"The 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. This is also the first episode where Dick Wesson acted as the announcer and additional narrator apart from Walt Disney. He would continue to do so until 1979.
Synopsis[]
First, viewers are given a quick tour of the Walt Disney Studios and then are introduced to Walt Disney's newest venture: a theme park called Disneyland. Future episodes are also previewed (and they would parallel the themes of the lands in the park). At one point, viewers are taken behind the scenes of the then-upcoming Davy Crockett miniseries, with a small interview from director Norman Foster and Fess Parker singing "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" which embodies what Frontierland will be about. Ben Sharpsteen discusses intentions for Adventureland, Ward Kimball discusses the intentions for Tomorrowland, and Walt himself discusses the main attraction Fantasyland.
For the Fantasyland portion of the episode, several animated films are featured (some in whole, others in part): Peter Pan, Alice In Wonderland (which is also the next episode, as previewed at the end of the show), Cinderella and the "Laughing Place" segment from Song of the South. The rest of the episode is mostly a Fantasyland episode, as it deals with a little history of Disney's first success, Mickey Mouse. Again, several of his cartoons are depicted, both in whole or in part, including Plane Crazy, The Pointer, Lonesome Ghosts and The Sorcerer's Apprentice from Fantasia.
Additional Crew[]
- Producer: Bill Walsh
- Music: George Bruns
- Photography: Charles Boyle
- Editor: Al Teeter
- Settings: Bruce Bushman
- Special Processes: Ub Iwerks
- Effects: Les Clark, John Hench
- Production coordinator: Hal Adelquist
- Assistant director: Russ Haverick, Mike Holoboff
- Sound Director: C.O. Slyfield
- Sound Engineer: George Lowerre - uncredited
Availability[]
This episode was released on on the Walt Disney Treasures: Disneyland, USA DVD set in 2001.
Airings[]
- October 27, 1954 (on Disneyland)
- July 9, 1985 (on The Disney Channel)
- November 20, 1987 (on The Disney Channel)
Gallery[]
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page The Disneyland Story. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. Text from Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. |