That Darn Cat!

Director Robert (Bob) Stevenson’s unusual knack for blending fantasy with credibility made anything seem possible in Disney live-action motion pictures from flying Volkswagens to levitating nannies, leprechauns to flubber. During the 1960s, the unpretentious craftsman directed nearly all of Disney’s successful films, including the Academy Award-winning “Mary Poppins” in 1964.

The believable fantasy elements found in many of his motion pictures have been a source of inspiration for other filmmakers, as well. Stanley Kubrick was said to have seen “Mary Poppins” three times while prepping “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

Bob once explained the secret of his success, “When I’m directing a picture, what I have in mind is a happy audience, enjoying it in a movie house.”

Former Disney Producer and fellow Legend Bill Walsh credited the director’s keen sense of vision and attention to detail. He once said, “With Bob, you were always sure when the film finished that you had everything you needed; he covered it from all angles, so it was a cinch to cut together.”

Born the youngest of 12, in Buxton, England, in 1905, Bob studied science at Cambridge University, excelling in aerodynamics. During his graduate studies in psychology, a research assignment involving filmgoers inspired him to pursue a motion picture career.

By 1934, he directed (and wrote the screenplay for) his first motion picture “Nine Days a Queen,” followed by “Falling for You,” “King Solomon’s Mines,” and more.

In 1939, he moved to Hollywood, where he directed “Tom Brown’s School Days” featuring Cedric Hardwicke, “Back Street” starring Margaret Sullavan, “Jane Eyre” with Orson Welles, among others.

During World War II, Hollywood producer Frank Capra recruited Bob to co-produce documentaries for the United States War Department, including a film covering the liberation of Rome.

After the War, he resumed his career, directing the Dick Powell thriller “To The Ends of the Earth,” followed by “I Married a Communist,” “Walk Softly Stranger,” “The Las Vegas Story,” and more.

In 1952, he directed about 100 television productions and penned scripts for “Gunsmoke,” “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” and “General Electric Theater.”

Walt Disney tapped Bob, in 1957, to direct the historical tale “Johnny Tremain,” followed by “Old Yeller,” “Darby O’Gill and the Little People,” “Kidnapped,” “The Absent-Minded Professor,” “In Search of the Castaways,” “The Misadventures of Merlin Jones,” “The Love Bug,” and many more.

By 1977, “Variety” called Bob “the most commercially-successful director in the history of films,” while 19 of his features made a list of all-time top grossing movies published by American Film Magazine in 1978.

Despite his successes, he often remarked that filmmaking is “a team-effort – no one man can make a film.”

Robert (Bob) Stevenson died in Santa Barbara, California, on September 4, 1986. —Disney Legends