The West Virginia Division of Culture and History will round out its holiday season with two family movies on the big screen of the Norman L. Fagan West Virginia State Theater on Monday, Dec. 29, and Tuesday, Dec. 30, at the Cultural Center, State Capitol Complex, in Charleston. The films will begin at noon and 3:30 p.m. each day. In addition, between the films there will be kids’ craft activities, a Jupiter Jump which is an inflatable room enclosed with net walls so that spectators can watch kids jumping around, and a Chuggy Choo-Choo, an inflated 42-foot train that kids can explore. The day’s activities are free and the public is invited to attend.
The Incredible Journey (1963, 83 minutes, Not Rated) will be shown at noon. Filmed in Canada as a joint project involving Walt Disney studios and Calgary Ltd., The Incredible Journey stars a Siamese cat named Tao, a bull terrier, Bodger, and a Labrador Retriever, Luath. When their family goes on vacation, the animals are left with family friend Emile Genest. Genest goes off to hunt for a couple of days, but fails to inform the animals of this. As a result, this trio embarks upon a 250-mile journey to be reunited with their owners. They encounter crisis after crisis and have to fight to survive all sorts of adversities on their trip. The lushly-filmed movie was remade in 1993 as Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey.
At 3:30 p.m., Mary Poppins, (1964, 139 minutes, Non Rated) the musical with mixed live action and animation starring Julie Andrews in her movie acting debut after a successful stage career as the title character, and Dick Van Dyke as Bert, a Cockney jack-of-all-trades can be seen. A bored upper crust Edwardian English family has their world turned upside down by the magical nanny Mary, who flies in with her umbrella and a bottomless carpetbag to take care of the children. The soundtrack includes such favorites as “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” “Feed the Birds,” “A Spoonful of Sugar,” and “Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious.” The film won five Oscars, including best actress for Andrews.
For more information about the holiday film series and children’s craft activities, call (304) 558-0162.
Visitors also can tour the many exhibits on display in the Cultural Center. The Great Hall is decked out in holiday finery with three trees, wreaths and a dining room setting complete with a hearth. The Art Gallery features Pastimes of Yesteryear which displays toys and hobbies from the West Virginia State Museum collection, some dating back as far as the 1820s. The Lobby Gallery has West Virginia’s Gift to the World, Marble King: World’s Greatest Marbles which has games and marbles made by the Paden City, W.Va. company and a mural made of marbles which features the Marble King logo. The mural has 47,232 marbles, measures six feet by 16 feet, weighs 393.5 pounds and was created by members of the Division’s technical services staff. The north wing of the Balcony Gallery has Fenton: Handcrafted American Glass Artistry, which has samples of the famous glass from the West Virginia State Museum collection. The south wing in the balcony has the West Virginia’s First Ladies Doll Exhibit, which includes the recent addition of the Gayle Manchin doll created by Joanne Gelin, an elementary art teacher from Huntington. In addition, the Balcony Gallery is spotlighting needlework in the Majestic Mountains Needle Arts Chapter of Embroiderers’ Guild of America, Inc. Santa and his reindeer are suspended from the ceiling in the balcony as well.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Its administrative offices are located at the Cultural Center in the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, which also houses the state archives and state museum. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of museums and historic sites across the state. For more information about the Division’s programs, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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