I think Walt Disney just liked the films of the studio era and used some of the old stars and character actors – Keenan Wynn, Walter Pidgeon, Leon Ames, Greer Garson, Jean Hagen, Robert Taylor, Lillian Gish, Charles Ruggles, Alan Carney, Cecil Kellaway, etc.

Incidentally – and a spoiler is coming up – one of my favorite movie lines is from Murder He Says. Grandma (Mabel Paige) convinces Fred that her family is plotting to murder her. Marjorie Main doesn’t deny it or act defensive. “What’s the matter?” she asks Paige. “Do you want to live forever?”

Thanks for mentioning Father was a Fullback. I saw it a couple of years ago, could remember the cast, and the plot,but not the title. I think your theory is correct, in that the films MacMurray did where he portrayed a father, or a comedic role, gave Disney his idea to cast Fred MacMurray as the perfect dad for those movies. The remake of Flubber a couple of years ago by Disney, starring Robin Williams really can’t measure up to the original, in my opinion.