Movie Making - Disney's Golden Oak Movie Ranch

Pioneer filmmaker Trem Carr owned what he called the Placeritos Ranch at the same site as early as 1922. He created a Western movie town using wood from old buildings in Nevada which became the site for his productions. His set designer, Ernest Hickson acquired the buildings and established what would become the Monogram and later Melody Ranch. Walt Disney leased the property in the mid-1950s for filming "Spin and Marty" and segments of "The Mickey Mouse Club" television show. Disney purchased the ranch in 1959 and expanded his ranch to 700 acres. Disney’s Golden Oak doubled also served a working cattle ranch. In the 1970’s CalTrans proposed that the new Antelope Valley Freeway (SR 14) be built on the property but Disney and the State Parks convinced them them to wrap the freeway behind a nearby mountain. The ranch has been the site for portions many movies including “Roots II”, “Little House on the Prairie”, and “North and South”.Newhall Pass, between the two benches, has also been the site of early movie making. Beale's Cut, made for early stage coach traffic, appeared in many silent western movies. The location became a favorite of movie producers like John Ford and D. W. Griffith. John Ford used the location in at least four films beginning in 1917. In Ford's 1923 film, “Three Jumps Ahead”, film actor Tom Mix is filmed jumping over the pass. The pass is now a registered California Historical Landmark. The photo of Beale’s Cut was scanned by a negative taken by this website's author’s great grandfather, Frank Bohanon.