There was a time when I took my true calling for granted. Looking back I was about as close as I could be to really assuming the mantle of a being my father's boy, of being yet another Hice in the movie industry. Sure, it wouldn't have been as a grip, but then, with alittle insistence, I might have been. No, it was that stint with Disney that I sabotaged, that I let go through a general lack of caring, persistance, focus, vision. But then again, what post military hairy chested recently separated drug using heavy drinking kind of guy around the age of twenty three really knows what his true calling is? I was just working, earning a paycheck, not knowing that I had a bit of destiny in my pocket and instead of pulling it out and reading the fine print I tossed that little scrap of paper and my future into the washer, instead.
No matter, you always find that path you were meant to be on at some point along the way, if you truly were seeking it out to begin with. In this case, it might just be all about being an exhibitor. But more on that later. What brought about this little bit of remonstrance this morning was the article posted below, a story about the upcoming screening of rare Disney films, notably Something Wicked This Way Comes.
Back when I worked for WED we were deep in the throes of cranking out big time amusement: EPCOT, Tokyo Disneyland, a revised Fantasyland, the Disney Channel, all that. Lots of irons in the fire, lots of fantasic, imaginative and somewhat wild folk working on really big and wondeful stuff. But the studios were busy, too, talking up the indie film talk, cranking out more edgy fare for a new and more discerning audience. Tron was one thing that was in the pipeline at the time, but Something Wicked was another. Darker than most things that had come out of the studio before, it was a real bellwether piece, one that signaled that gee, we weren't walking around in Walt's old house anymore. Frankly this was a tough thing to pull off as His ghost was everywhere. Everyone had his name close at hand to toss into a conversation and anyone who had anything to do with the Grand Old Man was respected in the way that is usually reserved for folks who have personally talked with God.
As worker bees of WED we had a chance to attend screenings of Disney movies at the studio prior to release to the general public. Something Wicked was a really big event. Bradbury was there, the big wigs were present. There was lots of hoopla, lots of talk. Then it hit the streets and it was another story entirely. Folks didn't know what to think of this brand new dark Disney. And while it had a hard time with the critics, it managed to grab a certain niche of the movie going public that wanted it's Disney scary. Heck, for scary all you have to do was screen Snow White or Pinnochio for a good ol' frightening time, but that's another story entirely.
Now, it seems that Something is a bit of a cult film and it's once again getting it's due with this fresh big time screen release. It's on the playbill with a number of other older and interested bits of Disney fare, but I were you and I lived down south, down in LA with easy access to the this old fare kind of fun (does anyone really have easy access to anything down there in LA?) I would make it a point to jot down the date on your calendar and make the time to catch that flick.
See, there was a time when I was relished playing the role of Mr Dark, even dressed up once as that character at a Disney staffer's Halloween party. Not long afterwards that imfamous blowout I found myself on the employment roles, a victim of "consolidation", just another worn out cog tossed in the rubbish heap because the big jobs were done. But see, I couldn't see my destiny in front of my face as I had other things to do, and, just for the record, I did them. Welding, firefighting, magnetic tape sales, swimsuit fabric inspector, none of those things were what I was meant to be. I went back to school, became a librarian, cycled through a number of wives, ended up in a small burg far up the coast from where all that old stuff started. After years of serving the public and waiting for my destiny to unfold, I am now looking at being a small town theater manager who gets to screen all the sweet and dark and edgy stuff that was promised me years ago, something I might have already been doing if only I had seen the proverbial writing on the wall. Well that's an ending to a story that my father could relate to and that my inner Mr Dark, could approve of.
Action!
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2010/08/something-wicked-brings-a-darker-disney-to-arclight.html
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