SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION: From over 30 years ago - The infamous opening song and dance number to the March 29, 1989 awards show, with Rob Lowe singing to Snow White, dancing tables and so much more. This bombed so badly that the show's producer, Allan Carr (who made the movie GREASE) found himself shunned by Hollywood, and spent the next decade in relative seclusion until his death from liver cancer in 1999. Here is an excellent article from Los Angeles Magazine: www.lamag.com/longform/snow-job/ Allan Carr's story is also told in the new documentary film The Fabulous Allan Carr, which is based on the excellent book Party Animals by Robert Hofler. Used paperback copies can be found at amazon for under ten bucks. You may also want to check out the very interesting Hollywood Reporter article about actress Eileen Bowman's experience playing Snow White on this show. (Google her name and Hollywood Reporter). During rehearsals this opening number also featured the dancing Nicholas Brothers and an appearance by Mayim Biyalik, but both were cut before the ceremony's broadcast because the segment was running much too long. One point of confusion that keeps appearing in the comments section here is people who think that Rob Lowe's sex tape scandal had already occurred when he did this telecast. It did not. This telecast happened approximately 6 weeks before the scandal broke, but since it occurred so close in time people remember them together. While the tape with the under-age girl was recorded July 17, 1988 in Atlanta, the public didn't learn about its existence until the girl's mother's attorney, J. Hue Henry, filed suit against Lowe on May 12, 1989. (This telecast was March 29, 1989.) List of names of the opening number dancers, according to a rehearsal call sheet: Steve Merritt, D'Vaughn Pershing, Albie Berk, Eileen Bowman, Holly Vonk, Cheryl Baxter, Paula J. Belis, Pam Klinger, Tricia McFarlin, Edna R. Chew, Andrea Moen, Linda Sabatelli, Carla Earle, Christian Hanson, Debby Harris, Val Diamond, Shelly Werk, Lillian Colon, Barry Bernal, Tim Bond, Robert Brady, Tony Burrer, Steve Cooper, Ed Forsyth, Michael Fullington, David Giugni, Michael Higgins, Erik Hyler, Jim Kolb, Ken Miller, Felix Montano, Trish Ramish, Scott Musgrove, Regan Patno, Jamie Pisano, Nathan Prevost, Craig Raciawski, Gavin Ryan, Blane Savage, Christopher Solari, Todd Jenkins, Tina Bells, Tina Bradley, Karen Christenberry, Susan Conner, Carla Earie, Julie Morrical, Andrea Paris, Jody Peterson
It's a shame this link and background information had not been made available at the time That You released this video. It was an amazing summary o f what became a tragic event. While I was watching it I kept thinking this man was obviously not in his right mind. After reading about him and realizing how very eccentric he was it puts the pieces of the puzzle together and make sense of something that was nonsense. It's a shame that so many who watched this video and have commented here probably will not benefit from all of this added information. While typing this it came to me exactly what this reminds me of. It's very similar to the parodies of the large production numbers that Carol Burnett used to do on her show. Unfortunately there is no humor to be found here.
This was supposedly inspired by Beach Blanket Babylon, San Francisco musical comedy thing Carr may have liked, th-cam.com/video/REJnLwtG2cI/w-d-xo.html
I remember watching the Oscars live at home as a kid in 1989 and wondering what in the world was going on… is this ‘good?’ Why is this number happening?
Apparently this was the actress who played Snow White's first role in Hollywood and, if she's to be believed, she didn't know what she was auditioning for until after it was done and was told "Congratulations, you're opening for The Oscars"... I genuinely have massive respect for her for just running with it.
Someone was a big fan of "snow" when they wrote these sketches for those 11 minutes! Apparently, they got some of the writers before they went through rehab...
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Gotta give props to Snow White, y'all. I never saw her tremble, her voice never cracked, and she danced perfectly in time with everyone. She did good. I'm not sure what the fuss is.
I'm a genuine, older Gen Xer, and I gotta say, this is friggin' bizarre even by 80's standards. If it wasn't for the giveaway of Rob Lowe, I would have totally guessed this as having been in the 70s -- all that disco-y dancing at the beginning? It looks dated, but not to the 80s! Alan Carr was clearly a bit too long in the tooth for the job. In other observations: Lily Thomlin HAS NOT AGED.
To blame the lead? She didn’t write it, choreograph it, or conceptualize it. Well I’m glad hundreds of snobs had a horrible night. She did a great job with what she was given.
Agree! I love camp though, so this was fun for me but I don't know about AWFUL. I liked that they showed the old stars, the singing was crap but it's always crap at the Oscars for some reason
Robe Lowe recently talked about this on a podcast. An absolute disaster. He walks back stage, and Lucille Ball called him to sit with her. She complimented his singing talent and held his hand. The watched the Oscars together backstage. What an act of kindness.
She had the experience of being put on trial by the House Unamerican Activities Committee, so had some familiarity with what it feels like to be under fire.
@@ScrapNfight Ive heard that too. The thing about her was she was a businesswoman. She was funny as hell on screen and definitely did have a sense of humor, but her job first and foremost was make money and create a product.
@@memahselfni I think there’s an element of sexism in those comments too though. The same has been said of stars like Madonna- but if it was a male star, I doubt it would get even a fraction of the same attention.
Likely due to the fact that he's gay, he has produced films and musical with gay themes, and "campy" or this type of production wasn't mainstream back then.
@@msmaam2040 Not even close, especially considering the "open secret" of many gay celebrities at the time. The biggest issue was really Disney getting angry about how Snow White was used here. But also it's just such a disjointed mess, in a corny 1930s style to boot.
It was the 1980’s. You were born in a time where “gay” things of the 1980’s were not gay anymore but commonplace. The flash/camp of this number would be normal for today’s times but would have been too “in your face gay” for the 1980’s. We have come a long way thank god!
After everyone saying how this was the worst Oscar moment of all time, my expectations were set pretty high, and I honestly don't think it's that bad. I think the campy cheesiness is intentional, and if the same exact performance was done by Neil Patrick Harris in the Tony awards today, people might say it was a little technically lackluster, but nobody would call it a massive embarrassment. It is OKAY to not take yourself so damn seriously all the time.
Nope, sorry, this wasn't even entertaining in a camp sort of way. I like camp, I like kitsch, I like performances that bore a lot of people, but this... It's just....awful.
I knew one of the guys who was a dancing table. When he told me what he was doing I couldn’t stop laughing. He sheepishly said he needed rent money very badly...
If you watch the Emmy TV Legends interview with writer Bruce Vilanche, he explains what happened. Essentially most of the outrage was manufactured by the-then head of Disney Frank Wells who was angry that the production made use of Snow White who he thought was Disney copyright. Lawyers from the Academy, Disney and MGM vetted the costume and said it was ok as the Snow White character is actually in the public domain. At the time, the academy didn't allow studios to advertise during the awards show as it may look like they were endorsing them- but the Snow White character appeared in a Chevy commercial which happened to be filmed in front of her castle at Walt Disney World. Then the Rob Lowe sex tape happened afterwards and the rest is history.
Interestingly enough, the Oscars used to ALWAYS start with a musical opening number. This opening number was so disastrous that it was the last time they did it - it's been opening monologues ever since.
I remember watching it. This wasn't so bad. But everything was considered pretty bad, once Billy Crystal set the bar for quality Oscar openers higher than these people could ever dream of. 😂
Three thoughts: 1) I actually kind of like this. 2) During his next hosting gig, Neil Patrick Harris should parody this, with NPH playing Snow. 3) I think my parents may have had this playing near my crib, because I'm pretty sure it's what turned me gay.
This isn't as bad as legend would have it. It's a well executed production number. The problem is its (largely) lack of relevance to the Oscar ceremony.
Old Hollywood movies is very relevant to the Oscars, the two have always gone hand in hand, acknowledging and honoring both the past and the present. The problem here was Rob Lowe's singing and choreography that at times felt all over the place. And the "Cinderella-shoe"? Carr seemed like he wanted to cram everything into 10 minutes without any real clear sense of direction.
It did put a moratorium on splashy production numbers at the Oscars for a long while, though. Billy Crystal's openings whenever he hosted were spoofs of what went down on this night. For a while, unless they were performances of the nominated songs (which were not done this year, something winner Carly Simon expressed disappointment with in her acceptance speech), it seemed only numbers that poked fun at the glitz were allowed.
Good point, but never thought I'd hear Snow White sing outside of a Disney movie. And Rob Lowe was a male sex symbol. He wasn't really known for being a serious actor so I guess they gave him a pass. I didn't even know he could sing until this clip.
Just to clarify the timeline: The Democratic convention and Lowe's hotel room escapades had happened by this point, but the *scandal* hadn't. The release of the tape and all the coverage was not until the following summer ('89). That's when his career looked to be in serious trouble. With regard to the Snow White number, at the time he was just one of many people who took part in something embarrassing that didn't play out as planned. Carr is the only person whose career suffered (and maybe the young woman playing Snow White, who didn't get the big break she might have expected). I'd disagree that Lowe didn't do anything noteworthy for a long time post scandal. He rebounded pretty well. First there was his well-reviewed performance as the villain in Bad Influence (in which he and Spader played against their usual types). While promoting that film, he surprised a lot of people with a supple hosting turn on SNL, especially his Arsenio Hall parody and his good-natured response to a very topical grilling by the Church Lady. That may have led to Wayne's World, which was a huge hit. Not long after, he had a good part as Nick in The Stand. So he was showing some new sides, making the best of things. He clearly had good management, and maybe it was a more forgiving time. (For some.)
That poor very young actress, thinking this was her big break... and instead, she gets blamed for this turd and run out of town. Yeah, like she could possibly have saved it.
I’m reading the book Oscar Wars by Michael shulman, and he has a chapter that explains this Oscar telecast, Alan Carr produced, and how they found the beautiful actress for Snow White. Great book! I remember seeing this back in the day and thought it was awful. But watching it now, I actually liked it a lot, in all it’s crazed hallucinogenic staging! So bizarre but entertaining, with lovely tributes to the stars of yore.
I'm listening to the audio book, and I just got past the '89 Oscars. I feel bad for Alan Carr. He just wanted to put on a good show, and it destroyed his entire life.
I was reading this chapter last night in "Oscar Wars". I was not aware of Allen Carr before. But this chapter gave me an immediate education. Somehow I do not think Snow White talking like she was on nitrous oxide would have been convincing on a good day. I guess the "Lowe" moment was her duet with Rob. It was more of a concoction that could have been attributed to Timothy Leary or ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters than a producer known for his innovation .I saw the Hollywood Stars shrinking from her as with a leper., which is what Allen Carr became after this disaster. This travesty really became his inglorious epitaph. but Hollywood is notoriously unforgiving.
Eileen Bowman's Snow White performance was spot on, she got Snow White's mannerisms down perfectly. Even better than the ones that actually work at Disneyland. Unfortunately, Snow White had no business being at the Oscars. It's like putting Hello Kitty at a WWE Death Match, it just doesn't go.
It would have been fine to have Snow White, if the opening were a tribute to Disney movies, or to animated movies in general, and if Snow White had not been the only Disney character up there. But as part of such a confusing mish-mash of random stuff, it was just embarrassing.
I have come to appreciate so this awful performance hust flr the delightful fun people have come to made out of it... You guys just crack me laughing maniac
It started out I was like “Oh is not that bad” and then as it progressed it got more and more confusing and by the time rob lowe started singing Tina turner I was like “wait, what the fuck is this”
Yep! I went to comment the exact same thing. While watching, I remembered having watched this at the time it aired. I didn't remember anything from the Lowe and Snow bit because I probably stopped watching right about when he belted out that first line. lol So, this will be me watching everything after that point for the first time now; 2021.
Hey would you watch your mouth? I don’t mind about the comments but they’re cruel, rude and disrespectful because I won’t allowed any of this in every situation - neither in any community or neighborhood. We won’t have it here for a very long time. Sorry - but that’s how I feel about following those rules. Everyday. Every night.
But what does Snow White have to do with any of it? Like it’s not terrible it just doesn’t make sense. Edit: I just saw the Rob Lowe part. Not a singer
It's not explained in the number--but this ceremony took place 50 years after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered at the Carthay Circle theater. Snow White was the first animated full-length feature film, a historical first in Hollywood, which occurred in 1939.
Sarah Brown Watch on youtube the Bruce Vilanch interview about the 1989 oscars, he explains how this whole number came about and then why it became a big deal negatively speaking.
@@anthonyrobertson7062 thanks so much for the information. I did watch the video by Bruce Vilanch and it was so informative. Had you not stated in your comment we would be still wondering why.
It was something out of context, Snow White was a character on a campy play (that also made a satire of Hollywood) of Allan Carr it didn't make sense he put that character on an Award ceremony.
the worst part was at the beginning when she goes into the audience the terror in the eyes of Tom Hanks and Dustin Hoffman etc. who were all thinking "get the fuck away from me!" & cringeing with embarrassment
This Oscar telecast was also the last public appearance of the great Lucille Ball. She and Bob Hope introduced another revue starring the future stars of Hollywood. A few weeks after the show, Lucy was taken to Sinai Hospital for emergency surgery. She passed away in the hospital a few days later. She looked wonderful in a black evening gown and took a few bows to a standing ovation. A fitting send off for the Queen of Comedy.
I still remember that 'Future Stars' segment...it was such an appalling display of nepotism. All the 'future stars' were children of stars. It was gagsome.
There’s a lot of good stuff to see in this train wreck. The performer playing Snow White worked her butt off for this big moment. It’s not her fault this was a mess. Seeing all the dancers breathing heavy while dancing, I wish I could dance like that.
The movie is FREE! - Stop Moaning I say bravo to her. It’s her shot and she gave it her all. That doesn’t save this train wreck but who can blame her? I love THE ACADEMY AWARDS but it’s just a silly party for rich people. This crew was on live tv having fun and I’m not.
And this is what has mostly kept the Oscars from ever doing large-scale production numbers again, unless it was for nominated songs (which, strangely, there were no performances this year & winner Carly Simon commented on that in her speech) or if tongue was kept firmly in cheek (with & without Billy Crystal).
Academy Award winning star and producer Robert Downey Jr has been changed a lot as an family man and never ever even back again after making mistakes over the years. He has finally decided to move on.
Like everyone else, I had my expectations pretty high for how bad this was. I thought something was gonna go wrong in the middle of the show. As I’m watching, I noticed that the staircase was closing back into one, and Eileen was behind it. For a minute I thought she got crushed and that’s what went wrong and what made the show a disaster. It is very cringy but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.
*Me, before watching video:* "I wonder what made this so bad it was a career ender." *Rob and Snow singing a parody of "Proud Mary"* Me: "Now I understand."
The dancing tables and cocktails made it too campy, the so-called dancers sucked, Rob can't sing, snow white was annoying AF, making those elderly stars quickly hustle off, and did I say Rob can't sing?😁
I remember watching this when I was a kid and I was really shocked about how awful it was. The whole show was just crazy bad. I just kept thinking why is Rob Lowe dancing with Snow White?
If this makes everybody uncomfortable...get away from the industry and try something different, fresh, new this time around so once everyone looks good and feels great about themselves...there's no turning back. All you have to do is move fast forward!
The 1985 big budget musical picture was produced & directed by Sir Sidney Poitier in his final directing assignment for Columbia-Delphi III was "Fast Forward" has earned BET, MTV, VH1, ASCAP, Fennecus, Apex and Movie Music Award nominations for many of their efforts in 1986.
Bruce Vilanch, who worked as a writer for the 1989 Oscars talked about for the Archive of American Television. He implied that the backlash against this opening number probably wouldn't have gotten as big as it had gotten had 1) The late Frank Wells, who at the time, was the president of The Walt Disney Company had not made a big stink over the usage of the Snow White character. Even though Snow White is within the public domain, Wells thought that the character as portrayed by Eileen Bowman shouldn't have been used without appropriation by Disney. 2) About two weeks after the show, Rob Lowe's sex tape surfaces. And his "disastrous" appearance with Snow White at the Oscars was the most recent point of reference that the media had. So you can already see right away, how it grew into something bigger and bigger. 3) At the time, the Academy wouldn't allow any current movies be advertised during the Oscars ceremony because they didn't want to imply an endorsement from the Academy. At the time, Disney was opening a theme mark in Florida. The Academy wouldn't allow them to have commercials. So they did an end-runaround and made a deal with Chevy for commercials that were shot at the Disney-MGM Studios. After the Snow White number ended, the first thing that you saw was Snow White's castle at the Disney studios with Snow White coming out of a Chevy. That according to Bruce Vilanch, was the real reason why Frank Wells was so incensed.
My understanding is that one of the biggest problems was that the use of Snow White's image was not authorized. I think the Academy had to trash the opening and Carr to distance themselves from it. My guess is that Carr's "banishment" was more about a legal than artistic breach. But as these things go, it was a fun, insane romp. Yeah, Lowe can't sing -- but I wasn't expecting him to. The very beginning of the opening was the most cringeworthy part, but the rest was silly fun. Not great, but not horrible.
Sort of but not really. It's far more complicated than that. You can find the whole complicated story in the Allan Carr biography that is titled Party Animals: A Hollywood Tale of Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll by Robert Hofler, available for $8.99 in paperback from amazon. It's an excellent book. Read chapters 26, 27 and 28 ("Snow Blight")
Not the only problem. There was a very bad reception from almost everybody in Hollywood. There was a letter signed by 17 prominent stars who wrote the show was a disgrace to the Academy. It was very bad taste, the mix of old stars with the Coconut Grove and what was "Proud Mary" doing there?? It should have been more Broadway-ish.
This article proves the Snow White copyright was not the only problem! Hollywood did not like it and eveybody turned its back at Alan Carr right after the show. There was a real embarrassment because of the campish, bad taste and amateurish mix. www.lamag.com/longform/snow-job/
I worked for Allan Carr, crazy, wild, over the top guy. I strongly believe this wasn't nearly as bad as first perceived. Find me more than a few well received Oscar telecasts EVER. The problem back in 1989 was that many long time Oscar voters despised Allan being given the gig to begin with. They knew he was a splashy, big is never enough guy. Allan didn't disappoint.
This was the same time that Disney/MGM was opening in Orlando, and I'm sure Eisner had something to do with this train wreck. Allan Carr was trying to create a diversion with dancing tables, only it just made it worse.
What gets me is how happy that table guy in the background is. lol He was probably like, "Ma, I'm going on the Oscars! It's my big break." *poor Ma tunes in to see him dancing around as a table. :D
Thanks god no. Twitter, the playground of the idiots, ignorants and social resentful. I hope one day Twitter dissapear, and maybe the world being a better place.
It's not that bad actually, the only things is, I think the production was more appropriate in Tony awards rather than in Oscars. 'Cause this opening number was more of a theatrical performance.
hahaha!😂 its not bad because the singing or choreo or dancers are bad, its bad because its kitsch and camp and full of bad ideas that are executed perfectly. its product of bad taste, not bad production.
Seven years later in the fall of 1994 when both Hanes Hosiery and Disney were joining forces together. Hanes Silk Reflections Sheer Hosiery - "Nude with Attitude" - as worn by Diane English, Judith Jamison, Lorraine O'Brien, Rebecca Luker, Paige O'Hara, Kim Criswell, Alexandra Powers, Shelley Freydont, Eileen Bowman, Caroline Kennedy, Milena Canonero and Sheryl Berkoff Lowe. The Lady Prefers Hanes Silk Reflections - A Whole New Feeling. Ask for it by name. In stores now. (C)1989, 1994, 2024 Hanes Hosiery. All rights reserved.
Though to be fair, the awards shows are supposed to be about recognizing people's hard work - it wasn't ever intended to be entertaining on its own to an audience.
Heaven help me, I actually like it for the things that make it so terrible. It's insanely tacky and garish, it's disjointed and nonsensical, it's stupid and almost aggressively awful. I love it.
OMG! I was just a child when this was on and I was embarrassed! I kept thinking why is Rob Lowe doing this? Also, sometime during the show popular young actors came out and did some lame act and Corey Fieldman was dressed like Michael Jackson and danced like him. I was just OMG this is fucking awful! Again, I was a child!
The Real ToxicBeast everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I am literally only two minutes into this and I already think everyone involved should have been run out of town never to be seen again. Lmao. Okay, maybe your right, perhaps that’s a bit harsh, but this is insane.
@@kellyalves756 Producer Allan Carr hired the folks from Beach Blanket Babylon to do this number, including Eileen Bowman who played Snow White in the BBB productions in San Francisco.
The entire opening was based on the San Francisco show Beach Blanket Babylon. Allan Carr was a huge fan of this show, so when he was asked to do the Oscars, he hired Steve Silver, the creator of BBB, to basically recreate his show as the opening of the Oscars. Beach Blanket Babylon involves Snow White looking for her prince, and on the way bumping into a lot of off-the wall characters, mostly culled from modern pop culture. It's all hip and amusing in a small club, but considerably less so when millions of people are watching it on television.
I'm 16 So What Do I Know About The Late 80s, But After Searching Up The Beach Blanket Babylon, It Wasn't A Good Idea For Something So Campy To Beautiful To Be On A Program Like The Oscars During The Late 80s.
Thanks for the info. Imma check this out. I cringed at snows voice and it was just downhill from there. But the effort is appreciated. You go on a limb and sometimes it's innovative and sometimes it's trash but u gotta try.
@Andrew Cicchetti I went to Beach Blanket Babylon twice in the 70s at the Fugazi Ballroom. It was incredible. The fact that Carr collaborated with Steve Silver makes sense, but I still say this is what happens when you mix magic mushrooms and mimosas at a drag brunch. I've had weirder dreams than this after too much benadryl. Meh.
I’ve watched this many times trying to figure out what went so wrong. I think you’re right. It doesn’t play well at all in a huge space. It’s meant for an intimate setting .
i think everyone saying it’s “not that bad” is only saying that in the context of knowing how infamous it already is... if you were just turning on the regular oscars and this shit came on, you’d be live-tweeting how awful it is, lmao
Nope. I only just learned today that it was supposed to be horrible after reading am article about there being no host this year. So I hunted it down. I was 16, apparently when this production happened and didn't gaf about the Oscar's or Rob Lowe, believe it or not, at that point. I've never seen it or heard of it before and I actually liked this.
I was really thinking, eh, this isn’t so bad - the transitions are a little rough. Then Rob Lowe came out and oh no. The Snow White performer really committed to the bit though.
Why is this a scandal? It’s a fun, over the top, tongue in cheek, take off on 1930s musicals. It’s a lot better than what they do now. What Rob Lowe did has nothing to do with this, nor did they know about it at the time this was done. Hollywood is ridiculous sometimes.
I'm not getting why this was any worse than all the other Oscars performances during that era. The Oscar entertainment was ALWAYS intolerable during the 80's-90's, this is no different.
Robert Downey Jr. at the 7:45 mark gets me every time. It's almost like he was thinking what most of us watching it live were probably thinking at the time -- what the hell am I watching!?
I've heard about this for years- mostly Rob Lowe singing with Snow White- but this is the first time I've seen it. I kinda LOVE it! Sure its really, really over the top (really), but that's part of the fun, especially when they salute the stars of Old Hollywood.
All the way through the entire 11.:31. I kept asking myself, "The terrible part is probably coming up next, because this really does not seem all that bad yet." It's not the best thing ever seen on broadcast television but definitely NOT horrible. According to the actress playing Snow White, the production was based on an over-the-top stage play called "Beach Blanket Babylon" that was running at the time.
That looked like a Walt Disney parade. But I didn’t think that it was that bad, it was long yes, Snow White sounded like she was on helium yes, but I don’t think that it was bad enough for Allan Carr to be kicked out.
Apparently they didn't get rights from Disney, and the Disney people were livid. That may be what did the producer in. It's pretty clear what directors do. They tell the actors how to act (or the musicians how to play, or the singers how to sing, etc.), unless those artists are divas and then they all just yell at each other because the other one is an egotistical fool with no VISION. But what does a producer do? They see to all the details, like securing the funding, making sure there's catering, making sure all the non-artistic positions (accounting, electrician, props, grips, etc.) are filled, making sure the rights are secured so we don't get our asses sued, things like that. Also making sure the director doesn't go over budget (like spending $75 million on a $20 million movie), or, when they say they really NEED to, goes back to the funders and explains that they really NEED to cough up more money.
The character of Snow White, which originated in 1812 book by The Brothers Grimm, is in the public domain. As designed by the Walt Disney Company, however, she can be considered their property and trademark. Snow White as portrayed in this Oscar number bears some similarities to Disney's design (yellow dress, red bow in hair) but is otherwise not identical. According to some sources, the use of Snow White in this opening number was approved by Disney ahead of time, but NOT by President and Chief Operating Officer Frank Wells, who was upset when he saw it. Also take into consideration a compete coincidence: The commercial that aired immediately after this number was a joint commercial of Chrysler and Disney set at Disney World in Florida and featuring.... Snow White! Nobody on the show knew about this commercial. So it looked doubly bad and Disney was upset for that reason also. Disney, having great power in Hollywood, made a huge stink and threatened to sue so the Academy apologized, whether it had to or not.
You know what would've been cool? If Rob Lowe and Eileen Bowman had been asked to present Best Picture at the 2019 ceremony, to "celebrate" the 30th anniversary of this historic segment.
SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
From over 30 years ago - The infamous opening song and dance number to the March 29, 1989 awards show, with Rob Lowe singing to Snow White, dancing tables and so much more. This bombed so badly that the show's producer, Allan Carr (who made the movie GREASE) found himself shunned by Hollywood, and spent the next decade in relative seclusion until his death from liver cancer in 1999.
Here is an excellent article from Los Angeles Magazine: www.lamag.com/longform/snow-job/
Allan Carr's story is also told in the new documentary film The Fabulous Allan Carr, which is based on the excellent book Party Animals by Robert Hofler. Used paperback copies can be found at amazon for under ten bucks.
You may also want to check out the very interesting Hollywood Reporter article about actress Eileen Bowman's experience playing Snow White on this show. (Google her name and Hollywood Reporter).
During rehearsals this opening number also featured the dancing Nicholas Brothers and an appearance by Mayim Biyalik, but both were cut before the ceremony's broadcast because the segment was running much too long.
One point of confusion that keeps appearing in the comments section here is people who think that Rob Lowe's sex tape scandal had already occurred when he did this telecast. It did not. This telecast happened approximately 6 weeks before the scandal broke, but since it occurred so close in time people remember them together. While the tape with the under-age girl was recorded July 17, 1988 in Atlanta, the public didn't learn about its existence until the girl's mother's attorney, J. Hue Henry, filed suit against Lowe on May 12, 1989. (This telecast was March 29, 1989.)
List of names of the opening number dancers, according to a rehearsal call sheet: Steve Merritt, D'Vaughn Pershing, Albie Berk, Eileen Bowman, Holly Vonk, Cheryl Baxter, Paula J. Belis, Pam Klinger, Tricia McFarlin, Edna R. Chew, Andrea Moen, Linda Sabatelli, Carla Earle, Christian Hanson, Debby Harris, Val Diamond, Shelly Werk, Lillian Colon, Barry Bernal, Tim Bond, Robert Brady, Tony Burrer, Steve Cooper, Ed Forsyth, Michael Fullington, David Giugni, Michael Higgins, Erik Hyler, Jim Kolb, Ken Miller, Felix Montano, Trish Ramish, Scott Musgrove, Regan Patno, Jamie Pisano, Nathan Prevost, Craig Raciawski, Gavin Ryan, Blane Savage, Christopher Solari, Todd Jenkins, Tina Bells, Tina Bradley, Karen Christenberry, Susan Conner, Carla Earie, Julie Morrical, Andrea Paris, Jody Peterson
It's a shame this link and background information had not been made available at the time That You released this video. It was an amazing summary o f what became a tragic event. While I was watching it I kept thinking this man was obviously not in his right mind. After reading about him and realizing how very eccentric he was it puts the pieces of the puzzle together and make sense of something that was nonsense. It's a shame that so many who watched this video and have commented here probably will not benefit from all of this added information. While typing this it came to me exactly what this reminds me of. It's very similar to the parodies of the large production numbers that Carol Burnett used to do on her show. Unfortunately there is no humor to be found here.
This was supposedly inspired by Beach Blanket Babylon, San Francisco musical comedy thing Carr may have liked, th-cam.com/video/REJnLwtG2cI/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/9ZHxmcXMjfY/w-d-xo.html
Dixie Rae that’s why it’s pinned. You can’t miss it. You can choose to not read but you just can’t miss it.
I remember watching the Oscars live at home as a kid in 1989 and wondering what in the world was going on… is this ‘good?’ Why is this number happening?
Apparently this was the actress who played Snow White's first role in Hollywood and, if she's to be believed, she didn't know what she was auditioning for until after it was done and was told "Congratulations, you're opening for The Oscars"... I genuinely have massive respect for her for just running with it.
She was first told that it was for Vegas, not Hollywood
Then she played Judy Garland yrs later in a play that got made to film w/ Renee Zellweger as Judy
@@korystephens3318 Who was she?
@@ESoloReally? Are you talking about the girl that’s playing Snow White in this video?
@@saturn722 Uh, yeah.
Lowe said it best “I’m a big fan of you too Snow”. It was the 80’s you know
haha brilliant
Someone was a big fan of "snow" when they wrote these sketches for those 11 minutes!
Apparently, they got some of the writers before they went through rehab...
The disney people must have had a coronary over that line.
It was a decade of excess, and it shows on here that’s for sure 🤣
I need money for some blow, yo!
I don’t see the problem, it’s big, tacky, and surreal. It’s Hollywood.
It is trash pure, very champ🏳️🌈🎊, "BUT": truely awful "AND" awesome at the same time!!! You guys in the US 🇺🇲 you love Shows!!! Which is ok😊🎉
Kind regards from 🇪🇺 🇩🇪 Blackforest Region, to the "gorgeous landscape of the US 🇺🇲" and "honest fascinating US 🇺🇲❤", I "honestly" never met such friendly and helpfull people by you guys in the US 🇺🇲, "Except" ; sorry how fascinating that City is, not beautiful but fascinating "BUT" very rude, : "NYC🗽" , I AM DEEPLY SORRY TO SAY THAT 🙏‼️‼️‼️But for me it is like that!!! I AM A WEST COAST FAN "WASHINGTON STATE, OREGON, CALIFORNIA UNTIL RIGHT BEFORE LOS ANGELES, WHICH IS TRUELLY AWFUL!!!" when I was there with the Smog, i defenetly could not breath at all‼️‼️‼️ it is even worst than Stuttgart ‼️‼️‼️
Again kind regards,
Josha 🙋♂️
I don't see a problem either
I love big, tacky and surreal.
Modern Hollywood really suck bro
@@joaquinvaleri7022 Well that too, but my point holds: If you like Hollywood, this is it. It was always this way.
Its hollywood, hollywood is supposed to be tacky lol
Gotta give props to Snow White, y'all. I never saw her tremble, her voice never cracked, and she danced perfectly in time with everyone. She did good. I'm not sure what the fuss is.
She did really good!
6:08-6:11 disagrees
Because it’s total cringe-inducing cheesiness.
She did good, but the whole thing is just bizarrely disjointed.
Here's a clue the dancing tables are a dead giveaway.
And THAT was the end of the 80s
BEST COMMENT
MaskedMan66 I think he means literally, this was 1989.
I'm a genuine, older Gen Xer, and I gotta say, this is friggin' bizarre even by 80's standards. If it wasn't for the giveaway of Rob Lowe, I would have totally guessed this as having been in the 70s -- all that disco-y dancing at the beginning? It looks dated, but not to the 80s! Alan Carr was clearly a bit too long in the tooth for the job.
In other observations: Lily Thomlin HAS NOT AGED.
Yup
The end of the 80's were soooo much better than anything today. Sorry you weren't there to appreciate it. Your loss.
To blame the lead? She didn’t write it, choreograph it, or conceptualize it. Well I’m glad hundreds of snobs had a horrible night. She did a great job with what she was given.
Nobody blamed her. Everybody blamed Ladd.
@@119Agent Well, it's a lot better than the crap being pushed on us today! Plus that slap of Chris Rock - well that was real class.
@@AmusedChild. 💯 better than todays crap!
@@VickieV1333 Demonstratively wrong.
@@mrcydonia Is it?
This is me having to write a 8 page essay at midnight
😂 What a perfect caption
😆💗
haha! brilliant...hope you got it done Aaliyah!
This teacher gives you an A.
🤣👍
Giving icons of Hollywood’s golden era a nod.
Yes that was really really sweet....I really can't help but feel like this whole thing came from a place of great love for old Hollywood
@@robburnside6636 Things were DIDDY , but just not as wide spread since the beginning.
It’s not necessarily badly done, it’s just bizarrely disjointed.
Ashley Lesiak yeah if they had been a little bit more attention to how the transitions of the scenes were it would’ve been a bit better
@@noelmaldonado2903 Not by much!
Robe Lowe’s voice is horrrrrrriiibbblllle
Bizarrely disjointed just like Hollywood LOL
I agree there were some cute ideas but it just turned into a dysfunctional family mess🙄
It was too long, campy as hell but not as horrible as they claimed.
Reminds me of "Producers" when they are trying to make a bomb production to close the show
When I watch the Hindenburg on film now - Meh.
Agree! I love camp though, so this was fun for me but I don't know about AWFUL. I liked that they showed the old stars, the singing was crap but it's always crap at the Oscars for some reason
It's pretty bad
@@edmundsookermany5238 I YELL BACK AT YOU, YES!! AGREED AND IN ALL CAPS SO YOU KNOW I REALLY MEAN IT.
Robe Lowe recently talked about this on a podcast. An absolute disaster. He walks back stage, and Lucille Ball called him to sit with her. She complimented his singing talent and held his hand. The watched the Oscars together backstage. What an act of kindness.
She had the experience of being put on trial by the House Unamerican Activities Committee, so had some familiarity with what it feels like to be under fire.
@@noneofyourbusiness4616 Also some familiarity with disaster (Mame).
Ricki Lake said Lucille Ball was a cold bitch back stage.
@@ScrapNfight Ive heard that too. The thing about her was she was a businesswoman. She was funny as hell on screen and definitely did have a sense of humor, but her job first and foremost was make money and create a product.
@@memahselfni I think there’s an element of sexism in those comments too though. The same has been said of stars like Madonna- but if it was a male star, I doubt it would get even a fraction of the same attention.
Honestly, as someone who was not born when this happened, why this was such a big deal is 100% lost on me.
Likely due to the fact that he's gay, he has produced films and musical with gay themes, and "campy" or this type of production wasn't mainstream back then.
I was 39 years old that year and I never even heard about it. Watching it for the first time in January 2023 and why the big deal is lost on me also.
@@msmaam2040 Not even close, especially considering the "open secret" of many gay celebrities at the time.
The biggest issue was really Disney getting angry about how Snow White was used here. But also it's just such a disjointed mess, in a corny 1930s style to boot.
It was the 1980’s. You were born in a time where “gay” things of the 1980’s were not gay anymore but commonplace. The flash/camp of this number would be normal for today’s times but would have been too “in your face gay” for the 1980’s. We have come a long way thank god!
@@Oecobius33 open secret in Hollywood but not for the millions of fans.
After everyone saying how this was the worst Oscar moment of all time, my expectations were set pretty high, and I honestly don't think it's that bad. I think the campy cheesiness is intentional, and if the same exact performance was done by Neil Patrick Harris in the Tony awards today, people might say it was a little technically lackluster, but nobody would call it a massive embarrassment. It is OKAY to not take yourself so damn seriously all the time.
Right I think it's cute
Nope, sorry, this wasn't even entertaining in a camp sort of way. I like camp, I like kitsch, I like performances that bore a lot of people, but this... It's just....awful.
@@VeracityLH I have to agree, it's like a tacky low budget Las Vegas show and it seems extremely out-of-place here ~
I thought it was quite good, except for the dancing tables. Rob Lowe was fantastic!
Mostly the stars were disturbed at how they paraded the older stars on stage.
The best part was when the tables got up and started dancing. Imagine telling your grandkids," look theres me,the table ."
The host next year should've walked out wearing a table at the beginning.
Horrid
@@jedijones Hahahaha! Brilliant.
Imagine being cast as the understudy for a table. That's gotta hurt.
@@livlovely2707 lol, will never look at a nest of tables the same way again
I knew one of the guys who was a dancing table. When he told me what he was doing I couldn’t stop laughing. He sheepishly said he needed rent money very badly...
He was a "table dancer"!!! hehehe🤣
I can't stop laughing at this comment
Whos table was he under? The great Vincent? That would have been a cool bragging right.
Jonathan Beasley He got paid.... you know... Working under the table.
funny, that's what Rob Lowe said in a later interview, too
Dayum! Cyd Charisse, who was 67 here, still had it! 🤩 She passed on in 2008, at the age of 86.
Was just thinking this at the moment I saw your comment, she is jaw dropping here!! To still have that figure at 67 is my dream lol.
She blew me away
She's pretty sexy in 'Warlords of Atlantis'.
I don't know why it would have ruined his career. The Star Wars Holiday Special didn't ruin George Lucas.
If you watch the Emmy TV Legends interview with writer Bruce Vilanche, he explains what happened. Essentially most of the outrage was manufactured by the-then head of Disney Frank Wells who was angry that the production made use of Snow White who he thought was Disney copyright. Lawyers from the Academy, Disney and MGM vetted the costume and said it was ok as the Snow White character is actually in the public domain. At the time, the academy didn't allow studios to advertise during the awards show as it may look like they were endorsing them- but the Snow White character appeared in a Chevy commercial which happened to be filmed in front of her castle at Walt Disney World. Then the Rob Lowe sex tape happened afterwards and the rest is history.
But the prequels did him in
I would pay to watch that now!
George only signed off on the Holiday special. This was all Allan.
George Lucas was ruined by changing Star Wars so Han Solo shot second.
That time the Oscars caught amnesia and thought it was the Tonys.
This was good af!
Interestingly enough, the Oscars used to ALWAYS start with a musical opening number. This opening number was so disastrous that it was the last time they did it - it's been opening monologues ever since.
@@irinakermong1217 Is it too late to want them to go back to that?
And stomped all over poor A Night in Hollywood/A Day in the Ukraine in the process.
I've seen a lot worse. But it does feel endless.
ttsheldy - I stopped watching halfway through, but fast-forwarded most of that!
It was simply too long … but I thought it was fun and campy.
7:40 - when the camera pans across the audience, the look on Robert Downy Jr's face is fantastic.
I caught that
@suzybearheart530 the number one buyer of snow at the time.
@@fabsagu5421 Hahaha!!!! Good point!
He looks high as fuck
He's like "Dammit, now I know where my stash went into."
I asked my mom if she remembered seeing this live and her only reply was: “...My God...”
Seriously underrated comment.
At the risk of sounding Non-PC, Can I just say that practically every gay man's Mom would respond the same way...if they're lucky.
I imagine how she said that was hilarious
I remember it too!!
I remember watching it. This wasn't so bad. But everything was considered pretty bad, once Billy Crystal set the bar for quality Oscar openers higher than these people could ever dream of. 😂
I never attend any event unless it has dancing tables.
You're not supposed to have DANCING TABLES but rather people DANCING ON the tables. Now, that's where the problem started.
I accomplish that right in my dining room with mushrooms
Words to live by
You're hilarious! Yeah, what was that?!
Be our guest, be our guest, put our service to the test!
Three thoughts:
1) I actually kind of like this.
2) During his next hosting gig, Neil Patrick Harris should parody this, with NPH playing Snow.
3) I think my parents may have had this playing near my crib, because I'm pretty sure it's what turned me gay.
Hahaha
NPH was awful
this comment is perfect oh my god
Same to
You, sir, are amazing! 😂😂😂
Well, this is no longer the worst moment in Oscar history--not after last night...
You got that right. Will Smith took a huge steaming pile and that's all people are talking about for this years Oscars.
Don;t be so sure. After all, Jimmy Kimmel is hosting again!
@@colleen4everIt is a wise decision for Academy to choose someone who can't make jokes as a host.
This isn't as bad as legend would have it. It's a well executed production number. The problem is its (largely) lack of relevance to the Oscar ceremony.
ENTERTAINMENT BUFF think ur right
Old Hollywood movies is very relevant to the Oscars, the two have always gone hand in hand, acknowledging and honoring both the past and the present. The problem here was Rob Lowe's singing and choreography that at times felt all over the place. And the "Cinderella-shoe"? Carr seemed like he wanted to cram everything into 10 minutes without any real clear sense of direction.
gjolb - Well, not to mention that the Snow White of yesteryear was simply irritating. 😂
It was just really dated, but it got an ovation that night-probably from some of the people who shit talked it later.
It did put a moratorium on splashy production numbers at the Oscars for a long while, though. Billy Crystal's openings whenever he hosted were spoofs of what went down on this night. For a while, unless they were performances of the nominated songs (which were not done this year, something winner Carly Simon expressed disappointment with in her acceptance speech), it seemed only numbers that poked fun at the glitz were allowed.
Well, give her credit...she sounds like the movie Snow White.
colleen like the vocal equivalent of nails on a chalkboard?
lincolnlobster Well yeah..have you seen it?
@@crixxxxxxxxx did u even watch the Disney movie snow white? yeah, she sounds like that.
No, she doesn’t....
True
This is really one of those "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time." numbers...
It was a good idea! It was FABULOUS, especially compared to today's crap.
Like marriage or tattoos.
Bear in mind its a pretty flawless Snow White impersonation. The actress did her part and was just hoping for her big break.
I feel so bad for snow white. What a trooper to power through this thing, it's like an anxiety dream brought to life.
How embarrassing to have to that in front of an audience of huge stars.
At least she was made up and put in a wig and didn't use her real voice. She may still be working.
The celebrity's expressions...
@@cc3184 😂😂😂
You can see in her face how awkward she knows this is.
Why does Snow White sound like Betty Boop lol? I'm surprised Rob Lowe worked again after this. Leave it to a legend like Lilly to help it recover!
Mitchell Wiggs Watch Snow White. That's how she sounds.
She sounds like Betty Boop on helium.;
Good point, but never thought I'd hear Snow White sing outside of a Disney movie. And Rob Lowe was a male sex symbol. He wasn't really known for being a serious actor so I guess they gave him a pass. I didn't even know he could sing until this clip.
Just to clarify the timeline: The Democratic convention and Lowe's hotel room escapades had happened by this point, but the *scandal* hadn't. The release of the tape and all the coverage was not until the following summer ('89). That's when his career looked to be in serious trouble. With regard to the Snow White number, at the time he was just one of many people who took part in something embarrassing that didn't play out as planned. Carr is the only person whose career suffered (and maybe the young woman playing Snow White, who didn't get the big break she might have expected).
I'd disagree that Lowe didn't do anything noteworthy for a long time post scandal. He rebounded pretty well. First there was his well-reviewed performance as the villain in Bad Influence (in which he and Spader played against their usual types). While promoting that film, he surprised a lot of people with a supple hosting turn on SNL, especially his Arsenio Hall parody and his good-natured response to a very topical grilling by the Church Lady. That may have led to Wayne's World, which was a huge hit. Not long after, he had a good part as Nick in The Stand. So he was showing some new sides, making the best of things. He clearly had good management, and maybe it was a more forgiving time. (For some.)
It wasnt THAT bad tho😮
If no one else liked this, Baz Luhrmann obviously did.
no, he didn't like it either.
Man From Uncool lmao
That's when you know things are over the top.
The show must go ooooon!;)
Or Maybe Busby Berkeley.
1. When Robin Williams is like WTF, you know its bad
2. Cyd Charisse still had amazing pair of legs
That poor very young actress, thinking this was her big break... and instead, she gets blamed for this turd and run out of town. Yeah, like she could possibly have saved it.
😆😆😆
I suddenly understand so many Simpsons' jokes I never got before...
pmplo same lol
SAME
Like??
Such as?
Example?
7:45 Robert Downey Jrs face says it all.
He looks a lot like his dad at that moment.
Actually he was probably high back in those days....
JARED BARATTA so did Rob Lowe, probably
I think Gregory Hines was more expressive of the 'wtf?' they no doubt felt!
Robert was probably too stoned to even know where he was.
I’m reading the book Oscar Wars by Michael shulman, and he has a chapter that explains this Oscar telecast, Alan Carr produced, and how they found the beautiful actress for Snow White. Great book! I remember seeing this back in the day and thought it was awful. But watching it now, I actually liked it a lot, in all it’s crazed hallucinogenic staging! So bizarre but entertaining, with lovely tributes to the stars of yore.
Reading that now
I'm listening to the audio book, and I just got past the '89 Oscars. I feel bad for Alan Carr. He just wanted to put on a good show, and it destroyed his entire life.
I'm on page 343! 😊 Amazing
Reading “Oscar Wars” as well. I remember this and thought then, that’s Hollywood. Before it’s time…
I was reading this chapter last night in "Oscar Wars". I was not aware of Allen Carr before. But this chapter gave me an immediate education. Somehow I do not think Snow White talking like she was on nitrous oxide would have been convincing on a good day. I guess the "Lowe" moment was her duet with Rob. It was more of a concoction that could have been attributed to Timothy Leary or ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters than a producer known for his innovation .I saw the Hollywood Stars shrinking from her as with a leper., which is what Allen Carr became after this disaster. This travesty really became his inglorious epitaph. but Hollywood is notoriously unforgiving.
Eileen Bowman's Snow White performance was spot on, she got Snow White's mannerisms down perfectly. Even better than the ones that actually work at Disneyland. Unfortunately, Snow White had no business being at the Oscars. It's like putting Hello Kitty at a WWE Death Match, it just doesn't go.
Why not? Animated films are eligible for Oscars.
@@jedijones Agree! There have been much worse than this. imho.
How can you say that? Snow White won an Oscar along with 7 little Oscars for her little sidekicks.
It would have been fine to have Snow White, if the opening were a tribute to Disney movies, or to animated movies in general, and if Snow White had not been the only Disney character up there. But as part of such a confusing mish-mash of random stuff, it was just embarrassing.
Snow White is one of the most well known and iconic movie characters ever. She definitely deserved to be there.
This is one powerful acid trip
If she married him, she'd be Snow Lowe.
If Heidi Klum married Don Ho she'd be Heidi Ho.
Julia Guglia! That's funny!
I have come to appreciate so this awful performance hust flr the delightful fun people have come to made out of it... You guys just crack me laughing maniac
That's the best comment I ever heard!
If Tye Sheridan had married Don Knotts, he's be GAY, but also Tye Knotts!
People come here expecting a disaster, and they then find out it's nowhere as bad as they've been told. It's actually better than recent Oscars.
Exactly! This is upbeat!
Indeed, compared to recent shows, this slaps!
(Did someone already make that joke before???)
that's for sure!!
Agree, I don't see anything bad with it.
I know right, I'm sat here wondering if something bad is going to happen because it looks good so far 😂
Imagine if this happened today? Twitter would loose it’s goddamn mind. Think of the MEMES
Ohhhhhh Internet Gold!
Me when the video started:
Eh, this isn’t that bad
Me after Rob Lowe finished his verse:
What the hell is this trash?
Same here. I thought it was just the usual crap until the end it was unbearable
Apart from the terrible singing and the truly ghastly atmosphere, none of it makes any sense?
Just about everything that’s all
I don't care how cringy this was.....the fact that River Phoenix was at this even makes it wonderful.
Omg, i missed him. I will have to rewatch that Bs 😂😂😂😂
It started out I was like “Oh is not that bad” and then as it progressed it got more and more confusing and by the time rob lowe started singing Tina turner I was like “wait, what the fuck is this”
When people start to showing up garbed as inanimate objects, you know things are going to go south real quick.
If it had ended after the older stars were named and danced off, it would have been fine.
Yep! I went to comment the exact same thing. While watching, I remembered having watched this at the time it aired. I didn't remember anything from the Lowe and Snow bit because I probably stopped watching right about when he belted out that first line. lol
So, this will be me watching everything after that point for the first time now; 2021.
@@hansoak3664 I thought Rob Lowe did OK. They should have stopped after their song
Hey would you watch
your mouth? I don’t mind about the comments but they’re cruel,
rude and disrespectful because I won’t allowed any of this in every situation - neither in any community or neighborhood.
We won’t have it here for a very
long time. Sorry - but that’s how I feel about following those rules.
Everyday. Every night.
My favorite part is when they introduced famous people who couldn’t walk or dance unsupported and the instantly got them off stage.
H Sunset it couldn’t have been more bad taste if Merv introduced dead stars and out came dancing caskets
Exception was Vincent and Coral. That man knew when to make an Exit!
But they got Cyd Charisse tho she killed it
Except Cyd Charisse who acquitted herself quite well.
Actually that's the only part I liked.
But what does Snow White have to do with any of it? Like it’s not terrible it just doesn’t make sense.
Edit: I just saw the Rob Lowe part. Not a singer
It's not explained in the number--but this ceremony took place 50 years after Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered at the Carthay Circle theater. Snow White was the first animated full-length feature film, a historical first in Hollywood, which occurred in 1939.
Sarah Brown Watch on youtube the Bruce Vilanch interview about the 1989 oscars, he explains how this whole number came about and then why it became a big deal negatively speaking.
@@seancatherall31 At least six full length animated features existed before Snow White.
@@anthonyrobertson7062 thanks so much for the information. I did watch the video by Bruce Vilanch and it was so informative. Had you not stated in your comment we would be still wondering why.
It was something out of context, Snow White was a character on a campy play (that also made a satire of Hollywood) of Allan Carr it didn't make sense he put that character on an Award ceremony.
the worst part was at the beginning when she goes into the audience the terror in the eyes of Tom Hanks and Dustin Hoffman etc. who were all thinking "get the fuck away from me!" & cringeing with embarrassment
The shots of audience responses really shows how embarrassing this must have been to see in person.
NEVER GO INTO THE AUDIENCE!
Robin Williams looks genuinely happy… Sigourney Weaver; not so much 😂
This Oscar telecast was also the last public appearance of the great Lucille Ball. She and Bob Hope introduced another revue starring the future stars of Hollywood. A few weeks after the show, Lucy was taken to Sinai Hospital for emergency surgery. She passed away in the hospital a few days later. She looked wonderful in a black evening gown and took a few bows to a standing ovation. A fitting send off for the Queen of Comedy.
Sad, isn't it?
Indubitably ! A wonderful "last hurrah" for TV's Queen of Comedy !
This performance mustn't have helped her health, yet she kept it classy and comforted Rob Lowe.
I still remember that 'Future Stars' segment...it was such an appalling display of nepotism. All the 'future stars' were children of stars. It was gagsome.
There’s a lot of good stuff to see in this train wreck. The performer playing Snow White worked her butt off for this big moment. It’s not her fault this was a mess. Seeing all the dancers breathing heavy while dancing, I wish I could dance like that.
Snow White was played by Eileen Bowman.
Snow White is the worst part of it all.
The movie is FREE! - Stop Moaning
I say bravo to her. It’s her shot and she gave it her all. That doesn’t save this train wreck but who can blame her?
I love THE ACADEMY AWARDS but it’s just a silly party for rich people. This crew was on live tv having fun and I’m not.
And this is what has mostly kept the Oscars from ever doing large-scale production numbers again, unless it was for nominated songs (which, strangely, there were no performances this year & winner Carly Simon commented on that in her speech) or if tongue was kept firmly in cheek (with & without Billy Crystal).
trexguy “the movie is free”? Err....what? You do realise what a movie is, right?
7:44 Iron Man is like “WTF is this?!”
Academy Award winning star and
producer Robert Downey Jr has been changed a lot as an family man and never ever even back again after making mistakes
over the years. He has finally decided to move on.
Like everyone else, I had my expectations pretty high for how bad this was. I thought something was gonna go wrong in the middle of the show. As I’m watching, I noticed that the staircase was closing back into one, and Eileen was behind it. For a minute I thought she got crushed and that’s what went wrong and what made the show a disaster. It is very cringy but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be.
*Me, before watching video:* "I wonder what made this so bad it was a career ender."
*Rob and Snow singing a parody of "Proud Mary"*
Me: "Now I understand."
Seeing this footage almost 30 years later, it is not that bad.
Yeah I think so
colleen you are correct
The dancing tables and cocktails made it too campy, the so-called dancers sucked, Rob can't sing, snow white was annoying AF, making those elderly stars quickly hustle off, and did I say Rob can't sing?😁
@@jennilang721 He is sexy as hell no matter hat he does.
IT MAKES YOU MISS WHEN PEOPLE TRIED TO BE GOOD, INSTEAD OF THIS FOOL RAP ERA!!!
They should have used Dorthy if they were going for the “Follow the Hollywood Stars” shicht
Right
Was this on ABC. Aren't Disney and ABC related?
I thought the same thing
Dorthy is NOT Disney
Yes.
This was considered bad at the time?!
Man, I wonder what that generation of Hollywood would think of Jimmy Kimmel...
Everyone looks so uncomfortable...
I remember watching this when I was a kid and I was really shocked about how awful it was. The whole show was just crazy bad. I just kept thinking why is Rob Lowe dancing with Snow White?
If this makes everybody uncomfortable...get away from the industry and try something different, fresh, new
this time around so once everyone looks good and feels great about themselves...there's no turning back.
All you have to do is move fast forward!
The 1985 big budget musical picture was
produced & directed by Sir Sidney Poitier
in his final directing assignment for
Columbia-Delphi III was "Fast Forward"
has earned BET, MTV, VH1, ASCAP,
Fennecus, Apex and Movie Music
Award nominations for many of their
efforts in 1986.
still far more entertaining than the past six or seven Oscar ceremonies
YES!!
True
Definitely!!
Absolutely!
AMEN
It's very weird. I'm not sure what Snow White has to do with Coconut Grove.
Likely a nod to all the "snow" consumed
Kelly Samons yo this whole thing feels like a bad acid trip 😳😳 Carr had to be on something making this
Snow has EVERYTHING to do with it.
...or Proud Mary...omg
Oh, honey… Snow’s a major hoe on cocaina pura peruviana
Bruce Vilanch, who worked as a writer for the 1989 Oscars talked about for the Archive of American Television. He implied that the backlash against this opening number probably wouldn't have gotten as big as it had gotten had 1) The late Frank Wells, who at the time, was the president of The Walt Disney Company had not made a big stink over the usage of the Snow White character. Even though Snow White is within the public domain, Wells thought that the character as portrayed by Eileen Bowman shouldn't have been used without appropriation by Disney.
2) About two weeks after the show, Rob Lowe's sex tape surfaces. And his "disastrous" appearance with Snow White at the Oscars was the most recent point of reference that the media had. So you can already see right away, how it grew into something bigger and bigger.
3) At the time, the Academy wouldn't allow any current movies be advertised during the Oscars ceremony because they didn't want to imply an endorsement from the Academy. At the time, Disney was opening a theme mark in Florida. The Academy wouldn't allow them to have commercials. So they did an end-runaround and made a deal with Chevy for commercials that were shot at the Disney-MGM Studios. After the Snow White number ended, the first thing that you saw was Snow White's castle at the Disney studios with Snow White coming out of a Chevy. That according to Bruce Vilanch, was the real reason why Frank Wells was so incensed.
It's clearly the Disney version of Snow White, and they had no right to use it without permission.
Wasn't bad, but it felt overly surreal to the point it felt like a fever dream.
That's what I thought too. It feels like some kind of bizarre dream.
It's a coke-fueled dream sequence - it was the 80s remember.
A love letter to Hollywood of the 1920's and 30's. Wasn't as bad as they say it was.
My understanding is that one of the biggest problems was that the use of Snow White's image was not authorized. I think the Academy had to trash the opening and Carr to distance themselves from it. My guess is that Carr's "banishment" was more about a legal than artistic breach.
But as these things go, it was a fun, insane romp. Yeah, Lowe can't sing -- but I wasn't expecting him to. The very beginning of the opening was the most cringeworthy part, but the rest was silly fun. Not great, but not horrible.
Sort of but not really. It's far more complicated than that. You can find the whole complicated story in the Allan Carr biography that is titled Party Animals: A Hollywood Tale of Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll by Robert Hofler, available for $8.99 in paperback from amazon. It's an excellent book. Read chapters 26, 27 and 28 ("Snow Blight")
Not the only problem. There was a very bad reception from almost everybody in Hollywood. There was a letter signed by 17 prominent stars who wrote the show was a disgrace to the Academy. It was very bad taste, the mix of old stars with the Coconut Grove and what was "Proud Mary" doing there?? It should have been more Broadway-ish.
This article proves the Snow White copyright was not the only problem! Hollywood did not like it and eveybody turned its back at Alan Carr right after the show. There was a real embarrassment because of the campish, bad taste and amateurish mix. www.lamag.com/longform/snow-job/
I worked for Allan Carr, crazy, wild, over the top guy. I strongly believe this wasn't nearly as bad as first perceived. Find me more than a few well received Oscar telecasts EVER. The problem back in 1989 was that many long time Oscar voters despised Allan being given the gig to begin with. They knew he was a splashy, big is never enough guy. Allan didn't disappoint.
This was the same time that Disney/MGM was opening in Orlando, and I'm sure Eisner had something to do with this train wreck. Allan Carr was trying to create a diversion with dancing tables, only it just made it worse.
“this cannot possibly get any worse- DO THOSE TABLES HAVE HEADS??”
Yeah... faux Proud Mary with dancing dinner tables.
Bahahaha!!!!!
Read your comment just as the heads popped out! Holy shit!
What gets me is how happy that table guy in the background is. lol He was probably like, "Ma, I'm going on the Oscars! It's my big break." *poor Ma tunes in to see him dancing around as a table. :D
if only they have Twitter back then, it would be hilarious to see all those live tweets lol.
Hollywood hated it! Actually wrote a letter after word signed by so many actual movie stars stating how much it sucked
Thanks god no. Twitter, the playground of the idiots, ignorants and social resentful. I hope one day Twitter dissapear, and maybe the world being a better place.
It's not that bad actually, the only things is, I think the production was more appropriate in Tony awards rather than in Oscars. 'Cause this opening number was more of a theatrical performance.
But these kinds of production numbers were typical for the Oscars at that time.
hahaha!😂 its not bad because the singing or choreo or dancers are bad, its bad because its kitsch and camp and full of bad ideas that are executed perfectly. its product of bad taste, not bad production.
You are SO right Tonys for sure!
Okay but this would absolutely KILL today. Imagine Twitter with this 😂😂
Cocaine is a helluva drug!!!
Took the words right out of my mouth!!!😅😅😅😅
"Proud Mary" didn't deserve this.
Unless Rob had a piece of cake he stuffed into Snow White's face (a la Ike Turner).
Rob Lowe: "I'm a big fan of yours, Snow."
If only we knew he wasn't talking about the princess.
LOLOLOL
Ha ha..that's very good💯
Damn!!!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I bet the producer was on it
Holy crap 😭🤣
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Snow White has major guts. I give her major kudos. I also happen to think this does not suck. Award shows are boring. At least this was fun.
Agreed. She was great!
Though to be fair, the awards shows are supposed to be about recognizing people's hard work - it wasn't ever intended to be entertaining on its own to an audience.
Heaven help me, I actually like it for the things that make it so terrible. It's insanely tacky and garish, it's disjointed and nonsensical, it's stupid and almost aggressively awful. I love it.
Yeah the camp has a bit of charm.
same
Agreed 100%
I LOVED IT! I won’t watch the Oscar’s now because they are so politicized. I miss the days of fantastic over the top Hollywood.😢
Ah...you might be a fellow John Waters fan then!
It was bad. But it was not never work again bad.
Yes it was. and someone needed to be punished.
@@Marcel_Audubon Rollin rollin keep the cameras rollin
OMG! I was just a child when this was on and I was embarrassed! I kept thinking why is Rob Lowe doing this? Also, sometime during the show popular young actors came out and did some lame act and Corey Fieldman was dressed like Michael Jackson and danced like him. I was just OMG this is fucking awful! Again, I was a child!
I agree. It's very very camp though.
The Real ToxicBeast everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I am literally only two minutes into this and I already think everyone involved should have been run out of town never to be seen again. Lmao. Okay, maybe your right, perhaps that’s a bit harsh, but this is insane.
Are we sure that this isn’t actually from a Mel Brooks movie?
RIGHT
It appears to be a total ripoff of Beach Blanket Babylon.
@@kellyalves756 Producer Allan Carr hired the folks from Beach Blanket Babylon to do this number, including Eileen Bowman who played Snow White in the BBB productions in San Francisco.
That's exactly what I thought too!!
If I could upvote this comment or give gold, I would! 🌟👌
That finale really is "Springtime for Hitler" done properly IMHO.
The entire opening was based on the San Francisco show Beach Blanket Babylon. Allan Carr was a huge fan of this show, so when he was asked to do the Oscars, he hired Steve Silver, the creator of BBB, to basically recreate his show as the opening of the Oscars.
Beach Blanket Babylon involves Snow White looking for her prince, and on the way bumping into a lot of off-the wall characters, mostly culled from modern pop culture. It's all hip and amusing in a small club, but considerably less so when millions of people are watching it on television.
I'm 16 So What Do I Know About The Late 80s, But After Searching Up The Beach Blanket Babylon, It Wasn't A Good Idea For Something So Campy To Beautiful To Be On A Program Like The Oscars During The Late 80s.
Thanks for the info. Imma check this out. I cringed at snows voice and it was just downhill from there. But the effort is appreciated. You go on a limb and sometimes it's innovative and sometimes it's trash but u gotta try.
@Andrew Cicchetti I went to Beach Blanket Babylon twice in the 70s at the Fugazi Ballroom. It was incredible. The fact that Carr collaborated with Steve Silver makes sense, but I still say this is what happens when you mix magic mushrooms and mimosas at a drag brunch. I've had weirder dreams than this after too much benadryl. Meh.
I’ve watched this many times trying to figure out what went so wrong. I think you’re right. It doesn’t play well at all in a huge space. It’s meant for an intimate setting .
It didn’t translate and Carr should have never used Lowe and made him sing Keep The Cameras Rollin ppl were horrified by that
Family guy should recreate this for an entire episode 🤣🤯
Hahaha I live your comment. Needs to happen. To have Rob Lowe guest voice. 😀
Genius
Family Guy wouldn't have to embellish anything. They could play it all straight. It's enough of a parody.
Brilliant
YES I need to see this 🤩
I can just hear Lorelai Gilmore:
“Oh, come on...
What’s next? A kick line?!”
And it was dreadful
Kirk would have Loved it!!
I imagine this is the sort of horror the people were walking out of at Madeline Ashton's Broadway musical at the beginning of Death Becomes Her.
💅🏻🎶I SEE ME🎶💅🏻
You know death becomes her is free on TH-cam movies right now
It's hard to believe that a production number that wasn't (That Bad), ruined somebody's career!
There had to be more to the story
Seeing all the older actors from the Golden era of Hollywood was cool. Things went south after that, lol
Exactly lol
i think everyone saying it’s “not that bad” is only saying that in the context of knowing how infamous it already is... if you were just turning on the regular oscars and this shit came on, you’d be live-tweeting how awful it is, lmao
Well said and completely agree!
Wait that was the Oscars?
Nope. I only just learned today that it was supposed to be horrible after reading am article about there being no host this year. So I hunted it down. I was 16, apparently when this production happened and didn't gaf about the Oscar's or Rob Lowe, believe it or not, at that point. I've never seen it or heard of it before and I actually liked this.
It’s probably within the range of the Emmys Jimmy Fallon Glee opening.
I only just heard about it, was expecting something terrible but thought it was enjoyable. People just like to be dramatic.
I was really thinking, eh, this isn’t so bad - the transitions are a little rough. Then Rob Lowe came out and oh no. The Snow White performer really committed to the bit though.
Finally we know where they got the inspiration for Katy Perry and Her Fabulous Dancing Sharks at the 2015 Super Bowl halftime show.
1:19 Sigourney Weaver's like, "I knew I shoulda stayed home..."
Yeah. You should be.
Yes, you should be.
Why is this a scandal? It’s a fun, over the top, tongue in cheek, take off on 1930s musicals. It’s a lot better than what they do now. What Rob Lowe did has nothing to do with this, nor did they know about it at the time this was done. Hollywood is ridiculous sometimes.
You write like Holden Caulfield.
Was Holden a writer?
J.D. Salinger was...
@@suelensantos8810 no it was Billy Jo Armstrong.
I'm not getting why this was any worse than all the other Oscars performances during that era. The Oscar entertainment was ALWAYS intolerable during the 80's-90's, this is no different.
Snow White actress died that very same night
Robert Downey Jr. at the 7:45 mark gets me every time. It's almost like he was thinking what most of us watching it live were probably thinking at the time -- what the hell am I watching!?
Or maybe he was just high.
He was high.
I like how they got the next year's "In Memoriam" section out of the way during the act.
😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
🤣🤣
Underrated comment.
Greatest comment ever
Omg 😆
Cyd Charisse at 3:37 was the best part of this - and she was 67 at the time.
I watch this for its awfulness. I am addicted to cringe. You are right. At that moment she was the coolest person on earth!
She had the best legs!
She still had it and looked beautiful
I agree. She looked fabulous.
She was absolutely fabulous and knew she was still gorgeous!
I've heard about this for years- mostly Rob Lowe singing with Snow White- but this is the first time I've seen it. I kinda LOVE it! Sure its really, really over the top (really), but that's part of the fun, especially when they salute the stars of Old Hollywood.
I never understood why there was backlash on this , I loved it 😊 my mom watched it and that it was the highlight of the evening of the Oscar
All the way through the entire 11.:31. I kept asking myself, "The terrible part is probably coming up next, because this really does not seem all that bad yet." It's not the best thing ever seen on broadcast television but definitely NOT horrible. According to the actress playing Snow White, the production was based on an over-the-top stage play called "Beach Blanket Babylon" that was running at the time.
For me the worst part is the shoe-joke at the end... like that felt so forced and was a really bad pun.
BEACH BLANKET BABYLON? Sounds like an XXX vaudeville show. I wouldn't go see that if you handed out body condoms at the door.
That looked like a Walt Disney parade.
But I didn’t think that it was that bad, it was long yes, Snow White sounded like she was on helium yes, but I don’t think that it was bad enough for Allan Carr to be kicked out.
Apparently they didn't get rights from Disney, and the Disney people were livid. That may be what did the producer in.
It's pretty clear what directors do. They tell the actors how to act (or the musicians how to play, or the singers how to sing, etc.), unless those artists are divas and then they all just yell at each other because the other one is an egotistical fool with no VISION. But what does a producer do? They see to all the details, like securing the funding, making sure there's catering, making sure all the non-artistic positions (accounting, electrician, props, grips, etc.) are filled, making sure the rights are secured so we don't get our asses sued, things like that. Also making sure the director doesn't go over budget (like spending $75 million on a $20 million movie), or, when they say they really NEED to, goes back to the funders and explains that they really NEED to cough up more money.
The character of Snow White, which originated in 1812 book by The Brothers Grimm, is in the public domain. As designed by the Walt Disney Company, however, she can be considered their property and trademark. Snow White as portrayed in this Oscar number bears some similarities to Disney's design (yellow dress, red bow in hair) but is otherwise not identical. According to some sources, the use of Snow White in this opening number was approved by Disney ahead of time, but NOT by President and Chief Operating Officer Frank Wells, who was upset when he saw it. Also take into consideration a compete coincidence: The commercial that aired immediately after this number was a joint commercial of Chrysler and Disney set at Disney World in Florida and featuring.... Snow White! Nobody on the show knew about this commercial. So it looked doubly bad and Disney was upset for that reason also. Disney, having great power in Hollywood, made a huge stink and threatened to sue so the Academy apologized, whether it had to or not.
Wow, thanks for the feedback guys!
I had no idea.
Thanks.
God, how can you watch this and think it wasn't that bad! It was so awful!
It was the 80's!!!!!
1:19 - Sigourney Weaver: Don't you dare come close to me Snow White.
Yesssss!!!
And the look of relief when Snow passes her
She'd eventually would become her stepmother in the horror adaptation '
This is 1000x better than a 20 minute monologue from Jimmy Kimmel.
This is like leaving the house with your whole jewelry box on your neck. Take at least one accessory off, you can't wear 'em all.
You know what would've been cool? If Rob Lowe and Eileen Bowman had been asked to present Best Picture at the 2019 ceremony, to "celebrate" the 30th anniversary of this historic segment.
I like that idea.
@@LuvTadnDixie And so do I.
Or a Funny Or Die video.
Merv Griffin sings "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts". At the Oscars.
The question marks just explode from there.
Why did he think an Australian accent was a good idea?
@@reggiedixon2 Australia was having a moment back then.
C. Dundee
@@reggiedixon2 Ask his cousin, Charlie Haid.
Who misses award ceremonies like this, and wishes the magic of presentations that this had can come back to this day?