Darby O'Gill and the Little People
Encyclopedia
Darby O'Gill and the Little People is a 1959 Walt Disney Productions feature film
starring Albert Sharpe
, Janet Munro
, Sean Connery
and Jimmy O'Dea
, in a tale about a wily Irishman
and his battle of wits with leprechauns. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson
and its screenplay written by Lawrence Edward Watkin
after the books of Herminie Templeton Kavanagh
. The film's title is a slight modification of one of the two Kavanagh books, Darby O'Gill and the Good People. This title, and her other book; The Ashes of Old Wishes And Other Darby O'Gill Tales were the original source for this movie.
, Darby O'Gill (Albert Sharpe
) is the aging caretaker of Lord Fitzpatrick's (Walter Fitzgerald
) estate, where he lives in the nearby gatehouse with his lovely, almost grown, daughter Katie (Janet Munro
). Darby spends most of his time in the town pub, regaling his friends with tales of his attempts to catch the leprechauns, in particular, their king, Brian Connors (Jimmy O'Dea
). Darby is past his prime as a laborer, so Lord Fitzpatrick decides to retire him on half-pay and give him and Katie another cottage to live in, rent-free, and give his job to a young Dubliner named Michael McBride (Sean Connery
). Darby begs Michael not to tell Katie that he is being replaced, to which Michael reluctantly agrees. That very night, Darby is captured by the leprechauns while chasing Cleopatra, his runaway horse (who is actually a Pooka
), on top of the fairy mountain Knocknasheega. Darby learns that King Brian has brought him into the mountain so that Darby can avoid the shameful admission to Katie about losing his job. However, Darby tricks the leprechauns into embarking on a fox hunt by playing "The Fox Chase" for them on a beautiful Stradivarius violin, loaned to him by King Brian. The leprechauns mount their tiny white horses and leave through a large crack in the mountainside wall, from which Darby escapes.
King Brian, angry for being made a fool of, comes to fetch Darby, and another battle of wits ensues over a jug of poitín
. Darby traps King Brian by getting him so drunk that he does not notice the sunrise, which strips him of his powers until the next sunset. Trapped, Brian is forced to grant Darby three wishes before he can return home. Darby wisely makes his first wish be that King Brian not return to Knocknasheega, but to remain at his beck and call for a fortnight (two weeks), giving him time to think of two other, equally wise wishes. King Brian is furious, but forced to comply. The wily leprechaun king manages to trick Darby into (partially) wasting his second wish by appearing only as a rabbit in Darby's burlap sack, causing Darby unwittingly to say to Michael: "I wish you could see him [the King]". King Brian meets Darby halfway by appearing to both Michael and Katie in his true form in their dreams. Darby decides that he wants to use his third and last wish to ensure Katie's happiness. King Brian says to Darby that what Katie probably wants most of all is a "good, steady lad with temperate ways". Someone, in short, like Michael.
After a rocky beginning, Katie and Michael begin to show signs of growing affection for each other. Katie believes Michael is merely seasonal help, as her father could not bring himself to break the news of his retirement (and their imminent move). However, Michael has an arrogant rival in Pony Sugrue (Kieron Moore
), the town bully with his eyes on both Katie and Michael's job.
Katie, angered at finding out the truth about her father's retirement from Pony's unpleasantly meddlesome mother (Estelle Winwood
), injures herself in a fall on Knocknasheega while trying to catch Cleopatra at night. The banshee
appears, heralding Katie's death and sending the cóiste-bodhar
, a spectral coach driven by a dullahan
, to carry her soul off to the land of the dead. Desperate, Darby elects to use his final wish to go in his daughter's place. King Brian is deeply saddened at Darby's wish, but grants it, but once Darby is on his way to the next world, King Brian reappears in the Death Coach and tricks Darby into making a final fourth wish ("wishing" that his friend could join him in the afterlife). This negates all the previous wishes and spares Darby's life. Darby is saved and King Brian has (literally) the last laugh in their running battle of wits.
Katie's fever has broken and she and Michael reveal their love for each other. Michael also fights Pony Sugrue at the pub; getting his just revenge for Pony's attempt to get him fired by clubbing him on the head and pouring whiskey all over him to make him appear drunken and incompetent. Michael soundly thrashes Pony and knocks him cold. Finally, Darby and Michael depart arm-in-arm, joining Katie outside in the wagon for a happy ending, with Michael and Katie singing a final duet together of "Pretty Irish Girl" (see below).
This is the film that first brought Sean Connery to the attention of producer Albert R. Broccoli
, who at the time was casting the first James Bond
film, Dr. No
. Broccoli hired Connery on the recommendation of his wife, Dana Broccoli.
The Death Coach, or cóiste bodhar , acquired its name from a misunderstanding - 'bodhar' being the Irish
word for 'deaf' rather than 'death', the misunderstanding presumably arose from differences of accent.
There are actually two versions of the film's soundtrack. Several of the original Irish actors' accents (notably Darby, Widow Sheelah Sugrue, King Brian, and the Leprechauns) were deemed too difficult for American audiences to understand and were consequently overdubbed
with easier-to-understand voices, possibly from different voice actors. The original soundtrack also contains some dialogue in Irish
, especially from King Brian and his leprechaun subjects, which was subsequently changed in the overdubbed version to English alternatives. Both versions are used on television showings and also on DVD, although quite contrarily, the Region 1 US/Canada DVD contains the original undubbed soundtrack and the Region 2 PAL
disc uses the dubbed version.
Despite its setting, the bulk of the film was shot at Disney's ranch in Burbank, California
. Second unit footage from Ireland, combined with matte paintings by Peter Ellenshaw
, helped present a seamless picture of late-nineteenth century Ireland.
Many of the scenes combining humans and Leprechauns used forced perspective
, with the "Little People" much farther from the camera. This required stopping the camera's lens way down for adequate depth of field, and a consequent increase in lighting to compensate.
The duet "Pretty Irish Girl", apparently sung by Sean Connery
and Janet Munro
, has been alleged to feature dubbed vocals by Irish singers, Brendan O'Dowda
and Ruby Murray
. A single of the duet was released in the UK. However, the deeper male vocal and breathy female vocal (which matches Munro’s a capella finish to the song, plainly recorded on set) performing the song in the American version of the film do not match the voices of O'Dowda (a tenor) nor Murray (a trained singer.) Connery does sing the song Pretty Irish Girl (with solo piano accompaniment) on the 1992 compilation The Music of Disney: A Legacy of Song, and in 1959 Top Rank released a single in the UK (catalog number JAR 163) which featured Connery and Munro singing the song.
Walt Disney devoted an episode of his show Disneyland to promoting the film, recruiting actors Sharpe and O'Dea to film special segments on the set with Disney, as well as Irish-American actor Pat O'Brien
. The episode, "I Captured the King of the Leprechauns", marked the only known television appearance of both Sharpe and O'Dea.
praised the cast (save Connery whom he described as "merely tall, dark, and handsome") and thought the film an "overpoweringly charming concoction of standard Gaelic tall stories, fantasy and romance."
Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin
in his book The Disney Films, states, "Darby O'Gill and the Little People is not only one of Disney's best films, but is certainly one of the best fantasies ever put on film." Maltin rates the movie so highly that in a later article he included it among a list of lesser known outstanding Disney films.
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
starring Albert Sharpe
Albert Sharpe
Albert Sharpe was an Irish stage and film actor. His most famous roles were those of Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People and as Finian McLonergan in the Broadway stage production of the musical Finian's Rainbow...
, Janet Munro
Janet Munro
-Career:Munro starred in three Disney motion picture releases, Darby O'Gill and the Little People , Third Man on the Mountain and Swiss Family Robinson , as well as The Horsemasters , which aired on Disney's weekly television series...
, Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
and Jimmy O'Dea
Jimmy O'Dea
James Augustine "Jimmy" O'Dea was an Irish actor and comedian.-Life:Jimmy O'Dea was born in Lower Bridge Street, Dublin, where his mother kept a small toy-shop. He was one of 11 children. His father was an iron-monger and had a shop in Capel Street. He was educated at Blackrock College and...
, in a tale about a wily Irishman
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and his battle of wits with leprechauns. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson
Robert Stevenson (director)
Robert Stevenson was an English film writer and director. He was educated at Cambridge University where he became the president of both the Liberal Club and the Cambridge Union Society....
and its screenplay written by Lawrence Edward Watkin
Lawrence Edward Watkin
Lawrence Edward Watkin was an American author and scriptwriter. He has become known especially as a scriptwriter for a series of Walt Disney films of the 1950s....
after the books of Herminie Templeton Kavanagh
Herminie Templeton Kavanagh
Herminie Templeton Kavanagh was a British writer, most known for her short stories.She was born Herminie McGibney, the daughter of Major George McGibney of Longford, Ireland...
. The film's title is a slight modification of one of the two Kavanagh books, Darby O'Gill and the Good People. This title, and her other book; The Ashes of Old Wishes And Other Darby O'Gill Tales were the original source for this movie.
Plot
In the small Irish town of Rathcullen, County KerryCounty Kerry
Kerry means the "people of Ciar" which was the name of the pre-Gaelic tribe who lived in part of the present county. The legendary founder of the tribe was Ciar, son of Fergus mac Róich. In Old Irish "Ciar" meant black or dark brown, and the word continues in use in modern Irish as an adjective...
, Darby O'Gill (Albert Sharpe
Albert Sharpe
Albert Sharpe was an Irish stage and film actor. His most famous roles were those of Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People and as Finian McLonergan in the Broadway stage production of the musical Finian's Rainbow...
) is the aging caretaker of Lord Fitzpatrick's (Walter Fitzgerald
Walter Fitzgerald
Walter Fitzgerald was an English character actor.Born Walter Fitzgerald Bond in Keyham, Devon. Married 1st Rosalie Constance Grey in 1924.1s .2nd Angela Kirk in 1938. 3 sons 1 daughter....
) estate, where he lives in the nearby gatehouse with his lovely, almost grown, daughter Katie (Janet Munro
Janet Munro
-Career:Munro starred in three Disney motion picture releases, Darby O'Gill and the Little People , Third Man on the Mountain and Swiss Family Robinson , as well as The Horsemasters , which aired on Disney's weekly television series...
). Darby spends most of his time in the town pub, regaling his friends with tales of his attempts to catch the leprechauns, in particular, their king, Brian Connors (Jimmy O'Dea
Jimmy O'Dea
James Augustine "Jimmy" O'Dea was an Irish actor and comedian.-Life:Jimmy O'Dea was born in Lower Bridge Street, Dublin, where his mother kept a small toy-shop. He was one of 11 children. His father was an iron-monger and had a shop in Capel Street. He was educated at Blackrock College and...
). Darby is past his prime as a laborer, so Lord Fitzpatrick decides to retire him on half-pay and give him and Katie another cottage to live in, rent-free, and give his job to a young Dubliner named Michael McBride (Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
). Darby begs Michael not to tell Katie that he is being replaced, to which Michael reluctantly agrees. That very night, Darby is captured by the leprechauns while chasing Cleopatra, his runaway horse (who is actually a Pooka
Pooka
Pooka may refer to*Pooka , British pop duo*Púca, faery creature of Celtic folklore*A race of rabbit-like beings in the video game Odin Sphere*An enemy in the Dig Dug series of games*Pooka, Anya's dog in Anastasia...
), on top of the fairy mountain Knocknasheega. Darby learns that King Brian has brought him into the mountain so that Darby can avoid the shameful admission to Katie about losing his job. However, Darby tricks the leprechauns into embarking on a fox hunt by playing "The Fox Chase" for them on a beautiful Stradivarius violin, loaned to him by King Brian. The leprechauns mount their tiny white horses and leave through a large crack in the mountainside wall, from which Darby escapes.
King Brian, angry for being made a fool of, comes to fetch Darby, and another battle of wits ensues over a jug of poitín
Poitín
Poitín , anglicised as poteen, is a traditional Irish distilled, highly alcoholic beverage . Poitín was traditionally distilled in a small pot still and the term is a diminutive of the Irish word pota, meaning "pot"...
. Darby traps King Brian by getting him so drunk that he does not notice the sunrise, which strips him of his powers until the next sunset. Trapped, Brian is forced to grant Darby three wishes before he can return home. Darby wisely makes his first wish be that King Brian not return to Knocknasheega, but to remain at his beck and call for a fortnight (two weeks), giving him time to think of two other, equally wise wishes. King Brian is furious, but forced to comply. The wily leprechaun king manages to trick Darby into (partially) wasting his second wish by appearing only as a rabbit in Darby's burlap sack, causing Darby unwittingly to say to Michael: "I wish you could see him [the King]". King Brian meets Darby halfway by appearing to both Michael and Katie in his true form in their dreams. Darby decides that he wants to use his third and last wish to ensure Katie's happiness. King Brian says to Darby that what Katie probably wants most of all is a "good, steady lad with temperate ways". Someone, in short, like Michael.
After a rocky beginning, Katie and Michael begin to show signs of growing affection for each other. Katie believes Michael is merely seasonal help, as her father could not bring himself to break the news of his retirement (and their imminent move). However, Michael has an arrogant rival in Pony Sugrue (Kieron Moore
Kieron Moore
Kieron Moore was an Irish film and television actor whose career was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s...
), the town bully with his eyes on both Katie and Michael's job.
Katie, angered at finding out the truth about her father's retirement from Pony's unpleasantly meddlesome mother (Estelle Winwood
Estelle Winwood
Estelle Winwood was an English stage and film actress who moved to the United States in mid-career and became celebrated for her longevity.-Early life and early career:...
), injures herself in a fall on Knocknasheega while trying to catch Cleopatra at night. The banshee
Banshee
The banshee , from the Irish bean sí is a feminine spirit in Irish mythology, usually seen as an omen of death and a messenger from the Otherworld....
appears, heralding Katie's death and sending the cóiste-bodhar
Death Coach
The death coach is part of the folklore of north western Europe. It is particularly strong in Ireland but is also found in British and American culture. In Irish folklore, it is known as the Cóiste Bodhar , meaning deaf or silent coach, and it is said that the sight or sound of the coach is the...
, a spectral coach driven by a dullahan
Dullahan
The Irish dullahan is a type of unseelie fairie. It is headless, usually seen riding a black horse and carrying his or her head under one arm. The head's eyes are massive and constantly dart about like flies, while the mouth is constantly in a hideous grin that touches both sides of the head...
, to carry her soul off to the land of the dead. Desperate, Darby elects to use his final wish to go in his daughter's place. King Brian is deeply saddened at Darby's wish, but grants it, but once Darby is on his way to the next world, King Brian reappears in the Death Coach and tricks Darby into making a final fourth wish ("wishing" that his friend could join him in the afterlife). This negates all the previous wishes and spares Darby's life. Darby is saved and King Brian has (literally) the last laugh in their running battle of wits.
Katie's fever has broken and she and Michael reveal their love for each other. Michael also fights Pony Sugrue at the pub; getting his just revenge for Pony's attempt to get him fired by clubbing him on the head and pouring whiskey all over him to make him appear drunken and incompetent. Michael soundly thrashes Pony and knocks him cold. Finally, Darby and Michael depart arm-in-arm, joining Katie outside in the wagon for a happy ending, with Michael and Katie singing a final duet together of "Pretty Irish Girl" (see below).
Cast
- Albert SharpeAlbert SharpeAlbert Sharpe was an Irish stage and film actor. His most famous roles were those of Disney's Darby O'Gill and the Little People and as Finian McLonergan in the Broadway stage production of the musical Finian's Rainbow...
as Darby O'Gill - Janet MunroJanet Munro-Career:Munro starred in three Disney motion picture releases, Darby O'Gill and the Little People , Third Man on the Mountain and Swiss Family Robinson , as well as The Horsemasters , which aired on Disney's weekly television series...
as Katie O'Gill - Sean ConnerySean ConnerySir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
as Michael McBride - Jimmy O'DeaJimmy O'DeaJames Augustine "Jimmy" O'Dea was an Irish actor and comedian.-Life:Jimmy O'Dea was born in Lower Bridge Street, Dublin, where his mother kept a small toy-shop. He was one of 11 children. His father was an iron-monger and had a shop in Capel Street. He was educated at Blackrock College and...
as King Brian - Kieron MooreKieron MooreKieron Moore was an Irish film and television actor whose career was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s...
as Pony Sugrue - Estelle WinwoodEstelle WinwoodEstelle Winwood was an English stage and film actress who moved to the United States in mid-career and became celebrated for her longevity.-Early life and early career:...
as Widow Sheelah Sugrue - Walter FitzgeraldWalter FitzgeraldWalter Fitzgerald was an English character actor.Born Walter Fitzgerald Bond in Keyham, Devon. Married 1st Rosalie Constance Grey in 1924.1s .2nd Angela Kirk in 1938. 3 sons 1 daughter....
as Lord Fitzpatrick - Denis O'DeaDenis O'DeaDenis O'Dea was an Irish stage and film actor.O'Dea was a leading member of Dublin's Abbey Theatre, where his work led to a number of notable film roles, including two mid-1930s John Ford films, The Informer and The Plough and the Stars , and the part of the police inspector in pursuit of IRA man...
as Father Murphy - Jack MacGowranJack MacGowranJohn Joseph "Jack" MacGowran was an Irish character actor, whose last film role was as the alcoholic director Burke Dennings in The Exorcist. He was probably best known for his work with Samuel Beckett.-Stage career:...
as Phadrig Oge (King Brian's adjutant)
Production
The film's development began with a visit to Ireland and the Irish Folklore Commission by Walt Disney and associates in 1947. The Disney company continued to liase with the Commission and its director, James Delargy, over the coming decade based on Disney's desire to use Irish folklore as the basis of a film but, to Delargy's disappointment, eventually decided to make an adaptation of Irish-American writer Herminone Templeton Kavanagh's 1903 collection of stories 'Darbie O'Gill and the Good People.'This is the film that first brought Sean Connery to the attention of producer Albert R. Broccoli
Albert R. Broccoli
Albert Romolo Broccoli, CBE , nicknamed "Cubby", was an American film producer, who made more than 40 motion pictures throughout his career, most of them in the United Kingdom, and often filmed at Pinewood Studios. Co-founder of Danjaq, LLC and EON Productions, Broccoli is most notable as the...
, who at the time was casting the first James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
film, Dr. No
Dr. No
Dr. No is the sixth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series, first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape on 31 March 1958. The story centres on Bond's investigation into the disappearance in Jamaica of a fellow MI6 operative, Commander John Strangways and his secretary, Mary Trueblood. He...
. Broccoli hired Connery on the recommendation of his wife, Dana Broccoli.
The Death Coach, or cóiste bodhar , acquired its name from a misunderstanding - 'bodhar' being the Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
word for 'deaf' rather than 'death', the misunderstanding presumably arose from differences of accent.
There are actually two versions of the film's soundtrack. Several of the original Irish actors' accents (notably Darby, Widow Sheelah Sugrue, King Brian, and the Leprechauns) were deemed too difficult for American audiences to understand and were consequently overdubbed
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
with easier-to-understand voices, possibly from different voice actors. The original soundtrack also contains some dialogue in Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
, especially from King Brian and his leprechaun subjects, which was subsequently changed in the overdubbed version to English alternatives. Both versions are used on television showings and also on DVD, although quite contrarily, the Region 1 US/Canada DVD contains the original undubbed soundtrack and the Region 2 PAL
PAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
disc uses the dubbed version.
Despite its setting, the bulk of the film was shot at Disney's ranch in Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
. Second unit footage from Ireland, combined with matte paintings by Peter Ellenshaw
Peter Ellenshaw
William "Peter" Ellenshaw was an Anglo-American matte designer and special effects creator who worked on many Disney features....
, helped present a seamless picture of late-nineteenth century Ireland.
Many of the scenes combining humans and Leprechauns used forced perspective
Forced perspective
Forced perspective is a technique that employs optical illusion to make an object appear farther away, closer, larger or smaller than it actually is. It is used primarily in photography, filmmaking and architecture...
, with the "Little People" much farther from the camera. This required stopping the camera's lens way down for adequate depth of field, and a consequent increase in lighting to compensate.
The duet "Pretty Irish Girl", apparently sung by Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
and Janet Munro
Janet Munro
-Career:Munro starred in three Disney motion picture releases, Darby O'Gill and the Little People , Third Man on the Mountain and Swiss Family Robinson , as well as The Horsemasters , which aired on Disney's weekly television series...
, has been alleged to feature dubbed vocals by Irish singers, Brendan O'Dowda
Brendan O'Dowda
Brendan O'Dowda was an Irish tenor who popularised the songs of Percy French.O'Dowda was born in Dundalk, County Louth and was educated at the De la Salle Brothers' school in the town. His early promise as a singer brought him to the attention of Dr. Vincent O'Brien, who had taught John McCormack...
and Ruby Murray
Ruby Murray
Ruby Murray was one of the most popular singers in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the 1950s. In 1955 alone, she secured seven Top 10 UK hit singles.-Child star:...
. A single of the duet was released in the UK. However, the deeper male vocal and breathy female vocal (which matches Munro’s a capella finish to the song, plainly recorded on set) performing the song in the American version of the film do not match the voices of O'Dowda (a tenor) nor Murray (a trained singer.) Connery does sing the song Pretty Irish Girl (with solo piano accompaniment) on the 1992 compilation The Music of Disney: A Legacy of Song, and in 1959 Top Rank released a single in the UK (catalog number JAR 163) which featured Connery and Munro singing the song.
Walt Disney devoted an episode of his show Disneyland to promoting the film, recruiting actors Sharpe and O'Dea to film special segments on the set with Disney, as well as Irish-American actor Pat O'Brien
Pat O'Brien (actor)
Pat O’Brien was an American film actor with more than one hundred screen credits.-Early life:O’Brien was born William Joseph Patrick O’Brien to an Irish-American Catholic family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as an altar boy at Gesu Church while growing up near 13th and Clybourn streets...
. The episode, "I Captured the King of the Leprechauns", marked the only known television appearance of both Sharpe and O'Dea.
Reception
On the film's initial release, A. H. Weiler of The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
praised the cast (save Connery whom he described as "merely tall, dark, and handsome") and thought the film an "overpoweringly charming concoction of standard Gaelic tall stories, fantasy and romance."
Film critic and historian Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
in his book The Disney Films, states, "Darby O'Gill and the Little People is not only one of Disney's best films, but is certainly one of the best fantasies ever put on film." Maltin rates the movie so highly that in a later article he included it among a list of lesser known outstanding Disney films.