Tennessee Williams on Stage & Screen in New York -Festival Begins December 9th
Some Like It Wilder: The Life and Controversial Films of Billy Wilder - Coming in February
5 Chillers in the Universal Cult Horror Collection on DVD
Robert Redford in Downhill Racer on DVD
Ballast - Lance Hammer's Critically Acclaimed Drama
Z - Costa-Gavras's Oscar-winning Thriller on DVD

TCM Presents: The Family Classics With All-New Original Special and Nostalgic Holiday Festival

Turner Classic Movies is set to conjure up some pure movie magic this December, when the network debuts TCM PRESENTS: THE FAMILY CLASSICS. The festivities will include Sunday movie showcases featuring more than 25 Disney live-action classics, plus an all-new original documentary entitled THE AGE OF BELIEVING: THE DISNEY LIVE-ACTION CLASSICS, to be narrated by Tony winner and three-time Oscar® nominee Angela Lansbury. The showcases will begin each Sunday at noon and feature such films as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954), Freaky Friday (1976), The Parent Trap (1961), The Love Bug (1968), Treasure Island (1950), The Shaggy Dog (1959) and Swiss Family Robinson (1960), as well as Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), which stars Lansbury.

“With Walt Disney Pictures’ legacy of groundbreaking animated films, it can sometimes be easy to forget that since the 1950s, the studio has also produced an extensive collection of lovingly made live-action films perfect for the entire family,” said Charles Tabesh, senior vice president of programming for TCM. “So it is with great pride that we will present them in all their glory in the tradition of TCM ─ uncut and commercial free. With more than 25 outstanding movies and an insightful documentary special narrated by Angela Lansbury, TCM’s salute to these live-action films is a perfect family programming event for the holiday season.”

THE AGE OF BELIEVING: THE DISNEY LIVE-ACTION CLASSICS, which comes to TCM from FitzFilm, Inc. and writer/producer/director Peter Fitzgerald, will follow the studio’s history as it ventured beyond its animation legacy to develop non-animated family fare. It is slated to premiere at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 14.

The special will feature interviews with a number of people who have contributed to the studio’s live-action oeuvre, including Kurt Russell, Dick Van Dyke, Dean Jones, Tim Conway, Lesley Ann Warren and Michele Lee; former child stars Karen Dotrice and Kim Richards; director Ken Annakin; and songwriter Richard M. Sherman. The special will also feature interviews with Walt Disney Company Board Director Emeritus Roy E. Disney, film critic and film expert Leonard Maltin, film historian Les Perkins, film writer Richard Schickel, author and film expert Paula Sigman and author Bill Cotter.

The following is the complete schedule for TCM PRESENTS: THE FAMILY CLASSICS:

Sunday, Dec. 7
Noon Treasure Island (1950) – starring Robert Newton and Bobby Driscoll.
1:45 p.m. Swiss Family Robinson (1960) – starring John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, Sessue Hayakawa and Tommy Kirk.
4 p.m. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) – starring Kirk Douglas, James Mason, Paul Lukas and Peter Lorre.
6:15 p.m. Old Yeller (1958) – starring Tommy Kirk, Dorothy McGuire and Fess Parker.
8 p.m. The Parent Trap (1961) – starring Hayley Mills, Maureen O’Hara and Brian Keith.
10:15 p.m. Pollyanna (1960) – starring Hayley Mills, Jane Wyman, Karl Malden, Adolphe Menjou and Agnes Moorehead.
12:30 a.m. The Barefoot Executive (1971) – starring Kurt Russell, Harry Morgan, Wally Cox and John Ritter.

Sunday, Dec. 14
Noon The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes (1970) – starring Kurt Russell and Cesar Romero.
1:45 p.m. The Strongest Man in the World (1975) – starring Kurt Russell, Cesar Romero, Phil Silvers and Dick Van Patten.
3:30 p.m. The Absent-Minded Professor (1961) – starring Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn and Tommy Kirk.
5:15 p.m. Son of Flubber (1963) – starring Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn, Tommy Kirk and Ed Wynn.
7 p.m. THE AGE OF BELIEVING: THE DISNEY LIVE-ACTION CLASSICS – narrated by Angela Lansbury.
8:30 p.m. The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975) – starring Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Bill Bixby and Susan Clark.
10:15 p.m. The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979) – starring Tim Conway, Don Knotts, Tim Matheson, Kenneth Mars and Jack Elam.

Sunday, Dec. 21
Noon The Black Hole (1979) – starring Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins, Yvette Mimieux, Robert Forster and Ernest Borgnine.
2 p.m. Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) – starring Eddie Albert, Kim Richards, Ike Eisenmann, Ray Milland and Donald Pleasance.
4 p.m. Return from Witch Mountain (1978) – starring Bette Davis, Christopher Lee, Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann.
6 p.m. Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) – starring Angela Lansbury, David Tomlinson, Roddy McDowall and Sam Jaffe.
8 p.m. Candleshoe (1977) – starring Jodie Foster, David Niven and Helen Hayes.
10 p.m. Freaky Friday (1976) – starring Jodie Foster, Barbara Harris and John Astin.
11:45 p.m. THE AGE OF BELIEVING: THE DISNEY LIVE-ACTION CLASSICS – narrated by Angela Lansbury.

Sunday, Dec. 28
Noon The Shaggy Dog (1959) – starring Fred MacMurray, Jean Hagen and Tommy Kirk.
2 p.m. The Shaggy D.A. (1976) – starring Dean Jones, Tim Conway and Suzanne Pleshette.
4 p.m. The Love Bug (1968) – starring Dean Jones, Michelle Lee and Buddy Hackett.
6 p.m. Herbie Rides Again (1974) – starring Helen Hayes, Ken Berry and Stefanie Powers.
8 p.m. Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977) – starring Dean Jones and Don Knotts.
9:45 p.m. Herbie Goes Bananas (1980) – starring Cloris Leachman and Harvey Korman.
11:30 p.m. The World’s Greatest Athlete (1973) – starring Tim Conway, Jan Michael Vincent, John Amos and Nancy Walker.