Elias Disney was a Tall Man?

Fans of the Scrimm, journey back with me three decades to the year that gave us President Reagan and MTV. It's here in 1981 that we'll find one of the Tall Man performer's more rare and elusive appearances as Elias Disney in Walt Disney: One Man's Dream (credited here under real name Lawrence Guy). Though the garish television special featured song and dance by Mac Davis, Dick Van Dyke and Marie Osmond, it featured no such gaiety for Angus' role as stern father to dreamers Walt and Roy. Our look back at this special comes to us courtesy of one of the very first Phantasm Archivists, Kristen Deem. Continue reading for the skinny and to see video excerpts of his performance.

We now turn to Kristen: 

"Thirty years ago, in December 1981, this special aired on television. It was to commemorate the upcoming Epcot Center in Florida. Angus had mentioned to me over lunch in July 1981 (my first meeting with the Tall Man...) that he would be playing Walt Disney's father, Elias. I got such a kick out of the idea of Walt Disney being overshadowed by the Tall Man! Anyway, back in those days there was no way to record this stuff for most folks like me. And once something aired, especially TV specials like this, there was a 99% chance you'd never see 'em again. So I did what little I could to capture the moment. I donned my still camera, setting on 1/60th of a second (the only way to fully capture an image on a TV screen), and snapped away. Strange to think that at the tender age of 16 I was trying to be an Archivist myself. I remember my mom and I watching the TV, smiling together. There was something really charming about seeing someone on TV whom we'd be sitting with and laughing only months before. Angus had only three quick scenes as I recall. There was a saccharine song about Marceline, MO, Walt's hometown, sung over all of this. It would be fun to see this footage again if possible." - Kristen Deem

Click any of the images below to see Kristen's 1981 photos:

And finally, have a gander at Angus' three scenes from the special: