After recently graduating from Pomona College, this was the first picture Roy Edward Disney (Walt's nephew) worked on - reportedly as assistant editor. They were reviewing footage of ducks and geese returning in spring when Walt spotted a sequence in which a duck unwittingly lands on a still-frozen pond and tumbles over and over. "Where's the rest of this, where he hits the other ducks on the pond?" Walt asked. No one answered. "I know it's there somewhere," Walt said. "Roy, go find it."
Roy started poring through millions of feet of film negatives. He couldn't find it. "Where is that film?" Walt asked again at the next screening. Roy meekly said it didn't exist. Finally director, James Algar sent a second-unit to Minnesota where they staged a duck's landing into a group of ducks on a frozen lake, then incorporated the footage into Vanishing Prairie, accompanied by the sound of a bowling ball hitting pins. Walt loved it. "See, I told you you had that footage," Walt said. Roy suspected that Walt knew all along that they didn't. "Go find it" was Walt's way of saying "Go shoot the footage. Get this done."
Roy started poring through millions of feet of film negatives. He couldn't find it. "Where is that film?" Walt asked again at the next screening. Roy meekly said it didn't exist. Finally director, James Algar sent a second-unit to Minnesota where they staged a duck's landing into a group of ducks on a frozen lake, then incorporated the footage into Vanishing Prairie, accompanied by the sound of a bowling ball hitting pins. Walt loved it. "See, I told you you had that footage," Walt said. Roy suspected that Walt knew all along that they didn't. "Go find it" was Walt's way of saying "Go shoot the footage. Get this done."
Ninth installment of the True-Life Adventures series of nature documentaries produced by Walt Disney, following "The Living Desert" and followed by "The African Lion".