Le monde merveilleux de Disney

This show was never named "Disneyland". It started as "Walt Disney Presents" and became "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color".

This show was a mainstay of my childhood. Some of the most beautiful, not to mention earliest, color film of natural wonders – flowers, butterflies and national parks – appeared on this show. As did some of the best animation, from Disney's best general release Donald Duck shorts to entirely new productions, including a new character who quickly achieved a place in the Duckville pantheon – Ludvig Von Drake.

Its live action originals literally the stuff of legend into new legends: Davy Crockett, The Swamp Fox and The Scarecrow. These limited episode productions, the first mini-series, launched two major careers and redirected a third.

WDP gave Fess Parker his first real starring role as Davy Crockett in 1955. It created the homespun, always honest, man of the people personna that would endure through Mr Smith Goes To Washington (1962-63) and Daniel Boone (1964-70). It also turned song and dance man Buddy Ebsen, the original choice as the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz, into a small screen star with the folksy, aw shucks personna continued in The Beverly Hillbillies and Barnaby Jones.

Along with 1956's Forbidden Planet, Leslie Nielsen's 1959-61 role as General Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, helped make him an adventure star (until Airplane! accidentally returned him to comedy). Remember his biggest role before this was the romantic comedy lead in Tammy and the Batchelor opposite Debbie Reynolds.

Patrick McGoohan's three episode appearance as The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh in 1964, crystallized and confirmed the dashing, poker-faced, near super-hero personna begun in Danger Man, his 1960-61 British spy series. The Scarecrow also made McGoohan such a hot property that the defunct Danger Man was resurrected and renovated that same year as the commercial and cult hit Secret Agent. This was quickly followed by the truly iconic The Prisoner – with 9.1 ratings, The Godfather and The Shawshank Redemption top IMDb's all time favorite movie list, which means that, with a 9.2 score, the Prisoner is the hottest thing ever committed to film.

This is on the Disney Channel frequently, and I find myself still being amuzed by it. I think it's because Walt Disney himself was the host. Walt Disney always seems like he could have been a relative to some people. He always feels like family. Plus, some of the programs are still very interesting. There are several programs about the soon to open theme park, as well as many features about the making of some of the movies.

WHEN THIS ANTHOLOGY came to TV via the ABC Network in the Autumn of 1954, it had a sort of pre-installed reverence that no other program could dream of. Mr. Disney had garnered himself a reputation that was far above any other producer in Hollywood. Approaching, but falling just short of full Canonization, it was one of his true short comings on planet Earth.

AFTER HIS EARLY years in native, Chicago, the Disney family moved to Kansas City, Missouri; where the young Disney became a commercial artist, producing filmed ads for local businesses. These short animations would be the first Disney cartoons to be shown in the movie houses.

FOLLOWING SOME SETBACKS with people such as film producer/distributor Margaret Winkler over OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT, he turned to a Mouse and, well, we all know the rest.

HAVING MADE HIS mark in both the animated and live action productions insured that the new DISNEYLAND Show (original title) would surely embrace a "diversity" of sorts. Various program episodes were assembled from Disney's considerable backlog of cartoons and full length features. Others were live action series (or rather mini series) newly produced just for television. (Ever hear of Davy Crockett?)

TWO OTHER AREAS that comprised the show's rotation of subjects were bold forays into the worlds of science. One was biological; chronicling the life of wild animals and the habitats in which they live. The other brought us reports of what scientific research was bringing us to our daily lives. Being right on the cusp leading to the Space Race, rocketry and future space travel were prominent subject to be investigated, dissected and rendered understandable to even the youngest of viewers.

IN ESTABLISHING A format for the show, it was decided to partition the Kingdom of DISNEYLAND into four separate, smaller components. The separation was accomplished along the line of subject matter as follows:

Fantasyland: Fictional live action, animation.

Frontierland: Historical filmed series.

Tomorrowland: Science and the technological developments.

Adventureland: The True Life Adventures, Animals and Nature.

NOT SO COINCEDENTALLY all of these names were also the designations assigned to the various sections of the newly opened DISNEYLAND Theme Park. In addition to being a talented artist, great judge of talent & the public's tastes, Walt was obviously a $hrewd Promoter and Bu$ine$$ Man!

THE BATTING ORDER (or more properly, the STARTING ROTATION) insured both variety and balance in programing. The interest of the viewer-ship was maintained at a high level; as we were kept on the edge of our figurative chairs, wondering what next week's show would bring us.

WHERE ELSE COULD we travel to so many various lands without leaving the comfort of our living room's TV set?

Walt Disney was a genius! He really knew what he was doing when he made all those fantastic films. I met Mr. Disney when I was about 8 years old as my father worked at Disney Studios as an animator. Mr. Disney, Or UNCLE WALT is what he preferred, was very nice, warm, friendly, and above all the nicest man I have ever met.

Disney has achieved many great things even after his death in 1967, it just goes to show that as Walt once said,"As long as their is imagination".... which proves the heart of Disney films today still lives. Walt was very strict in a lot of things, and demanded the best, but in the end, Walt was very thankful to his staff for doing a great job. As a child, I was fascinated by his ability to create such wonderful stories, films, and shows. Every Sunday night, we would gather round our new color TV and watch Walt Disney.

Later in years, I never dreamed that I would be selected as a cast member of Kids of the Kingdom, a musical ensemble in Disneyland. It was a fun time, and really loved performing. what most people don't know is, the Disney Family had an apartment in Main Street USA.

Disney today is still magical as my own kids just love the classics I grew up with. ONe of his all time great classics was Mary Poppins. Still one of my favorites.

Walt's spirit lives on in all of us. As he once said, "It's kind of fun to do the impossible!" Thanks Walt.

Walt Disney's first shot at the television industry (actually, MMC was the 2nd Disney show, not the 1st) was with "Walt Disney Presents," a long-living TV anthology series that began in Disneyland, California in 1954, went on through the 60s and 70s with Disney short compilations and TV-edited Disney theatrical releases, and ended in the early 80s when huuuuuge VCRs were being purchased for, like, a million bucks, and everyone signed up for pay-per-view to watch the OLD Disney Channel in 1983.

What I like about this show: I've seen this on the Old Disney Channel in July 1997 (and several months thereafter), and it had stuff like nature documentaries, short cartoons, and more. The movies - they didn't show because it was part of the Vault Disney block (think of it as old school Nick at Nite, Disney style). And, on a bad new movie on DVD (LOL), "Pirates of the Caribbean," the bonus feature on disc 2 had the "PotC" ride at Disneyland opening episode on there. I remember this from the Old Disney Channel one late 1998 night.

"Walt Disney Presents" is a wonderful show, especially in color like the theme suggested!!!!!

10 stars!!!!!