A: Make your way down to Old Mill Park on Friday, Oct. 10 for a free outdoor film screening of a classic animated gem, all while sitting on a blanket in a grove of massive redwood trees with the stars above. Sound like a plan?
The Movies in the Park series, which kicked off Sept. 12 with a screening of The Lego Movie and drew more than 150 kids and parents, returns to Old Mill Park on Oct. 10 with a free outdoor film screening of Hoppity Goes to Town, the delightful 1941 animated film by the Fleischer Brothers–a takeoff on Jimmy Stewart films that will have everyone swinging to jazz and crooning love songs.
The event is a collaboration between the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce, City of Mill Valley’s Recreation Department and the California Film Institute. It will feature free snacks from O Baby Bar, and some additional snacks will be for sale by Mill Valley Recreation with proceeds going to benefit community programs.
Jenny Rogers, the City’s Recreation Director, says the Oct. 10 event “looks to be the perfect compliment to our September 12 event in the form of a classic animation meets Mill Valley nostalgia. We look forward to partnering with the Chamber of Commerce and the California Institute in bringing more outdoor free movie events to the community in the years to come.”
“We’re delighted to be working with our friends at the City and CFI to create what will be a fantastic event in a truly spectacular setting,” Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Paula Reynolds says. “Events like this bring our community together, stimulate our local economy and deepens the Mill Valley Film Festival’s ties to the town from which it derives its name.”
John Morrison, the California Film Institute’s Education Director and MVFF’s Children’s Programmer, says the venue “amidst the redwoods in Mill Valley has always been a favorite spot of mine, so working with the Recreation department, the city of Mill Valley and the Chamber to produce a film event there has been such a pleasure all around.”
Morrison says he chose Hoppity Goes To Town “because it embodies the best in family entertainment as well as the height of the craft of animation. Many people have warm memories of seeing this classic, but it is revived so seldom since the quality of the prints has been spotty. I think audiences will appreciate this funny, smart and musically swingin’ movie in this new restored print.”
The 411: Movies in the Park’s free outdoor screening of Hoppity Goes to Town on Friday, Oct. 10 begins at 8pm, in Old Mill Park, 17 Cascade Way, Mill Valley. A pre-show kicking off at 7:30pm, including a screening of Mill Valley Redux, filmmaker Tiffany Shlain’s homage to Rita Abrams’ classic song with her 4th grade class at Strawberry Point Elementary School. No ticket required. General admission seating. Please bring your own blanket or low beach chair.