Treasures from the Disney Vault returns

The latest round of Treasures from the Disney Vault returns to TCM tonight. Once again, there are a couple of cartoons, a Disneyland episode, and a Disneyfied nature documentary in among the live action features. The feature worth mentioning is Johnny Tremain at 8:30 PM.

You may have had to read the book when you were young; I know I did some time in junior high school. Eighth grade, I think, but I don't quite remember. I know eighth grade was when I read To Kill a Mockingbird and we saw the movie version of that; while in seventh grade we did the play I Remember Mama. Anyhow, getting back to Johnny Tremain, it tells the story of a young lad (Hal Stalmaster) who is an apprentice silversmith in Boston in the early 1770s. That is, until he suffers an accident with molten metal that cripples one of his arms and makes him obviously unsuitable to be a silversmith.

However, it's early 1770s Boston, which mean there's a revolutionary spirit in the air! Paul Revere and Sam Adams are around, and Johnny becomes useful for the revolutionaries, getting to show that a cripple can serve in ways other than the usual ones. It's a Disney version of the run-up to the revolution, as well as a Disney version of the novel, so beware that if you have any problems with the Disney gamut of emotions, you might well have the same problem with their rendition of Johnny Tremain.

Oh, there's also that awful song, which I can remember 30 years on from when I saw the movie. It's an awful earworm, but it certainly is memorable.