Disney

Some 45 million Americans identify themselves as Irish — odd, considering that only six million people live on the whole of Erin’s Isle — but it may help explain why so many classic movies have an Irish focus.

Two new movies feature characters whose lives change when they try on mysterious shoes. A third film treads a well-worn path to mediocrity.

Bill Murray is the latest celeb announced for the cast of Disney's new live-action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book. He'll be the voice of Baloo, the lovable bear who became popular after singing the Bare Necessities in Disney's 1967 animated version.

Thanksgiving weekend is a wonderful chance to hang with your family-and when you've had enough of that, you might want to escape to the movies. The weather is going to be terrible in the Eastern U.S. the next few days; all the more reason to catch up on some of the best films of the season.

Think of Disney technical virtuoso Roger Broggie Jr. as a real-life version of Geppetto, the fictional woodcarver who carved a puppet that came to life. But instead of Pinocchio, Broggie helped create such magical figures as the robotic buccaneers in Disneyland's Pirates of the Caribbean ride, a…

Most of us who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s remember Don Grady as Robbie Douglas, originally the frustrated middle sibling and later the wise big brother in the all-male Douglas clan in the long-running TV sitcom My Three Sons, which aired from 1960 to 1972  on ABC and later on CBS.

Some 45 million Americans identify themselves as Irish-weird, when you consider only six million people live on the whole of Erin's Isle-but perhaps that explains why so many classic movies have an Irish focus.

This is a guest post by Stephen Anfield. Stephen is currently working as the Benefits Outreach Project Coordinator at the AARP Foundation. He organizes the Benefits Access QuickLink volunteers and National Call Center.