A Short History of
Childhood Productions

(a special thanks to Barry B. Yellen for supplying a great deal of information on the history of his company, Childhood Productions.)

Although Walt Disney was (and remains) the undisputed leader in children's films, a small-time producer from Florida gave Disney a run for his money throughout the 1960's. The producer was K. Gordon Murray, who crafted, and then exploited, an utterly new market for these films, which he dubbed "the Kiddie Matinee".

While the weekend matinee has existed since the birth of the movies, this new idea of Murray's was somewhat radical; offer films specifically designed for the wee ones, show them only on weekend afternoons for a fixed ticket price and rental fee, and heavily market the releases in the major media.

Coyly tapping into the fast-growing Baby Boomer demographic, former circus man Murray took more than a page from Exploitation Film mentors like Kroger Babb and Dwain Esper. Murray took the same highly-manipulative promotional techniques used for centuries to lure the naive and bored into "adult" entertainment, and modified them, with wild success, to lure the children of America en masse to attend second-rate fairy tale cinema. (In our opinion, this makes K. Gordon Murray not only the King of the Kiddie Matinee, but the King of Exploitation.)

At any rate, buying or creating inexpensive domestic or foreign product, and marketing the hell out of it, Murray was able to equal and in some cases top box office receipts that major studio Disney had formerly held in monopoly. Starting with the bizarre Mexican fantasy SANTA CLAUS, and continuing with imports such as LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD, PUSS 'N BOOTS, RUMPELSTILTSKIN and THE GOLDEN GOOSE, Murray stumbled onto an untapped corner of the Disney gold mine, and prospected it for all it was worth.

Many observers note the peak year of the Kiddie Matinee to be 1964, when films such as MARY POPPINS, SANTA CLAUS (a hugely successful re-release of the 1960 film), SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS and LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD AND THE MONSTERS competed ferociously for record-breaking revenues. Thanksgiving weekend 1964 in New York City, for example, boasted seven new Kiddie Matinee offerings at an astounding 100 area screens!

Other independent producers were not ignorant of Murray's impressive achievement, and the success of the Kiddie Matinee in general. Foremost amongst these was Childhood Productions. Known in the industry as "the classy K. Gordon Murray", CP was the brainchild of Barry B. Yellen. Barry got his start in live theatre, as a stage manager. He eventually became involved in the advertising end of the United Artists theatre circuit.

According to Yellen, the main inspiration for Childhood Productions came out of necessity: "I was between marriages, and there were no good movies to take my three little daughters to!"

Yellen started CP in 1964 with his father, Salem. Salem had been a division manager for United Artists Theatres. Barry’s brother Howard worked at Columbia Pictures at the time, and joined CP later on. Barry’s wife, Patricia, became secretary.

Childhood Productions product was distributed through the "states rights" system, with certain territories being handled by exchanges in that area. CP released appx. 60 prints on most titles. According to Yellen, the Kiddie Matinee season lasted from early October through late April, pretty much the whole school year. During the early years, CP purchased and redubbed their own titles, but they licensed at least one film, TOM THUMB, from American International Pictures.

Childhood Productions started life at a 3-room office at 250 West 57th Street in New York City. Childhood grew fast, and in 1968, moved to 165 West 46th Street, where it eventually rented the whole floor. In addition, CP had active sales offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta.

Taking a page from Murray's success manual, the Yellens began purchasing, redubbing and releasing a series of foreign fairy tale films to the ever-growing Kiddie Matinee market.

According to filmmaker Ron Merk (PINOCCHIO): " [Childhood Productions] pretty much ran their operation like K. Gordon Murray. They would do a 'break' in an exchange territory, with X number of theatres (50-100 prints or more), do a TV saturation campaign, run big newspaper ads, and rake in the dough (unless there was really good or really bad weather). We used for pray for light rain before every break. It kept the kids from playing outside, but it wasn't bad enough to keep them from going to the theatres where the films were playing."

CP's first release, in January 1965, was THE SEVEN DWARFS TO THE RESCUE (I SETTE NANI ALLA RISCOSSA). An impressive and entertaining Italian fantasy film, 7D suffered only from being in black and white, when most theatrical releases of the year were in color. Nonetheless, receipts from 7D were impressive, helped substantially by saturation advertising on TV and News media, again aping the hard-sell tactics of K. Gordon Murray.

Ironically, I SETTE NANI ALLA RISCOSSA was not originally a children’s film. It was intended as a fantasy for adults. When Yellen went to Italy to dub the film, he changed the script entirely, making it more Kiddie Matinee-friendly.

THE SEVEN DWARFS TO THE RESCUE cost a paltry $20,000 to purchase and redub, and made a ton of money. Emboldened by this success, CP readied three more releases for the crucial Kiddie Matinee period: Halloween through New Years.

Purchasing a large package of fairy tales from two German producers, Hubert Schonger and Fritz Genschow, CP released SNOW WHITE, followed by SLEEPING BEAUTY and a curious fairy tale "double bill", HANSEL & GRETEL plus THE BREMENTOWN MUSICIANS.

To add more U.S. appeal to this group of fairy tales, CP enlisted the aid of Paul Tripp (1911-2002). Paul Tripp wrote the famous children’s story TUBBY THE TUBA, with music composed by George Kleinsinger. Tripp was also a popular TV personality (MR. IMAGINATION, BIRTHDAY HOUSE). Tripp became the official "voice" of CP, both in narration on the films themselves, and as pitchman in the theatrical trailers and TV promos.

Yellen originally met both Paul Tripp and Sonny Fox because CP was advertising heavily on their TV shows,(BIRTHDAY HOUSE and WONDERAMA, respectively). Yellen and Tripp especially, became good friends, and Tripp was glad to do the voiceovers for many of the fairy tales.

(Other prints of CP releases feature New York TV host Chuck McCann in added scenes, reading the fairy tale in question to his (real-life) children. It is unclear whether these altered prints, which bear the name "Holiday Storybook", were theatrical re-releases, or modified versions for TV syndication, but they were not released by Childhood, according to Yellen.)

To enhance the foreign soundtracks even further, CP commissioned composer team Anne & Milton Delugg to create original songs for the fairy tale series. The Deluggs' catchy, happy tunes really enlivened the CP fairy tale releases, making them notably different from their prototypes. The foreign fairy tales all had entirely original music scores composed by the Deluggs, many of which recorded in Rome with a large orchestra.

Knowing well the value of merchandising (in addition to stretching a buck), CP took these modernized film soundtracks and released them as "Original Soundtrack Album" LPs. Distributed on the RCA/Camden and Golden Records labels, at least half of the CP releases boasted a companion record album. Originally retailing for $1.99, and selling later in the bargain bins for $1, these now-rare LPs fetch collector's prices today, especially if in playable condition. (One of the realities of children's records is that they often receive extreme wear, so good copies are hard to find.)

Another clever bit of marketing on CP's part was the creation of a "brand" logo (a circle containing a stylized graphic of a small girl in a dress, sitting, legs crossed, reading an open book and smiling).

Perfect in its stark simplicity, the Childhood Productions logo suggests happiness, intelligence, and obedience, in other words a return to a simpler time, or perhaps an "ideal" time. Is Nostalgia mixed with the Visionary the true heart of a fairy tale? The best of historic and desired worlds? Of all possible worlds? The CP logo seems to suggest this.

The girl in the logo is looking at us, smiling, suggesting that Learning makes one Happy. But the real message of the CP logo is exploitative in nature: "Don't read the book; see the Movie!" In other words, the girl is saying, "Come have Fun with me!" The message strikes one not as a plea to return to the past, but a plea for the pursuit of modernism.

Another marketing "gimmick" which CP stole from Exploitation days was to invent a new "process" that seemed unique to this series of films. As with K. Gordon Murray's illusory "Eastman Colorscope", so too CP boasted about their films being "in Storybook Color!".

As no such "process" existed, the claim merely means "in Color" (which may have more persuasive value than first assumed). However, the allusion to a low-budget version of Technicolor was such that the Storybook Color logo did add luster to the poster or advertising.

Additionally, many Childhood Productions classics promised "All New! All Live! Never Before Shown Anywhere!", so that folks wouldn't think they were about to see a recycled Disney cartoon.

Childhood Productions’ attractive promotional material, including the CP logo, were designed by leading theatrical ad agency Diener-Hauser-Greenthal.

Meanwhile, back at the theatre, the new music plus the association of beloved kiddie icon Tripp, helped Childhood's foreign product immensely, and CP ended 1965 comfortably in the black, a remarkable feat for a motion picture distribution outfit in its first year of operation.

Emboldened by their glorious first year, CP released four "new" films in 1966, including their only "original" production, THE CHRISTMAS THAT ALMOST WASN'T. Produced and filmed in Italy, XMAS was a daring experiment for a small indie company such as CP; a sizable-budget, all-original fantasy feature with "name" talent and high production values. Famed actor Rosanno Brazzi directed XMAS with CP, and took the starring role, of a contemporary entrepreneurial version of Dicken's famous world-hater Ebenezer Scrooge.

Popular Kid-TV host Sonny Fox joined TV icon Paul Tripp, to give XMAS tremendous domestic U.S. appeal (especially on the East Coast). In addition, Top 20 Folk-Pop artist Glenn Yarborough ("Baby, the Rain Must Fall") was recruited to croon the film's theme song, which was released both on a soundtrack LP and a 45 rpm single. The excellent score to XMAS was even nominated for a Grammy award!

Fortunately, the financially-prudent decision to have the film produced in another country created a fun and unusual film. XMAS is visually pleasant and playful as well. Famed Italian actor Rosanno Brazzi is highly entertaining as kid-hater Prune, and his wife Lydia, does fine as Mrs. Santa Claus. Alberto Rabagliati, who plays Santa Claus, had been a big star in Italy for many years. It was reported that when Rudolph Valentino died, Hollywood even tried to prop him up as the next screen sex symbol! Sadly, XMAS was Rabagliati’s last film. It was also the last role for Mischa Auer, who also had a long film career in Italy.

Based loosely on the Ogden Nash poem, the screenplay for THE CHRISTMAS THAT ALMOST WASN’T was first produced by Paul Tripp as a half-hour story on his successful TV program, MR. IMAGINATION. When Yellen talked to Tripp about producing an original holiday feature, Tripp mentioned his previous production, and it was agreed he would expand the screenplay to feature length.

Indeed, XMAS did boffo business at the boxoffice, garnering significantly higher boxoffice receipts than the dubbed foreign pick-ups that Childhood Productions specialized in. In its wildly successful original release, XMAS was shown at both matinee and evening playdates, on over 400 screens.

Long out of print on video, film buffs and collectors will be excited to learn that THE CHRISTMAS THAT ALMOST WASN’T was released on DVD in the fall 0f 2003, by Imageworks/Hen’s Tooth Video, and will assuredly be a big hit once again.

In 1967, Childhood Productions went public, with ½-million shares. The CP stock started at $5 a share. By 1970, the stock split 2 for 1, at over $30 a share.

Childhood Productions returned to its tried-and-true formula in 1967, releasing more dubbed foreign fairy tales. Some of the more interesting releases of the period were: THE CLOWN AND THE KIDS, an English-Language production filmed in Spain and starring world-famous clown Emmett Kelly Jr.; JOURNEY TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME, an excellent Czech juvenile science-fantasy by Karel Zeman, about traveling to prehistoric times; and WHITE MANE, an award-winning short subject about a horse, made by Albert Lamorisse, the genius behind THE RED BALLOON.

Certainly one of CP’s most ambitious and prestigious releases, DR. COPPELIUS, was financed by a Florida investor, and was produced in Spain. This beautiful ballet film, based on the story by Hoffmann (which also served as the basis for one of the tales in the opera THE TALES OF HOFFMANN by Offenbach), had an auspicious World Premiere at the White House! Every year, the President would sponsor a Christmas party for the children of all the foreign ambassadors living in Washington, D.C. The kids would come in their native costume, and a Marine Band would play. This premiere occurred during the Johnson administration, but LBJ was unable to attend, as he was in the hospital that week.

Indeed, it is ironic that CP's last release, THE ADVENTURES OF THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, was an impressive English-Language musical fantasy. It suggests that under different circumstances, CP might have done something really worthwhile: elevate the quality and popularity of independent children's cinema.

As a sidenote, in 1968, the Yellens began a new company, Chevron Pictures, which released classy adult fare. Three of their biggest hits were D.H. Lawrence’s THE VIRGIN AND THE GYPSY (which broke all boxoffice records during its run at NYC’s 68th Street Playhouse), the award-winning Canadian film GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD, and PERFECT FRIDAY.

In 1969, Childhood Productions released PINOCCHIO, an excellent German pick-up post-produced in the U.S. by Ron Merk, and highly successful. Also released was an extraordinary Grade-Z musical fantasy, THE WONDERFUL LAND OF OZ, made by notorious exploitation filmmaker Barry Mahon (CUBAN REBEL GIRLS, THE BEAST THAT KILLED WOMEN). In general, though, times were tough for the Kiddie Matinee; it was harder to get matinees-only playdates, due to increasing pressure from the major studios.

Still, the Yellens’ little company continued to grow. Childhood Productions started life with $20,000 in capital; by 1970 the company was worth appx. $20 million. The name of the parent corporation was changed to Cinecom, and included Childhood Productions, Chevron Pictures, Cinecom Theatres (who owned over 100 theatres), and Cinecom Communications (typography houses). Cinecom Corp. declared bankruptcy in 1973, long after the Yellens had sold their interest in the firm.

Mr. Yellen adds, "we sold our stock in Cinecom, a public company, in 1971 and left the company. I believe that the new management made a deal with MGM to take over the Childhood distribution before they filed for bankruptcy around 1973."

Yellen was able to purchase THE CHRISTMAS THAT ALMOST WASN’T in bankruptcy court, which he owns to this day. MGM re-released XMAS several times throughout the 1970s. At the same time, American International Pictures bought much of the CP library and made it available to television syndication, where the films enjoyed a second life. Certain titles, like Ron Merk’s PINOCCHIO and Barry Mahon’s THE WONDERFUL LAND OF OZ, were owned by their respective producers, as these did not turn up in the syndicated AITV fairy tales packages.

As many of the CP titles fell into the public domain, early home video companies released many of the CP fairy tales; several titles are still available on VHS from outfits like Kid Rhino and Something Weird Video.

In terms of dollars or prestige, Childhood Productions ranks as a small footnote in the history of cinema. But Childhood Productions was a powerful cultural presence in the 1960's; in theatres, on TV, in record shops and phonographs, and in the newspapers. Even moreso than Disney or K. Gordon Murray, Childhood Productions represented the true and joyous spirit of the Kiddie Matinee, which us Baby Boomers understood as, "movies made just for us!"

What follows is a filmography of the twenty-four Childhood Productions, listed by year of U.S. release. The links will take you to our page for each individual film, with credits, synopsis, reviews, graphics and related links. Enjoy!

1965:
THE SEVEN DWARFS TO THE RESCUE (I SETTE NANI ALLA RISCOSSA) (January release)
SNOW WHITE (SCHNEEWEISSCHEN UND DIE SIEBEN ZWERGE) (November release)
SLEEPING BEAUTY (DORNROSCHEN) (November release)
HANSEL AND GRETEL (HANSEL UND GRETEL)
plus... THE BREMEN TOWN MUSICIANS (DIE BREMER STADTMUSIKANTEN) (November release)

1966:
ALICE OF WONDERLAND IN PARIS
plus... WHITE MANE (CRIN-BLANC) (February release)
SNOW WHITE AND ROSE RED (SCHNEEWEISSCHEN UND ROSENROT)
plus... THE BIG BAD WOLF (DER WOLF UND DIE SEIBEN JUNGEN GEISSLEIN) (November)
CINDERELLA (ASCHENPUTTEL) (November release)
THE CHRISTMAS THAT ALMOST WASN'T (IL NATALE CHE QUASI NON FU) (November release)

1967:
PUSS N' BOOTS (DER GESTIEFELTE KATER) (January release)
TOM THUMB (PULGARCITO) (November release)
THE NEVER NEVER PRINCESS (DIE GANSEMAGD) (November release)
JOURNEY TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME (CESTA DO PRAVEKU) (release date unknown)
THE CLOWN AND THE KIDS (SVIRACHAT) (release date unknown)

1968:
LONG JOHN SILVER'S RETURN TO TREASURE ISLAND (January release)
ALADDIN AND THE MAGIC LAMP (VOLSHEBNAYA LAMPA ALADDINA) (February release)
THE TINDER BOX (DAS FEUERZEUG) (December release)
DR. COPPELLIUS (EL FANTASTICO MUNDO DEL DOCTOR COPPELIUS) (December release)

1969:
PINOCCHIO (TURLIS ABENTEUER) (February release)
THE WONDERFUL LAND OF OZ (October release)
THE BRAVE LITTLE TAILOR (DAS TAPFERE SCHEIDERLEIN) (October release)
THE ADVENTURES OF THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER (December release)