We’re obviously not terribly excited to be shelling out another monthly payment for another streaming video service, but that’s just the way the game is played these days. And Disney+ looks to be bringing a pretty solid value proposition to the table with its library that includes Marvel and Star Wars properties both old and new. But after you blow through the A-list, what’s left? Glad you asked, because there is some super weird stuff on Disney+’s launch lineup, and here are 11 obscure flicks that will be there for you on day one.
Perri
In addition to their genre-defining animated films, Disney also churned out a ton of nature documentaries during the 1950s and 1960s. But these flicks didn’t focus on dramatic, exciting wild beasts that kids wanted to see – instead, they were oddball outings like 1957’s Perri, which spends its 75 minutes on a pine squirrel. This wasn’t a strict documentary, instead falling into the microgenre of “True Life Fantasy” which combined authentic nature footage with scenarios and storylines made up by writers. It’s based on a story by Felix Salten, who Disney had already tapped for 1942’s animated Bambi.
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes
Before Kurt Russell was a hard-as-nails action hero in movies like Escape From New York, he was Walt Disney’s fresh-faced leading man in a number of extremely weird movies like 1969’s The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. Set at the fictional Midfield College, Russell plays Dexter Riley, an ordinary student who gets struck by lightning while touching a computer (as you do) and transformed into a super-genius. Of course, the college exploits his talents to win a TV quiz show, but – shocker – the computer originally belonged to an illegal gambling ring and the crooks don’t want that data to get out. It’s a hallmark live-action Disney romp elevated by Cesar Romero – TV’s original Joker – as the bad guy.
My Future Boyfriend
Disney also acquired a bunch of the ABC Family library, and real heads know that network aired some seriously goofy original movies. 2012’s My Future Boyfriend stars Barry Watson as P-A-X-497/341, an archaeologist from the year 3127 who discovers a romance novel in the dusty ruins of human civilization and travels back in time to learn about taking it to the bone zone. Naturally, because this is an all-ages romance the bone zoneing is implied but things get extra weird when he falls in love with a woman named Elizabeth with a boyfriend and then travels even farther back in time to break them up before they meet. Ethically dubious!
The Ghosts of Buxley Hall
One of the best things about the Wonderful World Of Disney TV movies is how they clumsily tried to engage with the issues of the day while still maintaining that Disney feeling. 1980’s The Ghosts of Buxley Hall is a splendid example. The premise is both shopworn and totally odd, as the ghosts that haunt an all-boys military academy get pissed off after it has to open its doors to girls for the first time. Throw in an orphan with an inheritance that his evil relatives are trying to snatch and a pre-teen romance and you’ve got a movie that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Fuzzbucket
Director Mick Garris is best known for his adaptations of Stephen King books, so seeing him take an all-ages detour into the Disney universe is worth a look. Fuzzbucket is a deeply weird made-for-TV movie about a junior high school kid with an imaginary friend that is, straight up, incredibly disturbing, ratlike and gross. When our protagonist develops a mysterious potion that makes Fuzzbucket visible, it kicks off a cavalcade of events that leads us to Dead Man’s Marsh, where his people live. This movie is hard to describe – it’s an obvious formula plot, but it’s executed in such an oddball way by Garris that it really feels out of place.
The Secret Of The Magic Gourd
It’s no secret that the Chinese market is a very big deal for American entertainment companies right now, with films carefully tuned and edited to remove anything that might offend their government. But did you know that Disney actually released a movie that targeted the Chinese mainland exclusively? Meet The Secret Of The Magic Gourd, produced with HK animation shop Centro. The story follows a young boy named Wang Bao who discovers the titular gourd, which has the power to grant wishes. It’s a pretty basic premise, but it’s super interesting to see what happens when Disney turns their eye to milking money from other cultures.
Can Of Worms
Whenever the House of Mouse tries to tackle science fiction, the results are always deeply strange. 1999’s Can Of Worms is based on an award-winning young adult novel and tells the story of Mike Pillsbury, an ordinary kid who thinks that he’s actually an alien. When a Halloween dance goes wrong, he transmits a message to outer space asking for a pick-up and is shocked when a number of different extraterrestrial species answer. The first is an alien dog with the voice of Malcom McDowell, which should give you a clue as to what we’re dealing with. Music by Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh is the cherry on top of this slimy sundae.
The Million Dollar Duck
We’ve all heard the fairy tale about the goose that lays golden eggs, but this… is a duck. 1971’s The Million Dollar Duck, starring Dean Jones as a hapless scientists who irradiates a duck and discovers that it can now lay eggs with solid gold yolks, is a great example of the kind of output Disney was focused on in the 70s and 80s (and why the company wound up in such dire financial straits). When a representative from the Department of the Treasury catches wind of the fowl and tries to prevent total economic collapse, it kicks off a chain of wacky events that goes all the way to then-President Nixon.
Mr. Boogedy
Originally intended as a pilot for a Disney Channel series and then re-packaged as a movie, Mr. Boogedy has earned cult status for just how nutty the whole enterprise is. When the Davis family moves to the not at all suspiciously named Lucifer Falls, they discover that their new house is haunted by a panoply of spirits including the titular Boogedy Man, described as having a “face like a grilled cheese sandwich.” It’s a ridiculous cavalcade of gags that plays like a bargain-basement Ghostbusters but with a joke salesman instead of paranormal researchers. Sadly the sequel Bride of Boogedy isn’t on the Disney+ lineup at launch.
Sultan and the Rock Star
For a while, the Disney live-action formula was “teenager + animal = success.” 1980’s Sultan and the Rock Star is in many ways the pinnacle of this philosophy. Timothy Hutton stars as rock star Paul Winters, who burns out and flees his fans for a stay on Hunter’s Island. While there, he meets Sultan, an enormous Bengal tiger, and the pair become unlikely friends. Their relationship is tested when the vicious tycoon that owns the land comes back to hunt Sultan for sport and Paul must protect his feline buddy. This oddball flick is worth watching because Disney just can’t pull off the level of tension necessary to handle a story like this.
Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century
If you’re looking for a slice of neon-colored late-90s futurism with a Disney sheen, you need to see Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century. Kirsten Storms stars as Zenon Star, a thoroughly modern young woman of 2049 who screws up and gets banished to live on Earth, how horrifying. This flick is hilarious for a number of reasons, most notably how wrong they got just about every aspect of the nightmarish future hellworld we live in. Special mention to the ultra-cringeworthy concert by future pop star Proto Zoa and Microbe. The two sequels are on Disney+ as well.
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