'George' crew creates urban 'Jungle'

GOOD MORNING: Shakespeare said "All the world's a stage," but he never saw a stage as big as the one I visited Monday at Playa Del Rey on the former Howard Hughes hunting grounds, where the likes of the Spruce Goose and other planes, 'copters for Vietnam, etc., were built in Hughes' hangars. That's where Walt Disney Pictures has created its jungle for "George of the Jungle." DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg has visited the stage and David Geffen has been invited to also see what can be done on this one (of four) enormous stages. It is 750 feet long, 71 feet high at the peak, 90 feet wide. And what makes it even more attractive are its attached areas, where all facilities, dressing rooms, etc. are easily housed. I found the loin-clothed Brendan Fraser ("George") and his co-star, beautiful Leslie Mann (in jungle fatigues), by a waterfall. They were alongside elephant Tai (who thinks he's a dog, munching on a five-foot long Milk Bone), while a Toucan winged to Fraser's shoulder. There's also an ape who talks, and eventually hosts his own Vegas revue, and animatronic-created controlled creatures thanks to the work of Jim Henson's Creature Shop and DreamQuest Images The budget is in the $50 million class. "We're trying to make a big movie for a small price," said Jordan Kerner, whose banner, partnered with Jon Avnet, produces with David Hoberman. Hoberman, was seated alongside director Sam Weisman and cinematographer Tom Ackerman at the dual monitors. As human actors Fraser and Mann worked with the animals, Hoberman told me the two are optioned to do a second "George." Associate producer Terry Austin told me they all watched several old "Tarzan" pics, including "Tarzan and His Mate," in which Maureen O'Sullivan swam in the buff. Leslie Mann assured me there'll be no buff swimming for her -- after all, this is a Disney movie. Fraser is in Johnny Weismuller-like shape: not an ounce of fat. Between scenes, he works out with weights, which he hides in the brush. And to demonstrate another way he works out, he did pushups on the jungle floor with Mann astride him! Hoberman says "George" is a Disney movie in the "101 Dalmatians" (and "Jungle Book") mode of live action. "Joe Roth has turned live action into the successful movie form that (achieves what) animation has been doing all these years (at Disney)." Hoberman will also produce a Disney-ABC Sunday Night Movie, "Toothless." And follows the "George" feature with "The Negotiator," but not for Disney. ... To whet audiences' appetite for next summer's release, the "George" trailer starts showing Wednesday, in theaters playing "Dalmatians," in time for the Thanksgiving movie hordes. "George" is being primed for the same tie-up exploitation as "101." ... McDonald's is already set. And George's treehouse is already being talked for a spot in Disneyland. ... Director Sam Weisman maintains his cool while shooting by occasionally picking up the microphone and warbling a tune (he was a music major at Yale). Crew members make contributions in a plastic cup atop his monitors. In addition to the dollar bills was a note: "Don't give up your day job!"

HE THOUGHT HE WAS GOING to take Ted Turner and Jane Fonda on a tour of the Academy's Center for Motion Picture Study. However, Acad president Arthur Hiller arrived at the Center Saturday night to be surprised by a 40th-anni-in-the-biz party that his wife Gwen had arranged to follow his 73rd birthday the previous night (Nov. 22). Hiller was flabbergasted at the turnout of industry friends and co-workers who greeted him as he arrived. "I thought I was going to pass out," he admitted. Monty Hall m.c.'d the wishes and remarks. Phil Gersh, his agent of 39 years, said Hiller is like Will Rogers: "He never ate a cheeseburger he didn't like" -- his daily ritual. Gersh also recalled Hiller being pushed into doing "Love Story"; he had done two pix in a row and wanted a rest, so he "ran away" to Japan! But then agreed and for a lower-than-usual salary, in lieu of gross percentage. His first participation check was for $8 million. Amidst all the accolades, one cat was let out of the bag by screenwriter Leslie Dixon, who told of the battle between Bette Midler and Shelley Long on "Outrageous Fortune"(1987). Hiller had to bicycle between the ladies' two trailers to keep peace. Hiller is now directing '"An Alan Smithee Film" and completed a scene acting with Joe Eszterhas. "I don't know how directors like Woody Allen can direct themselves," Hiller admitted after doing the scene. (His next pic is "Hunger Point" for New Regency, about a dysfunctional family.) The list of friends toasting Hiller included past Acad presidents Bob Wise and Karl Malden, co-workers, Saul Chaplin, Marty Ransohoff, Walter Mirisch, Walter Grauman, Walter Shenson, Hal Kanter, Joe Kanter, Bill Sackheim, A.J. Carothers, Steve Martin, Jim Coburn, Dick Benjamin, Dick Fleischer, Chuck Fries, Ernest Lehman (engaged to wed Laurene Sherman), Terry Moore, Peter Mark Richman, Esther Williams, George Sidney, Elmer Bernstein, and Guy Green. Bethany Owen Morgan sang Francis Lai's greetings: Lai's "Where Do I Begin?" theme from "Love Story." As the evening's speeches wound, the Acad's Bruce Davis invited those industry veterans who'd never seen the Acad's Center to feel free to tour. ... Celebs will serve at the first "Kids Cafe" this afternoon to launch the Thanksgiving week sponsored by Children's Action Network and L.A. Regional Food Bank at the Mar Vista Family Center. ... And for the 18th year the Laugh Factory's Jamie Masada serves free Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner for struggling members of the showbiz community.