Mary Poppins…it was my Birthday, and on the way home my Father stopped at a toy store and bought me the Mary Poppins doll! I was in heaven! Later in my “growing up” years we would go to the drive in to see the westerns we both loved. We are fortunate here in our small southern town, just fifteen minutes away is one of the last operating family drive ins…we can’t wait to take our sons, ages 11 and 13 next summer…as they have never been to a drive in! Should be a hoot!

Disney’s “Peter Pan.” I wanted a nightgown just like Wendy’s and a boyfriend just like Peter so we could hold hands while flying.

I think the first movie I saw in a theater is Lady and the Tramp. It was made in 1955 and I was born in 1957 so they must have re-released it when I was about 4. I also remember seeing Bambi very young and I’m not sure which I saw first. Bambi was first released in 1942 so could have been re-released before Lady and the Tramp. Either way, it was one of those two movies. All I know is that I saw them both in the theater the first time, not on television.

I saw Pinocchio when I was 4. I remember being terrified when the boys started growing donkey ears and tails. I was afraid they wouldn’t be able to change back into boys. I worried about that for a long time. My parents didn’t really explain things to us. They just talked to each other about what the Catholic church would say about them taking us to the movie.

Ah it has to be Bambi for me too. My mother and I cried together. Then we had in England something called Saturday morning pictures (before tv) when everyone you knew went to the cinema. This is children . We were dropped off at the doors. I remember the Cinema manager was always dressed in a suit an bow tie and frightened us all into good behaviour. He would stand on the stage in front of the screen with the lights on until we were quiet. And we were. I am sure I saw Old Yeller there. Oh the tears. The film that made the most impression as I grew up was On the Waterfront with gorgeous Marlon Brando. I fell in love with the cinema.Shane and Alan Ladd, Lawrence of Arabia with Omar Sharif. How good was that? Gregory Peck and To kill a Mockingbird. I was captivated with my children with Star Wars, the first one. I still like it. My youngest son hid from ET and then came out of the cinema and told everyone how wonderful it was. What a wealth of good films and memories. Thankyou Hollywood.

Like many others, Bambi is the first movie I remember seeing in the theater, but I’m pretty sure there were others before that. My older sister took me to see it and I cried so hard and so loudly when Bambi’s mother died that she had to take me out of the theater. She threatened to never take me to see another movie, but luckily for me, she later relented. The things I remember most about going to the theater during that period of time were the newsreels of the fighting overseas in WWII. My father was in the army and was overseas for 2 and a half years. When the newsreels came on, I always closed my eyes tightly and covered them with my hands because I was afraid I’d see my father getting killed. When we’d go for weeks without a letter, I’d start getting sick at school about the time the mail was to be delivered and someone would take me home. If there was a letter, then I was OK for a few weeks more. If not, it was the same story until we did hear from him. And I walked in my sleep every night until the end of the war. What a time my mother had with me! Bless her heart, it’s a wonder she’s lived long enough to celebrate her 99th birthday last weekend.

My grandmother was the one I had so many adventures with. She took me to see Fantasia when I was about seven. I was entranced, never suspecting I would one day be an animator in the cartoon business. My grandmother was always introducing me to new things… like, “Here, do ya wanna drive?” Wow, so I moved over into the drivers seat and put my foot on the gas. I can remember quite distinctly the feeling of power as I moved this big square car forward with just my foot! We tootled all over the park roads for about 15 minutes. I was delighted. I must’ve blabbed because my father was furious at his mother for doing such a foolish thing.

I wonder why so many of our mothers took us to see “Bambi”? It was my first movie, too, and I was terrified. It was my initiation to the concept of death, and the death of a parent -a mother- was just too much for a three year old. I used to re-write the ending just to sleep at night. Then, when I had children I took them to see “The Black Stallion” and my five year old got so upset that I had to take her out of the theater. Some moms never learn!