The Horsemasters

The Horsemasters was a 2 part episode of the Disneyland TV show from 1961 which screened theatrically in some countries.[1][2]

The Horsemasters
Directed byWilliam Fairchild
Written byWilliam Fairchild
Ted Willis
Based onnovel by Don Stanford
StarringTommy Kirk
Annette Funicello
Janet Munro
Donald Pleasence
CinematographyFreddie Francis
Production
company
Walt Disney Productions
Distributed byBuena Vista
Release date
1 October 1961 (US TV)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

A group of young people do a course in horsemanship in England.

Cast

Production

It was based on a 1957 novel by Don Stanford. Film rights were bought by Walt Disney, who authorised a television movie version to be shot in England. Disney made a number of films in England around this time, including Greyfriars Bobby.[3] In August 1960 Annette Funicello and Tommy Kirk were cast. It was Funicello's first co-starring role in a feature.[4]

The musical number, "Strummin' Song", performed by Annette Funicello and written by the Sherman Brothers marked the first song the Sherman Brothers ever wrote for a Disney project.[5]

The film was shot on location in England.[6] Filming started September 1960.[7] Funicello and Kirk were sent to England several weeks before filming started to practise their riding.[8]

Funicello says during filming married members of crew would have affairs with the cast, and at times the director "would refer to me dismissively as 'the Disney girl' and make unflattering comments about me. Of course he was not the first and would not be the last to take a dislike to me because he felt I was Mr Disney's 'pet'."[9]

Comic book adaption

References
  1. HORSEMASTERS, The Monthly Film Bulletin; London Vol. 28, Iss. 324, (Jan 1, 1961): 114.
  2. "ANNETTE —will she be another Elizabeth Taylor?". The Australian Women's Weekly. 28 ([?]). Australia, Australia. 1 February 1961. p. 5 (Teenagers' Weekly). Retrieved 19 April 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. DOCUMENTARY SET BY LIONEL ROGOSIN: Producer-Director of 'Come Back, Africa' Plans Film on Peace Movements By EUGENE ARCHER. New York Times 3 Aug 1960: 11.
  4. Vagg, Stephen (9 September 2019). "The Cinema of Tommy Kirk". Diabolique Magazine.
  5. Sherman, Robert B. (1998). Walt's Time (First ed.). Camphor Tree Publishers. pp. 9–11. ISBN 0-9646059-3-7.
  6. Hedda Hoopper (20 Aug 1960). "Walt Disney Will Film Romantic Teen Comedy". Chicago Daily Tribune. Chicago, Ill. p. W17.
  7. BY WAY OF REPORT: Disney's Togetherness -- Other Film Matters By A.H. WEILER. New York Times 4 Sep 1960: 79.
  8. Funicello, Annette; Bashe, Patricia Romanowski (1994). A dream is a wish your heart makes : my story. Hyperion. p. 123.
  9. Funicello p 124-125
  10. "Dell Four Color #1260". Grand Comics Database.
  11. Dell Four Color #1260 at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)


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