Walt Disney's Dracula in Classic Disney Scares Forum

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Walt Disney's Dracula

Author	Comment
davlghry	Walt Disney's Dracula	Lead	[-]
Nov 10 07 1:22 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Back in the early 70's, the Wonderful World of Disney ran a two-parter called the Mystery of Dracula's Castle. It starred Clu Gulager and Mariette Hartley. Does anybody remember this? And did it having anything to do with actual vampires or Dracula?
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John M Short		#1	[-]
Nov 10 07 1:41 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	HOLY CRAP!! All these years I thought I had dreamed this! I saw it on tv at a very young age. I remember Johnny Whitaker in a theater watching Christopher Lee as Dracula. Didn't the story have to do with Johnny fooling around a castle or lighthouse or something, thinking it was Dracula's castle, but instead a band of crooks use it as a hideout?
HalLane		#2	[-]
Nov 10 07 1:42 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	davlghry wrote: Does anybody remember this? And did it having anything to do with actual vampires or Dracula? I do, and it didn't. No Dracula, not even a castle (it was a lighthouse). The title had to do with a Monster Kid-type home movie being made by some kids, but the plot involved typical Disney-type jewel thieves. Big disappointment. Sorry. edit: having just read John M Short's simultaneous post yes, I do remember a clip of Lee in there. Last Edited By: HalLane Nov 10 07 1:46 PM. Edited 1 times.
Rakshasa		#3	[-]
Nov 10 07 1:48 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I remember it too! The correct title is actually Mystery In Dracula's Castle. The 1973 TV film also starred Johnny Whitaker and Scott C. Kolden, who went on to co-star together in Sid and Marty Kroft's TV show Sigmund & The Sea Monsters. I remember watching it on The Wonderful World Of Disney at 7pm on Sunday night. The one thing I remember is being disappointed that there were no actual monsters or supernatural happenings. Just some jewel thieves. I would love to see this again! From IMDB: The story opens as school is getting out. Mom, a writer, loads up her two boys and her trusty typewriter, to head out to a quaint seaside location somewhere in Northern California. Harking back to a simpler time, the three live in a bungalow, mere feet from a beautiful harbor. This well-worn set-up has stayed with me for life, bestowing upon me the association of summer and adventure. Jewel thieves use an old lighthouse to store their booty, and amateur film makers, brothers, use the same lighthouse to make Dracula's castle. The story is very Willy Folk St. John. It's simple storytelling narrative was perfect for 1973, and the cast is filled with fresh, all-American faces. Here's the paperback book from 1973: Links To All The Classic Monster Stills I've Posted: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/30758 Last Edited By: Rakshasa Nov 10 07 1:57 PM. Edited 3 times.
BijouBob8mm		#4	[-]
Nov 12 07 2:00 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I had that book! (Vic Crume did a lot of Disney novelizations, including the one for DR. SYN, when it was theatrically reissued on a double bill with TREASURE ISLAND in the Seventies.) And I do remember the movie, as well. I was disappointed at how much Dracula we actually got (or, rather, actually didn't get), but it was about kids who were monster fans and would-be filmmakers, so it wasn't a total loss. I also thought Mariette Hartley was hot, especially since she'd done genre stuff like STAR TREK, RETURN OF COUNT YORGA, EARTH II (in which she sported twin navels!), episodes of GHOST STORY & THE SIXTH SENSE, etc. And the boy's babysiter, actress Maggie Wellman, was kind of cute, too. (Wasn't she director William Wellman's daughter?) Disney has been releasing a lot of their TV movies to DVD ala their movie club...wonder if we might see this one, some day? I remember Johnny Whitaker in a theater watching Christopher Lee as Dracula. Actually, it's another actor doing Dracula, but Hammer-style rather than ala Lugosi. If I recall, what Whitaker's watching in the theater was shot especially for this film.
HalLane		#5	[-]
Nov 12 07 6:22 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	BijouBob8mm wrote: Actually, it's another actor doing Dracula, but Hammer-style rather than ala Lugosi. If I recall, what Whitaker's watching in the theater was shot especially for this film. aHA! So there IS a new "Dracula" in this thing! I wonder who it was?
BijouBob8mm		#6	[-]
Nov 13 07 10:29 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	According to the IMDB, the actor playing Dracula was Dave Thomson, and the grave robber who revives him was Ben Wrigley. (Thomson has no further credits listed, but Wrigley was also in Disney's PETE'S DRAGON, as well as a number of sitcoms over the years.) Last Edited By: BijouBob8mm Nov 13 07 10:33 AM. Edited 1 times.
JimPV		#7	[-]
Nov 13 07 10:55 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Rakshasa wrote: Here's the paperback book from 1973: Oh my GARSH! I hadn't seen that Schoolastic book since... well, heck, 1973. Thanks for that, Rak.
3H Double B		#8	[-]
Nov 14 07 4:07 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I remember this too. I thought it was pretty cool that Johnny Whittaker was a kid making a monster movie. Remember a scene where he's panning his camera (an 8mm, I guess), and the lighthouse comes into sight and he says "Dracula's castle!". Also remember a scene where he's filming his heroine, lounging in a bathing suite (if I remember correctly), apparently before a vampire attack in his movie, and Whittaker instructs the girl to "try to be sexier...", which at the time I thought was a little too risque for a kiddy movie. Rob
luisj40	Mystery In Dracula's Castle	#9	[-]
Nov 14 07 1:23 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Never heard of this before but it sure sounds like a fun TV movie perhaps Disney will get around to airing it again or better yet releasing it on DVD. Luis Last Edited By: luisj40 Nov 15 07 12:07 PM. Edited 1 times.
davlghry		#10	[-]
Nov 14 07 6:47 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	The Disney vaults are full of those two and three parters that were serialized on WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY and often released as features overseas and sometimes here. I don't know how they hold up but quite a few ventured into spooky subjects and haunted houses and were probably responsible for some of the earliest shuddery moments of our youths. I hope that some day they get to see the light of DVD.
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luisj40		#11	[-]
Nov 15 07 12:24 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	davlghry wrote: The Disney vaults are full of those two and three parters that were serialized on WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY and often released as features overseas and sometimes here. I don't know how they hold up but quite a few ventured into spooky subjects and haunted houses and were probably responsible for some of the earliest shuddery moments of our youths. I hope that some day they get to see the light of DVD. Unfortunately I was so young back then (1970's) that I remember very little about these shows today but I do recall looking forward to watching them on Sunday evening. Luis
John T Chance		#12	[-]
Nov 16 07 9:12 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I remember this, too! Until davilghry's post memories of it had been completely submerged in the depths of my childhood, I had completely forgotten about it...but now it's coming back! I, too, remember thinking "Where's Dracula" but enjoying the mild Disney-esque mystery anyway. And that Scholastic book rings a bell... Speaking of Scholastic...what a great company! I remember those days when they'd brink their bookmobile to my elementary school cafeteria and line up a bunch of their titles on the lunch tables. Our teachers would then take us into the lunchroom to peruse the books and choose those we wanted to buy. Picked up some fun stuff that way. Ah, memories...
Ardley Remlap		#13	[-]
Nov 16 07 3:37 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Speaking of Scholastic...what a great company! I remember those days when they'd brink their bookmobile to my elementary school cafeteria and line up a bunch of their titles on the lunch tables. Our teachers would then take us into the lunchroom to peruse the books and choose those we wanted to buy. Picked up some fun stuff that way. Funny you mention that, John. Yesterday I'd just got out of my son's Scholastic book fair, $20 poorer and grousing about all the licensed tie-in crap they had to offer--Transformers, Pirates of the Caribbean, Shrek,etc. But now that you mention it, Scholastic has always sold a lot of tie-in crap! I don't remember there being so many toys at the book sales we used to go to, though. ...And they used Bon Ami!
Ardley Remlap		#14	[-]
Nov 16 07 3:38 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Dang! Nevermind... ...And they used Bon Ami!
timothymayer	Mystery In Dracula's Castle (1973)	#15	[-]
Jun 2 08 8:31 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	A two-part episode of WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISNEY which was edited into one MTV movie. It had some play on the Telly, but no DVD release. I wrote about it here in my Blog: kraftcreation.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-was-teenage-filmmaker-part-two.html "It's alive!" Z7 Headquarters
Rakshasa	Re: Mystery In Dracula's Castle (1973)	#16	[-]
Jun 3 08 5:38 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Cool, I'll have to check out your blog. BTW ~ There's already a thread on Mystery In Dracula's Castle in the TV folder: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/13395 Links To All The Classic Monster Stills I've Posted: http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/30758 Last Edited By: Rakshasa Jun 3 08 5:42 AM. Edited 1 times.
timothymayer	Re: Mystery In Dracula's Castle (1973)	#17	[-]
Jun 3 08 10:18 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Thanks. "It's alive!" Z7 Headquarters
BijouBob8mm		#18	[-]
Dec 6 08 3:26 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Scholastic has always sold a lot of tie-in crap! I still have their paperback of Disney's DR. SYN/SCARECROW OF ROMNEY MARSH, penned by Vic Crume.
lencandraw		#19	[-]
Dec 8 08 6:17 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I had the DRACULA book as well! Iread it in 76-77 sometime. Lots of references to Hammer films. I don't remember much else. At that time I would read any paperback version of a Disney project.
Cameron McCasland		#20	[-]
Jan 12 09 7:29 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	this is the kind of stuff I wish would get a dvd release. I would love to see it.
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