Up until this time, even kidfilm bully Disney leased their product to theatres for all show dates, both weekend and weekday, both matinee and evening.

This exclusionary policy by Murray in regards to new film releases was immediately embraced by the theatre owners (and soon copied by other studios, Disney foremost), creating the uniquely 1960's phenomenon known as "the Kiddie Matinee" (previously relegated to rereleases of old B-movies, series comedies and westerns primarily, to second-run houses as inexpensive Holiday weekend "filler").

KING OF THE KIDDIE MATINEE
The period between 1960 and 1965 seems to be when Murray's reign as "King of the Kiddie Matinee" was at its peak. Films such as LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD, PUSS 'N BOOTS and RUMPELSTILTSKIN were huge successes, and Murray's shrewd reissuing of SANTA CLAUS every three years or so (for THREE DECADES!) also proved extremely lucrative.

Murray's success during this period was so impressive, he was courted both by NBC Television, and McDonald's Hamburgers (!) for possible tie-in projects. (Due to fast-fading boxoffice receipts at least, neither partnership materialized.)

SANTA'S MAGIC KINGDOM
In an attempt to further stretch the legacy of SANTA CLAUS, Murray hurriedly shot three original featurettes with the mythic holiday icon, and released them to theatres as part of a double feature package with another of his fairy tale films.

In order to assist the connection between these original, threadbare productions and the comparatively lavish imported fairy tales, Murray had fashioned his own costumes of two beloved characters from the Mexican fairy tales: Stinky the Skunk and the Ferocious Wolf.

These cheap imitations of the Mexican costume heroes were included in all three Murray/Santa Claus featurettes. Additionally, Murray made the costumes available to some of the larger urban theatre chains, for "personal appearances", as part of a "deluxe" promotional package that Murray guaranteed would offer the highest attendance possible!

CHILDHOOD PRODUCTIONS
Aside from the ever-present threat of Disney, Murray's chief competitor in the lucrative but cut-throat world of the kiddie matinee was Childhood Productions, a New York-based distribution outfit helmed by former TV producers Barry & Gaye Yellan.

Sharing a Manhattan office with American International Pictures, Childhood Productions took a page directly out of Murray's campaign book, releasing over 20 fairy tale features to a weekends-only market, during a relatively short life span of 5 years, from 1965 to 1970.

These films, like Murray's, tended to be older foreign live-action films, redubbed. New songs were often added by the musical team Anne & Milton DeLugg. Famous TV personality Paul Tripp (MR. IMAGINATION and BIRTHDAY HOUSE) narrated intros and outros of many of the fairy tales. Beloved TV kid show host Chuck McCann even filmed an introductory segment to CP's highly successful SNOW WHITE.

Childhood Productions produced one original production during its lifetime; the flamboyant and popular THE CHRISTMAS THAT ALMOST WASN'T, starring Rosanno Brazzi, Paul Tripp and another New York kiddie show icon, Sonny Fox.

Many people confuse Murray's product with that of Childhood Productions, and more than one cult film writer has assumed that Childhood Productions was Murray's company. This confusion is understandable, as both organizations released very similar product in similar venues during a very short space of time.

In fact, both Murray and Childhood released a live-action version of PUSS 'N BOOTS, Murray's being a Mexican film and Childhood's being a German version.

The confusion was exacerbated when American International TV purchased BOTH companies' fairy tales for TV distribution in the early 1970's. For awhile, one could see a Murray film one week on "Fairy Tale Theatre", and a Childhood Production the next. In fact, Murray's Mexican version of PUSS 'N BOOTS achieved a premature obscurity due to AITV's dropping of the title in favor of Childhood's shorter, and decidedly more subtle, German version.

SQUEEZE-OUT
By the late 1960's, the entire texture of pop culture was changing rapidly, and one could argue that the days of the Kiddie Matinee were numbered. Certainly, Murray's old-fashioned and mediocre fairy tales were losing steam fast at the boxoffice.

However, in the very early 1970's, the big movie studios and major exhibitors got together and came up with a contractual clause stating if an exhibitor won a bid on a picture, it had to play on weekends as well as during regular weekday playdates.

This move effectively killed the Kiddie Matinee in one fell swoop. Obviously a blatant conspiracy by "the big guns" to push the small-time producer/distributor out of the picture, it did kill the kiddie matinee, which dwindled to minuscule proportions in the mid-to-late 1970's, and was virtually unheard-of by 1980.

Curiously, both MGM and Paramount, (as well as Uncle Walt of course), both had successful kiddie matinee product released through the 1970's, suggesting that the exclusionary "Weekends Only" clause had serviceable loopholes when it came to the big players.

The major studios had bullied their way into Murray's virtually self-created market niche, and stolen much of his successful campaign strategy as well, and then squeezed him out of the picture. More then anything, this stands as a testament to Murray's success and influence in a most fickle and ruthless industry.

THE WONDER WORLD
Regardless of their premature extinction by the big studios, Murray's fairy tales will live forever in the hearts and minds of anyone who has seen them. They range from the beautiful to the terrifying, from the cryptic to the unforgettable, from the quaint to the avant-garde, from the primitive to the post-modern.

No individual or organization (DisneyCorp included) has ever amassed such a unique and far-ranging collection of live-action films for children, and no-one ever will. Their influence on the pop-culture landscape of the 1960's (and beyond) was significant, and they are assuredly K. Gordon Murray's legacy to film history, comprising a singular "Wonder World" for which we are in profound debt.