Join Eric as he explores the connections between Disney and Martin Short. Short plays Oliver Putnam in Only Murders in the Building for Disney’s Hulu. But that's not the first time Martin Short worked with the Walt Disney Company! Martin Short has starred in Disney and Touchstone Movies, Done voice-over work for animated projects, Guest Starred in many Disney television shows, and Taken the lead role in Disney Parks films around the world. This is the Second episode in a mini-series focusing on the cast of Only Murders in the Building! We take a look at the three main protagonists and discover which one is the true Disney Legend!
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Special Episode Music by Keyframe_Audio from Pixabay
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00:10 --> 00:53 We have this coterie of rich franchises, the company now that people want to engage with. I came here to try and continue what Walt Disney and his associates set in motion 50 years ago, which is to experiment with every new and innovative kind of entertainment possible. It's what we hope to do here, to really develop something that just more than an entertainment enterprise. It's something that contributes many other ways.
00:58 --> 21:22 Hey, this is Synergy Loves Company, where we explore how Disney connects to everything. I'm Eric, and I want to thank you. Thank you so much for joining me today and keeping me company. Only Murders in the Building is back for its third season, and I love that show. So I was inspired. And the last time you might have noticed, I started a new miniseries that I'm calling Only Legend in the Series. We're going to take a look at the Disney legend status of all the stars of the show. Only Murders in the okay, okay. I know you can just go and look it up, but I think this is more fun to present. It this, you know, join me for this journey here. Last time, we took a look at Selena Gomez and her connections to the Walt Disney Company. And even though she shed the title a little bit, she started out as a Disney Channel star. Her career owes a lot to that Disney start, but Disney also owes a lot back to her. But we did also find out last time that, no, Selena Gomez is not the only Disney legend in the series. It's someone else. So let's get right into it right now. Only legend in the series. Part Two You. He never intended to become what he became. He wanted a quiet, simple life with a good career. That's why he went to college in the first place. He was going to help people. He was supposed to become a social worker, but he couldn't help it. He had been bitten by the bug, the show business bug. It wasn't as sudden as it sounds. It was always right there. His mother was a symphony concert master and encouraged his creativity. He was the youngest of five and always trying to get his older siblings to laugh, telling jokes, singing silly songs, the occasional impression. His family encouraged his eccentric, absurdist humor. So in 1971, he did the opposite of every recent college graduate with a social work degree. He got cast in a musical. That musical was the 1972 Toronto production of God Spell, and the cast was full of unknowns who would go on to become major stars like Dave Thomas, Gilda Radner, Paul Schaefer, and Eugene Levy. But Martin Short would go on to be the biggest star to emerge from that cast. He would also have the most Disney connections. But would he have what it takes to be a Disney legend? Is Martin Short the only legend in the series. If you take a look at his career like we're going to do today, it's easy to see that Martin Short has the longest list of contributions to the Disney Company out of the whole cast of Only Murders. Martin Short became big in the Canadian comedy scene in the 1970s and 80s. He was featured on a show called SCTV in 1982. It's a Canadian sketch show based around a fictitious TV station. On the show, he developed some larger than life characters like Ed Grimley, as well as performing some impressions. But in 1984, he joined the cast of Saturday Night Live, bringing along some of the characters that he developed at SCTV, specifically Ed Grimley. Now, I've already talked about Ed Grimley twice now, so let's stop and talk about the character of Ed Grimley for a second. I know it's not Disney, but I think it's an important step in his journey to working with Disney. Ed Grimley wore a plaid shirt, high waisted pants, and had a giant spike of hair on the top of his head and a posture of pure awkward energy. He had a childlike wonder about him and larger than life emotions really not dissimilar to a Peewee Herman like character. Ed Grimley was made for late night TV, but there was something wholesome about him, something that made children gravitate towards the character. I was one of those kids I remember in the thought Ed Grimley was awesome. I thought he was hilarious. I even made my mom give me the hairstyle, the big old spike on the top of my head. In the late eighty S, the late night character Ed Grimley was actually marketed to kids in his show. That completely mentaled misadventures of Ed grimley. It was a Saturday morning variety show featuring some cartoon parts and some live action skits, and it starred Martin Short once again as Ed Grimley. This is my real connection to the character. I absolutely love that show as a kid. Martin Short's creation of Ed Grimley and the character's universal appeal is the kind of entertainment that Disney has really been known for, making family entertainment for everyone in a family, grown ups too, not just the kids. Martin Short only starred on Saturday Night Live for one season, but he left an impact, boosting ratings on the show and the national spotlight helped him launch his movie career. So here with the movies of the late 80s is where the real Disney connections come in? Well, not yet, but kind of. Let's take a look. His first movie after SNL stardom was 1980 Six's. The Three Amigos as Ned Netterlander. The movie itself was originally going to be titled The Three Caballeros because of the 1944 Disney package film of the same name. But that Disney movie is also why the name had to be changed. The movie is about three Western actors who played heroes in the movies who get recruited to take on their onscreen personalities and save a small Mexican town. The Three Amigos features a Western style song called Blue Shadows on the Trail, but it's not the one you might know as a Disney fan. There is a song with a similar title and even a similar feel from Disney's Melody Time in 1948. It's not the same song. It's similar, maybe even inspired by maybe it had to be changed. Like the title. And the one in The Three Amigos from the 80s was written by Disney legend Randy Newman. So that's another kind of Disney connection. Maybe that's not good enough for you. All right, let's get to his next movie, Inner Space. Let's take an adventure through inner space. One word. Inner Space. That's the movie. In 1966, though, a different movie came out called Fantastic Voyage, and it was about a crew of scientists who shrink themselves down to perform a brain surgery from the inside out. The next year, after Fantastic Voyage 1967, disney opened an attraction called Monsanto Presents Adventures through Inner Space. Two words, inner Space, where you are shrunk down to explore the molecular structure of a snowflake. It was actually the first omni mover ride. Yeah, I'll get back to Martin Short. In 1987, Short starred in Inner Space one word, and it was a pretty big summer hit. The movie is basically a comedy parody of Fantastic Voyage and shares its name with the Disney attraction. But that's not all. That's not it. The success of Inner Space, the movie inspired the concept of Disney's first motion. Similar ride body wars at Epcot. Okay, I know these are some pretty weak connections. Two movies, both only kind of related to Disney and title. Some light inspiration. Nothing. Disney Legend, noteworthy yet. Yet. Let's keep going. In 1989, Martin Short makes his first true steps into the Disney family. Touchstone Pictures was started by Ron Miller and then strengthened by Michael Eisner. Later in the 80s, it was Disney's grownup label for more grownup movies. It became kind of a loophole for Disney. They could release movies that didn't seem very Disneylike. Serious films, more grown up comedies, not just the family films that Disney put out. Last episode. We got to explore Disney Channel stars with Selena Gomez. And in the Michael Eisner era, touchstone operated in a way not dissimilar to Disney Channel in the mid 2000s. Instead of child actors, though, Touchstone was interested in upandcoming stars or established actors who needed a midcareer boost. When a star got into a Touchstone film, they usually popped up in a few more. Martin Short became one of these touchstone stars. In 1989. He starred in Three Fugitives alongside Nick nolte. Nick Nolte was another one of these recurring Touchstone stars. The movie is about an experienced bank robber fresh out of a prison sentence, who gets roped into another inexperienced bank robber's plan to pay for his daughter's medical bills. He's in the wrong place at the wrong time. Martin Short was also the lead in 1990 Two's Captain Ron alongside Disney legend Kurt Russell, martin Short plays a middle class suburban dad who inherits a yacht and wants to bring his family on an adventure. So he hires Captain Ron, played by Kurt Russell. Their personalities clash and hilarity ensues. But I'm missing a touchstone film, probably the most important touchstone film of Martin Short's career, and that's Father of the Bride and its sequel, Father of the Bride Part Two. If you're like me, you've probably seen this movie a ton of times. I know. It was on TV so much in the early 2000s, it often became one of my TV parking places. You want something on in the background. It's like oh, father of the Bride's on. We'll just put that on. Martin Short doesn't have the lead role in this one, but he definitely steals the show. His performance as Franc the wedding planner is probably one of his most memorable. In The Father of the Bride, Frank gets hired by the Banks family to help plan their daughter's wedding. He is the best, so he is expensive, much to George Banks'dismay. George Banks, the Father of the Bride franck is one of those eccentric, larger than life characters that Martin Short does best. But I think the coolest thing about Franck is his connection to the Disney Parks. If you were to decide to get married at Walt Disney World resort, you would probably want to visit with one of their wedding planners to iron out the details of your big day. The building where you meet them is actually called Franc's Wedding Studio, located just next to the Disney Wedding Pavilion, right between the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian on Seven Seas Lagoon. Frank's wedding studio is named for Martin Short's character in The Father of the Bride movies. This gives him a special distinction over his only murder's castmates. He's the only cast member with a Disney property named after an iconic character of his. Moving on from his touchstone performances, martin Short also scored some roles in Disney branded movies, too. In 1997, he had a supporting role alongside Disney legend Tim Allen in Jungle to Jungle. And in 2002, he had a big year with Disney, giving his voice to some animation. In Treasure Planet. He voiced Ben or Ben Bioelectronic Navigator, and he's the navigation robot who had been marooned on Treasure Planet. He also gave his voice to Lars, a French artist in the direct to video 101 Dalmatians two Patch's London Adventure. Then later on, he teamed up again with Disney legend Tim Allen as Jack Frost. The foil to Tim Allen's Santa in 2000 and six's. The Santa Claus Three. In my opinion, this is not really a shining moment for Short. I wasn't a fan. Maybe you love Santa Claus. Three. Tell me I'm wrong. Reach out to me on social media. Tell me you love Santa Claus. Three. But I'm guessing you probably agree with me that one is the best, two is okay, three is barely watchable. In 2012, he voiced three characters in one movie for Tim Burton in Frankenweenie, the animated one. Frankenweenie had been a live action one earlier in the 80s, but then got a bigger treatment with the cool stop motion animation in 2012. Martin Short plays Victor Frankenstein's. Father. Edward he plays the mayor, Mr. Bergermeister, and he plays Victor's nemesis, Nasser. Martin Short doesn't just stick to touchstone and Disney branded movies animation, he actually goes and branches out. And he's been a guest star on a ton of Disney and Disney related television shows. Shows like muppets tonight, the simpsons, modern family. And he even portrayed lumiere in disney's beauty and the beast. A 30th celebration in 2022. But something's missing. That's not enough to make him legendary. Something's got to put him over that legendary edge. Oh, yeah, last time I mentioned that the only legend in the series would have a connection to the Disney parks. So let's go back. Let's go back to inner space. When we first talked about Inner Space, the movie and Fantastic Voyage, I mentioned that Body Wars was inspired by these movies. If we go back in time and step over from Body Wars to another Epcot Wonders of Life attraction, we would see and hear Martin Short as the narrator in The Making of Me film, a theme park friendly exploration of human reproduction across Walt Disney world at MGM Studios. Yes, I'm calling it MGM Studios, not just because I still like to call it MGM Studios, but because it was when this attraction was there. Martin Short starred as a mad scientist in the Monster Sound show. In the attraction, an audience would watch the video of Chevy Chase trying to sell life insurance to the mad scientist, while Short's character kept unsuccessfully setting traps Chevy Chase around his house. After the video, audience members would be asked to try to recreate all of the sound effects in time with the short resulting in some humorous timing. In 2002, Martin Short brought his Disney Parks acting international when he starred as the narrator in Cinemagic in Disneyland Paris. Go and correct my French pronunciation, I said cinemagique. In cinemagique. You are being treated to a history of cinema through clips of movies. Short plays an audience member who takes a phone call during the movie, rudely walks up onto the stage and then gets transported into the screen, becoming a character in all of the film clips throughout history while trying to escape them and get back to the theater. It continued to run at Disneyland Paris until 2017. In 2007, Martin Short returned to Epcot in the update of Canada's 360 film, o, Canada. Canada's Tourism board wanted to update the perception of Canada. It was kind of dated in the old previous version of the film. Disney chose Martin Short to narrate it and add some humor and give it a fresh perspective his version of O, Canada lasted until 2019, when his former SCTV castmates, Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara took over. And surprisingly, they took a lot of the humor out for two funny people. I know this is one of those things that gets complained about in Disney a lot, but for two funny people to take that narrator spot from another really funny person and to just strip all the humor out is a travesty. Movies, TV, and the Disney parks with connections dating back almost 40 years. By the time Martin Short returned to the Walt Disney Company to star as the Broadway director turned podcaster Oliver Putnam, he had done more for the Disney Company in more areas of entertainment than any of his only murders in the building castmates. But would it be enough for Martin Short to become a Disney legend? Unfortunately, Martin is not the only legend in the series. Maybe it's because he never really had a true starring role in a feature film. Maybe it's because his work with competitors like Voicing, a certain cat in the hat for that other Orlando theme park owning company. The only legend in the series would have to be someone with a longer history with the company, the person who got Martin Short into the movies in the first place. Someone who owes the start of their career to the original Disney theme park. I wonder if you know who the next episode is going to be about in another couple weeks. I'm sure you do already. But if you want to hear that episode, make sure you subscribe or follow in your favorite podcasting app. And then that next episode when we reveal the only legend in the series, will be right there on your phone when it's ready. Again, I hope you had fun with this one. I know I had lots of fun. I'm having fun with this kind of true crime spin on these episodes that I'm doing. I like doing this. If you like when I do weird kind of out of the box episodes, let me know. I'm on all those social medias if you want to get me on Instagram or Threads, it's at Synergylovescompany, and I'm still on Twitter trying out the blue sky thing, too. Both of those. I'm at Eric. H synergy. So go find me there. Let me know what you liked. Let me know what you didn't like. Let me know that you're there. And if you're enjoying Synergy loves company, don't keep it to yourself. Share it with a friend who loves Disney just as much as you do. Just tell them to visit Synergylovescompany.com, because sharing the show is the number one way you can support the show, and your support means the world to me. Thanks for exploring Disney's connections with me. And until next time, keep discovering the magic in everything.