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The Wonderful World of Disney
Genre	Comedy Drama
Format	Anthology series
Created by	Walt Disney
Written by	Maurice Tombragel Larry Clemmons Ted Berman
Directed by	Hamilton Luske Wilfred Jackson
Starring	Walt Disney (host, 1954–1966) (No host, 1967-1985) Michael Eisner (host, 1986–2005) (No host, 2006-2008)
Opening theme	"When You Wish upon a Star"
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	52
No. of episodes	1,224
Production
Running time	60-180 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC (1954-2008) NBC (1961-1990) CBS (1981-1983) Disney Channel (1990-1996)
Picture format	480i (SD), 720p (HD)
Audio format	Mono 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound (Disney Channel)
Original run	October 27, 1954 (1954-10-27) – December 24, 2008 (2008-12-24)
Status	ended
Chronology
Related shows	ABC Saturday Movie of the Week

The first incarnation of the Walt Disney anthology television series, commonly called The Wonderful World of Disney, premiered on ABC on Wednesday night, October 27, 1954 under the name Disneyland. The same basic show has since appeared on several networks under a variety of titles. 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, the Hallmark Hall of Fame (see List of longest running U.S. primetime television series).

Overview

Originally hosted by Walt Disney himself, the series presented animated cartoons and other material (some original, some pre-existing) from the studio library. The show 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.^[1] This is significant because the series was the first one from a major movie studio. Other studios feared television would be the death of them.

1950s

The show spawned the Davy Crockett craze of 1955 with the miniseries 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,^[1] which may be seen as an extension of the anthology series but is not technically considered to be part of it. It was hosted by Walt along with Bob Cummings, Art Linkletter, Ronald Reagan, and featured various other guests.^[2] Programmes in the Disneyland series also included Our Friend the Atom, and Man and the Moon.

In the late 1950s the series was re-titled Walt Disney Presents and moved to Friday nights, but by 1960, it had been switched to Sunday nights, where it would remain for twenty-one years.

1960s and 1970s

The series moved to NBC in 1961 to take advantage of that network's ability to broadcast in color.^[1][3] In addition, the relationship with ABC had soured as the network resisted selling its stake in the theme park before doing so in 1960.^[4] In a display of foresight, Disney had filmed many of the earlier shows in color, so they were able to be repeated on NBC. To emphasize the new color 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 Drake, a bumbling professor and uncle of Donald Duck. The character's voice was supplied by Paul Frees (after his death, Corey Burton took over to replace him as the role of Ludwig Von Drake). A segment of this show is featured in the 2-disk edition of Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, and features the origins of the ride.

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color title sequence

Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966. 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 ^[5], 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 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).^[1]

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 increasingly dependent on airings of live-action theatrical features (nothing from the Disney animated features canon aired except Alice in Wonderland and Dumbo), cartoon compilations, and reruns of older episode, but in an era where 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 The Wizard of Oz, at that time a highly-rated annual event which largely attracted the same family audience as this series, from NBC, it scheduled it opposite Disney for the first few years. From 1967 to 1975, when NBC owned the rights to Oz, it usually pre-empted Disney. But the show's stiffest competition by far 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 it had been 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 exponentially. In 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. The changes, combined with frequent reruns, pre-emptions, and the ratings strength of 60 Minutes, did not help, and NBC cancelled Disney in 1981.

1980s

CBS picked up the program in the fall of 1981 ^[3] and moved it to Saturday night at 8:00 P.M. Despite another even more elaborate CGI credits sequence 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 Channel 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.^[6]

After the studio underwent a change in management, the series was revived on ABC as a two-hour program beginning February 2, 1986,^[3] under the title The Disney Sunday Movie (in the summer, the series was temporarily titled, "Disney's 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) ^[6], Walter Cronkite, Roy E. Disney (who closely resembled his uncle), and even Mickey Mouse.^[7] 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.^[7]

The Disney Sunday Movie offered more original programming and a larger selection of library films (including another animated canon entry, 1973's Robin Hood) than it had in the last few years of its original run, but 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. The show 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 again on ABC in 1997 ^[3] after Disney purchased ABC. Once 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 Channel, ABC Family Channel, Disney Channel, and Cartoon Network 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 2003 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

Around the same time as the 1980s NBC incarnation aired, reruns of older Disney episodes, airing under the Wonderful World of Disney banner, was syndicated to local stations in the United States.

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,^[8] 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 letterboxed 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.)

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 Sea 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 Columbia TriStar Television.

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 Fantasia and Song of the South. Though it has been re-released to U.S. theatres several times,^[9], 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. Several segments of Fantasia have been shown on television on the Disney TV program, notably The Sorcerer's Apprentice, as well as the uncensored Pastoral Symphony, but never the entire film from start to finish.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs never aired in its entirety until March of 2010, nearly 56 years after the beginning of the first anthology show, when it aired on ABC Family.

Theme music

• For its first four years, the series used the song "When You Wish Upon a Star" as its theme. The recording was taken directly from the soundtrack of the movie Pinocchio
• From 1961 to 1969, an original song was used, "The Wonderful World of Color", written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman. This song helped to emphasize the use of color with its lyrics.
• From 1969 to 1979, orchestral medleys of various Disney songs from movies and theme parks were used as theme songs.
• From 1979 to 1981, a disco-styled theme was written to emphasize the new visual changes, even though the format remained the same. The song was by John Debney and John Klawitter.
• From 1981 to 1983, a short disco arrangement of "When You Wish Upon a Star," arranged by Frank Gari, served as theme against some elaborate, then-state-of-the-art computer graphics. During the show's three-year hiatus from American television (1983-1986), CBC Television in Canada continued to use this title sequence and theme music for its own version 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 1996, a synthesized, pop-rock arrangement of "When You Wish Upon a Star" was the theme. (This includes the Disney Channel run).
• From 1997 to 2002, an orchestral medley of "When You Wish Upon a Star" and "A Whole New World" (the latter was used in the movie Aladdin) were used; also used occasionally was the Louis Armstrong hit "What a Wonderful World".
• From 2002 to 2007, a newer orchestral arrangement of "When You Wish Upon a Star" with a wordless choir was used. This theme music and opening is still used for CBC telecasts.
• In Season 50, a brand-new orchestral arrangement of "When You Wish Upon a Star" and a brand-new opening title sequence were used on ABC telecasts in the United States.
• In Seasons 51 and 52, another brand-new orchestral "When You Wish Upon a Star" (the theme from Walt Disney Pictures) and a brand-new opening title sequence were shown.

Dates of network affiliation, show titles, and time slots

(all times ET/PT)

ABC:

• Disneyland
  • October 27, 1954 – September 3, 1958: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
• Walt Disney Presents
  • September 12, 1958 – September 25, 1959: Friday, 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
  • October 2, 1959 – September 23, 1960: Friday, 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
  • September 25, 1960 – September 17, 1961: Sunday, 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.

NBC:

• Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color
  • September 24, 1961 – September 7, 1969: Sunday, 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
• The Wonderful World of Disney
  • September 14, 1969 – August 31, 1975: Sunday, 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
  • September 7, 1975 – September 11, 1977: Sunday, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
  • September 18, 1977 – October 23, 1977: Sunday, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
  • October 30, 1977 – September 2, 1979: Sunday, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
• Disney's Wonderful World
  • September 9, 1979 – September 13, 1981: Sunday, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

CBS:

• Walt Disney
  • September 26, 1981 – January 1, 1983: Saturday, 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
  • January 4, 1983 – February 15, 1983: Tuesday, 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
  • July 9, 1983 – September 24, 1983: Saturday, 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

ABC:

• The Disney Sunday Movie
  • October 5, 1985 – September 6, 1987: Sunday, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
  • September 13, 1987 – September 11, 1988: Sunday, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

NBC:

• The Magical World of Disney
  • October 9, 1988 – July 2, 1989: Sunday, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
  • July 9, 1989 – July 23, 1989: Sunday, 8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
  • August 6, 1989 – February 25, 1990: Sunday, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
  • March 4, 1990 – April 15, 1990: Sunday, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
  • April 22, 1990 – May 6, 1990: Sunday, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
  • May 27, 1990 – July 22, 1990: Sunday, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
  • August 5, 1990 – September 9, 1990: Sunday, 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Disney Channel:

• The Magical World of Disney
  • September 23, 1990 - December 1, 1996: Sunday, 7:00 p.m. (various formats)

ABC:

• The Wonderful World of Disney
  • September 28, 1997 – September 2003: Sunday, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
  • September 2003 – September 2004: Saturday, 8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
  • September 2004 – September 2005: Saturday, 8:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. (or until 10:00 p.m., depending on the length of the movie)
  • June 2007 - August 2007: Saturday, 8:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
  • June 2008 - July 2008: Saturday, 8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. (or until 10:00 p.m., depending on the length of the movie)
  • December 24, 2008: Wednesday, 8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

During the late-1980s and early-1990s, repeats of The Wonderful World of Disney was syndicated to local stations in the US.

Ratings

Seasonal Nielsen Ratings

Awards and Nominations

Emmy Awards

Won

1. Best Individual Program of the Year (1955)
2. Best Individual Program of the Year (Operation Undersea, 1955)
3. Best Television Film Editing (Lynn Harrison, Grant K. Smith, Operation Undersea, 1955)
4. Best Action or Adventure Series (1956)
5. Best Producer - Film Series (Walt Disney, 1956)
6. Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming (1963)
7. Outstanding Program Achievements in Entertainment (Walt Disney, 1965)
8. Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement - Programs (Ron Miller, executive producer, 1971)

Nominated

1. Best Television Film Editing (Chester W. Schaeffer, "Davy Crockett: Indian Fighter", 1955)
2. Best Single Program of the Year ("Davy Crockett and River Pirates", 1956)
3. Best Musical Contribution for Television (Oliver Wallace, 1957)
4. Outstanding Program Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming (1962)
5. Outstanding Program Achievements in the Fields of Variety and Music - Variety (1962)
6. Outstanding Children's Program (Walt Disney, Ron Miller (Further Adventures of Gallagher, 1966)
7. Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming - Programs (Ron Miller, executive producer, 1969)
8. Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming - Programs (Ron Miller, executive producer, 1970)
9. Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement - General Programming (Ron Miller, producer, 1972)
10. Special Classification of Outstanding Program Achievement (Ron Miller, executive producer, 1977)
11. Outstanding Children's Program (William Robert Yates, executive producer; Bob King, producer; Phil May, producer; William Reid, producer; The Art of Disney Animation, 1981) ^[10]

Home video

Several home video releases have included episodes of the anthology series.

• Bambi Platinum Edition
  • Trick of Our Trade [Excerpt]

• Alice in Wonderland Masterpiece Edition
  • One Hour in Wonderland [First Half]
  • Operation Wonderland Featurette
  • The Fred Waring Show [Complete Episode]
  • 1954 Introduction
  • 1964 Introduction

• Alice in Wonderland Special UnAnniversary Edition
  • One Hour in Wonderland [Excerpt]
  • Operation Wonderland Featurette
  • The Fred Waring Show [Excerpt]
  • 1954 Introduction
  • 1964 Introduction

• Peter Pan Special Edition
  • The Peter Pan Story Featurette

• Peter Pan Platinum Edition
  • The Peter Pan Story Featurette

• Dumbo 60th Anniversary Edition
  • Walt Disney Introduction

• Dumbo Big Top Edition
  • Walt Disney Introduction

• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Platinum Edition
  • Tricks of Our Trade [2 Excerpts]
  • The Silly Symphony Story [Excerpt]

• Pete's Dragon Gold Collection/High Flying Edition
  • The Plausible Impossible [Excerpt]

• The Aristocats Special Edition
  • The Great Cat Family

• Disneyland, USA
  • The Disneyland Story
  • Disneyland After Dark
  • Disneyland 10th Anniversary

• Behind the Scenes at the Walt Disney Studios
  • The Story of the Animated Drawing
  • The Plausible Impossible
  • Tricks of Our Trade

• Tomorrow Land
  • Man In Space
  • Man and the Moon
  • Mars and Beyond
  • Our Friend the Atom

• 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 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 Anniversary

• True Life Adventures (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 Heart
  • So Dear To My Heart (introduction)

• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
  • Monsters of the Deep (excerpt)

• Lady and the Tramp Platinum Edition
  • A Story of Dogs ("making-of" segment)/[Excerpt]
  • A Cavalcade of Songs (excerpt)/[3-Minutes Excerpt]

• Old Yeller
  • Best Doggone Dog In The West

• Darby O'Gill and the Little People
  • I Captured The King of the Leprechauns

• Johnny Tremain
  • The Liberty Story (first half)
  • Johnny Tremain, Part One (excerpt)
  • Johnny Tremain, Part Two (excerpt)

• Sleeping Beauty Special Edition
  • An Adventure in Art (segment: "Four Artists Paint One Tree")
  • The Peter Tchaikovsky Story (30 minute segment only)

• Sleeping Beauty Platinum Edition
  • An Adventure in Art (segment: "Four Artists Paint One Tree")
  • The Peter Tchaikovsky Story (complete episode - two versions)

• Pollyanna
  • Pollyanna, Part One (introduction)
  • Pollyanna, Part Two (introduction)
  • Pollyanna, Part Three (introduction)

• Swiss Family Robinson
  • Escape to Paradise/Water Birds (first half)

• The Parent Trap
  • The Title Makers (first half)

• The Sword in the Stone Gold Collection
  • All About Magic (complete episode)

• The Sword in the Stone 45th Anniversary Edition
  • All About Magic (excerpt)

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
  • From the Pirates of the Caribbean to the World of Tomorrow (first half)

See also

• Zorro (1957 TV series)
• Disneyland Park (Anaheim)
• Mickey Mouse Club
• Disney Channel

References

External links

• Disneyland at the Internet Movie Database
• Disneyland at TV.com
• The Wonderful World of Disney at TV.com (1997)
• Information about the book The Wonderful World of Disney Television by Bill Cotter
• Episode list (1954–1996)