Ben and Me
Ben and Me | |
---|---|
Directed by | Hamilton Luske |
Story by | Robert Lawson (novel) Bill Peet (screen story) Winston Hibler Del Connell Ted Sears (adaptation) |
Produced by | Walt Disney |
Starring | Sterling Holloway Charlie Ruggles Stan Freberg Hans Conried Bill Thompson Jimmy MacDonald |
Narrated by | Sterling Holloway |
Music by | Oliver Wallace |
Animation by | Wolfgang Reitherman John Lounsbery Cliff Nordberg Marvin Woodward Hugh Fraser Eric Cleworth Ollie Johnston Hal King Les Clark Don Lusk Harvey Toombs Jerry Hathcook George Rowley (effects) |
Layouts by | Al Zinnen Hugh Hennesy Thor Putnam |
Backgrounds by | Al Dempster Thelma Witmer Dick Anthony |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Buena Vista Film Distribution |
Release date | November 10, 1953 |
Running time | 21 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Ben and Me is an American animated two-reel short subject produced by Walt Disney Productions and released theatrically on November 10, 1953.[1] It was adapted from the book of the same name written by author/illustrator Robert Lawson and first published in 1939. Though both book and film deal with the relationship between a mouse and American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, the book, with illustrations by Lawson, focused more heavily on actual historical events and personages, and included incidents from Franklin's French career at Versailles.
The short received an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Subject, Two-reel.[2]
This short was also notable for being the second release on the Buena Vista Distribution label, with the first being Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, released on the same day. On its release, Ben and Me was packaged with the True-Life Adventure documentary The Living Desert. When Disney's regular distributor RKO Radio Pictures resisted the idea of a full-length True-Life Adventure, Disney formed his own distribution company to handle future Disney releases.[3]
A D-TV music video was created in which the short was set to Stevie Wonder's For Once in My Life.
Plot
At a statue of
Ben makes Amos an unwitting test subject in his experiments with electricity, sending him into the air as part of his kite experiment. Amos is nearly killed when the kite is struck by lightning and crashes to the ground. Furious, he leaves Ben and moves back in with his family.
Years later, during the early stages of the
Voice cast
- Sterling Holloway as Amos Mouse
- Charlie Ruggles as Benjamin Franklin
- Stan Freberg as mouse guide
- Bill Thompson as Governor Keith, and as the human tour guide
- Hans Conried as Thomas Jefferson, and as a criminal
- Jimmy MacDonald as miscellaneous men[4]
Home media
The short was released on December 6, 2005 on Walt Disney Treasures: Disney Rarities - Celebrated Shorts: 1920s–1960s.[5]
Additional releases include:
- On VHS under the Walt Disney Mini-Classics label in 1989.
- On DVD in 2012 under the Disney Generations Collection.
References
- ISBN 0-8160-3831-7.
- IMDb
- ^ Mosley, Leonard. The Disney Films. Bonanza Books, 1978, pg. 115.
- ^ Scott, Keith (3 October 2022). Cartoon Voices of the Golden Age, Vol. 2. BearManor Media. p. 592.
- ^ "Disney Rarities - Celebrated Shorts: 1920s - 1960s DVD Review". DVD Dizzy. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
External links
- Ben and Me at IMDb
- Ben and Me at Disney A to Z
- Ben and Me at AllMovie
- Ben and Me at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012.