February 10 - Jim Varney

On this day, in 2000, James Albert Varney Jr. passed away in White House, Tennessee from lung cancer. Born in Lexington, Kentucky on June 15, 1949, Jim showed a capacity for memorizing long passages from books at an early age. He was also an excellent mimic, especially with cartoon characters. When he was eight, his mom started him in children's theatre classes. By the time he was in high school, Jim was winning state drama competitions. At fifteen, he played Ebenezer Scrooge in a local production and he was performing professionally in nightclubs just two years later. He went on to study the Bard at a theatre in Virginia and performed regularly at Opryland USA in its early years. A big chunk of the rest of the Seventies was spent at the Pioneer Playhouse in Danville, Kentucky, performing in classics like Blithe Spirit to houses of only a few dozen people. Then came the role of literally a lifetime.

In 1980, Jim was cast in a television commercial as a character known as Ernest P. Worrell. That first ad was for an appearance by the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders at an amusement park near Bowling Green, Kentucky, Beech Bend Park. Ernest then literally exploded into the Eighties. For the next decade, Jim performed the lovable character selling everything from natural gas to cars to grocery stores to dairy products. He was franchised out all over the country. Nearly identical ads would run for Tyson's Toyota in Virginia and Audubon Chrysler in Kentucky, just the name of the business would be changed. I remember Ernest in commercials for Country Fresh growing up in West Michigan. And of course, his old buddy Vern, an unseen, unheard character that was essential to the Ernest persona was always right there with him, KnoWhutImean?

Image copyright Touchstone Pictures

The popularity of Ernest lead to ventures outside of 30 second commercials and, for longer than you might expect, Jim was able to sustain the bigger projects. The first leap was into movies. Directed by the same guy who helped develop the commercials (and would direct all subsequent Ernest films), John R. Cherry III, Ernest was first used in a film  called Dr. Otto and the Riddle of the Gloom Beam. Jim played Dr. Otto, an evil villain with an extra hand on his head, who changes his appearance at the end of the picture to Ernest in order to escape detection. It was the next film Jim did that really catapulted his fame and brought him into the Disney family.

In 1987, Touchstone Pictures co-produced and distributed Ernest Goes to Camp, the first film that focused on Ernest P. Worrell. It was a hit. Made for only $3 million, Camp was in the top five films for the first three weeks it was open and grossed over $23 million. Touchstone would release three more Ernest movies over the next four years. Ernest Saves Christmas (1988) opened at #2 and grossed over $28 million, Ernest Goes to Jail (1990) opened at #3 and grossed over $25 million, and Ernest Scared Stupid (1991) which only grossed $14 million.

Image copyright DCi

Due to the tepid box office of Stupid, Touchstone stopped its distribution deal of the Ernest films, which turned out to be the smart move. The next picture, Ernest Rides Again, only grossed $1.4 million on a $7 million budget, making it the last theatrically released movie featuring the character. Believe it or not, there would be four more direct-to-video Ernest films before the franchise finally petered out in 1998.

The movies weren't the only other incarnations of Ernest though. In 1988, Jim starred in a Saturday morning kid's show, Hey Vern, It's Ernest! A delightfully weird amalgamation of different characters and sketches (my brother and I looked forward to it every week), Jim would be awarded the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series for his work, even though Hey Vern only lasted one season. Interestingly, while Disney wasn't involved with the production of the series, it did own the company that was for a few years in the late Nineties.

Image copyright 20th Century Fox

Ernest's final arena of exposure (but thankfully not Jim's) was actually as part of an attraction. When Cranium Command opened with the Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot in 1989, the pre-show involved General Knowledge showing new recruits different types of brains. A picture of Albert Einstein stood in for someone who used his brain and the type of person who didn't? You guessed it, Jim as Ernest.

Outside of Ernest, Jim enjoyed a broad mixture of successes and failures. He gained critical praise for his portrayal of Jed Clampett in 1993's film version of The Beverly Hillbillies. He starred in The Rousters with Chad Everett on NBC for one season (it just couldn't compete opposite The Love Boat). He was a regular cast member on the infamous television failure Pink Lady and Jeff. He was critically praised again for his work as an abusive father in 100 Proof.

Image copyright Pixar/Disney

Jim came back into the world of Disney in 1995 as the voice of the classic toy Slinky Dog in Pixar's first film, Toy Story. He would reprise the role for 1999's Toy Story 2. For Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Jim brought Cookie Farnsworth to life. He was also featured in an episode of Hercules: The Animated Series as King Ephialtes.

Unfortunately, Jim had been a chain smoker all his life (in spite of the fact that he filmed an anti-smoking PSA as Ernest in the early Eighties). While filming Treehouse Hostage in late 1988, he developed a persistent cough. When that movie wrapped, he went to a doctor and was diagnosed with lung cancer. Jim would continue working, reportedly throwing his cigarettes away, but it was too late. Less than two years later he would pass away (Atlantis was released posthumously). He was only 50 years old.

October 19 - Body Wars

On this day, in 1989, Body Wars began sending Epcot guests on a rescue mission inside the human body. Body Wars was located in the Wonders of Life pavilion in Future World, which opened the same day. It had been the intention all along to have a pavilion which centered around health, but it took several years to find someone to sponsor (i.e. foot the bill for) its construction. Finally MetLife stepped up and the 100 million dollar pavilion took shape. Body Wars was part of a collection of now defunct classic attractions in the Wonders of Life which also included Cranium Command and The Making of Me.

The film part of the attraction was directed by Leonard Nimoy, of Star Trek fame, and starred Tim Matheson, Elisabeth Shue, Dakin Matthews and an uncredited Jane Curtin.

Body Wars was the first thrill ride for Epcot. Although it used the same ride system as Star Tours over in Hollywood Studios, because of its content, Body Wars tended to cause more motion sickness in its riders. Guests had to be warned that if blood and other bodily fluids made them squeamish, this wasn't the ride for them.

The journey guests took through the human body went through most of the major biological systems, including the heart and brain. The basic plot was that Elisabeth Shue had gotten stranded inside a test subjects body while conducting research and Tim Matheson was leading an expedition to find her and get her back out. All of this of course included shrink rays and other incredible technologies that allowed your vehicle to fight off white blood cells without causing further damage to the unsuspecting person you were inside of. Luckily, when your vehicle started running low on power, it turns out the human body is also an electrical generator that's easy to tap into, at least from the inside, and all turned out well in the end.

Sadly, when MetLife ended its sponsorship of the Wonders of Life pavilion in 2001, it spelled doom for Body Wars and the other attractions. Over the next several years, the area would be operated on a seasonal basis, meaning whenever Epcot got full and guests needed something additional to do. The last guests to save day did so on January 1, 2007. The building is still used occasionally for conventions and a presentation space during the Food and Wine Festival, but the simulators have been dismantled, the signage removed and the Body Wars have ended, fading into mere

stories we can tell our children.

Also on this day, in American history: Anna Lee Aldred

October 9 - Pete Docter

On this day, in 1968, Peter Hans Docter was born in Bloomington, Minnesota. Pete grew up in a musical family. His mother taught music, his father was a choral director, one sister became the violinist in the Cavani String Quartet and the other plays cello for the Metropolitan Opera. Pete, on the other hand, preferred to pretend he was Indiana Jones in and around the creek beside their house or made short animated films with the family video camera. Even though he was a tall, gangling, kind of socially awkward kid, he may have turned out the best of the whole family.

Pete went to the University of Minnesota posing as a major in philosophy. In his spare time, Pete made art. A lot of art. So much art that, after only a year of being philosophical, he transferred to the California Institute of the Arts. While there, Pete created three films utilizing traditional animation techniques: Palm Springs, Next Door and Winter. Next Door was awarded a Student Academy Award, which for those of you who don't know (I didn't) is an actual Oscar given to college students. Since his further successes have occurred, all three films have been preserved by the Academy Film Archive.

As Pete was getting ready to graduate from CalArts, his best job offers were from the producers of The Simpsons and a fledgling company named Pixar. While he knew almost nothing about Pixar other than the fact that he liked a few of their shorts, the traditional animation student chose the computer animation company. So at the age of 21, literally the day after his college graduation, Pete started working for Pixar as only the third animator the company ever employed.

Because of his age and relative inexperience, Pete wasn't initially given a whole lot to do. It wasn't long though, before the head of Pixar, John Lasseter, began to realize just the kind of guy he'd been lucky enough to hire. Even though he was brought in as an animator, Pete began doing additional things like writing, sound recording and orchestra scoring. For Pixar's first feature, Toy Story, he was one of only three key scriptwriters. Buzz Lightyear (one of my favorite characters) is, in part at least, based on Pete. He would go on to co-author A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc., which was also his directorial debut. A debut that was nominated for all kinds of awards. True, it didn't win any of those awards but Pete would soon change that.

Pete once again contributed his writing skills to WALL-E, garnering an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and winning a Nebula award. His next project, for which he co-wrote the script, directed and played the voices of Kevin and Campmaster Strauch, was 2009's Up. Pixar always brings the feels in their movies, but Up was the first time I (and pretty much every other adult) actually had to stifle sobs in a movie theater. And not just at the end of the movie, but the beginning too. Thanks Pete. It was an awesome experience. The Academy thought so, too, not only giving Up the Oscars for Best Original Score and Best Animated Feature, but also nominating it for Best Picture period. Pete also won an Annie Award for directing.

At this point, Pete's role began shifting again. He started playing more of an executive role at Pixar. His next few credits would in fact be as Executive Producer on the shorts Dug's Special Mission and Party Central and the feature Monsters University. His directing days weren't quite over though. He would return to that role for 2015's Inside Out. Pete also co-wrote the script based on a story idea he'd help develop and provided the voice for Father's Anger. Once again, Pete delivered a delightfully touching, highly inventive story. Once again, he won the Best Animated Feature Oscar, the Annie Award for directing and, this time, added the Annie Award for writing.

All in all, for the three films Pete's directed for Pixar, he enjoys an average rating of 97% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and, on an average budget of $155 million, has an average gross of over $723 million. For you math whizzes, that means his three movies have grossed over 2 billion dollars. Which means Pete knows what he's doing. A very good thing for Pixar. You may have heard about the controversy surrounding the company's founder, John Lasseter, and his subsequent departure. You may have also wondered what was going to happen to the level of quality that Pixar would be able to sustain going forward. You don't have to worry. Pete has John's job now and (you knew I was going to say this at some point) the Docter is in.

A fantastic addendum to Pete's story: One of my all-time favorite attractions was in the Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot. For anyone who remembers it, Cranium Command was a hilarious look at the various systems of the human body as seen from the inside. It was totally the inspiration for Inside Out, not because Pete was a fan of it, because Pete actually worked on the animation for it. The story behind Command is a crazy one that I hope to post about in the future, but part of that story is how a young Pete Docter, before he graduated from CalArts and became a legend at Pixar, was pulled in to help hurriedly finish its animation in time for its grand opening.

Also on this day, in American history: Mary Ann Shadd Cary