The 1950s saw a rise in awareness of juvenile delinquency and this phenomenon was reflected in the motion pictures produced in that era. From low-budget efforts such as Crime in the Streets (1956) and The Delinquents (1957) to the big-studio, high-profile productions such as The Blackboard Jungle (1955) and most famously Rebel Without a Cause (1955), that paranoiac decade boasted a bevy of big-screen blockbusters focusing on teens running amuck. However, if you are looking for a film about youth in revolt, look no further than Johnny Tremain (1957), Walt Disney's live-action feature about the young silversmith apprentice who joins up with other revolutionaries in colonial Boston. Pictured above is one of the many fun pieces of memorabilia created to tie-in with the film's release in June 1957: an unusually oversized coloring book the cover of which portrays an exciting scene (that by the way never actually occurs in the movie). So enjoy this Independence Day-related artwork, featuring a true Disney "youth-in-revolt"—and for some additional Fourth-of-July fun be sure and read my article about Johnny Tremain at D23.com. (Special thanks to great Disney writer and great friend Barb Layman for giving me the title for this post.)
I remember first seeing this show on Disneyland. The entire neighborhood of kids my age were so taken by this show that we actually formed a Sons of Liberty club. We'd march around the block playing our toy instruments. When we reached the dentist's office (a small private house nestled in among NY style apartment buildings) we decorated the tree he had out front - just as we'd seen in the tv show.
ReplyDeleteWe, of course, were always split between the Sons of L and the Brits; so we'd then fight out a fake battle. Better than cowboys and Indians.