Disney anthology television series
Encyclopedia
The Walt Disney anthology television series refers to a television series which has been produced by the Walt Disney Company under several different titles from 1955 to 2008. These include Disneyland (1954-1958), Walt Disney Presents (1958-1961), Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1961-1969), The Wonderful World of Disney (1969-1979), Disney's Wonderful World (1979-1981), Walt Disney (1981-1983), The Disney Sunday Movie (1986-1988), The Magical World of Disney (1988-1996), and finally back to The Wonderful World of Disney (1997-2008).
The first incarnation of the show premiered on ABC
, Wednesday night, October 27, 1954. The same basic show has since appeared on several networks. The series finale aired Christmas Eve 2008 on ABC. The show is the second longest showing prime-time program on American television, behind its rival, Hallmark Hall of Fame
(see List of longest running U.S. primetime television series). However, Hallmark Hall of Fame was a weekly program only during its first five seasons, while Disney remained a weekly program for more than thirty years.
himself, the series presented animated cartoon
s and other material (some original, some pre-existing) from the studio library. The show originally even featured one-hour edits of such then-recent Disney films as Alice in Wonderland
, and in other cases, telecasts of complete Disney films split into two or more one-hour episodes. Occasionally, a more educational segment, such as The Story of the Animated Drawing
, would be featured.
craze of 1955 with the three-episode series (not shown in three consecutive weeks) about the historical American frontiersman, starring Fess Parker
in the title role. Millions of dollars of merchandise were sold relating to the title character, and the theme song, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett
", was a hit record that year. Three historically-based hour-long shows aired in late 1954/early 1955, and were followed up by two dramatized installments the following year. The TV episodes were edited into two theatrical films later on.
On July 17, 1955, the opening of Disneyland was covered on a live television special, Dateline: Disneyland, which is not technically considered to be part of the series. It was hosted by Walt along with Bob Cummings, Art Linkletter
, Ronald Reagan
, and featured various other guests.
In the fall of 1958, the series was re-titled, "Walt Disney Presents", and moved to Friday nights, but by 1960, it switched to Sunday nights, where it would remain for twenty-one years.
(voiced by Paul Frees
), a bumbling professor with a thick German accent, and uncle of Donald Duck
. Von Drake was the first Disney character created specifically for television.
Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966, twelve years after the anthology series premiered. While the broadcast three days after his death had a memorial tribute from NBC
news anchor Chet Huntley
and film & TV star Dick Van Dyke
, the intros Walt already filmed before his death continued to air for the rest of the season. After that, the studio decided that Walt's persona as host was such a key part of the show's appeal to viewers that the host segment was dropped. The series, retitled, "The Wonderful World of Disney", in September 1969, continued to get solid ratings, often in the Top 20, until the mid-1970s.
In 1976, Disney showed its hit 1961 film The Parent Trap on television for the first time, as a two-hour special. This was a major step in broadcasting for the studio, which had never shown one of its more popular films on television in a two-hour time slot (although they had shown their 1972 film Napoleon and Samantha
as a two-hour TV program in 1975). A slightly edited version of the Disney classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
made its television debut as a two-hour special on NBC later that same year.
The show's continued ratings success in the post-Walt era came to an end in the 1975–1976 season. At this time, Walt Disney Productions was facing a decline in fortunes due to falling box-office revenues, while NBC as a whole was slipping in the ratings as well. The show became even more dependent on airings of live-action theatrical features, its True-Life Adventures, reruns of older episodes, and cartoon compilations. Nothing from the Disney animated features canon aired except Alice in Wonderland
and Dumbo
. However, in an era when cable TV was in its infancy and VCRs did not exist, this was the only way to see Disney material that was not re-released to theaters. Additionally, in 1975, when CBS regained the broadcast rights to MGM's film The Wizard of Oz
, it was scheduled opposite Disney as it had been between 1960 and 1968. At that time, telecasts of that film were highly-rated annual events which largely attracted the same family audience as the Disney series. From 1968 to 1975, when NBC owned the rights to Oz, (which it had bought from CBS in 1967) it usually pre-empted Disney to show it. However, the show's stiffest weekly competition came from CBS's newsmagazine 60 Minutes.
In 1975, an amendment to the Prime Time Access Rule
gave the Sunday 7:00 P.M. ET slot back to the networks, allowing NBC to move Disney back a half hour. It also allowed CBS to schedule 60 Minutes at 7:00 P.M. ET starting December 7; before this, 60 Minutes had been telecast at 6:00 P.M. ET and did not begin its seasons until after the NFL football season ended. Disney fell out of the Top 30 while 60 Minutes saw its ratings rise greatly. In September 1979, the studio agreed to the network's request for changes. The show shortened its name to, "Disney's Wonderful World", updated the opening sequence with a computer-generated logo and disco
-flavored theme song, but kept the format largely the same. After comparing the ratings strength of 60 Minutes to the continuing problems of this show; low ratings, less and less original material, and frequent pre-emptions, NBC cancelled Disney in 1981.
on cable TV. While ratings were a factor, the final decision to end the show came from then-company CEO E. Cardon Walker, who felt that having both the show and the new channel active would cannibalize each other.
After the studio underwent a change in management, the series was revived on ABC as a two-hour program beginning February 2, 1986, under the title, "The Disney Sunday Movie" (in the summer, the series was temporarily titled, "Disney Summer Classics"), with new CEO Michael Eisner
hosting. Eisner was not the first choice. Many names were considered including Julie Andrews
, Dick Van Dyke, Cary Grant
(who was asked but turned it down), Tom Hanks
(Eisner felt he was "too young" and turned him down), Walter Cronkite
, Roy E. Disney
(who closely resembled his uncle), and even Mickey Mouse
. Eisner was persuaded to do it. He was not a performer, but after making a test video with his wife Jane and a member of his executive team (which required multiple takes), the studio believed he could do it. He hired Michael Kay, a director of political commercials for then-U.S. Senator Bill Bradley
, to help him improve his on-camera performance.
The Disney Sunday Movie offered more original programming and a larger selection of library films than the Disney program had in the last few years of its original run, including another animated canon entry, 1973's Robin Hood
. However, it still faced heavy competition from CBS; not only from 60 Minutes but now from the top-rated Murder, She Wrote
at 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time. In the fall of 1987, ABC cut the show down to an hour. It moved back to NBC in 1988 under the new title The Magical World of Disney, where the competition problems it faced on ABC remained unchanged. NBC cancelled the show in 1990, and the title was used as a Sunday night umbrella for movies and specials on The Disney Channel from then until 1996; Eisner continued to host. The old name of The Wonderful World of Disney was used throughout the early part of the decade on many network specials.
, ABC Family Channel, and Disney Channel
via separate broadcast rights deals. The show aired during the television midseason and/or the summer as an anthology series similar to Hallmark Hall of Fame with features such as the 2005 made-for-TV movie version of Once Upon a Mattress
or commercial TV broadcasts of various films. The series finale aired Wednesday 8:00 P.M. ET on December 24, 2008, with a presentation of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Reruns of the shows were a staple of The Disney Channel
for several years under the title Walt Disney Presents (which used the same title sequence as the 1980s CBS incarnation), when it was an outlet for vintage Disney cartoons, TV shows and movies, basically serving the same function that the anthology series served in the days before cable. The original opening titles were restored to the episodes in the late 1990s. When the channel purged all vintage material as of September 16, 2002, this show went with it. However, a few select episodes can be found on VHS or DVD (some being exclusive to the Disney Movie Club), with the possibility of more being issued in the future.
Recently, live-action Disney films from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s have been telecast commercial-free, uncut and letterbox
ed on Turner Classic Movies
.
All of the episodes and existing material used in the series through 1996 are listed in the book The Wonderful World of Disney Television, by Bill Cotter (Hyperion Books, 1997 ISBN 0-7868-6359-5.)
and Darby O'Gill and the Little People
. Some programs focused on the art and technology of animation itself.
Later original programs consisted of dramatizations of other historical figures and legends along the lines of the Davy Crockett
mini-series. These included Daniel Boone
(not the Fess Parker
characterization), Texas John Slaughter
, Elfego Baca
, Francis Marion
, the "Swamp Fox", and Kit Carson and the Mountain Man (1977), with Christopher Connelly as Kit Carson
, Robert Reed
as John C. Fremont
, and Gregg Palmer
as mountain man Jim Bridger
.
Also included were nature and animal programs similar to the True-Life Adventures released in theatres, as well as various dramatic installments which were either one part or two, but sometimes more.
This format remained basically unchanged through the 1980s, though new material was scarce in later years.
When the show was revived in 1986, the format was similar to a movie-of-the-week, with family-oriented TV movies from the studio making up much of the material. Theatrical films were also shown, but with the advent of cable television
and home video
, they were not as popular. The 1997 revival followed this format as well, with rare exceptions. A miniseries entitled Little House on the Prairie
ran for several weeks under the TWWOD banner. Incidentally, this ABC revival included some non-Disney family films under the banner, such as 20th Century Fox
's The Sound of Music
and Warner Bros.
' Harry Potter
films, as well as television films such as Princess of Thieves
from Granada Productions
, and the 2001 remake of Brian's Song
from Sony Pictures Television
.
and Song of the South
. Though it has been re-released to U.S. theatres several times, and the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
and Tar Baby segments have been shown on television, Song of the South has never been released on VHS or an authorized DVD in the U.S., due to the company's unease over the portrayal of Uncle Remus
, a key black
character in the film. No reason has been given for the withholding of Fantasia for telecast. Nearly all of the segments of Fantasia
have been shown on television separately on the Disney TV program, notably The Sorcerer's Apprentice, as well as the uncensored Pastoral Symphony, but never the entire film with all its animated segments from start to finish.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
never aired in its entirety until it was telecast on February 14, 2010 on ABC Family
, nearly 56 years after the beginning of the first Disney anthology show.
The first incarnation of the show premiered on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, Wednesday night, October 27, 1954. The same basic show has since appeared on several networks. The series finale aired Christmas Eve 2008 on ABC. The show is the second longest showing prime-time program on American television, behind its rival, Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
(see List of longest running U.S. primetime television series). However, Hallmark Hall of Fame was a weekly program only during its first five seasons, while Disney remained a weekly program for more than thirty years.
Overview
Originally hosted by Walt DisneyWalt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
himself, the series presented animated cartoon
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
s and other material (some original, some pre-existing) from the studio library. The show originally even featured one-hour edits of such then-recent Disney films as Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)
Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and based primarily on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a few additional elements from Through the Looking-Glass. Thirteenth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film was released in New...
, and in other cases, telecasts of complete Disney films split into two or more one-hour episodes. Occasionally, a more educational segment, such as The Story of the Animated Drawing
The Story of the Animated Drawing
"The Story of the Animated Drawing" is an episode of the Disneyland television program. Originally aired in 1955, it shows Walt Disney explaining the history of animation throughout the ages, starting back in prehistoric days and working its way up to some primitive mechanical animation...
, would be featured.
1950s
The show spawned the Davy CrockettDavy Crockett
David "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
craze of 1955 with the three-episode series (not shown in three consecutive weeks) about the historical American frontiersman, starring Fess Parker
Fess Parker
Fess Elisha Parker, Jr. was an American film and television actor best known for his portrayals of Davy Crockett in the Walt Disney 1955-56 TV mini-series and as TV's Daniel Boone from 1964-70...
in the title role. Millions of dollars of merchandise were sold relating to the title character, and the theme song, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett
The Ballad of Davy Crockett
"The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is a song with music by George Bruns and lyrics by Thomas W. Blackburn.The first recording of the song was made by Fess Parker, quickly followed by versions by Bill Hayes and Tennessee Ernie Ford...
", was a hit record that year. Three historically-based hour-long shows aired in late 1954/early 1955, and were followed up by two dramatized installments the following year. The TV episodes were edited into two theatrical films later on.
On July 17, 1955, the opening of Disneyland was covered on a live television special, Dateline: Disneyland, which is not technically considered to be part of the series. It was hosted by Walt along with Bob Cummings, Art Linkletter
Art Linkletter
Arthur Gordon "Art" Linkletter was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of House Party, which ran on CBS radio and television for 25 years, and People Are Funny, on NBC radio-TV for 19 years...
, Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
, and featured various other guests.
In the fall of 1958, the series was re-titled, "Walt Disney Presents", and moved to Friday nights, but by 1960, it switched to Sunday nights, where it would remain for twenty-one years.
1960s and 1970s
The series moved to NBC on September 24, 1961 to take advantage of that network's ability to broadcast in color. In addition, Walt Disney's relationship with ABC had soured as the network resisted selling its stake in the theme park before doing so in 1960. In a display of foresight, Disney had filmed many of the earlier shows in color, so they were able to be repeated on NBC, and since most of Disney's feature-length films were also made in color, they could now also be telecast in that format. To emphasize the new feature, the series was re-dubbed, "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color", and retained that moniker until 1969. The first NBC episode even dealt with the principles of color, as explained by a new character named Ludwig Von DrakeLudwig Von Drake
Professor Ludwig von Drake is one of Walt Disney's cartoon and comic book characters. He was first introduced on September 24, 1961, as the presenter in the cartoon An Adventure in Color, part of the first show of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color on NBC...
(voiced by Paul Frees
Paul Frees
Paul Frees was an American voice actor and character actor.-Biography:He was born Solomon Hersh Frees in Chicago...
), a bumbling professor with a thick German accent, and uncle of Donald Duck
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
. Von Drake was the first Disney character created specifically for television.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
news anchor Chet Huntley
Chet Huntley
Chester Robert "Chet" Huntley was an American television newscaster, best known for co-anchoring NBC's evening news program, The Huntley-Brinkley Report, for 14 years beginning in 1956.-Early life:...
and film & TV star Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...
, the intros Walt already filmed before his death continued to air for the rest of the season. After that, the studio decided that Walt's persona as host was such a key part of the show's appeal to viewers that the host segment was dropped. The series, retitled, "The Wonderful World of Disney", in September 1969, continued to get solid ratings, often in the Top 20, until the mid-1970s.
In 1976, Disney showed its hit 1961 film The Parent Trap on television for the first time, as a two-hour special. This was a major step in broadcasting for the studio, which had never shown one of its more popular films on television in a two-hour time slot (although they had shown their 1972 film Napoleon and Samantha
Napoleon and Samantha
Napoleon and Samantha is a 1972 family/adventure/drama directed by Bernard McEveety and written by Stewart Raffill. Filmed in and around John Day, Oregon, it stars Michael Douglas, Jodie Foster, and Johnny Whitaker.-Plot:...
as a two-hour TV program in 1975). A slightly edited version of the Disney classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1954 adventure film starring Kirk Douglas as Ned Land, James Mason as Captain Nemo, Paul Lukas as Professor Pierre Aronnax, and Peter Lorre as Conseil. It was the first science fiction film produced by Walt Disney Productions, as well as the only science-fiction...
made its television debut as a two-hour special on NBC later that same year.
The show's continued ratings success in the post-Walt era came to an end in the 1975–1976 season. At this time, Walt Disney Productions was facing a decline in fortunes due to falling box-office revenues, while NBC as a whole was slipping in the ratings as well. The show became even more dependent on airings of live-action theatrical features, its True-Life Adventures, reruns of older episodes, and cartoon compilations. Nothing from the Disney animated features canon aired except Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)
Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and based primarily on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a few additional elements from Through the Looking-Glass. Thirteenth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film was released in New...
and Dumbo
Dumbo
Dumbo is a 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released on October 23, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures.The fourth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, Dumbo is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a...
. However, in an era when cable TV was in its infancy and VCRs did not exist, this was the only way to see Disney material that was not re-released to theaters. Additionally, in 1975, when CBS regained the broadcast rights to MGM's film The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
, it was scheduled opposite Disney as it had been between 1960 and 1968. At that time, telecasts of that film were highly-rated annual events which largely attracted the same family audience as the Disney series. From 1968 to 1975, when NBC owned the rights to Oz, (which it had bought from CBS in 1967) it usually pre-empted Disney to show it. However, the show's stiffest weekly competition came from CBS's newsmagazine 60 Minutes.
In 1975, an amendment to the Prime Time Access Rule
Prime Time Access Rule
The Prime Time Access Rule was instituted by the Federal Communications Commission in 1970 to restrict the amount of network broadcast programming that a local television station, Owned-and-operated station by or affiliated with a television network may air during "prime time"...
gave the Sunday 7:00 P.M. ET slot back to the networks, allowing NBC to move Disney back a half hour. It also allowed CBS to schedule 60 Minutes at 7:00 P.M. ET starting December 7; before this, 60 Minutes had been telecast at 6:00 P.M. ET and did not begin its seasons until after the NFL football season ended. Disney fell out of the Top 30 while 60 Minutes saw its ratings rise greatly. In September 1979, the studio agreed to the network's request for changes. The show shortened its name to, "Disney's Wonderful World", updated the opening sequence with a computer-generated logo and disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
-flavored theme song, but kept the format largely the same. After comparing the ratings strength of 60 Minutes to the continuing problems of this show; low ratings, less and less original material, and frequent pre-emptions, NBC cancelled Disney in 1981.
1980s
CBS picked up the program in the fall of 1981 and moved it to Saturday night at 8:00 P.M. Despite more elaborate credits and yet another title — now simply, "Walt Disney" — the format remained unchanged. It lasted two years there, its end coinciding with the birth of The Disney ChannelDisney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
on cable TV. While ratings were a factor, the final decision to end the show came from then-company CEO E. Cardon Walker, who felt that having both the show and the new channel active would cannibalize each other.
After the studio underwent a change in management, the series was revived on ABC as a two-hour program beginning February 2, 1986, under the title, "The Disney Sunday Movie" (in the summer, the series was temporarily titled, "Disney Summer Classics"), with new CEO Michael Eisner
Michael Eisner
Michael Dammann Eisner is an American businessman. He was the chief executive officer of The Walt Disney Company from 1984 until 2005.-Early life:...
hosting. Eisner was not the first choice. Many names were considered including Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
, Dick Van Dyke, Cary Grant
Cary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
(who was asked but turned it down), Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
(Eisner felt he was "too young" and turned him down), Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
, Roy E. Disney
Roy E. Disney
Roy Edward Disney, KCSG was a longtime senior executive for The Walt Disney Company, which his father Roy Oliver Disney and his uncle Walt Disney founded. At the time of his death he was a shareholder , and served as a consultant for the company and Director Emeritus for the Board of Directors...
(who closely resembled his uncle), and even Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
. Eisner was persuaded to do it. He was not a performer, but after making a test video with his wife Jane and a member of his executive team (which required multiple takes), the studio believed he could do it. He hired Michael Kay, a director of political commercials for then-U.S. Senator Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley
William Warren "Bill" Bradley is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former three-term Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in the 2000 election.Bradley was born and raised in a suburb of St....
, to help him improve his on-camera performance.
The Disney Sunday Movie offered more original programming and a larger selection of library films than the Disney program had in the last few years of its original run, including another animated canon entry, 1973's Robin Hood
Robin Hood (1973 film)
Robin Hood is an 1973 American animated film produced by the Walt Disney Productions, first released in the United States on November 8, 1973...
. However, it still faced heavy competition from CBS; not only from 60 Minutes but now from the top-rated Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
at 8:00 P.M. Eastern Time. In the fall of 1987, ABC cut the show down to an hour. It moved back to NBC in 1988 under the new title The Magical World of Disney, where the competition problems it faced on ABC remained unchanged. NBC cancelled the show in 1990, and the title was used as a Sunday night umbrella for movies and specials on The Disney Channel from then until 1996; Eisner continued to host. The old name of The Wonderful World of Disney was used throughout the early part of the decade on many network specials.
1990s and 2000s
The series was revived once again on ABC in 1997, one year after Disney purchased ABC. Again called "The Wonderful World of Disney", it ran on Sundays until 2003, when it moved to Saturday night; it continued in that time slot until 2008 (airing in the midseason of 2005–2006 and the summers of 2007 and 2008). Since 2005, Disney features have been split between ABC, NBC, the Hallmark ChannelHallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel is a cable television network that broadcasts across the United States. Their programming includes a mix of television movies/miniseries, syndicated series, and lifestyle shows that are appropriate for the whole family...
, ABC Family Channel, and Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
via separate broadcast rights deals. The show aired during the television midseason and/or the summer as an anthology series similar to Hallmark Hall of Fame with features such as the 2005 made-for-TV movie version of Once Upon a Mattress
Once Upon a Mattress
Once Upon a Mattress is a musical comedy with music by Mary Rodgers, lyrics by Marshall Barer and book by Jay Thompson, Dean Fuller, and Marshall Barer. It opened off-Broadway in May 1959, and then moved to Broadway...
or commercial TV broadcasts of various films. The series finale aired Wednesday 8:00 P.M. ET on December 24, 2008, with a presentation of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Reruns
Around the same time as the 1980s ABC and NBC incarnations aired, reruns of older Disney episodes, airing under the Wonderful World of Disney banner, were syndicated to local stations in the United States.Reruns of the shows were a staple of The Disney Channel
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
for several years under the title Walt Disney Presents (which used the same title sequence as the 1980s CBS incarnation), when it was an outlet for vintage Disney cartoons, TV shows and movies, basically serving the same function that the anthology series served in the days before cable. The original opening titles were restored to the episodes in the late 1990s. When the channel purged all vintage material as of September 16, 2002, this show went with it. However, a few select episodes can be found on VHS or DVD (some being exclusive to the Disney Movie Club), with the possibility of more being issued in the future.
Recently, live-action Disney films from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s have been telecast commercial-free, uncut and letterbox
Letterbox
Letterboxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio. The resulting videographic image has mattes above and below it; these mattes are part of the image...
ed on Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
.
All of the episodes and existing material used in the series through 1996 are listed in the book The Wonderful World of Disney Television, by Bill Cotter (Hyperion Books, 1997 ISBN 0-7868-6359-5.)
Format
The original format consisted of a balance of theatrical cartoons, live-action features, and informational material. Much of the original informational material was to create awareness for Disneyland. In spite of being essentially ads for the park, entertainment value was emphasized as well to make the shows palatable. Some informational shows were made to promote upcoming studio feature films such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film)
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1954 adventure film starring Kirk Douglas as Ned Land, James Mason as Captain Nemo, Paul Lukas as Professor Pierre Aronnax, and Peter Lorre as Conseil. It was the first science fiction film produced by Walt Disney Productions, as well as the only science-fiction...
and Darby O'Gill and the Little People
Darby O'Gill and the Little People
Darby O'Gill and the Little People is a 1959 Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, Sean Connery and Jimmy O'Dea, in a tale about a wily Irishman and his battle of wits with leprechauns. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and its screenplay written by...
. Some programs focused on the art and technology of animation itself.
Later original programs consisted of dramatizations of other historical figures and legends along the lines of the Davy Crockett
Davy Crockett
David "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
mini-series. These included Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone
Daniel Boone was an American pioneer, explorer, and frontiersman whose frontier exploits mad']'e him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. Boone is most famous for his exploration and settlement of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky, which was then beyond the western borders of...
(not the Fess Parker
Fess Parker
Fess Elisha Parker, Jr. was an American film and television actor best known for his portrayals of Davy Crockett in the Walt Disney 1955-56 TV mini-series and as TV's Daniel Boone from 1964-70...
characterization), Texas John Slaughter
Texas John Slaughter
Texas John Slaughter may refer to:*John Horton Slaughter, the Texas Ranger and Arizona pioneer*Texas John Slaughter , the television series produced by Walt Disney for ABC...
, Elfego Baca
Elfego Baca
Elfego Baca was a gunman, lawman, lawyer, and politician in the closing days of the American wild west. Baca was born in Socorro, New Mexico just before the end of the American Civil War to Francisco and Juana Maria Baca. His family moved to Topeka, Kansas when he was a young child...
, Francis Marion
Francis Marion
Francis Marion was a military officer who served in the American Revolutionary War. Acting with Continental Army and South Carolina militia commissions, he was a persistent adversary of the British in their occupation of South Carolina in 1780 and 1781, even after the Continental Army was driven...
, the "Swamp Fox", and Kit Carson and the Mountain Man (1977), with Christopher Connelly as Kit Carson
Kit Carson
Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson was an American frontiersman and Indian fighter. Carson left home in rural present-day Missouri at age 16 and became a Mountain man and trapper in the West. Carson explored the west to California, and north through the Rocky Mountains. He lived among and married...
, Robert Reed
Robert Reed
Robert Reed was a prolific American character actor of stage, film and television. In his first big break, he played Kenneth Preston on the popular 1960s TV legal drama, The Defenders, alongside E. G. Marshall. But he was best remembered for portraying the father, Mike Brady, on the popular...
as John C. Fremont
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont , was an American military officer, explorer, and the first candidate of the anti-slavery Republican Party for the office of President of the United States. During the 1840s, that era's penny press accorded Frémont the sobriquet The Pathfinder...
, and Gregg Palmer
Gregg Palmer
Gregg Palmer, originally Palmer Lee is an American actor, known primarily for his prolific work in television westerns...
as mountain man Jim Bridger
Jim Bridger
James Felix "Jim" Bridger was among the foremost mountain men, trappers, scouts and guides who explored and trapped the Western United States during the decades of 1820-1850, as well as mediating between native tribes and encroaching whites...
.
Also included were nature and animal programs similar to the True-Life Adventures released in theatres, as well as various dramatic installments which were either one part or two, but sometimes more.
This format remained basically unchanged through the 1980s, though new material was scarce in later years.
When the show was revived in 1986, the format was similar to a movie-of-the-week, with family-oriented TV movies from the studio making up much of the material. Theatrical films were also shown, but with the advent of cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
and home video
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
, they were not as popular. The 1997 revival followed this format as well, with rare exceptions. A miniseries entitled Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (TV miniseries)
Little House on the Prairie, also known as Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House on the Prairie, is a five-hour miniseries which was broadcast on ABC as part of The Wonderful World of Disney anthology series. It was made in 2004. It was directed by David L...
ran for several weeks under the TWWOD banner. Incidentally, this ABC revival included some non-Disney family films under the banner, such as 20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
's The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music (film)
Rodgers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music is a 1965 American musical film directed by Robert Wise and starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. The film is based on the Broadway musical The Sound of Music, with songs written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, and with the musical...
and Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
' Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
films, as well as television films such as Princess of Thieves
Princess of Thieves
Princess of Thieves is a romantic action-adventure TV movie starring Keira Knightley, produced by Granada Productions in 2001 and first broadcast on The Wonderful World of Disney on ABC in the United States that same year...
from Granada Productions
Granada Productions
Granada Productions was a British commercial television production and distribution company. The company took its name from the successful ITV franchise, Granada Television....
, and the 2001 remake of Brian's Song
Brian's Song (2001)
Brian's Song is the 2001 remake of the 1972 television film Brian's Song, which re-tells the story of Brian Piccolo , a white football player who meets, clashes with and befriends Chicago Bears Running back Gale Sayers , a talented African American football player on the same team...
from Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
.
Films not yet televised
As of 2010, there are still two classic Disney films that have never been shown on television at all in their entirety. They are FantasiaFantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
and Song of the South
Song of the South
Song of the South is a 1946 American musical film produced by Walt Disney and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The film is based on the Uncle Remus cycle of stories by Joel Chandler Harris. The live actors provide a sentimental frame story, in which Uncle Remus relates the folk tales of the...
. Though it has been re-released to U.S. theatres several times, and the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah
"Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" is a song from the Disney 1946 live action and animated movie Song of the South, sung by James Baskett. With music by Allie Wrubel and lyrics by Ray Gilbert, "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song...
and Tar Baby segments have been shown on television, Song of the South has never been released on VHS or an authorized DVD in the U.S., due to the company's unease over the portrayal of Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus
Uncle Remus is a fictional character, the title character and fictional narrator of a collection of African American folktales adapted and compiled by Joel Chandler Harris, published in book form in 1881...
, a key black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
character in the film. No reason has been given for the withholding of Fantasia for telecast. Nearly all of the segments of Fantasia
Fantasia (film)
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. The third feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are...
have been shown on television separately on the Disney TV program, notably The Sorcerer's Apprentice, as well as the uncensored Pastoral Symphony, but never the entire film with all its animated segments from start to finish.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
never aired in its entirety until it was telecast on February 14, 2010 on ABC Family
ABC Family
ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
, nearly 56 years after the beginning of the first Disney anthology show.
Theme music
- For its first six years, the series used the song "When You Wish upon a StarWhen You Wish upon a Star"When You Wish upon a Star" is a song written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for Walt Disney's 1940 adaptation of Pinocchio. The original version of the song was sung by Cliff Edwards in the character of Jiminy Cricket, and is heard over the opening credits and again in the final scene of the...
" as its theme. The recording was taken directly from the soundtrack of the movie PinocchioPinocchio (1940 film)Pinocchio is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the story The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It is the second film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, and it was made after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and was released to theaters by...
. - From 1961 to 1969, an original song was used, "The Wonderful World of Color", written by Richard M. ShermanRichard M. ShermanRichard Morton Sherman is an American songwriter who specializes in musical film with his brother Robert Bernard Sherman....
and Robert B. ShermanRobert B. ShermanRobert Bernard Sherman is an American songwriter who specializes in musical films with his brother Richard Morton Sherman...
. This song helped to emphasize the use of color with its lyrics. - From 1969 to 1979, "The Wonderful World of Disney" orchestral medleys of various Disney songs from movies and theme parks were used as theme songs.
- From 1979 to 1981, "Disney's Wonderful World", a discoDiscoDisco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
-styled theme was written to emphasize the new visual changes, even though the format remained the same. The song was written by John DebneyJohn DebneyJohn C. Debney is an American film composer. He received an Academy Award nomination for his score for Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ...
and John Klawitter - From 1981 to 1983, "Walt Disney" a short disco arrangement of "When You Wish upon a StarWhen You Wish upon a Star"When You Wish upon a Star" is a song written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for Walt Disney's 1940 adaptation of Pinocchio. The original version of the song was sung by Cliff Edwards in the character of Jiminy Cricket, and is heard over the opening credits and again in the final scene of the...
," arranged by Frank GariFrank GariFrank Gari is a popular singer and songwriter from the late 1950s and early 1960s. His best known songs as a performer are "Utopia" , "Lullaby of Love" and "Princess" , all of which hit the U.S. Top 40 in 1961. He co-wrote with Roger McGuinn the song Beach Ball for Bobby Darin...
, served as theme against some elaborate, then-state-of-the-art computer graphics. During the show's three-year hiatus from American television, CBC TelevisionCBC TelevisionCBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
in Canada continued to use this title sequence and theme music for their own versions of the show. The sequence was also used as the opening sequence on international Walt Disney Home Video releases from 1981 to 1987. - From 1986 to 1988, a synthesized, pop-rock arrangement of "When You Wish Upon a StarWhen You Wish upon a Star"When You Wish upon a Star" is a song written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for Walt Disney's 1940 adaptation of Pinocchio. The original version of the song was sung by Cliff Edwards in the character of Jiminy Cricket, and is heard over the opening credits and again in the final scene of the...
" with some clapping was the theme. That was used again for the 1989-90 season of The Magical World of Disney and the 1990-97 run on The Disney Channel. - In 1988, an orchestral medley of "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart MakesA Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes"A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" is a song written and composed by Mack David, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston for the Walt Disney film Cinderella . In the song Cinderella encourages her animal friends to never stop dreaming, and that theme continues throughout the entire story.The theme of...
" and "When You Wish upon a StarWhen You Wish upon a Star"When You Wish upon a Star" is a song written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for Walt Disney's 1940 adaptation of Pinocchio. The original version of the song was sung by Cliff Edwards in the character of Jiminy Cricket, and is heard over the opening credits and again in the final scene of the...
" was used. That was switched back to the 1986 theme in 1989. - From 1990 to 1997, an orchestral medley of "When You Wish Upon a StarWhen You Wish upon a Star"When You Wish upon a Star" is a song written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for Walt Disney's 1940 adaptation of Pinocchio. The original version of the song was sung by Cliff Edwards in the character of Jiminy Cricket, and is heard over the opening credits and again in the final scene of the...
" and "Part of Your WorldPart of Your World"Part of Your World" is a song written and composed by the songwriting duo of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. It was originally featured in the 1989 Disney film The Little Mermaid, and is also featured in the Broadway musical adaptation of the film...
" (the latter from Disney's at the time recent hit The Little MermaidThe Little Mermaid (1989 film)The Little Mermaid is a 1989 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of the same name. Distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, the film was originally released to theaters on November 14, 1989 and is the twenty-eighth film in...
) was used for network specials (known as The Wonderful World of Disney on CBS and A Disney Special on other networks). This theme has also been used internationally. - From 1997 to 2002, "The Wonderful World of Disney" an orchestral medley of "When You Wish upon a StarWhen You Wish upon a Star"When You Wish upon a Star" is a song written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for Walt Disney's 1940 adaptation of Pinocchio. The original version of the song was sung by Cliff Edwards in the character of Jiminy Cricket, and is heard over the opening credits and again in the final scene of the...
" and "A Whole New WorldA Whole New World"A Whole New World" is the Oscar winning featured pop single from the soundtrack to the 1992 Disney film Aladdin. It was composed by Alan Menken with lyrics by Tim Rice. The song is a ballad between the primary characters Aladdin and Jasmine about the new world they are going to discover together....
" (the latter was used in the movie Aladdin) were used; also used occasionally was the Louis Armstrong hit "What a Wonderful WorldWhat a Wonderful World"What a Wonderful World" is a song written by Bob Thiele and George David Weiss. It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released as a single in 1968. Thiele and Weiss were both prominent in the music world . Armstrong's recording was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999...
".It is still used on G-TV and TelemundoTelemundoTelemundo is an American television network that broadcasts in Spanish. The network is the second-largest Spanish-language content producer in the world, and the second-largest Spanish-language network in the United States, behind Univision....
. - From 2002 to 2008, "The Wonderful World of Disney" a newer orchestral arrangement of "When You Wish upon a StarWhen You Wish upon a Star"When You Wish upon a Star" is a song written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for Walt Disney's 1940 adaptation of Pinocchio. The original version of the song was sung by Cliff Edwards in the character of Jiminy Cricket, and is heard over the opening credits and again in the final scene of the...
" with a wordless choir was used. - In 2007, a brand-new orchestral arrangement of "When You Wish Upon a Star" and a brand-new opening title sequence were used on ABCAmerican Broadcasting CompanyThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
telecasts in the United States. - In 2008, another brand-new orchestral arrangement of "When You Wish Upon a Star" (in actuality, the theme from the current Walt Disney PicturesWalt Disney PicturesWalt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
logo, composed by Mark MancinaMark MancinaMark Alan Mancina is a U.S. composer, primarily for Hollywood soundtracks, such as his collaboration with Trevor Rabin on the soundtrack for Con Air. He arranged many of the songs behind Disney's The Lion King including the Broadway musical...
) and a brand-new opening title sequence (depicting a montage of the company's work) were shown.
Show titles
- Walt Disney's Disneyland (1954–1955)
- Walt Disney Presents (1955–1959)
- Walt Disney's The Wonderful World Of Color (1960–1969)
- The Wonderful World Of Disney (1) (1969–1979)
- Disney's Wonderful World (1979–1981)
- Walt Disney (1981–1983)
- The Disney Sunday Movie (1986–1988)
- The Magical World Of Disney (1988–1996)
- The Wonderful World Of Disney (2) (1997–2008)
Seasonal Nielsen Ratings
| Network | Season | Timeslot | TV Season | Season Premiere | Season Finale | Season Rank |
Viewers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
1 | Wednesday 7:30 PM ET | 1954–1955 | October 27, 1954 | July 13, 1955 | #6 | 12.00 million |
| 2 | 1955–1956 | September 14, 1955 | May 30, 1956 | #4 | 13.05 million | ||
| 3 | 1956–1957 | September 12, 1956 | June 5, 1957 | #14 | 12.37 million | ||
| 4 | 1957–1958 | September 11, 1957 | May 14, 1958 | ||||
| 5 | Friday 8:00 PM ET | 1958–1959 | October 3, 1958 | May 29, 1959 | |||
| 6 | Friday 7:30 PM ET | 1959–1960 | October 2, 1959 | April 1, 1960 | |||
| 7 | Sunday 6:30 PM ET | 1960–1961 | October 16, 1960 | June 11, 1961 | |||
| NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... |
8 | Sunday 7:30 PM ET | 1961–1962 | September 24, 1961 | April 15, 1962 | #23 | 11.02 million |
| 9 | 1962–1963 | September 23, 1962 | March 24, 1963 | #24 | 11.22 million | ||
| 10 | 1963–1964 | September 29, 1963 | May 17, 1964 | #21 | 11.87 million | ||
| 11 | 1964–1965 | September 20, 1964 | April 4, 1965 | #11 | 13.54 million | ||
| 12 | 1965–1966 | September 19, 1965 | April 10, 1966 | #17 | 12.49 million | ||
| 13 | 1966–1967 | September 11, 1966 | April 2, 1967 | #19 | 11.85 million | ||
| 14 | 1967–1968 | September 10, 1967 | April 28, 1968 | #25 | 11.73 million | ||
| 15 | 1968–1969 | September 15, 1968 | March 23, 1969 | #22 | 12.41 million | ||
| 16 | 1969–1970 | September 14, 1969 | March 29, 1970 | #9 | 13.81 million | ||
| 17 | 1970–1971 | September 13, 1970 | March 14, 1971 | #14 | 13.46 million | ||
| 18 | 1971–1972 | September 19, 1971 | April 9, 1972 | #19 | 13.66 million | ||
| 19 | 1972–1973 | September 17, 1972 | April 1, 1973 | #9 | 15.23 million | ||
| 20 | 1973–1974 | September 16, 1973 | March 13, 1974 | #13 | 14.76 million | ||
| 21 | 1974–1975 | September 15, 1974 | March 23, 1975 | #18 | 15.07 million | ||
| 22 | Sunday 7:00 PM ET | 1975–1976 | September 14, 1975 | July 25, 1976 | |||
| 23 | 1976–1977 | September 26, 1976 | May 22, 1977 | ||||
| 24 | 1977–1978 | September 18, 1977 | June 4, 1978 | ||||
| 25 | 1978–1979 | September 17, 1978 | May 13, 1979 | ||||
| 26 | 1979–1980 | September 17, 1979 | July 27, 1980 | ||||
| 27 | 1980–1981 | September 14, 1980 | August 16, 1981 | ||||
| CBS CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of... |
28 | Saturday 8:00 PM ET | 1981–1982 | September 26, 1981 | July 31, 1982 | ||
| 29 | 1982–1983 | September 25, 1982 | September 24, 1983 | ||||
| ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
32 | Sunday 7:00 PM ET | 1985–1986 | February 2, 1986 | June 22, 1986 | ||
| 33 | 1986–1987 | September 21, 1986 | August 30, 1987 | ||||
| 34 | 1987–1988 | October 4, 1987 | May 22, 1988 | ||||
| NBC NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago... |
35 | 1988–1989 | October 9, 1988 | July 23, 1989 | |||
| 36 | 1989–1990 | October 1, 1989 | August 26, 1990 | ||||
| Disney Channel Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in... |
37 | 1990–1991 | September 23, 1990 | September 15, 1991 | |||
| 38 | 1991–1992 | September 22, 1991 | September 13, 1992 | ||||
| 39 | 1992–1993 | September 20, 1992 | September 12, 1993 | ||||
| 40 | 1993–1994 | September 19, 1993 | September 11, 1994 | ||||
| 41 | 1994–1995 | September 18, 1994 | September 10, 1995 | ||||
| 42 | 1995–1996 | September 17, 1995 | August 25, 1996 | ||||
| 43 | 1996–1997 | September 2, 1996 | December 1, 1996 | ||||
| ABC American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948... |
44 | 1997–1998 | September 28, 1997 | May 18, 1998 | #30 | 13.50 million | |
| 45 | 1998–1999 | September 27, 1998 | May 30, 1999 | #45 | 11.90 million | ||
| 46 | 1999–2000 | September 26, 1999 | May 14, 2000 | #29 | 12.82 million | ||
| 47 | 2000–2001 | October 8, 2000 | May 31, 2001 | #39 | 12.10 million | ||
| 48 | 2001–2002 | September 16, 2001 | May 19, 2002 | #38 | 11.20 million | ||
| 49 | 2002–2003 | November 3, 2002 | July 27, 2003 | #53 | 10.10 million | ||
| 50 | 2003–2004 | September 27, 2003 | May 10, 2004 | #98 | 7.39 million | ||
| 51 | Saturday 8:00 PM ET | 2004–2005 | October 16, 2004 | June 17, 2005 | #112 | 5.93 million | |
| 52 | 2005–2006 | November 3, 2005 | July 8, 2006 | #159 | 4.22 million | ||
| 53 | 2006–2007 | December 16, 2006 | August 4, 2007 | #195 | 4.28 million | ||
| 54 | 2007–2008 | December 23, 2007 | July 26, 2008 | #173 | 4.01 million | ||
| 55 | Wednesday 8:00 PM ET | 2008–2009 | December 24, 2008 | #144 | 4.39 million | ||
Won
- Best Individual Program of the Year (Operation Undersea, 1955)
- Best Television Film Editing (Lynn Harrison, Grant K. Smith, Operation Undersea, 1955)
- Best Action or Adventure Series (1956)
- Best Producer – Film Series (Walt Disney, 1956)
- Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming (1963)
- Outstanding Program Achievements in Entertainment (Walt Disney, 1965)
- Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement – Programs (Ron MillerRon W. MillerRonald William "Ron" Miller is a former professional American football player, the son-in-law of Walt Disney, and a former president and CEO of what is now The Walt Disney Company.-Marriage and early career:...
, executive producer, 1971)
Nominated
- Best Television Film Editing (Chester W. Schaeffer, "Davy Crockett: Indian Fighter", 1955)
- Best Single Program of the Year ("Davy Crockett and River Pirates", 1956)
- Best Musical Contribution for Television (Oliver Wallace, 1957)
- Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming (1962)
- Outstanding Program Achievements in the Fields of Variety and Music – Variety (1962)
- Outstanding Children's Program (Walt Disney, Ron Miller (Further Adventures of Gallagher, 1966)
- Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming – Programs (Ron Miller, executive producer, 1969)
- Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming – Programs (Ron Miller, executive producer, 1970)
- Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement – General Programming (Ron Miller, producer, 1972)
- Special Classification of Outstanding Program Achievement (Ron Miller, executive producer, 1977)
- Outstanding Children's Program (The Art of Disney Animation, 1981)
Home video
Several home video releases have included episodes of the anthology series.- On Vacation with Mickey Mouse and Friends
- Kids Is Kids
- The Adventures of Chip 'N' Dale
- BambiBambiBambi is a 1942 American animated film directed by David Hand , produced by Walt Disney and based on the book Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Austrian author Felix Salten...
Platinum Edition- Tricks of Our Trade [Excerpt]
- Alice in WonderlandAlice in Wonderland (1951 film)Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and based primarily on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a few additional elements from Through the Looking-Glass. Thirteenth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film was released in New...
Masterpiece Edition- One Hour in WonderlandOne Hour in WonderlandOne Hour in Wonderland is a 1950 television special made by Walt Disney Productions. It was first seen on Christmas Day, 1950, over NBC for Coca-Cola, and was Walt Disney's first television production...
[Complete Episode] - Operation Wonderland Featurette
- The Fred Waring ShowThe Fred Waring ShowThe Fred Waring Show is an American television musical variety show that ran from June 20, 1948 to May 30, 1954 on CBS. The show was hosted Fred Waring and featured his choral group "Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians".-Synopsis:...
[First Half] - 1954 Introduction
- 1964 Introduction
- One Hour in Wonderland
- Alice in WonderlandAlice in Wonderland (1951 film)Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and based primarily on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a few additional elements from Through the Looking-Glass. Thirteenth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film was released in New...
Special Un-Anniversary Edition- One Hour in WonderlandOne Hour in WonderlandOne Hour in Wonderland is a 1950 television special made by Walt Disney Productions. It was first seen on Christmas Day, 1950, over NBC for Coca-Cola, and was Walt Disney's first television production...
[Complete Episode] - Operation Wonderland Featurette
- The Fred Waring ShowThe Fred Waring ShowThe Fred Waring Show is an American television musical variety show that ran from June 20, 1948 to May 30, 1954 on CBS. The show was hosted Fred Waring and featured his choral group "Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians".-Synopsis:...
[First Half] - 1954 Introduction
- 1964 Introduction
- One Hour in Wonderland
- Alice in WonderlandAlice in Wonderland (1951 film)Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and based primarily on Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with a few additional elements from Through the Looking-Glass. Thirteenth in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film was released in New...
60th Anniversary Edition- One Hour in WonderlandOne Hour in WonderlandOne Hour in Wonderland is a 1950 television special made by Walt Disney Productions. It was first seen on Christmas Day, 1950, over NBC for Coca-Cola, and was Walt Disney's first television production...
[Complete Episode] - Operation Wonderland Featurette
- The Fred Waring ShowThe Fred Waring ShowThe Fred Waring Show is an American television musical variety show that ran from June 20, 1948 to May 30, 1954 on CBS. The show was hosted Fred Waring and featured his choral group "Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians".-Synopsis:...
[First Half] - 1954 Introduction
- 1959 Introduction
- 1964 Introduction
- One Hour in Wonderland
- Peter PanPeter Pan (1953 film)Peter Pan is a 1953 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J. M. Barrie. It is the fourteenth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and was originally released on February 5, 1953 by RKO Pictures...
Special Edition- The Peter Pan Story Featurette
- Peter PanPeter Pan (1953 film)Peter Pan is a 1953 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J. M. Barrie. It is the fourteenth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series and was originally released on February 5, 1953 by RKO Pictures...
Platinum Edition- The Peter Pan Story Featurette
- DumboDumboDumbo is a 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released on October 23, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures.The fourth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, Dumbo is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a...
60th Anniversary Edition- Walt Disney Introduction
- DumboDumboDumbo is a 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released on October 23, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures.The fourth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, Dumbo is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a...
Big Top Edition- Walt Disney Introduction
- Snow White and the Seven DwarfsSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film)Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a 1937 American animated film based on Snow White, a German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full...
Platinum Edition- Tricks of Our Trade [2 Excerpts]
- The Silly Symphony Story [Excerpt]
- Pete's DragonPete's DragonPete's Dragon is a 1977 live-action/animated musical film from Walt Disney Productions and the first Disney film to be recorded in the Dolby Stereo sound system...
Gold Collection/High Flying Edition- The Plausible ImpossibleThe Plausible Impossible"The Plausible Impossible" is an episode of the Disneyland television program. Originally aired in 1956, it shows Walt Disney explaining how drawings and animation have things that are impossible seem plausible, as evidenced in ancient history and various cartoons with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck...
[Excerpt]
- The Plausible Impossible
- The AristocatsThe AristocatsThe Aristocats is a 1970 American animated feature produced and released by Walt Disney Productions in 1970 and stars Eva Gabor and Phil Harris, with Roddy Maude-Roxby as Edgar the butler, the villain of the story...
Special Edition- The Great Cat Family
- Disneyland, USA
- The Disneyland StoryThe Disneyland StoryThe Disneyland Story was first broadcast in the USA on October 27, 1954. It is the very first episode of Disney's long-running anthology series, then entitled Disneyland after the theme park on which the show was based....
- Disneyland After Dark
- Disneyland 10th Anniversary
- The Disneyland Story
- Behind the Scenes at the Walt Disney Studios
- The Story of the Animated DrawingThe Story of the Animated Drawing"The Story of the Animated Drawing" is an episode of the Disneyland television program. Originally aired in 1955, it shows Walt Disney explaining the history of animation throughout the ages, starting back in prehistoric days and working its way up to some primitive mechanical animation...
- The Plausible ImpossibleThe Plausible Impossible"The Plausible Impossible" is an episode of the Disneyland television program. Originally aired in 1956, it shows Walt Disney explaining how drawings and animation have things that are impossible seem plausible, as evidenced in ancient history and various cartoons with Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck...
- Tricks of Our Trade
- The Story of the Animated Drawing
- Tomorrow Land
- Man In SpaceMan in SpaceMan in Space is an episode of Disneyland which originally aired on March 9, 1955. It was directed by Disney animator Ward Kimball. Later, it was edited into a featurette to play in theaters, accompanying Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. This Disneyland episode , was narrated partly by Kimball...
- Man and the MoonMan and the MoonMan and the Moon is an episode of Disneyland which originally aired on December 28, 1955. It was directed by Disney animator Ward Kimball, and is about the Moon. It begins with a humorous look with Man's fascination with the Moon through animation...
- Mars and BeyondMars and BeyondMars and Beyond is an episode of Disneyland which aired on December 4, 1957. It was directed by Ward Kimball and narrated by Paul Frees. This episode discusses the possibility of life on other planets, especially Mars. It begins with an introduction of Walt Disney and his robot friend Garco, who...
- Our Friend the Atom
- Man In Space
- The Complete Pluto, Volume 1
- A Story of Dogs (excerpt entitled: "Pluto's Picture Book")
- The Chronological Donald, Volume Two
- A Day in the Life of Donald DuckA Day in the Life of Donald DuckA Day in the Life of Donald Duck is a 1956 episode of the Disneyland TV show. As the name of the episode implies, viewers experience Donald Duck himself as he struggles through a typical day at the Walt Disney Studios. In the process, he meets up with Jimmie Dodd, Roy Williams, the Mouseketeers and...
- A Day in the Life of Donald Duck
- Your Host, Walt Disney
- I Captured the King of the Leprechauns
- Backstage Party
- Where Do the Stories Come From
- The Fourth Anniversary Show
- Disneyland 10th AnniversaryDisneyland 10th AnniversaryDisneyland 10th Anniversary, aired in 1965, begins with Walt showing viewers and Disneyland ambassador Julie Reihm plans for upcoming attractions, including It's a Small World, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion...
- True Life AdventuresTrue Life AdventuresThe True-Life Adventures series is a collection of short subject documentary films produced by Walt Disney Productions roughly between the years 1948 and 1960. The film series was exposed in 1982 by the CBC newsmagazine The Fifth Estate for Animal Cruelty and faking nature scenes. It is also...
(4 volumes)
- Disneyland: Secrets, Stories and Magic
- The Golden Horseshoe Revue
- Disneyland Goes To the World's Fair
- Disneyland Around the Seasons
- So Dear to My HeartSo Dear to My HeartSo Dear to My Heart is a 1948 feature film produced by Walt Disney, released in Chicago on November 29, 1948 and nationwide on January 19, 1949 by RKO Radio Pictures and Buena Vista Distribution. Like 1946's Song of the South, the film combines animation and live action...
- So Dear To My Heart (introduction)
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954 film)20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1954 adventure film starring Kirk Douglas as Ned Land, James Mason as Captain Nemo, Paul Lukas as Professor Pierre Aronnax, and Peter Lorre as Conseil. It was the first science fiction film produced by Walt Disney Productions, as well as the only science-fiction...
- Monsters of the Deep (excerpt)
- Lady and the TrampLady and the TrampLady and the Tramp is a 1955 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released to theaters on June 22, 1955, by Buena Vista Distribution. The fifteenth animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, it was the first animated feature filmed in the CinemaScope widescreen...
Platinum Edition- A Story of Dogs ("making-of" segment)/[Excerpt]
- A Cavalcade of Songs (excerpt)/[3-Minutes Excerpt]
- Old YellerOld YellerOld Yeller is a 1956 children's novel by Fred Gipson, which received a Newbery Honor in 1957. It was illustrated by Carl Burger. The title is taken from the name of the big yellow dog who is the center of the book's story...
- Best Doggone Dog In The West
- Darby O'Gill and the Little PeopleDarby O'Gill and the Little PeopleDarby O'Gill and the Little People is a 1959 Walt Disney Productions feature film starring Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, Sean Connery and Jimmy O'Dea, in a tale about a wily Irishman and his battle of wits with leprechauns. The film was directed by Robert Stevenson and its screenplay written by...
- I Captured The King of the Leprechauns
- Johnny TremainJohnny Tremain (film)Johnny Tremain is a 1957 film made by Walt Disney Productions, based on the 1944 Newbery Medal-winning children's novel of the same name by Esther Forbes, retelling the story of the years in Boston, Massachusetts prior to the outbreak of the American Revolution. The movie was directed by Robert...
- The Liberty Story (first half)
- Johnny Tremain, Part One (excerpt)
- Johnny Tremain, Part Two (excerpt)
- Sleeping BeautySleeping Beauty (1959 film)Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "La Belle au bois dormant" by Charles Perrault...
Special Edition- An Adventure in Art (segment: "Four Artists Paint One Tree")
- The Peter Tchaikovsky Story (Life of Tchaikovsky segment only)
- Sleeping BeautySleeping Beauty (1959 film)Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "La Belle au bois dormant" by Charles Perrault...
Platinum Edition- An Adventure in Art (segment: "Four Artists Paint One Tree")
- The Peter Tchaikovsky Story (complete episode – two versions)
- PollyannaPollyanna (1960 film)Pollyanna is a Walt Disney Productions feature film starring child actress Hayley Mills, Jane Wyman, Karl Malden and Richard Egan in a story about a cheerful orphan changing the outlook of a small town. Based upon the novel Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter, the film was written and directed by David...
- Pollyanna, Part One (introduction)
- Pollyanna, Part Two (introduction)
- Pollyanna, Part Three (introduction)
- Swiss Family RobinsonSwiss Family Robinson (film)Swiss Family Robinson is a 1960 American Technicolor feature film starring John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, and Sessue Hayakawa in a tale of a shipwrecked family building an island home. The screenplay by Lowell S. Hawley was loosely based upon the 1812 novel Der Schweizerische Robinson by Johann...
- Escape to Paradise/Water Birds (first half)
- The Parent Trap
- The Title Makers (first half)
- The Sword in the StoneThe Sword in the Stone (film)The Sword in the Stone is a 1963 American animated fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney and originally released to theaters on December 25, 1963...
Gold Collection- All About Magic (complete episode)
- The Sword in the StoneThe Sword in the Stone (film)The Sword in the Stone is a 1963 American animated fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney and originally released to theaters on December 25, 1963...
45th Anniversary Edition- All About Magic (excerpt)
- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black PearlPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black PearlPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a 2003 adventure fantasy film based on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney theme parks. It was directed by Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
- From the Pirates of the Caribbean to the World of Tomorrow (first half)
See also
- Zorro (1957 TV series)
- Disneyland Park (Anaheim)Disneyland Park (Anaheim)Disneyland Park is a theme park located in Anaheim, California, owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts division of the Walt Disney Company. Known as Disneyland when it opened on July 18, 1955, and still almost universally referred to by that name, it is the only theme park to be...
- Mickey Mouse ClubMickey Mouse ClubThe Mickey Mouse Club is an American variety television show that began in 1955, produced by Walt Disney Productions and televised by the ABC, featuring a regular but ever-changing cast of teenage performers. The Mickey Mouse Club was created by Walt Disney...
- Disney ChannelDisney ChannelDisney Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company. It is under the direction of Disney-ABC Television Group President Anne Sweeney. The channel's headquarters is located on West Alameda Ave. in...
External links
(1997)- Disney interview in TV Guide (1961) (regarding the move from ABC to NBC)
- Information about the book The Wonderful World of Disney Television by Bill Cotter
- Episode list (1954–1996)