living symbol of the U.S. Forest Service’s forest fire prevention program. Which then meant that this particular Smokey Bear got hit with a ton of fan mail. So much so that the National Zoo in Washington D.C. wound up with its own Zip Code.
“Smokey the Bear” Hit Song
And on the heels of a really-for-real Smokey Bear taking up residence in our nation’s capital, Steve Nelson & Jack Rollins decide to write a song that shined a spotlight on this fire-fightin’ bruin. Here’s the opening stanza:
With a ranger’s hat and shovel and a pair of dungarees,
You will find him in the forest always sniffin’ at the breeze,
People stop and pay attention when he tells them to beware
Because everybody knows that he’s the fire-preventin’ bear
Believe or not, even with lyrics like these, “Smokey the Bear” briefly topped the Country charts in the Summer of 1950. Thanks to a version of this song that was recorded by Gene Autry, the Singing Cowboy.
By the way, it was this song that started all of the confusion in regards to Smokey Bear’s now. You see, Nelson & Rollins – because they need the lyrics of their song to scan properly – opted to call this fire-fightin’-bruin Smokey THE Bear. Rather than Smokey Bear. Which has been this cartoon character’s official name since the U.S. Forest Service first introduced him back in 1944.
“The Ballad of Smokey the Bear”
Further complicating this issue was “The Ballad of Smokey the Bear,” which was a stop-motion animated special that debuted on NBC in late November of 1966. Produced by Rankin-Bass as a follow-up to their hugely popular “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (which premiered on the Peacock Network in December of 1964) … This hour-long TV show also put a “THE” in the middle of Smokey Bear’s name because the folks at Rankin-Bass thought his name sounded better that way.
And speaking of animation … Disney’s “Bambi” made a brief return to the promotional campaign for the U.S. Forest Service’s forest fire prevention program in the late 1980s. This was because the Company’s home entertainment division had decided to release this full-length animated feature on VHS.
What’s kind of interesting, though, is the language used on the “Bambi” poster is a wee different than the language that’s used on Smokey’s poster. It reads “Protect Our Forest Friends. Only You Can Prevent Wildfires.” NOT “Forest Fires.”
Anyway, that’s how Disney’s “Bambi” led to the creation of Smokey Bear. Thanks for bearin’ with me as I clawed my way through this grizzly tale.
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