Eloise at the Plaza

Originally published on social media on April 18th, 2022

Today is the kind of day where I would love to be a wealthy six year old living at The Plaza in 1950's New York. Even if it was raining, it would be cool quintessential 1950s New York rain and would be wonderful! Luckily, this film is like a pretty pink time capsule that allows the imagination to travel back in time and experience it all!

This week I intend to focus on somewhat unknown and underrated Disney films, and this is by far one of my favorites. Everything about this film is pure nostalgic magic: the costume design, the lighting, the scenery, the music, even down to the way they talk. If that wasn't cool enough, Julie Andrews, Gavin Creel, Jeffery Tambors, and Christine Baranski are in this film and it's Christmas sequel (which is equally if not more wonderful)!

Unfortunately, this film is not on Disney + but it is free on Amazon Prime! It's a really short film (technically considered an episode in the "Wonderful World of Disney") that I cannot recommend enough.

Here are some fun facts about this film provided by IMDB:

- The line, "think pink", and indeed, the whole pink theme comes from Eloise creator Kay Thompson's iconic role in Funny Face, also starring Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astair. Kay Thompson sings a song with the refrain, "think pink" in that film.

- Won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Dramatic Underscore).

- The artist who paints Eloise and Leon's picture in the movie is Hilary Knight, the same artist who illustrated the books the movie is based on.

I wish I could copy and paste (and properly cite) this whole article here, but am limited by a word count. Here is an Article by Town and Country Magazine with facts about the books and Kay Thompson. This article will make you appreciate the movies even more!

Eloise Facts - Eloise At The Museum Exhibition At New-York Historical Society