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I grew up a couple miles from there just off Soledad. It was always fascinating seeing the various productions that would come and go in that area. I actually didn't get into production sound until after I moved away from So Cal, but I'm sure the exposure had something to do with my eventual career path. Definitely sparked some memories, thanks!

~tt

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The Disney Ranch is one of those magical time capsules. I've worked there since 1978 on everything from commercials to features and television series.

A little known secret, if you're an upper level type at Disney Studios, there is a house in the middle of the ranch that you can stay at. My daughter had a friend who's Mother was one of these "types" and my daughter and I enjoyed many days at the ranch and my daughter slept over many nights there, jealous!

Personally, I think it's a shame that they're going to develope that property into a more conventional studio, I"d like to see it remain the same as it was when it was built to be used for the "Spin and Marty" sequences from the Mickey Mouse Club Show, the original not the Justin Timberlake Mouseketeers.

Cheers,

RVD

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I"d like to see it remain the same as it was when it was built to be used for the "Spin and Marty" sequences from the Mickey Mouse Club Show, the original not the Justin Timberlake Mouseketeers.

If I remember correctly (and I saw S&M in the 60's) Spin was a decent guy but Marty was a rich prick...

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Right you are Jim, Spin and Marty pitted the country boy against the city boy. Tim Considine, who originally played Spin left after six episodes. He also appeared in the television series "My Three Sons," with Fred MacMurray who shot all 26 episodes of his scenes before any of the shows were completed, a schedule never repeated in television history. You might also remember Tim as the soldier who gets slapped by General George S. Patton, George C. Scott in his Oscar winning role, he refused to accept his Oscar.

In this scene, shot at the Disney Ranch in 1955, Spin and Marty try to settle things like men? The man who's refereeing the fight is none other than the great Harry Carey, Jr., his Father Harey Carey was in many Westerns and a great friend of John Ford's, and through Ford Jr. starred in many a Ford Western. In, "The Searchers," it's Harry Carey, Jr. that races head first into the encampment of the Indians who he thinks has taken his beloved. Trivia Note: At the end of "The Searchers," John Wayne stands in silhouette in the doorway, he reaches up and grabs his arm just below the elbow. This posture is an homage to Harry Carey, Sr. as this was an unconscious habit of his, and John Wayne didn't tell Ford he was going to do it, and it's a touching tribute.

Also in the cast is the "stereotypical" Asian cook played by the late Sammee Tong, who also played the character Hop Singh who was the cook on "Bonanza," or you might remember him from being the valet of John Forsythe in the series, "Bachelor Father."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rkLL3reXYY&feature=related

The corrals you see in the video were eventually replaced by stables on either side leading up to the main barn.

Cheers, down memory lane.....

Rich Van Dyke

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Mirror, I would venture a guess to say that you've never trained in the "fighting arts?" I trained in two Southern styles of Kung Fu, and I have to tell you that a trained female is just as tough as a trained male, when it comes to fighting.

What came to my mind was the fight scene from the movie,, "The Sand Pebbles," the new "coolie," Po-Han, played by the great actor Mako, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in the film. He fights the big tough "Stawski," in a bar to protect the virtue of a "dance hall" girl.

I couldn't find a clip of the fight, but if you remember it, he uses the exact same punching technique that Marty uses in his fight scene. Then finally realizing he might lose, Po-Han uses his head like a battering ram and seemingly defeats Stawski, except as he goes down the ships alarm sounds and all men are rushing out of the bar to return to the ship, and Steve McQueen continues to count Stawski out!

My Grandmother was the costume designer on the fillm, after meeting Steve McQueen, he sent her a note requesting 10 pairs of Levis and several packets of white tee shirts. She informed him that all of his wardrobe for the film was to be military uniforms, and he said I know, the Levis are for me to wear while I'm not working!

This was Candice Bergen's first film, she had been a model up until this film. Trivia note: The ship, The Sao Paolo, used steam engines in real life. However, for filmming purposes, they had special Cummins motors installed for reliability that were diesel powered and had the special effects crew send white smoke out the smokestack of the ship to simulate steam exhaust.

Cheers,

Rich Van Dyke

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Mirror, I would venture a guess to say that you've never trained in the "fighting arts?" I trained in two Southern styles of Kung Fu, and I have to tell you that a trained female is just as tough as a trained male, when it comes to fighting.

What came to my mind was the fight scene from the movie,, "The Sand Pebbles," the new "coolie," Po-Han, played by the great actor Mako, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in the film. He fights the big tough "Stawski," in a bar to protect the virtue of a "dance hall" girl.

I couldn't find a clip of the fight, but if you remember it, he uses the exact same punching technique that Marty uses in his fight scene. Then finally realizing he might lose, Po-Han uses his head like a battering ram and seemingly defeats Stawski, except as he goes down the ships alarm sounds and all men are rushing out of the bar to return to the ship, and Steve McQueen continues to count Stawski out!

My Grandmother was the costume designer on the film, after meeting Steve McQueen, he sent her a note requesting 10 pairs of Levis and several packets of white tee shirts. She informed him that all of his wardrobe for the film was to be military uniforms, and he said I know, the Levis are for me to wear while I'm not working!

This was Candice Bergen's first film, she had been a model up until this film. Trivia note: The ship, The Sao Paolo, used steam engines in real life. However, for filming purposes, they had special Cummins motors installed for reliability that were diesel powered and had the special effects crew send white smoke out the smokestack of the ship to simulate steam exhaust.

Cheers,

Rich Van Dyke

Ha... I forgot about that scene in "The Sand Pebbles" - you are right! Even as a kid I thought, "How could a grown man throw a punch like that? Doesn't everyone have a bigger brother that beats the crap out of them until they learn to fight back?". My parents threw me in a summer boxing camp when I was 7. Unfortunately my old brother was in the program too so I never got a leg up on him until later on in life when it didn't matter anymore. What are you going do, punch your brother out when your 35? Oh well, at least I still have my prostrate!

That movie freaked me out as a kid. Particularly when McQueen (SPOILER ALERT!) shoots his friend Hop Sing to put him out of his misery. I worked a movie with Richard Attenbourgh years ago and I wish I had been smart enough to ask him some questions about "The Sand Pebbles". Great guy by the way.

Black and blue but can still get it up,

Mirror

P.S. I've seen plenty of grip/electric chicks on the set that could beat the hell out of me.

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No, I got beat up at a David Bowie concert in 1975 at the Universal Amphitheatre, one guy sitting on my chest and another beating my shins with lead pipes, because we had snuck in to see the show for free. A Universal security guard rescued me and took me to the infirmary, and there I met Iggy Pop, who had also been beaten up by bouncers and was so high he just keep rolling around in the bed he was in say, "But, I'm Iggy Pop.......I'm Iggy Pop...."

I felt the need to learn how to protect myself from that ever happening again.

Choy Li Fut and Hung Gar from the Southern Shaolin Temple

Just for the record, Wing Chun, which is the style that Bruce Lee studied originally, was a style developed and passed down by a woman, Yim Wing-Chun. She had been taught by a another woman, Ng Mui a Buddhist Nun.

I still train today, albeit non contact, I achieved the status of a Chi Gung Master and I use the strenght sets and the breathing sets to keep myself in some kind of shape, oval!

This is my Sifu Bucksam Kong performing the Siu Lum Pai set of Choy Li Fut in a park in China as a young man. He taught the Army hand to hand combat during the Korean War, one incredibly strong man.

No apologies necessary

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