Random Disney A to Z Entry: 'Alive'

A segment we used to do on the Talking Disney Podcast was the Random Disney A to Z Entry. During this segment we would choose a random entry from the Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia (5th Edition) and share it with the listeners. We are bringing that segment to pages of the Talking Disney Podcast website. Originally created by Disney Legend Dave Smith, this is the first edition since his passing on February 15, 2019. Steven Vagnini, who collaborated with Dave on the two previous editions and has since taken on the task of updating this amazing book!

"If you're curious about the Walt Disney Company, this comprehensive newly revised and updated encyclopedia is your one-stop guide! Filled with significant achievements, short biographies, historic dates, and tons of trivia-worthy tidbits and anecdotes, this newly updated collection covers all things Disney - from A to Z - through more than nine thousand entries.

The sixth edition includes all the major Disney theme park attractions, restaurants, and shows; summaries of ABC and Disney television shows and Disney+ series; rundowns on all major films and characters; the latest and greatest from Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm; key actors, songs, and animators from Disney films and shows; an so much more!" - from the back cover of Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia.

Our first selection comes from page 24, entry number five. 

Alive (film), in 1972, an airplane carrying a rugby team of Uruguayan college students crashes in the Andes en route to a game in Chile. Flying in poor visibility, the plane’s wing clipped the side of a mountain, and the aircraft came to rest in the snow-covered Tinguiririca volcano at 11,500 feet. Several of the passengers and most of the crew died instantly, but the majority survived and waited to be rescued. On the eighth day they learned via transistor radio that official search operations had been abandoned. Dion their food and drink was gone, and facing a certain future of starvation and death, they resorted to cannibalism. Finally, after ten weeks, two men, Nando and Roberto, left camp and bravely traveled over the Andes where they were able to find help. Directed by Frank Marshall. Released on January 15, 1993. A Touchstone film, being a co-production with Paramount Pictures, with the latter handling foreign distribution. Based on the book by Piers Paul Read. 126 min. Stars Ethan Hawks (Nandi Parrado), Vincent Spano (Antonio Balbi), Josh Hamilton (Roberto Canassa). The producers were able to obtain the usage of the exact type of aircraft involved in the crash - a Fairchild F-227 twin-engined turboprop. The plane crash was one of the most realistic ever filmed. Doubling for the actual location, the filmmakers used the Delphine glacier at an altitude of 9,500 feet in the Columbia Mountains near Panorama, British Columbia. The actual survivors of the crash were consulted to make the production as accurate as possible, and one of them, Nando Parrado, served as technical advisor. Released on video in 1993. A special video entitled Alive: 20 Years Later was also released in 1993.

If you are interested in adding this book to your Disney library check out the following affiliate link - Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia.