Rediscovering Walt Disney

When this broadcast aired on July 17, 1955, Americans had been primed for the grand opening of Disneyland. Every week for nearly a year, Walt Disney had come into viewers' homes to tell them about his upcoming theme park and interest was high. Kid across America were waiting eager with anticipation for their first glimpse at the part and so were their parts who had grown up with Walt Disney's creations. When this live broadcast took place over 90 million viewers tuned in to see the payoff for their investment of tuning in to a season's worth of shows. Nearly every TV set in America at that time was watching this broadcast. Let that sink in. The broadcast itself was a marvel of engineering as there'd never been a live broadcast on such a grand scale like this ever attempted before. (For more information on that look at the Operation Disneyland video.) To host this broadcast, Walt asked his friends Art Linkletter, Bob Cummings, and Ronald Reagan to host the festivities. All three broadcasters were well known to 1950's audiences from a variety of venues, and these were A-list talents leading this broadcast. Because this broadcast was live and had never been attempted, there were a few errors during it, and they didn't get to everything that had been rehearsed. The flubs and snafus are part of the nostalgic charm. Also, the reason we don't see the interiors of the Fantasyland dark rides is because these were unable to be filmed at the time. Overlays of footage from Walt's animated features were inserted into the live broadcast to make up for it. Opening Day of Disneyland was a legendary disaster story known as Black Sunday with bathrooms and water fountains not working, pavement not hardened, gas leaks, food sellouts, counterfeit tickets, and more. You wouldn't realize it from the footage as ABC has a financial investment in the parks and kept all of that content off screen. Walt himself is in grand form as his latest dream has become a reality. The Firehouse Five Plus Two, a Dixieland Jazz Band comprised of Walt Disney artists is also one of the many cameos to be found in this historic broadcast. In this broadcast you'll also see the prayer and blessing that was held over the park by Rev Glenn D Puder. There's also a video about that with more detail elsewhere on this Rumble channel. We have made this broadcast as complete as we can. Unfortunately, in early 2001 this broadcast was officially released in the first wave of Treasures DVD's in edited form and that version of this footage is all that's in circulation online. A pet project of Roy Disney, Jr., this series of DVD's released many Walt era animated shorts, TV episodes, and theatrical shorts for the first time. Film critic and Disney fan Leonard Maltin hosted these DVD sets with immense enthusiasm. While the overall series was applauded for being complete and unedited, this was not true for the Disneyland USA DVD set and several edits were made across the content of this it because of PC culture. The Mouseketeers were completely purged from Dateline Disneyland when they had been present in both the parade down Mainstreet USA and had their own segment. A gag with Sammy Davis Jr. was also cut to avoid paying his estate. This deleted footage was always included when this episode would air on The Disney Channel. Every copy in circulation online has been from this edited print and most people are unaware of these edits. This is how history gets revised. We have edited in a version of the Mouseketeers segment that was released to a later Treasures set but it isn't the correct footage. It's of a rehearsal edited into the final footage. If this deleted footage ever surfaces, we will edit all the removed footage back into the show for the historical record. If anyone has this footage and would like to make it available, please leave a comment below. People should see this content as it originally aired. After this Treasure release blunder, Roy Jr never allowed it to happen again and whenever there was an overlooked edit on a futures Treasures release, a replacement program was instituted to ensure collectors could have the complete copy of the content. Original airdate July 17. 1955 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

Throughout the 1954-55 television season, Walt Disney had been showing viewers progress reports of the construction of his theme park, Disneyland. The first of its kind on such a grand scale, Walt had agreed to do this TV show in order to both co-fund the construction of and to advertise his park. This seldom seen final progress report works as almost a mini documentary on the ingenuity it took to build Disneyland. Many of the problems these craftsmen faced had never been attempted before and you see how they brilliantly solved them. Disney legend, Winston Hibler both co-wrote and narrated this show. He'd been a Disney writer for years and is best known today as the narrator of Walt's documentary films such as the True-Life Adventures, which he also often wrote. Throughout this episode you'll also see other Disney legends hard at work on different aspects of the park such as Harper Goff, Claude Coates, John Hench and others. Another Disney Legend, Bill Walsh co-wrote this episode. The first half of the program focuses on how some of the animatronics and ride vehicles were constructed while the latter half focuses on the construction of the buildings on the property itself. Of course, walt would continue adding to his park in future years but this footage shows us what it took to just get the doors open. This was the first time anyone had ever filmed this much behind the scenes footage of such an undertaking before and much more was shot than ever ended up on TV. Hundreds of hours of raw footage still exists to this day as well as time lapse photography of Disneyland rising up from the orange groves. During a sequence showing some of this footage there's a montage of Walt Disney's most popular songs in rewritten versions to reflec the construction of Disneyland. It proves characters from Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Song of the South, and others were all celebrated and members of the Disney family on equal footing. Like the Empire State Building, which only took thirteen months to build, the construction of Disneyland is a modern marvel. This was a time before restrictive big government regulations where such undertakings could happen at a breakneck pace. What's so impressive is Walt built Disneyland in one year and a day, trying to replicate the King Arthur legend of the creation of Camelot. In fact, Walt had intended to do a King Arthur film in England just prior to the construction of Disneyland but it fell through at the last minute. In design work the castle at Disneyland was described as King Arthur's castle before it was rechristened Sleeping Beauty's Castle, tying in with a film that would take four more years to complete. Media at the time also claimed the castle was either Snow White's or Cinderella's castle as well even though it has no resemblance to the castles in all of Walt's animated features. This is an important piece of Walt Disney and American history chronicling the achievement of an army of men and women united behind one man's innovative vision. Editor's note: When this originally aired, the second half hour of this hourlong show reran a segment from the first episode on the career of Mickey Mouse. We've only included the first half of the show as it originally aired that focused on the construction of Disneyland. Original airdate July 13, 1955 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

John Fell narrates this short featurette served as a pre-show to the broadcast for the opening of Disneyland in 1955. ABC supplied this featurette to local affiliates to air before the show. There had never been a live broadcast on this scale before and ABC wanted to show the general public all that went into achieving this. Like the very construction of Disneyland itself, the opening day broadcast was an engineering marvel. Today we're used to polished live broadcasts in our digital age but back in 1955 everything was analog and far more complicated to produce. Essentially five live broadcasts were being produced simultaneously that could be intercut as needed. Miles of cable were required to pull this off and this rare behind the scenes footage shows the lengths went to in order make that happen. When this aired, behind the scenes footage was even an innovative concept. Very few featurettes or TV shows were done to showcase what it took to make anything happen. This is a rare document of both Walt Disney and broadcasting history, Original airdate July 17, 1955 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is the sixth Walt Disney World Happy Easter Parade to be aired on network television from 1990. This parade would become a staple for decades and something important in growing up Disney during the 80's and 90's, before being abandoned in the early 2000's by the Eisner regime. This broadcast aired on ABC. The Walt Disney World Happy Easter Parade always aired on Easter afternoon after most Americans had returned home from attending morning church services. The parade always ended with the crowd singing Irving Berlin's Easter Parade as they dispersed after the festivities. It's a time capsule into Walt Disney and America's history past and pop culture past. Joan Lunden and Alan Thicke co-host this parade with Regis Philbin. It’s the same dynamic of the Christmas parades of the time. Lunden was then the current co-host of Good Morning America and Thicke was one of the stars from the sitcom Growing Pains. Regis was a well known talk show host vet even then. This archetype of hosts for the parade broadcasts would continue with the parade for decades even though the hosts would change. Comedian Howie Mandel also joins in on the festivities checking in from the Disney MGM Studio while Buster Poindexter, pseudonym for actor, singer songwriter David Johansen hosts a segment from Disneyland. Original air date April 15, 1990 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is an expanded version of the 1991 VHS release that includes attractions that were installed since including Mickey's Toontown and Fantasmic. This version was sold at Disneyland as a souvenir. In this video only the title is the same, the content is different. This version features the Walt Disney characters experiencing many of the attractions on a typical day at Disneyland. It captures the park the way it was and many of the attractions as they were. Some of these no longer exist or no longer exist in their original form. One of the segments is Goofy riding the Jungle Cruise, which has been greatly altered since this was filmed. Another features Captain Hook and Mr. Smee on Pirates of the Caribbean, another ride that no longer exists in this version. We also see the Song of the South characters enjoying Splash Mountain, a ride that's been demolished. This is a historic time capsule of what Disneyland was like after the Eisner regime took over and began influencing the company. Original release date June 1991 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

1984 was the 50th anniversary of Donald Duck and this TV special hosted by Dick van Dyke aired on CBS. Several celebrities of the time make appearances along with clips from Donald's cartoons. These types of specials were popular at the time, not just for Disney milestones but other characters as well. This was the last appearance of Donald Duck's original voice, Clarence Duck Nash. He would pass away a year later. The special only aired in America once but has reaired in Europe where the Disney Ducks are a popular institution. Original air date November 13, 1984 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

In this episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, Walt takes us to Disneyland to observe how various holiday events are celebrated in his park. There's Easter, Independence Day, attraction openings and others but the culmination is the Candlelight Processional, which was initiated by Walt himself. It was also held at Walt Disney World after his death and remained unchanged for many years until Woke Disney removed references to Christ being the Savior and Son of God from the show. Woke Disney claims it was streamlined for "time," but we know the truth. We also get to see the American Indian Village where Walt invited real tribes to share about their culture and traditions with guests. At Christmas time, there's also a Parade of Nations down Main Street USA where all share their local traditions in observing the birth of Christ and some of the countries included may surprise you. This notion that American culture never welcomed people from other places in the public square is a modern day lie. Walt was a great American who celebrated American culture and traditional values in everything he created -- including Disneyland. This is why the Woke can't stand him and have destroyed everything me made all while revising who he really was. We can use this video footage as proof of how Walt founded and ran his company and it's not with the globalist agenda used today. This was how Walt closed out 1962 on his TV show and it's a fantastic evergreen to revisit and see what kind of culture America used to be. Original airdate December 23, 1962 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

The Disneyland Candlelight Processional began when Walt Disney looked upon the park from his apartment above the Firehouse on Main Street USA and decided that Disneyland needed to have Christmas Carolers. He asked Dr. Charles Hirt, a local college professor, to lead these carolers as they performed both throughout the park and at the Disneyland Bandstand. That Christmas several neighborhood choirs were invited to perform in the park at an event called the Disneyland Christmas Bowl that was held for many years -- each year bigger than the last. By 1957 the Candlelight Processional had taken shape and while it had been held in front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle that year, Walt decreed that it would always be held on Main Street USA from that point forward. After being in charge of the pageantry of the 1960 Winter Olympics with which Walt had collaborated with Dr Hirt, the pair began planning on how to expand the Candlelight Processional event into an even larger affair. A living Christmas tree became part of the show and, in 1961, Disneyland began the tradition of asking celebrities to host the event. The first of these was actor Dennis Morgan who was honored with these duties for many years. Other celebrity hosts included Dick van Dyke, Gale Storm, John Wayne, Charlton Heston, Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Rock Hudson, and others. Many of these people were Walt’s personal friends and when he or his family informally asked them to perform in this service, they always agreed. John Wayne even did so while battling a bad cold because he felt it was that important to host. It was understood that Christmas was a time to culturally honor the birth of Jesus Christ with holy reverence regardless of personal issues or political position. After Walt Disney World opened in 1971, Dr. Hirt set up the Candlelight Processional there where he led it for many years. Rock Hudson was the first celebrity host for the Walt Disney World version of the ceremony and holds the record of hosting this service more than any other celebrity host. The show became so popular that eventually it was moved to EPCOT Center where it had a much larger venue, and more guests could see it. In this version there has usually been a different host each weekend from Thanksgiving through New Year's. In 1986 the Disneyland Candlelight Processional was filmed and began airing on The Disney Channel in 1987. Actor Howard Keel hosts this event and had been the star of the Biblical film Walt and Roy co-funded and distributed in 1959, The Big Fisherman. In an interview Keel commented, “I’ve never been a very religious person, but when you stand up there for all of those people with that incredible chorus and orchestra beside you, it’s a wonderfully moving experience. In fact, I was so moved I could hardly speak.” This version had already begun to be watered down from the Eisner era PC policies starting to creep in but is still a very powerful statement that this was once the Walt Disney Company. The broadcast also illustrates the Nativity Story with artwork going back centuries in this celebration of what Christmas is really all about. This broadcast aired on the Disney Channel annually from 1987 until 1995 and often aired as their Christmas Eve midnight service and/or as their final Christmas special on Christmas day. After 1995 it never aired again. The poem, One Solitary Life, had always be a part of the Candlelight Processional. It began as a sermon by James Allan Francis that he gave at a Los Angeles Convention to the Baptist’s Young People’s Union on July 11, 1926. The poem proved immensely popular and became a beloved Christmas staple as well-known as any hymn and featured in everything from The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular to Sonny & Cher’s Comedy Hour. President Reagan frequently read the poem to children from the White House as part of the Christmas festivities. This was a VERY well-known piece of American, Christian, and cultural history that’s become obscure in recent years. In 2012 the poem, One Solitary Life, which had always been a part of Walt Disney's Candlelight Processional, was removed along with many of the “more religious” Christian traditional hymns celebrating the birth of Christ. The Walt Disney Company claimed they were removed for “time,” but these had always been at the heart of the presentation, so we know what that really meant. In the years afterward, references to the deity of Jesus Christ were also removed, emphasis placed on Jesus only being a mortal man of peace were substituted, and eventually Woke Disney inserted 1 Corinthians 15 known as the "Love Chapter" twisting it to be about affirming the rainbow jihad. The Candlelight Processional also often became a platform for the celebrity host to push their leftist agenda or rail about social justice and other typical leftwing nonsense instead of honoring the birth of Christ. Every time a change has been made, Woke Disney always claims these changes are only minor and troll those who object for "overreacting." Eventually the center was gutted out from the ceremony. This is clearly not the same service Walt Disney created. Below are some further resources on the history of this event. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- List of Disneyland Hosts Dennis Morgan (1961-1964) Dick Van Dyke(1965) (Walt’s last Candlelight ceremony) Dennis Morgan (1966) Gregory Peck (1967 Saturday) Dean Jones (Sunday) Henry Fonda (1968, Saturday) Rock Hudson (Sunday) Gary Grant (1969) Charlton Heston (1970 Saturday) Dean Jones (Sunday) John Wayne (1971) Rock Hudson (1972) Cary Grant (1973-1974) Jimmy Stewart (1975) Rock Hudson (1976) Buddy Ebsen (1977 Saturday) Ed Asner (Sunday) Cary Grant (1978) Elliot Gould (1979 Saturday) Joseph Cotton (Sunday) Michael Landon (1980) Ed Asner (1981 Saturday) Jason Robards (Sunday) Pat and Shirley Boone (1982) Darren McGavin (1983) Joseph Campanella (1984) Kevin Dobson (1985) Craig T. Nelson (1986 Saturday) Elliot Gould (Sunday) Howard Keel (1986-1987) Joseph Campanella (1988) John Forsythe (1989) James Earl Jones (1990) Robert Urich (1991) George Kennedy (1992) Michael York (1993) Peter Graves (1994) David Ogden Stiers (1995) Mary Hart (1996) Joseph Campanella (1997) Richard Crenna & Edward James Olmos (1998) Olympia Dukakis (1999) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- List of Walt Disney World Hosts Rock Hudson (1971) Carey Grant (1972) Rock Hudson (1973-1974) Dean Jones (1975) Joseph Campanella (1976) Rock Hudson (1977) Ross Martin (1978) Perry Como (1979) Rock Hudson (1980) James Hampton & Darren McGavin (1981) Pat & Shirley Boone (1982) Joseph Campanella (1983) Rock Hudson (1984) Howard Keel (1985-1986) Dean Jones (1987) Walter Cronkite (1988) McLean Stevenson (1989) Joseph Campanella (1990) George Kennedy (1991) Paula Zahn (1992) James Earl Jones (1993) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- List of EPCOT Center Hosts 1994 – Robert Guillaume, Robert Urich, Phylicia Rashad 1995 – Erik Estrada, Louis Gossett Jr., Peter Graves, Phylicia Rashad, Billy Dee Williams 1996 – Buzz Aldrin, Barbara Eden, Edward Asner, Louis Gossett Jr., Sandi Patty, Joseph Marcell, Tara Halland, David Ogden Stiers 1997 – Paula Zahn, George Kennedy, Mary Hart, Angie Dickenson, Louis Gossett Jr., Pat Morita, Robert Urich, Sandi Patty, Dr. Bobby Jones 1998 – Louis Gossett Jr., Art Garfunkel, Phylicia Rashad, Charles Kimbrough, Brian Dennehy, George Hamilton, James McDaniel, Joseph Marcel, Deidre Hall, George Kennedy, Nicole Johnson, David Ogden Stiers 1999 – Alfre Woodard, Charles Kimbrough, Angela Bassett, Brian Dennehy, Maria Conchita Alonso, James Avery, Edward James Olmos, James McDaniel, Andy Garcia, Sandi Patty, David Ogden Stiers, LeVar Burton ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One Solitary Life by James Allan Francis He was born in an obscure village as the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another obscure village where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty. Then for three years was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put his foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself. He had nothing to do with this world except the naked power of His Divine Manhood. While still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. Another betrayed Him. He was turned over to his enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon the cross between two thieves. While he was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth and that was His coat. When He was dead, He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the center of the human race and the leader of the column of progress. I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, and all the navies that were ever built, and all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon the earth as powerfully as has this One Solitary Life. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original airdate December 20, 1987 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is the opening ceremonies for the Walt Disney World version of Splash Mountain on October 2, 1992. In June 2020 Woke Disney purged all references to Song of the South and Splash Mountain throughout the company and merchandising in response to the George Floyd riots even though there was nothing racist about the film or the ride. Back then the water not running was part of the show, when Tiana's Bayou Adventure opened the water stopped running because of technical issues. The quality with Walt Disney Imagineering used to be Zip-a-dee-doo-dah instead of Zip-a-dee-doo-doo. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Celebrate stolen history by nominating a classic film, Song of the South, to the National Film Registry as Woke Disney is purging every aspect of it from existence. In theory, that's why the National Film Registry exists. Walt Disney's Song of the South is the first Technicolor feature film made that blended live action with animation throughout the film. The popular song Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah won the Oscar for Best Song. Woke Disney has purged this song from the theme parks and elsewhere. Actor James Baskett is the first black actor to win an Oscar and it was for this film! He was honored with an eternal Oscar for his portrayal of Uncle Remus in Song of the South. Actor Nick Stewart played Br'er Bear, started the Ebony Showcase Theater with the earnings from this film. He returned to play Br'er Bear again in Splash Mountain and remodeled the theater. He was a Civil Rights pioneer and said "Walt Disney treated us like kings." Oscar winner Hattie McDaniel plays a major character in this film. She's the first black actress to win an Oscar for Gone with the Wind. The characters from this film were a major part of Walt Disney's stable of stars and he frequently revisited them again and again in his television, commercial, theme park ventures and more. The Uncle Remus stories were very special to Walt and so was this film inspired by them. Don't let Woke Disney erase important black, American, and cinematic history! Please nominate this historic film to the National Film Registry as Woke Disney purges every aspect of this special film from pop culture. The form is below. https://www.research.net/r/national-fim-registry-nomination-form Please consider contributing to our Give/Send/Go so we can continue preserving Walt Disney history like this. https://www.givesendgo.com/RediscoveringWaltDisney Posted for historical purposes. Walt Disney's voice is recreated with AI. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is the 1990 Walt Disney World Independence Day Spectacular and what a spectacular it is! Unlike previous Independence Day broadcasts, this one has no host. This is the third time the parade aired and the second on Fox networks. Disney already had a Christmas and Easter broadcast but unlike those other parades, this broadcast celebrated America. Interestingly, this is the first time the parade format was dropped from this broadcast in favor of a more performance-oriented show. This broadcast contains several song performances by popular stars of the time as well including New Kids on the Block, Glydis Knight, and Jermain Jackson. There's also park shows including the Disney Afternoon, Dick Tracy, and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The latter two both having come fresh off of live recent action film releases. Samuel E. Wright performs his two songs from The Little Mermaid, the Disney characters recite the Preamble to the United States Constitution, and Regis & Kathy Lee put on a show about America and patriotism. You will not believe today's Walt Disney Company used to be like this. The date this program aired varied from year to year and even by network. This third Independence Day Parade broadcast aired on July 4 on Fox stations. It was the shortest-lived parade broadcast, only running 6 years. The final Independence Day show aired in 1992. Unlike the other parades, the Independence Day Parade didn't have a regular host, but usually concluded with Sandi Patty singing the Star-Spangled Banner during the fireworks display for the finale. Original air date July 4, 1990 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This TV special hosted by sitcom star Kirk Cameron explored the behind the scenes story of Disney's latest theme park attraction, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The original premise of the ride was there was a haunted hotel Disney moved to their lot and it's haunted. The Twilight Zone angle is this is the setting for the lost episode of the series and you're the star. Throughout this attraction are references to various episodes of the original Twilight Zone series. The voice of Rod Serling is perfectly recreated by actor Mark Silverman. Walt Disney had been friends with Rod Serling and Serling had given Walt the Mystic Seer prop from the episode Nick of Time starring William Shatner. When the ride opened in 1994 it only featured one drop. Due to guest complaints a second drop was added. In 1997 a TV movie based on the attraction aired on The Wonderful World of Disney starring Steve Guttenberg and Kirsten Dunst. This was The Walt Disney Company's first film based on a theme park attraction. This ride has since been rethemed with a Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy theme so The Twilight Zone Tower of terror no longer exists. Original airdate November 8, 1994 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This 1968 theatrical featurette takes footage from Walt's TV show and vintage Walt Disney narration and creates a visual tour of the park. If you've seen the source material there's very little that's new but it was edited in a new way collecting it all together. The major addition here is The Pirates of the Caribbean which had just opened the previous year. The film was released with that year's major fantasy film release Blackbeard's Ghost and sold as a souvenir 16MM films guests could purchase and watch at home in 1968. This is a time capsule of what Disneyland looked like just before Walt passed away, which is where much of this footage comes from, and shortly after. Original release date February 8. 1968 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is the 1993 Walt Disney Imagineering Quarterly Report for the fourth quarter of that year. In it they discuss the unbuilt Disney Theme Park Disney's America, adding Bill Clinton to the Hall of Presidents, constructing the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, designing the Nautilus for Euro Disney and, more. This is when PC culture started to overtake the company. You can hear how some of the imagineers discuss the leftist talking points of the time about "equality," "diversity," "ethnicity," "alliances," and "issues oriented." The unbuilt Disney's America Theme Park and the revision of the Hall of Presidents is all about this. Disney's America was a proposed theme park that was going to be built near Washington, D.C. that told the revised history of America that was taking root in the country of the time. At Walt Disney World, The Hall of Presidents show and The American Adventure at EPCOT Center were both revised to reflect this new narrative. At Disneyland, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln was also revised. The "experts" Disney teamed up with on these projects, are why Song of the South's 1996 theatrical release and later VHS/DVD releases were cancelled. This is an important obscure chapter in Walt Disney history. Release date 4th Quarter 1993 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This infamous promotional TV special is a pseudo-documentary on the UFO phenomenon that was part of pop culture in the 1990's. At the time, such serious documentaries on UFO's, close encounters, and alien abductions had become common place and such series as The X-Files were quite popular. A few years later such related theatrical films as Independence Day and Men In Black further demonstrate the interest in this topic. The Walt Disney Company decided to market their most controversial new attraction, Extraterrorestrial Alien Encounter, rooted in such a manner. Extraterrorestrial Alien Encounter was the first real horror ride in a Disney Park and a lot of guests as well as employees felt that it was too scary for their family friendly image. Disney licensed the content of the Alien franchise from 20th Century Fox with the premise that the alien from those films gets loose in the theater among around the audience. Lucasfilm collaborated with Walt Disney Imagineering in the creation of this 4-D experience. There was controversy from the start stemming from the Alien films are rated R and at the time Disney Park attractions were only based on G or PG properties. Disney CEO Micheal Eisner was a champion of this attraction and brough George Lucus in to make it work, having already collaborated with him on Captain EO and Star Tours. The first version of this ride opened in December 1994 before Eisner shut it down for retooling believing it wasn't intense enough. The second version of this attraction opening in summer 1995 and guest complaints began immediately. The majority response from families was that this ride was far too scary for their children, but Eisner remained firm and even had the ride made more intense for a third version. Disclaimer signs were also installed outside the entrance, but this didn't deter the guest complaints. This was one of the many things that added to the rift between Eisner and Roy Disney Jr who was against this attraction being associated with his family name from the start. Only after the death of Disney President Frank Wells, did Eisner go ahead with his plans to install this ride. Due to the negative feedback, Tokyo Disneyland and Euro Disney refused to allow this attract ion to be installed in their parks. In 2003 Extraterrorestrial Alien Encounter was shuttered and replaced with Stich's Great Escape! This ride was based on Walt Disney Feature Animation's 2002 film Lilo & Stitch and used the same premise but was much more friendly for a family audience. Stitch's Great Escape opened in 2004 to much acclaim from guests. This TV special hosted by beloved actor Robert Urich has become legendary among Disney buffs. It only aired once and for years many urban legends began to take root about the content. If you didn't catch it during the one time you didn't see it at all. Some believed it was an update of Walt's own Man in Space series produced by Disney Legend Ward Kimball. For years Kimball claimed there was to be a fourth installment of that series that would have focused on UFO's and aliens but the United States Government shut it down. Kimball was a practical joker and is even credited with starting the urban legend that Walt was frozen so we can't take his claims as gospel. When Disney produced this TV special, they portrayed it as a serious documentary to the UFO experts they interviewed without telling them it was a pseudo-documentary to promote a theme park attraction and many of them were angry about it. Disney ignored their demands for an apology but never reaired this TV special again hoping it would be forever forgotten. Here is that special. Original airdate February 27, 1995 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This promotional film about EPCOT Center played in a loop at the EPCOT Center Preview Pavilion at Walt Disney World where models, artwork, and other things were on display announcing the next phase of the resort. The voice of Disney, Dick Tufeld, narrates this film that features rarely seen animation of man's future existence living in deserts, at the bottom of the sea, and in outer space. The objective of how each World and attraction builds upon each other to work together is clearly defined in this film. Spaceship Earth and World of Motion taught guests about the past so they had the foundation to explore the future. Journey into the Imagination was about the creativity needed to shape man's destiny in a variety of ways. Other attractions depicted possible technologies that could make a better world for all in this future. We also learn that the point of World Showcase was a rejection of a one world government. In keeping with Walt Disney's values, every nation on earth retains their own unique cultural identity in this optimistic future and this exposition is hosted by the United States of America who's leading the way. In the narration, it's clearly explained that Walt Disney World was indeed the wienie (as Walt always put it) to attract people from across America and the world to view the technologies on display at EPCOT Center and hopefully be implemented in their home states and nations for a brighter future. EPCOT was never intended to be the theme park it became but a World's Fair meant to make a real difference in the story of mankind. There was always going to be this World's Fair on the future even though Walt's intended plans were much grander in scope than that. As an added bonus, also included is the EPCOT theatrical trailer narrated by Percy Rodriguez. This trailer played in movie theaters advertising what the Walt Disney Company was building. Original release date June 1, 1981 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This film was produced for Disneyland and played in the Opera House replacing Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. The film is comprised of vintage audio clips of Walt Disney telling his life story in his own words. Vintage photos and footage illustrate the story. A display of artifacts accompanied this film where guests could explore different items from Walt's life. When guests began complaining that Mr. Lincoln had been shut down, Walt Disney Productions incorporated him into the finale of the show. Walt Disney World also ran a version of this film in their Opera House as well. their museum display was different. At first it included a preview of the Western River Expedition attraction. When that ride was cancelled, a preview of EPCOT Center replaced it. In 1994 this film was released to VHS as a souvenir. An introduction and epilogue with Mickey Mouse was added to that presentation. We present the entire film with this intro and outro so you can hear Walt in his own words. The Disneyland version of the film ran until 2005 while Walt Disney World's shuttered in 1996. Original release date April 8, 1973 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This promotional film was released in 1983 for the brand new home video rental market. EPCOT CENTER had just opened and this video captures what it was like at the time. Many of these places and attractions no longer exist. There’s also a segment that shows EPCOT Center under construction as it was being built. This is a historic time capsule of what Walt Disney World was like before the Eisner regime took over and Walt’s family was still running it. It was just a mom and pop theme park and not what we think of as Disney today. The purpose of this video was to show families all that EPCOT Center had to offer so they’d want to plan a family vacation there or to take home as a keepsake of their trip there. The narrator is Philip L Clarke who later became the voice of Vault Disney on The Disney Channel. Original release date September 1983 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

Voice of Disney Dick Tufeld narrates this promotional film was released in 1980 for the brand new home video rental market. The park was only 8 years old when this footage was filmed. It captures Walt Disney World the way it was and many of the attractions as they were. Some of these places and attractions no longer exist. It also explores the surrounding areas around the park of hotels, shopping, recreation, and dining. This is Walt Disney World as Walt’s brother Roy and Admiral Joe Fowler built it. This is a historic time capsule of what Walt Disney World was like before the Eisner regime took over and Walt’s family was still running it. It was just a mom and pop theme park and not what we think of as Disney today. There’s also some very rare color footage of Walt Disney and Disneyland. The purpose of this video was to show families all that Walt Disney World had to offer so they’d want to plan a family vacation there. Original release date June 1981 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

Mickey's Nutcracker is a 1991 Disneyland stage production that was filmed and aired on the Disney Channel for several years starting in 1992. It features many of the core Walt Disney characters in starring roles as well as Roger Rabbit who was being forced into Mickey's Gang hard at the time. Original airdate December 9, 1992 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This TV special features a selection of magicians doing their acts in different places around Disneyland. At the time, it was quite popular to do these sorts of themed specials in the Disney theme parks. The show is hosted by George Burns who had been a popular golden age comedian with his wife Gracie Allen but she died, his age became his schtick. (And yes, the whales in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home are indeed named after George Burns and Gracie Allen.) Figures include magician & sitcom star Harry Anderson with his Night Court co-star Markie Post, singer Gloria Estefan, Cheers star and future Pixar good luck charm John Ratzenberger, magicians Lance Burton, Dean Gunnarson, and Jonathan Pendragon, soap opera star Morgan Fairchild, and illusionists Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn. The special aired on NBC. Original airdate February 12, 1988 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

On his TV show, Walt Disney often took his viewers to Disneyland so the viewers at home could see what was new and going on there. His entire TV show had been established to fund building the park and he had given progress reports from the start. After it was built, these progress reports continued has he kept updating things. For those of us living decades later, these episodes have become a time capsule of what Disneyland looked like in the past. Walt had said on several occasions that he’d build Disneyland to be an eternal world’s fair celebrating American ideals and many of these attractions no longer exist. Of special note is the American Indian Village that had been part of Disneyland from the start. In recent years this attraction has been smeared by woke leftists as racist but it was very inclusionary. Dozens of real American Indian Tribes were hired where they taught guests about their customs and traditions. At the time, no one was doing this and many of the American Indians and their tribes expressed gratitude to Walt Disney for allowing them a venue to educate the public that their people were not the constant stock villains often used in westerns of the time. Walt Disney, and his studio after his death, created several films and TV shows where American Indians were treated with respect and dignity; something that often gets ignored today. The American Indian Village was removed in the 1970’s to make way for Critter Country. You'll also see Holidayland, the only land in the history of Disneyland that closed down. Most of this footage was shot in 1956, the year after Disneyland opened and many shots in this episode come from the theatrical short of People & Places titled Disneyland USA. This episode was later split in half and aired as two episodes of Walt Disney’s Adventure Time, a show that aired on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the time slop of the 1958-59 season of The Mickey Mouse Club. This is also the first episode where Tinkerbell is named Official Hostess of Disneyland and to introduce the fairy bell Walt has in his office to summon her. You may also recognize shots from Walt’s introduction of this episode as being recreated with actor Tom Hanks as Walt in the 2013 film saving Mr. Banks. Tom Hanks is no Walt Disney and by the way, the shots of Tinkerbell in the recreation were reanimated by Disney Legend Mark Henn. The gag with Walt introducing Dick Wesson’s voice was a reuse of a gag used in Fantasia. Dick Wesson was the narrator of Walt’s TV show from 1954 through 1979. He was a well-known announcer and radio personality as well. He was one of two voices of Disneyland. The other was Dick Tufeld who hosted and narrated Disney productions and events even longer. Wesson appeared on camera in the film footage for the Rocket to the Moon attraction at Disneyland. He passed away in 1979 committing suicide after a long struggle with cancer. Original Airdate April 9, 1958 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is a replacement for the 1982 promotional film that was produced for the home video rental market. This version was sold at Disneyland as a souvenir. In this video only the title is the same, the content is different. This version features the Walt Disney characters experiencing many of the attractions on a typical day at Disneyland. It captures the park the way it was and many of the attractions as they were. Some of these no longer exist or no longer exist in their original form. One of the segments is Goofy riding the Jungle Cruise, which has been greatly altered since this was filmed. Another features Captain Hook and Mr Smee on Pirates of the Caribbean, another ride that no longer exists in this version. We also see the Song of the South characters enjoying Splash Mountain, a ride that's been demolished. This is a historic time capsule of what Disneyland was like after the Eisner regime took over and began influencing the company. Original release date June 1991 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This promotional video depicts Disneyland at Christmas time in the early 1990's. This was just before PC culture swept through the place and forever altered the Magic Kingdom and its policies from what Walt Disney and his brother Roy had created. This VHS was sold in the parks as a souvenir to guests at the time. The premise of the program is Mickey Mouse and his friends are preparing Disneyland for Christmastime. Most of the content focuses on the Disneyland Christmas parade and the stage show Mickey's Nutcracker. There's a brief segment on the Candlelight Processional as well. In this video we also see how Roger Rabbit had been integrated into Mickey's gang but the shared copyright with Amblin would end this by the time Dreamworks was founded and the character would fade into fad obscurity rather than forced evergreen. Merlin from the Sword in the Stone is also a main figure in this program. He lights the Disneyland Christmas tree. This is am interesting historical document on what Disneyland was like before PC culture took over. The Walt Disney Company and America was like a whole different country back then. Original release date October 1992 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This promotional film was released in 1982 for the brand new home video rental market. It captures the park the way it was and many of the attractions as they were. It also focuses on details seldom seen in Disney park videos. Some of these places and attractions no longer exist. This is a historic time capsule of what Disneyland was like before the Eisner regime took over and Walt’s family was still running it. It was just a mom and pop theme park and not what we think of as Disney today. Everything in the park is explored from rides, attractions, restaurants and gift shops with the exception of Fantasyland, which was going through a major remodel at the time. There’s a section on the behind the scenes of the park’s history that covers some of that instead. The purpose of this video was to show families all that Disneyland had to offer so they’d want to plan a family vacation there. Original release date June 1982 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

On his TV show, Walt Disney often took his viewers to Disneyland so the viewers at home could see what was new and going on there. His entire TV show had been established to fund building the park and he had given progress reports from the start. After it was built, these progress reports continued has he kept updating things. For those of us living decades later, these episodes have become a time capsule of what Disneyland looked like in the past. Walt had said on several occasions that he’d build Disneyland to be an eternal world’s fair celebrating American ideals and many of these attractions no longer exist. This is the first behind the scenes episode of Walt's TV show filmed after his death and the first to not have a host. The premise is the Osmonds explore Disneyland. The occasion was the opening of Walt Disney's Haunted Mansion. Comedienne E.J. Peaker also joins in the hijinks and Kurt Russell gives us a behind the scenes look at the creation of the Haunted Mansion attraction. The Haunted Mansion had been in the original plans for Disneyland before it was even built but Walt didn't get around to building it until after the 1964-65 World's Fair. This was the first glimpse many Americans had of Walt Disney's final attraction. Kurt Russell was a child star who’d started appearing in Walt Disney films when Walt was alive and continued well into his early 20’s. This was really the first time you get the sense of how there was a friendship and respect he had for Walt that's continued to the day. The Osmonds were one of many such music performing family groups that were very popular at the time. Donny Osmond would later return to a Disney project as the singing voice of Shang in 1998's Mulan. In the 1960’s there was a trend to transition these bands into films and TV specials and that’s what this partly was. E.J. Peaker was a well known actress at the time appearing in both TV films and theatrical releases as well as guest starring in TV episodes of the era. Of special note is the American Indian Village that had been part of Disneyland from the start. In recent years this attraction has been smeared by woke leftists as racist but it was very inclusionary. Dozens of real American Indian Tribes were hired where they taught guests about their customs and traditions. At the time, no one was doing this and many of the American Indians and their tribes expressed gratitude to Walt Disney for allowing them a venue to educate the public that their people were not the constant stock villains often used in westerns of the time. Walt Disney, and his studio after his death, created several films and TV shows where American Indians were treated with respect and dignity; something that often gets ignored today. The American Indian Village was removed shortly after this was filmed to make way for Critter Country. Original air date March 22, 1970 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.