Ben and Me
1953 Disney short film directed by Hamilton Luske / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ben and Me is an American animated two-reel short subject produced by Walt Disney Productions and released theatrically on November 10, 1953.[1] It was adapted from the book of the same name written by author/illustrator Robert Lawson and first published in 1939. Though both book and film deal with the relationship between a mouse and American Founding Father Benjamin Franklin, the book, with illustrations by Lawson, focused more heavily on actual historical events and personages, and included incidents from Franklin's French career at Versailles.
Ben and Me | |
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Directed by | Hamilton Luske |
Story by | Robert Lawson (novel) Bill Peet (screen story) Winston Hibler Del Connell Ted Sears (adaptation) |
Produced by | Walt Disney |
Starring | Sterling Holloway Charlie Ruggles Stan Freberg Hans Conried Bill Thompson Jimmy MacDonald |
Narrated by | Sterling Holloway |
Music by | Oliver Wallace |
Animation by | Wolfgang Reitherman John Lounsbery Cliff Nordberg Marvin Woodward Hugh Fraser Eric Cleworth Ollie Johnston Hal King Les Clark Don Lusk Harvey Toombs Jerry Hathcook George Rowley (effects) |
Layouts by | Al Zinnen Hugh Hennesy Thor Putnam |
Backgrounds by | Al Dempster Thelma Witmer Dick Anthony |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Buena Vista Film Distribution |
Release date | November 10, 1953 (1953-11-10) |
Running time | 21 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The short received an Academy Award nomination for Best Short Subject, Two-reel.[2]
This short was also notable for being the second release on the Buena Vista Distribution label, with the first being Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom, released on the same day. On its release, Ben and Me was packaged with the True-Life Adventure documentary The Living Desert. When Disney's regular distributor RKO Radio Pictures resisted the idea of a full-length True-Life Adventure, Disney formed his own distribution company to handle future Disney releases.[3]
A D-TV music video was created in which the short was set to Stevie Wonder's For Once in My Life.