My dear friend, actor extraordinaire and the man I have called the ‘Lon Chaney’ of his generation has taken on a new role. Us HHN fans all know him best as the mischievous and maniacal HHN Icon: Jack the Clown; under the greasepaint he’s known to everyone else as James Keaton and has been entertaining audiences for many years in a huge variety of roles. That’s why when local Orlando based production company needed an actor who can morph into just about anyone, they turned to James.
Layne Stein and Tony Wakim who created Pattycake Productions are releasing a number of “unexpected musicals” with various tributes, this one however is for Walt Disney. Shot locally using the great talents of Central Florida the piece is inspired by the P.T. Barnum film The Greatest Showman and charts the history of how a boy from a quiet backwater ended up changing the world with his love of animation and storytelling.
Entitled The Disney Showman: The Legacy of Walt Disney, it is a new four minute music video charting the story of Walt using songs from the soundtrack to The Greatest Showman. This is not the first feature in their impressive repertoire of mixing cultural references, other works include: the story of Maleficent mixed with Michael Jackson and Beauty and the Beast entwined with Juston Bieber songs (plus many more!).
Pattycake turned to James as they know they needed someone with the skill to pull-off the greatest showman of all. Pattycake producers had worked with James a number of times, no less at HHN and when he played Beetlejuice for a number of years back in the day. James said:
“It was great experience,” adding that he “fell in love with the concept and hope everyone enjoys it. I enjoyed going back and watching lots of Walt interviews and footage. Tony and I would send videos and stuff back and forth before production. The idea of playing Walt was a bit nerve-wracking, but once we started to play it felt comfortable.”
Click below to watch. It is awesome whether you’re a Disney fan or not!
Thank you to Attractions Magazine for breaking this story. For more info on Pattycake Productions, please click here.
You must be logged in to post a comment.