"Hello, I'm Leonard Maltin... and I'm happy to be sitting here at Fess Parker's... beautiful winery in Los Olivos, California... with our host, our winemaker, and our star, Fess Parker." "Thanks for letting us come and visit you today." "It's a pleasure, Leonard... and it's always great to see you." "Thank you." "I've just been watching, again... the Davy Crockett shows... as they first appeared on the air... and it's taken me back a long time... and I wonder if you have a specific recollection... of the first time you met Walt Disney... and heard about this idea." "I certainly do." "When Walt Disney saw a bit from the movie "Them"... and that led to a series of meetings... with Bill Walsh, who later produced the shows... and Tom Blackburn who wrote the screenplays." "And after I'd been out a couple of times..." "I was asked to come again, and they said..." ""Now you're going to meet Walt"." "And he came down the hall in the writers' building there... he came in and said, "Why don't you come with me?"" "We walked down the hall till there was a desk and 2 chairs." "I was carrying my little guitar." "He said, "Where are you from and what have you been doing?"" "He made me feel comfortable right off." "He was not threatening." "I felt very comfortable... and finally he said, "I see you brought your guitar"." "I said, "Yeah." "I write a little song or two"." "And he said, "Well, play me one"." "So, I did, and he said, "OK, thank you"." "And we parted and a few days later... they said, "Come back." ""We're going to do the thing with you"." "Did you realize the importance of that statement... of that commitment at that moment?" "No, not really." "After all, I had just done the leading male role... in "Annie Oakley"." "So, Walt Disney was... that was a magic place... and I'd been at all the studios." "I'd been a freelance actor for about three years... so I was familiar... but there was something about the Disney studio... that was very special." "It was collegiate." "Mm-hmm." "And calm and peaceful... and the people were more like family... than any place I'd been." "And I don't imagine as a working actor... you necessarily met the boss at every studio you went to." "No." "Mr. Mayer managed to avoid me... and so did Jack Warner." "Did you feel or see Walt's hand at work... as the shows were being prepared... or was it the people on the front line... who were actually getting the job done?" "I think Walt was very, very much involved... although I didn't realize it at the time." "First of all, if I could just tell you... that the company..." "Disney did not have a resident film organization... so the people were... independent cameramen and directors... and so forth from the industry." "So they all came together... and Walt Disney sent us as far away from the studio... as you could get..." "Cherokee, North Carolina." "There was one telephone in Cherokee... a motel and a filling station, and that was it." "And we were there for two or three weeks." "It wasn't long until it was apparent... that we were running over schedule." "But he liked what he was seeing... and then he visited us one day." "Pat Hogan, who played Redstick the Indian... had just been beating me up all day." "And Walt and Lily showed up with some friends of theirs... and I think from that moment on... we felt pretty good... that he'd come to see what we were doing." "Do you remember getting any instructions... about how to play Davy?" "There was a script which indicated a lot... but did you have any kind of coaching... or did someone say to you... be more of this, be less of that... or did you sort of feel your own way?" "Actually, I had quite a conflict... with the director." "We became friends ultimately... but for a few weeks, it was really difficult... because he was a stage-trained actor... turned director." "Norman Foster." "My background was just the few films that I'd been in... and I tended to be sort of low-key." "And he didn't think that I was coming across... so he was constantly complaining and pushing me... and maybe it worked." "Sometimes you have to get people a little irritated... to get enough energy... so I've never known where the equity was there... but between us, it worked out... and years later we became friends." "But for a long time we weren't comfortable." "The location filming adds so much to these shows." "First, that they look beautiful... but obviously, there's an authenticity... you're not gonna get on the back lot." "That's true." "That was another thing... that Walt Disney allowed us to do." "We traveled from Cherokee, North Carolina... into Tennessee." "There was a beautiful river there... and that's where we did the bear wrestling scene." "You sure spoiled things good." "Now I gotta do it the old-fashioned way." "Yee-hoo!" "Give him what fer, Davy!" "Then we moved on to Nashville... to Percy Warner Park... which is a huge park right in the middle of Nashville." "And it was just as natural... as if we'd been 40 miles south... so we shot a lot of the film there... but I think the high point was Andrew Jackson's home... the Hermitage, was available for us... and we were able to shoot there on the grounds... and then stop at the door... and then there was a banker who lived in Nashville... who had done a replica of the Hermitage... and he allowed us to come inside... so we had it both ways." "And there was something else about it." "I think the people in Carolina and Tennessee... became really very involved... particularly the community actors... who played the legislators and the business people." "We really did have some very talented people... that I think television was just discovering." "You and Buddy Ebsen just seemed like a perfect fit." "We did hit it off... and in so many instances, Buddy was teaching me things." "For example, they brought up two horses... for us to ride in one of the episodes." "One was black and one was white." "So I said, "Buddy, which one do you want?"" "And he said, "I'll take the white one"." "So we had that little friendly rivalry... going on right from the beginning." "I'm thinking about other good people... like William Bakewell." "Oh, Billy Bakewell became a lifelong friend." "He touched my life in many ways... and not the least of which was introducing me... to the Motion Picture Country Home... and sponsored me to be a member... of the board of trustees for a while... but when I started shooting "Daniel Boone"..." "I didn't have time, so I had to resign." "Now, Kenneth Tobey has a funny situation." "He's in both series of "Crockett"... in quite different parts." "I guess they thought kids wouldn't notice, huh?" "I don't think they did." "I think he got away with it." "He was a great Bowie... and Jocko was just one of my favorite characters." " What's your name?" " Jocko." "Mine's Georgie." "Well, I'm pleased to meet you." "Ahh!" "Kinda tasty, ain't it?" "...pink whiskers..." "That'd grow pink whiskers on a hound dog." "Also, Basil Ruysdael." "There's another veteran." "People... no one today would know Basil Ruysdael." "He was a light opera performer... he sang and was a great character actor." "Enjoying yourself, Davy?" "That was a mighty fine supper, Mr. President." "Only the best in the presidential palace." "Since you put that new portico up in front... and got her fresh painted... folks are calling her the White House." "Yeah." "Sounds better at that." "Yeah, that's what she'll be from now on." "And I remember when we got close to the scene... where Davy Crockett goes in... and makes his speech before Congress... he casually asked me on the set one day..." ""Are you ready to do that scene that's coming up?"" "I said, "Well, I think so"." "He said, "Would you like to run the lines with me a little bit?"" "And I said, "Sure." "I'd love to"." "Basil introduced me to some concepts... of how to do that scene that frankly..." "I hadn't the experience nor had I recognized." "So he was a great help... and we continued our friendship... until he passed away." "All right, now let's talk about Jeff York." "He is so wonderful as Mike Fink." "And later on in "Old Yeller"... and "The Great Locomotive Chase"... and all those films... that we had a lot of fun doing." "Well, you know, Jeff was an interesting person." "Ha ha!" "Ain't he forgive me yet?" "Nope." "But he'll get over it." "Well, lucky just his feelings got hurt." "You know, Davy, you showed rare good sense... in getting old Mike Fink to help you." "So, he was a character playing a character?" "Girls run and hide" "Brave men shiver" "I'm Mike Fink" "King of the river" "I don't know if you call it typecasting or not... but again, Mike Mazurki just seems the perfect choice... for that character." "Mike introduced me to the concept... that I could be a rag doll." "We had no stunt doubles." "When we had to do our fight." "We had to make it up and all that." "And Mike and I were wrestling and fighting... and he would just pick me up and throw me... like I said, like a rag doll." "And at one point, he was going to throw me... into a split rail fence... which we had decided would be nice... if I knocked the rail down." "And so the first time he threw me into it..." "I had no padding... and the rail was much stronger than we anticipated... and it really hurt." "So we took the blanket off the camera... and stuffed it in the back of my pants... and we did it again and it worked." "He spent many years as an actor... but many years as a wrestler as well." "Absolutely." "And I have great respect for his physical prowess." "It wasn't until we got to "The River Pirates"... that someone thought about... having some stunt doubles there." "But by that time, we were accustomed... to doing most of the things ourself." "Well, do you remember your first inkling... that Davy was becoming a phenomenon?" "Unlike some of the other phenomenons that followed... they tended to be more pointed in their audience." "This seemed to be mostly from the old to the young... or vice versa." "And everybody in-between." "Briefly." "How quickly did they put you on a regimen... of making personal appearances as Davy Crockett?" "My first stop was Oklahoma City." "And this is the way it went." "I got dressed in the restroom... on a small commercial airplane... went down the stairs, there was a limousine... and six motorcycle policemen... and we went as fast as you can go... to a horse show in progress." "Got out of the limousine..." "I had my rifle and my hat and my costume on... and they said, "Here's your horse"." "And I said, "What'll I do?"" "They said, "Go in, ride around the arena..." ""wave to the kids..." ""come out to the middle, sing Davy Crockett..." ""and anything else you'd like to do"." "Then that's the way we started." "And were you kept pretty busy doing that for a while?" "42 cities, 13 countries later." "Wow." "But I basically didn't mind doing the P.R... for the studio." "Walt had given me 10%... of the Davy Crockett merchandising." "That is, the Walt Disney Davy Crockett merchandise." "So I enjoyed doing those personal appearances... and going to Hudson's Department Store in Detroit... and Pizitz in Birmingham." "It was a great adventure." "I enjoyed it." "And then you were at opening day of Disneyland... which was another, I'm sure, memorable day." "Yes." "In my wildest dreams..." "I didn't expect to sing and dance on live television... but we did." "Such as it was." "I was ridin'through the woods" "To trade off skins for boughten goods 40 arrows hit a tree" "I knew the Sioux were out for me" "I had the great pleasure of riding with Walt... in the first parade... and then going over to the fire station... and having a little libation... and sliding down the fire pole." "I think a very exciting and memorable moment for me... was Walt standing out with his Hawaiian shirt... in the crowd... and looking and seeing what he had put together." "And then his first speech." "I always thought he made great speeches." "He had a knack of communicating... verbally, personality-wise." "He was a good salesman." " He was a great communicator." " He was." "What was the best thing... about being part of that Walt Disney family?" "I've had the friendship and the interest... of so many people and in such a broad way... because Disney is not... just a popular product in America... it's a popular product in the world." "And so to be a part of something of that nature... and to share that with the individuals... that created it..." "I often feel, you know... that I'm being congratulated for Bill Walsh and Bakewell... and Walt and all the people." "And it's been a wonderful experience." "I've seen no negative." "The only thing I'm looking forward to... is to go to Disneyland... on the 50th anniversary of Disneyland." "A worthy goal." "Yes." "Fess, I want to thank you... for letting us visit your beautiful winery... and for sharing all those wonderful memories." "Cheers to you." "It's a pleasure on behalf of the Fess Parker family." "And I'd like to invite you... into the little village of Los Olivos... here in Santa Barbara County for lunch." "I think I will agree." "Thank you very much." "OK." "Beautiful."