Walt Disney and the American Civil War

ECW welcomes back guest author Tom Elmore.

Walt Disney loved American history. This was proven in the numerous biographies, docudramas, and historical fiction theatrical films and television mini-series that Disney produced. This includes one feature film and two mini-series based on people and events of the American Civil War.^[1]

The first was 1956’s The Great Locomotive Chase, a generally historically accurate retelling of the raid led by James Andrews. With two dozen volunteer Union soldiers, all dressed in civilian clothes, Andrews stole the train engine the General at Big Shanty, Georgia, on April 12, 1862. Their plan was to sabotage the Western & Atlantic rail line connecting Atlanta with Chattanooga, to prevent the Tennessee town from being resupplied by the Confederates prior to a Union attack.^[2]

However, the General’s conductor, William Fuller, doggedly chased the train. He first used a handcar before commandeering the Yonah and later the William R. Smith, but was chasing on foot until he took over the Texas, which pursued the General while going in reverse. The 87-mile chase ended at Ringgold, Georgia, 11 miles outside of Chattanooga, when the General was abandoned due to lack of fuel.^[3]

Because of Fuller’s pursuit, the raid was a failure, and all the raiders were captured. Eight men, including Andrews, were hanged as spies, eight escaped, and the rest were held as prisoners of war until exchanged. When the escapees returned to Washington, they received the first Medals of Honor and were each promoted to first lieutenant. ^[4]

Fess Parker starred as Andrews, in his first role since Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. This was also his first film under an exclusive contract with Disney. For the role of Fuller, Disney borrowed Jeffery Hunter from 20th-Century Fox. Western film legends Harry Carey Jr. and Slim Pickens were also in the cast.^[5]

The attention to historical accuracy showed on the screen, and the film is considered one of the most historically correct Civil War films ever made. William Kurtz, the technical advisor on Gone with the Wind, served in the same capacity on this film. The exterior scenes were filmed in Georgia on a stretch of an abandoned railroad only 50 miles from the actual site. Period locomotives were borrowed from the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum. For Disney, this was a dream project combining his love of history and trains. He even went to Georgia to watch the location shooting. which was done in the widescreen “Cinemascope” process. ^[6]

On May 30, 1956, Disney aired Behind the Scenes With Fess Parker in which the actor talked about the history of the railroad and the events the film was based on. When the film was released on June 8, its posters read “A remarkable true spy story…Now a great motion picture!”^[7]

However, the movie-going public felt otherwise as the film was not as successful as Disney had hoped. Reviews were mixed with the biggest criticism being the film’s anti-climactic ending where Fuller meets Andrews in jail. The disappointing box office also suggests that the public loved Davy Crockett, the character, more than Fess Parker the actor (1957’s Old Yeller was Parker’s only hit at Disney). Parker left the studio in 1958 after making four movies, complaining that he played the same character in all of them.^[8]

Disney re-edited The Great Locomotive Chase as a two-part miniseries with the title Andrews’ Raiders, which first aired on ABC’s Walt Disney Presents on May 7 and 14, 1961 and was rebroadcast in 1966 and 1973 and later on the Disney Channel. The theatrical version was released on DVD in 2004. To date it has not been released on Blu-ray nor is it available on Disney+.^[9]

Disney’s first Civil War television production was Johnny Shiloh, a two-episode drama based on the true story of Johnny Clem (1851-1937), who ran away from home to join the army. Due to his young age, he was rejected for active military service, so he became a drummer boy. Clem’s heroics at the battles of Shiloh and Chickamauga made him a national hero known as “The Boy Drummer of Chickamauga.”

At the latter battle, a Confederate officer ordered Clem to surrender. Clem instead shot the officer off his saddle. Afterwards Gen. U.S. Grant made Clem a sergeant, making the 12-year-old the youngest non-commissioned officer in the history of the United States Army.^[10]

Johnny Shiloh starred two Disney veterans. Brian Keith (the twins’ father in 1961’s The Parent Trap and “Uncle Bill” on the television show Family Affair) was Sgt. Gabe Trotter, Clem’s guardian. Clem was played by Kevin Corcoran, who played “Moochie” on several Disney projects. Edward Platt, “The Chief” on Get Smart, played Gen. George Thomas, and Hayden Rorke, Col. Bellows on I Dream of Jeannie, played Grant.^[11]

Shiloh’s two episodes premiered on NBC’s Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color on January 20 and 27, 1963. It was later re-edited and released overseas as a theatrical film. Though it aired on the Disney channel in the 1990s and was released on DVD in 2024, it has not appeared on Disney+.^[12]

One of the last projects Disney was personally involved with was the three-part mini-series Willie and the Yank. The fictional story is about a young Confederate soldier, Willie Prentiss, who is friendly with his Union counterpart, Corp. Henry Jenkins, as they guard the opposite sides of the Rappahannock River. When Prentiss accidently shoots his commanding officer, he deserts his post, with Jenkins’ help, to avoid a court-martial. Afterwards the two young soldiers have a series of adventures. Willie becomes a scout for Confederate cavalry leader, Lt. John Mosby, while Henry meets and falls in love with Willie’s sister, Oralee^.[13]

Sixteen-year-old Kurt Russell, who had just recently signed a ten-year movie contract with Disney, played Willie in his second Disney production. He was later Disney’s biggest star of the 1970s, appearing in several family friendly comedies.^[14]

Jenkins was played by Disney veteran James MacArthur, later famous as Detective Danny “Danno” Williams in Hawaii Five-0. Oralee was played by Peggy Lipton, who starred on The Mod Squad. Also in the cast was Nick Adams, who had previously portrayed ex-Confederate Johnny Yuma in the television series, The Rebel, and was later in Japanese kaiju films.^[15]

Originally planned as a feature film, Willie and the Yank instead aired as a three-part mini-series. It premiered on NBC on January 8, 15, and 23, 1967. Later, it was reedited and released theatrically overseas as Mosby Marauders. The theatrical version was released on VHS in 1987, but neither version has been released on DVD, Blu-ray nor shown on Disney+, possibly due to its pro-Southern bias.^[16]

Disney’s anthology series continued uninterrupted under different names until 1983. After Disney’s death in 1966, it showed only one Civil War-related program, 1978’s The Million Dollar Dixie Deliverance, about Confederate soldiers holding a Unionist family hostage for $1 million.^[17]

In all three Disney productions slavery was hardly mentioned, if at all, and slaves were seldom seen. And aside from the animatronic Abraham Lincoln, there has never been a Civil War theme attraction at the Disney parks.

Walt Disney was a master storyteller, and his Civil War films and television programs reflect his talent. While Disney did not play favorites, celebrating both Southern and Northern heroes, one should remember that all his productions are still a reflection of the times in which they were made.

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Dedicated to my friend, Eric J. Wittenberg.

Tom Elmore has had several pieces on Hollywood and the Civil War previously posted on the Emerging Civil War.

 

Endnotes:

[1] For films Disney personally produced see Leonard Maltin’s The Disney Films. New York, Hyperion. 1973. For the television shows see Bill Cotter’s The Wonderful World of Disney Television-A Complete History. New York, Hyperion. 1997.

[2] Maltin, 132-133, Jones, Robert C. A History of Georgia Railroads. Charleston, S.C. The History Press, 2017, 56; Buster Keaton’s 1926 film The General is a fictionalized comedic account of the raid.

[3] Jones, 58-60. The General’s maximum speed was 15 miles per hour. “Yonah” is Hebrew for “dove.” Its English equivalent is “Jonah.” The William R. Smith may have been named for an Alabama Congressman.

[4] Jones, 60. Almost all raiders received the medal, some posthumously. Because he was a civilian, Andrews was not eligible to receive it.

[5] Maltin, 132, Frankel, Glenn, The Searchers-The Making of an American Legend. New York. Bloomsbury USA. 2013, 261.

[6] Maltin, 132-134, Cotter, Pg. 84. Kurtz was married to Fuller’s daughter. The Texas is displayed at the Atlanta History Center and The General is displayed at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, GA.

[7] Cotter, 84..

[8] Maltin, 148. Old Yeller made $8 million, more than Parker’s other three Disney films made combined. His only post-Disney success was the title role in the NBC series Daniel Boone from 1964-1970, where he played Boone similarly to Davy Crockett.

[9] Cotter, 79 Though filmed in color, it aired in black and white. In the fall of 1961, when Disney’s anthology series moved to NBC, all episodes aired in color.

[10] Cotter, 124; Wills, Brian Steel, Gone With the Glory. Lanham, MD. Rowman & Litlefield Publishers, Inc. 2007, 106. Clem was wounded twice in the war. When his application to West Point was denied due his lack of formal education he appealed to Grant who commissioned Clem a 2^nd lieutenant in the U.S, Army. Clem retired from the army in as a major general in 1916.

[11] Ibid. Keith’s best known Disney role was the father of the twin girls in 1961’s The Parent Trap.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Cotter, 176. Individual listings for the three episodes at the Internet Movie Data Base, www.imdb.com

[14] Maltin, 259. Russell’s first Disney film was 1966’s Follow Me Boys!

[15] Cotter, 175-176.

[16] Cotter, 176. Johnny Shiloh, on the other hand, is definitely pro-Northern.

[17] Ibid, 136, 115.