Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Sweeping adventure led to sledding fun in Gartleahill
”Only Walt Disney could tell this incredible Jules Verne adventure with a thousand thrills and Hayley Mills” – the promotional tag line for the original theatrical poster of In Search of the Castaways (1962).
Disney always took his cue from public response and he knew that Hayley Mills was one of the prime assets of his studio.
In Search of the Castaways is based on the Jules Verne novel Captain Grant’s Children and no expense would be spared in the production with the movie version Mill’s third picture in her Disney contract.
The story concerns the discovery of a note in a bottle that has been swallowed by a shark. The content, although somewhat deteriorated, gives good reason to believe that Captain Grant, Skipper of the S.S. Brittania, is still alive.
Lord Glenarvan, owner of the Steam Navigation Company, sets out to rescue him. Aboard his ship are his son John and Grant’s kids Mary and Robert as well as Frenchman Jacques Paganel.
A series of hair-raising incidents occur as they travel the 37th parallel, including surviving an earthquake, flash flood, and being attacked by a giant condor, adding up to an exciting adventure.
Arriving in Melbourne, Australia, they team up with a former member of Grant’s crew, Thomas Ayrton, who turns out to be a gun-runner who had set Captain Grant adrift.
Eventually, in New Zealand, after being captured by the Maoris, the adventurers manage to escape.
In Search of the Castaways is a movie where the viewer must suspend reality and let their imagination take over for a few hours; and become swept up in the fantasy adventure.
For sheer imagination, you can’t beat the magical combination of Disney and Verne. The film contained some of the most elaborate special effects of any Disney film up until that time, with set designers constructing a live volcano, part of the South American Andes mountains, reproductions of Port Glasgow and Melbourne circa 1870, and a complete Maori village. All of this was accomplished at Pinewood Studios in England.
The film is also full of Peter Ellenshaw’s exquisite matte paintings, all responsible for
creating the illusion that it was shot in the actual locations.
This fantastic flick opened at Coatbridge’s Odeon Cinema in January 1963, to record business as usual.
Cinema manager Lily Watt was running true to form with her showmanship skills welcoming all the eagerly anticipating kids into the theatre and presenting
them with a special In Search of the Castaways badge that we wore with pride and appreciation.
Following its run at the Odeon, the picture relocated to the Pavilion Cinema in Airdrie, to packed houses. My pals from Gartlea and I were swept up in the adventure, excited and inspired by the search for the castaways.
Amazingly, this experience
generated a remarkable impact on our street culture, especially with our sledding activities during weeks of heavy snowfalls in Monklands in 1963.
The film has a fantastic sequence where, during an earthquake, a massive rock breaks off the side of the mountain, becoming a huge sled that hurtles the adventurers down
the mountain.
A park that was located on Gartleahill, behind Lee’s General Store, was a popular local spot for sledding and sliding. The kids discovered that we could emulate the fabulous toboggan ride featured in the film by sliding downhill on large tin trays; controlling direction by moving left or right, we were breaking new ground in sledding. It was super fun, great exercise and didn’t cost a penny!
In Search of the Castaways was a huge commercial success and another triumph for Disney and Hayley Mills. It was one of the 12th most popular films at the British box office in 1963 and remains one of the most requested movies from the Mills Disney catalogue.