Charles, Why thanks. True story.
Bill ---- Charles Goldsmith <wo...@justfamily.org> wrote: > Bill, you amaze me with your stories. That is a great one! > > On Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 8:39 PM, <speleoste...@tx.rr.com> wrote: > > Here's a story for you all. > > > > A few days after Christmas 1993 I got a phone call from a man who said he > > was a producer with Disney films. I thought some caving friend of mine was > > putting me on, like I've done a time or two (like the time Rick Bridges was > > on TV talking about Lechuguilla, so I called him and in my best fake French > > accent told him it was Jacques Costeau, and "we should do zee projects > > togezer.") Anyhow, this guy said that Disney had a script and an approved > > budget and they were going to make another Journey to the Center of the > > Earth. Their premise was that the Jules Verne story had happened, and now > > modern cavers were going to go back. It was to be a new story, not the same > > one. They invited me to come to LA and bring a duffel of caving gear, > > slides, and ideas of what sorts of gadgets cavers in the future might use. > > So I took them up on it and went to LA a couple of weeks later. > > > > The morning I was to meet at the Disney studios was the morning of the > > Northridge Earthquake. It happened in the wee hours of the morning. I was > > staying in well known cavers Matt Oliphant and Nancy Pistole's guest house > > behind Matt's parent's house on the north end of the LA basin. I didn't > > know what to do about the scheduled meeting at the Disney studios. The > > phones were out. So I picked my way around closed roads and made it to the > > studio in Burbank, which was closed. Eventually I managed to get through to > > an associate producer and we planned to meet at the director's home in > > Burbank later the next day. > > > > The director's (Charlie Haid) chimney on the side of his house was laying > > flat in his yard. For several hours I met with him, two producers, a set > > designer from England (who had designed the sets for the movie Willow), and > > a couple of other people. I showed them gear, slides of Huautla, Cheve, > > Golondrinas, Honey Creek, etc., and entertained them with caving stories. > > They got me to speculate about what cavers of the future might have, like > > lightweight lights with very bright beams (this was pre-LEDs), radio > > headsets in helmets like in Sylvester Stallone's movie Cliffhanger, and so > > on. > > > > The movie was a go and they started planning locations. They were in > > constant touch with me and offered to hire me away from my job for one > > year. I named a price, which I thought they would think would was too high > > ($250K) and they agreed to it. They let me read their script and I told > > them there were lots of things that cavers would scoff at. They let me > > re-write it to the point that I thought cavers would like it. I still have > > a copy of that script. I've thought about donating it for the TCMA auction. > > > > Then the whole project fell through when Disney president Frank Wells, who > > had climbed the Seven Summits, and was somewhat the outdoorsman, who > > planned on making a series of outdoor adventure films and had already made > > Iron Will, which Haid directed, was killed in a helicopter crash while > > remote skiing. The Journey project was immediately shelved. About a month > > later the producer called me and said he was going on to other projects and > > he didn't know what would happen to the movie. He said, and I quote, "My > > guess is that they'll change direction and start making goofy animated > > films instead." Michael Eisner got Frank Wells job, and the rest is > > history.. > > > > Bill > > > > PS - I asked them if Kurt Russell could play me, and they said they > > probably could do that. > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com > > For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com > > > >
