Robbins Barstow Oral History
Robbins Barstow passed away on November 7, 2010, less than ten months after this interview was recorded. His thirty-five-minute 16mm documentary, "Disneyland Dream," was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress in 2008. "Disneyland Dream" chronicles his family's 1956 vacation after the Barstows won a week-long trip to Disneyland in a 3M Scotch contest. Rather than a typical disjointed family home movie, Barstow's unique film, in the words of critic and historian Kenneth George Godwin, is "an artfully constructed narrative using occasionally comical restagings and various camera effects, such as slow motion and reverse action, to evoke the entire family's excitement and pleasure in being the recipients of such an honour." The film may be viewed in full on YouTube: Disneyland Dream (1956) - Home Movie (youtube.com). An essay about the film by film conservator Liz Coffey may be found on the Library of Congress website here: film essay for "Disneyland Dream" (loc.gov). - Stephen Fagin, Curator