 |
 |
|
 |
 |
he first True-Life Adventure featurette. The fur
seals arrive on the fogbound islands known as the Pribilofs to mate
and bear pups. The young "bachelors" challenge the older bulls for
their harems of females, which results in a terrific fight. In the
fall, the herd sets out on a long migration into the Pacific Ocean
to spend the winter. |
 |

Alfred and Elma Milotte shot the fascinating footage that formed
the beginning of the True-Life Adventure series. Walt had hired
them to do some filming for him in Alaska, but as he studied the
footage they sent back to the Studio, he zeroed in on the seal
footage as having the most promise. So he asked them to emphasize
the life cycle of the seals and not show any indication of man's
presence. The resulting film did not appeal to RKO, the Disney
distributor, who felt that no one would want to sit in a theater
for half an hour watching a nature film, so Walt had a friend of
his, who ran the Crown Theater in Pasadena, run the film for a week
in order to qualify for an Academy Award®. Sure enough, it won
the award for Best Documentary. According to legend, Walt took the
Oscar® down to Roy Disney's office and said, "Here, Roy, take
this over to RKO and bang them over the head with it." As one could
expect, RKO was soon clamoring for more of the True-Life
Adventures. |
 |

Directed by James Algar. 27 min. |
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
 |