Summer means a lot of things to various people. For theme park buffs, it’s a chance to enjoy the parks and their fun, but most are focused on sports, mainly baseball. Everyone has their favorite teams, and a good job showcasing them.
Yet it’s interesting to look back 30 years at a Disney movie whose baseball theme ended up being hit by unique timing. More importantly, it inspired Disney to get into the MLB game for real and boost a team to its biggest success. It’s still bizarre to see just how 1994’s Angels in the Outfield got Disney more into the sports game.
Disney’s sports history is unique
Disney and sports generally didn’t go together outside of movies and the occasional sports-themed outfits for Disney park characters. That shifted a bit with 1992’s The Mighty Ducks, which became a surprise box office hit. Its popularity came as Michael Eisner was trying to spread Disney to other parts of entertainment.
That led to Disney creating an actual Mighty Ducks NHL team, which, despite doubts at the time, continues to endure, even winning the Stanley Cup in 2007. They were also building what became the World of Sports complex to provide training for everything from MLB to NASCAR, and so they looked forward to more sports-themed entertainment.
As it happened, baseball movies were becoming more popular in the early 1990s, and there was an odd trend of a kid somehow becoming a star for the team, like Rookie of the Year. So Disney brushed off an old 1951 film with its own magic.
An Angels in the Outfield primer
Released on July 15, 1994, Angels in the Outfield focuses on young Roger (a then-unknown Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a foster kid who sneaks into games by the California Angels who (just as they were in real life at the time) dwell in the cellar as a bad team. A memorable early moment has manager George (Danny Glover) flying into a tirade in the clubhouse against the players, including Tony Danza, who is an aged pitcher.
When Roger’s dad walks out on him, Roger asks when they’ll be a family again, and the dad replies, “When the Angels win the pennant.” Not grasping the sarcasm, Roger prays that somehow this happens. When watching a game, he’s stunned when a pair of winged angels fly down to help pull off an impossible save. Enter Al (Christopher Lloyd), who explains that only Roger can see and hear the angels.
The team is soon on a “miraculous” run with some fun special effects. When Roger tells George about them, George naturally doesn’t believe it at first but comes around and when it gets out, the public rallies around the team. It leads to a big pennant-clinching win and a surprisingly warm ending for Roger.
The movie was okay at the box office, making $50 million against a $30 million budget. It did inspire a mini-franchise of direct-to-video sequels playing on football and basketball. Of course, it was notable for the timing, as, at that moment, baseball was hot with several great races and records going around. However, just a month later, MLB had the infamous players strike that canceled the last half of the season and the World Series, making Angels one of the few baseball things to enjoy in late summer.
How Disney bought the Angels
As it happened, Disney’s connection to the Angels had gone back all the way to when they were an expansion team founded by country star Gene Autry in 1961. Walt Disney himself served on its board from 1960 to his death in 1966. It was Walt who encouraged the Angels to move from Los Angeles (where they had to compete with the Dodgers) to Anaheim.
The team had its ups and downs, with a run by Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan, and won the American League West division in 1979. Sadly, the 1980s had the Angels be the classic case of a team with terrific players and good seasons but just couldn’t close it out with playoff wins. The 1990s were far worse, notably in 1995 when the Angels blew an 11-game lead to lose the division.
That same year, the Disney Company made a huge buy of 25% of the team. The first big move was a much-needed renovation of Edison International stadium to be baseball-only. They also had a few redesigns of the team logo which…well, let’s just say didn’t go over very well.
It took Autry dying in 1998 for Disney to take full ownership of the team. Tony Travares was made president with Bill Stoneman as general manager who quickly went about updating the team, cutting loose older players and looking for brighter talent. They also officially became the Anaheim Angels.
It was in 2002 that it all came together. Thanks to the odd presence of the “Rally Monkey” mascot, a top-notch roster, and good management by Mike Scioscia, the Angels finished the season 99-63. They then shocked everyone by crushing the supposedly unbeatable New York Yankees and the Minnesota Twins. That set up the World Series, where, despite being heavy underdogs, the Angels defeated the favored San Francisco Giants in 7 games.
Disney naturally took advantage (and not just with a Disneyland parade), hyping the team’s success. One would think having a championship team under their banner would have meant a long and fruitful partnership. However, this happened to be around the time when Disney was undergoing a huge behind-the-scenes shift with Michael Eisner departing and finances rough.
There's also how Disney often seemed to not grasp the complexities of owning a sports team with so many players, agents, and MLB representatives involved. So, despite the team’s championship, Disney sold its stake in it to Arturo “Art” Moreno in 2003. Two years later, Disney sold the Ducks to Henry Samueli to end their run in major sports ownership.
The Angels since have seen ups and downs from a controversial name change that kicked off a lawsuit to good seasons with stars like Albert Pujols but haven’t reached the postseason in a decade. However, the company still has ties as you can see Disney-themed Angels merchandise around and they often do special souvenir nights for games.
Maybe Disney just wasn’t meant for full sports ownership of a team yet it’s intriguing to see how their influence did aid the Angels, both in prominence and, more importantly, getting the team a World Series championship. Any Angels fan owes a lot to Disney, and it is fascinating how one 1994 movie paved the way for the Angels to soar high in baseball.
Angels in the Outfield streaming on Disney+.