The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove

Q: When I was very young in the early 1970s, I used to love to sit and watch The Wonderful World of Disney with my Dad and my younger brother on Sunday night. There was a movie that I loved and have never seen again. I do not know the title. But it involved a large, mysterious creature in a swamp. It turned out that the creature was really hollow. It was created and run by a person inside. Would you know the title? It is available anywhere?

Lisa, Waddington, New York

A [Dave Smith]: You may be thinking of The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove (1971). It starred Burgess Meredith and Agnes Moorehead. It has never been released on video or DVD.

[Marcio Disney]

Plot: Three kids think they see a sea monster in the calm waters of Strawberry Cove, and set out to find what's behind the mystery. 

Based on a story from "The Mad Scientist's Club", 14 January 2008

"This is one of the first adaptations of youth fiction done by Disney that stopped being true to the book and was changed for "improvements" that ruined the movie in the end. The book is way better. "The Mad Scientist's Club" by Bertrand R. Brinley (Also spelled Brinkley) is about a club of smart boys who figure out how to play pranks and solve mysteries in their small town by using their brains and scientific methods. "The Flying Man..." would have been a better episode but I'm guessing the author had some trouble with the liberties the company took with "The Strange Monster of Strawberry Cove." Yes, the boys successfully pull a prank on their teacher, but the movie over-elaborates the monster as too cheesy where the book was less and therefore more believable. "

- ttholt-1

Everyday, Disney fans send dozens of questions for Disney Chief Archivist Dave Smith. Here are Dave's answers to your questions. Check back every day for a new post with a new question.

Dave Smith (born October 13, 1940) was the Walt Disney Archives founder and chief archivist which is located in the Frank G. Wells Building at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. He joined the company June 22, 1970. Forty years later, on July 2010, he retired.


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