Anyway, these videos have been on Youtube for years, most recently combined into one, so alot of you may have seen them. But I wanted to take some time today to remark on them, and what they mean to me. If you haven't watched them, please do so! They're little short clips that have alot of Bobby in them, and one can't help but smile at his little mannerisms and savor a time when perhaps life wasn't so complicated for him. Just know, there isn't any sound. Studios back then added the sound after the movie, so since these were just "extra footage," there was no need to. What this guy has done, however, is add some of the Song of the South music after he remastered the clips (which were originally on the Disney website). If it annoys you to hear the same stuff for ten minutes, as it does me, that's what mute is for. :D
When watching this, I was delighted by a few things!
1) Didn't a movie set seem like so much fun back then? Probably a much smaller film crew than they have now, and they all seemed to be having a good time with one another.
2) Bobby was just... adorable. He's seen holding the squirming puppy, which he shares with Luana part of the time, and there is alot of footage of him and Luana holding hands, walking around. At one point he even walks way ahead of her and practically tugs her, haha (NOTE: in looking back over alot of these scenes, it's obvious that they were actually in the midst of filming during the handholding). There is a scene where he seems to maybe be trying to pull his hand back from her (with James Baskett looking on), so I imagine they probably did need a little break from one another every so often. But they seem to have been friends the whole time.
3) All the children were seated together to eat -- including the African American children, which made me very happy. I grew up in the South, and from hearing the testimonies of those who know firsthand, racial integration was NOT a thing in the 40's around here. It gladdened my heart to see a glimmer of hope that maybe these kids were well-treated in California -- and that Bobby learned early to love everyone.
4) Isabelle! Toward the beginning of the clips, she is seen with a cluster of other women, in the middle. I'm guessing this was a small troupe of the moms (btw, I don't see the African-American MOMS here, so maybe there was still some racial tension among the adults). It is VERY cool to see her in live-action. She seemed to have a pretty good rapport with at least a few people on set, even if she has the reputation of having been a major Stage Mom.
Despite the pressure they probably put on their kids, here's the good thing about stage moms: they hopefully keep track of their kids. I just have to burst the happy bubble for one second to say, I have learned from Corey Feldman and Corey Haimm (testimonies they gave, not actual conversations with them) that there has often been a problem with indiscretion toward kids on movie sets. People have even leveled suppositions at Walt Disney, though I have, to date, never found a stitch of actual evidence toward this. My point is.... hopefully, if you had a mother who was active in their child's work on set, that type of thing would be far less likely to happen. This is not to say that child actors were still not around other people alone at other times, but I have a feeling the presence of an overbearing momma might discourage bad behavior. I pray so -- for I would not want to think Bobby had any more bad memories to have to deal with in his adult life than he already did. Here's one thing for sure: I'd like to think that if I had kids in show business, I'd be GLUED TO THEM in the presence of all these people, whether they called me a stage mom or not.
Pardon that side stepping for a moment, I just had to go there. Anyway! Watching these has warmed my heart thoroughly, and made me so grateful we have a little bit of a window into Bobby just being a kid. I hope they do the same for you.
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