Things are slowly returning to normal around the house and thoughts are beginning to include models. Stopping by disneysub.com recently, I saw a post which caught my eye regarding first time viewings of Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." As it made a significant impact on my life, and directly relates to this blog, I thought I'd post an enhanced version of what I added to the disneysub thread.
Like a sea monster emerging from the fog, I remember the Oak Village Theater in Houston, Texas. My mom took me and my younger sister to the 1971 re-release. I was eight at the time. 20K was the first movie I saw in a "real theater" and not the drive-in. Below is an image of the clipping Ty Bumgardner kept from his first viewing in 1971.
The Oak Village Theater was one of those huge old movie houses. It only had two screens but they were built to handle all the widescreen spectacles. The screens had actual stages underneath. There were also large balcony sections. My sister and I sat on homemade wooden booster boxes my dad made for us.
I don't recall any advanced notion of what the movie was about. But I vividly remember the opening titles with the curtains pulling back -- which I thought was neat since the theater had large curtains across the screen which pulled back before the movie started. By the time the trombones started blasting, and the glowing monster began to charge across the waves towards the SS Golden Arrow, I was hooked.
I'll also never forget the part where Farragut asked Carson why he wasn't firing and Carson replied, "She's showing us her heels, sir!" I had no idea what that meant. I asked my mom, and though I can't recall her explanation, it did satisfy me. She also had to explain the large sucker-marks on the face of the crewman who slid down the stairs from the deck during the squid fight scene.
The salon was the most magnificent place I'd ever seen. When Nemo opened the iris for the first time I gasped. Quite a shock to see his open eyes staring in bloody death in the final reel.
The movie didn't make much of an impression on my sister. But I begged my mom to ask the ticket booth if they had an extra poster so I could hang it in my room. They said they only had the ones on display. They offered to give me one of them when the run was finished. Unfortunately, when we did check back they had already been thrown away.
With nothing but the vivid images in my head, that familiar craving for more took over. To my suprise, my older cousin had the 20K Big Golden Book. Thankfully, he let me borrow it. The book satisfied (partially) my budding addiction to the Nautilus. And after many, many readings by parents, sitters, and myself, it still sits on my bookshelf. I hope he doesn't want it back any time soon!
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Like a sea monster emerging from the fog, I remember the Oak Village Theater in Houston, Texas. My mom took me and my younger sister to the 1971 re-release. I was eight at the time. 20K was the first movie I saw in a "real theater" and not the drive-in. Below is an image of the clipping Ty Bumgardner kept from his first viewing in 1971.
The Oak Village Theater was one of those huge old movie houses. It only had two screens but they were built to handle all the widescreen spectacles. The screens had actual stages underneath. There were also large balcony sections. My sister and I sat on homemade wooden booster boxes my dad made for us.
I don't recall any advanced notion of what the movie was about. But I vividly remember the opening titles with the curtains pulling back -- which I thought was neat since the theater had large curtains across the screen which pulled back before the movie started. By the time the trombones started blasting, and the glowing monster began to charge across the waves towards the SS Golden Arrow, I was hooked.
I'll also never forget the part where Farragut asked Carson why he wasn't firing and Carson replied, "She's showing us her heels, sir!" I had no idea what that meant. I asked my mom, and though I can't recall her explanation, it did satisfy me. She also had to explain the large sucker-marks on the face of the crewman who slid down the stairs from the deck during the squid fight scene.
The salon was the most magnificent place I'd ever seen. When Nemo opened the iris for the first time I gasped. Quite a shock to see his open eyes staring in bloody death in the final reel.
The movie didn't make much of an impression on my sister. But I begged my mom to ask the ticket booth if they had an extra poster so I could hang it in my room. They said they only had the ones on display. They offered to give me one of them when the run was finished. Unfortunately, when we did check back they had already been thrown away.
With nothing but the vivid images in my head, that familiar craving for more took over. To my suprise, my older cousin had the 20K Big Golden Book. Thankfully, he let me borrow it. The book satisfied (partially) my budding addiction to the Nautilus. And after many, many readings by parents, sitters, and myself, it still sits on my bookshelf. I hope he doesn't want it back any time soon!
