Watch The Disneyland Story on Parkscope's YouTube Channel by clicking here
Jeff
We begin our anthology of Parkscope YouTube Tuesday with the special
that started the Disneyland anthology: Walt Disney’s presentation of “The
Disneyland Story.” This pilot episode of the Disneyland TV series literally was the one that started it all.
Without the success of the TV show, who knows if Walt would have been able to
build so many of the dreams of Disneyland.
This TV special was Walt’s big reveal of Disneyland to the general
public. Before this show aired in 1954, nobody knew what Disneyland was (and
for the most part, as we’ll get into later, after the show was over they still
didn’t know). But it was Walt’s marketing brilliance that allowed the general
public to embrace him, Disneyland, television, Mickey Mouse, Peter Pan, Alice,
20k, Sleeping Beauty, the Tru-Life Adventures, and Davy Crockett all in one
show.
Walt’s marketing brilliance came strictly from the spot-on execution of
his plans, as if he were the Mozart of family entertainment. To wit: the Disneyland TV debuted a whole 11 months before its namesake park’s
opening day.
Let that sink in for a minute. The public was pounded with the message
of Disneyland almost a full year before anyone would be able to see it! The
fact that Walt held everyone’s attention for so long , like an expert
ringmaster tantalizing the audience for the grand finale, is a testament to his
underrated and sublime showmanship.
“The Disneyland Story” is at once a TV special and a series pilot
episode. It was a TV special in that it was hyped as an event in itself. Though
Disney had contracted with ABC for several episodes (which turned out to be
much, much, much, much more), “The Disneyland Story” is an introduction of
sorts, a thesis statement to what Disney’s TV presence was going to be. Walt
made it very clear that TV was, as he put it, “my way of going directly to the
public.” And as he did, the public would be privy to every shot in the Disney
arsenal. Walt would advertise everything from his earliest successes with
Mickey Mouse to his upcoming animated movies, covering within the show’s short
span of time a chronology ranging from 1927 to the future of 1959. In essence,
it was Walt’s first controlled
introduction to the world.
Let’s walk through the video, as Walt would if he were here watching
with us.
...and look who made it back with you!
Disneyland begins with as
simple a thesis as can be: “Each week as you enter this timeless land, each of
these areas will open to you…” How coyly Walt integrated his patented storybook
opening into television format! Make no mistake, that is exactly what we’re
witnessing. Walt very cleverly devised his Disney anthology around the lands of
Disneyland. Coincidentally, Disneyland’s lands just happened to be connected with
Disney’s biggest themed projects at the time. One wonders if Holidayland and Lilliputian
Land bit the dust for just this reason; since money was so tight during
construction, perhaps Walt triaged the situation and jettisoned the lands that
did not tie thematically into major Disney projects that American audiences
would recognize? It would certainly make sense from a business perspective,
though I’m sure that wasn’t the only reason. But the Big Four Disney Lands,
Walt is careful to point out later, all can be tied to major Disney projects:
Tru-Life Adventures for Adventureland, Davy Crockett and Paul Bunyan (and Pecos
Bill, etc.) for Frontierland, Peter Pan and Alice and Dumbo and Snow White for
Fantasyland, and Walt’s upcoming space documentaries for Tomorrowland. The man
certainly knew how to sell a franchise!
As you watch the special unfold, you’ll realize that not only does the
audience not know what a Disneyland is, from the looks of things even Walt
barely knew! Of course he had it all bouncing around in his head, but think
about how little of the park he actually shows! Besides the Peter Ellenshaw-lit
wall map and a Main Street scale model, all we the audience are privy to by way
of attractions are an African Queen-style
tugboat for Adventureland, a steamboat for Frontierland, a castle for
Fantasyland, and a hanging monorail and spaceship for Tomorrowland. That’s it!
That’s literally all we see. In fact, we don’t even see any concepts for
Fantasyland whatsoever! Just a nice few dozen shots of the front of the castle.
And yet, had it not been pointed out, I’m sure we would have barely noticed.
Walt is genuinely excited about the place, and sells it beautifully, despite
the lack of many specific details. But boy, we sure want to drive to California
to see the place!
One other small thing to note: in the introduction, Frontierland is
mentioned first. This could be for
several reasons, and since the wall map over Walt’s shoulder suggests the
Jungle Cruise is still looking to be in the southwest zone we see today, it
wasn’t for a clockwise tour around the park. Most likely the intro of
Frontierland first was a combination of the booming popularity of Westerns at
the time, as well as Walt’s own desire to get into the television western scene
by introducing Davy Crockett as the first recurring character on the Disneyland show.
I also love that the narrator refers to Fantasyland as being “the
happiest (land) of them all.” Brings back memories of “The Happiest Place on
Earth” and “The Happiest Cruise That Ever Sailed,” doesn’t it? Boy, those were
the days, huh?
The special goes into full documentary mode as we take a visit to the
Disney Studios in Burbank, and get a CircleVision view of Mickey Avenue. As we
Disney nuts know, this version of the Disney Studio was Walt’s first real
Disneyland: the first pedestrian space where he could control the facets of its
design, layout, and aesthetic. Walt very much wanted the Disney studio to be
for his artists and workers. The animators’ windows face just the right
direction to achieve maximum sunlight throughout the day. The back areas were
complete with softball fields, which many employees played during lunch. The
studio was Walt’s first “Happiest Place on Earth.”
The narrator (note we haven’t even been introduced to Walt yet!) dives
right into the “goings on” at the studio, which coincidentally happen to fill
the audience in on the biggest “coming attractions” Disney would be releasing
soon. We visit the set of Disney’s biggest live action movie of the decade, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. And look
at how succinct yet complete the introductions are: we see two famous actors
(Douglas and Lorre), the comedy sidekick (Esmerelda the Seal) and the big
special effects extravaganza (James Mason vs. The Squid) all within a few
seconds. That’s all we need to know about the movie to make us want to run to
see it now! And we follow it up with Disney’s big blowout animated movie of the
1950s: Sleeping Beauty. We here the
lovely Aurora singing her signature song (random aside: the version sung in the
show is the exact same way it sounds when the movie was released four years
later! Was the soundtrack really dubbed that early?). We also get a glimpse of
Marc Davis and Milt Kahl modeling a dancing Aurora. Disney nerdgeek heaven!
As Walt is never one to let five minutes go without a silly joke of
some kind, we’re next taken to the “Music Department” where the Firehouse Five
Plus Two somehow stepped into a crossover universe with Jimmy Macdonald and the
sound effects team to play the weirdest assortment of junk instruments. Oh
fine, let’s all have fun at the musicians’
expense. I’m sure the trombone player is being paid enough for it.
We’re finally introduced to Walt a full 3 ½ minutes into the show
(again, the master storyteller can really turn up the suspense). What follows
is pure Disney and theme park geek bliss. Supported by a great script from
master writer Bill Walsh (who wrote the scripts for many of Walt Disney hosted
segments, as well as the shooting script for Mary Poppins and many other classic Disney movies), Walt gives one
of his all-time best hosted segments, despite the fact he looks terrified to be
in front of the camera. But, as we know, that was all part of his Midwest
charm. And boy, does it work.
Note how John Hench’s legendary portrait of Mickey is shot first, before Walt makes his appearance.
Walt had the shot in mind the whole time: Mickey is the star, and the main
connection between Walt Disney and his audience. And, since Walt would later
utter his famous line that “it was all started by a mouse,” there is no
question that Mickey would appear first.
And there’s Walt, with his signature lean. The “I’m not used to
speaking in public and have no idea what to do with my hands” lean. But by
golly, he still pulls it off, because he’s so damn sure of what he’s saying he
would have to stand on his head for anyone to notice his posture. He notes (again,
before the park is introduced) that he and Mickey have “an old partnership.”
And then, he says, “we (note the “we,” meaning he and Mickey and the entire
Disney Company) would like to share with you our latest and greatest dream.” What
a setup!
He then shows the famous wall map and notes to the audience that “Disneyland
the place and Disneyland the TV show
is one and the same,” answering the potential “when is the three o’clock parade”
question in the audience’s mind. Next, he proudly announces that Disney has a
whole 230 acres to play with, and shows the world exactly where Anaheim is on
the SoCal map. Presumably, so people can buy up the surrounding real estate and
make a fortune on tiki motels and pirate buffets.
One of my favorite moments is when Walt spells out what he wants
Disneyland to be, which at this point is still in a state of flux: Disneyland
would be “Unlike anything else on earth…a fair, an amusement park, an
exhibition, a city from the Arabian Nights, a metropolis of the future…a place
of hopes and dreams, facts and fancy, all in one.” You’d have to say it was
beautifully phrased, ladies and gentlemen. Yet this was not quite the final
vision. After all, the city from the Arabian Nights would turn into a city from
French Polynesia and the metropolis of the future would be the plastic rocket
and balloon stand of the future until 1959.
Though, the phrase certainly filled its purpose. For one, Walt of
course wanted to get his audience excited for the exotic places Disneyland
would take them to, places where until then they could only see in the movies.
I think he also stated Disneyland in this way to pull the audience off the
scent that Disneyland was an amusement park. To be fair, it was really a
combination of an amusement park and an historical exhibition, combining
standard amusement park staples like carousels and dark rides with pack mule
trips and the like. But remember, at this time the amusement park had become a
bad word in the American zeitgeist. So Walt wanted to pre-empt any thoughts of
the amusement park his audience might get once they finally see Dumbo and the
Tea Cups by tantalizing them with visions of exotic and exciting locales.
Another example of his genius: note how Walt points out that the TV
show WOULD BE BROADCASTING FROM DISNEYLAND upon its opening “in 10 months’
time.” And then, he says, he would like to show you “how we’re getting ready.”
Holy cow, what a setup! TEN WHOLE MONTHS of waiting and anticipation. A promise
of what would surely be one of the biggest broadcasts of television history up
to that time! And now here’s a glimpse of what we’ll see! Modern producers
literally couldn’t do it any better.
Thus begins the tour of Disneyland that isn’t. Of course, still
completely on course, Walt leads with the land that has the most substance in
its Disneyland park presentation: Main Street. It’s the only land where we get
to see a scale model. And because of this scale model, boy, color our appetites
whetted. Walt’s description of Main Street is succinct yet complete. As we saunter
through the Main Street proper, Walt points out the train station and the plaza
(complete with a band concert park, no less) before telling us that “straight
ahead lies the heartline of America,” and that Main Street is “Hometown USA”
just after the turn of the century, when electricity was replacing the gas
lamp. It will have the “color of the frontier days, combined with the
excitement of the upcoming 20th century.” He ends the camera tour by
saying it is “the most important spot in the nation.” Do you think he’s fond of
his Marceline hometown or what? Walt loved Main Street down to the core. And
that leads to the set up of the most famous shot of the show, at 5:30 where we
look right at Walt above the castle from a train station view. The pitch for
the shot is literally perfect.
Walt explains that the Hub is “the heart of Disneyland,” and like “the
four cardinal points on the compass, Disneyland has four cardinal realms…four
different worlds where our TV show will originate.” Again, Walt has an uncanny
ability of teaching us these concepts in the simplest language so that everyone
can remember, and not only remember but become excited for them!
This segway gives Walt a chance to explore the shows that will be upcoming
based on the four cardinal lands of Disneyland. Each segment is cleverly
introduced with an artist rendering of the land it represents, to give an
audience a feel into the theme of the area.
Frontierland is first (starting at 6:15), where Walt will be introducing
tales of frontier folklore (Paul Bunyan, Davy Crockett). He sets up his Davy
Crockett series by retelling the Davy Crockett folk story, and then having Fess
Parker sing George Bruns’s legendary ballad for the very first time. As everyone
knows, Davy Crockett turned into the first smash hit for Disney on television
(to be followed by Zorro and others). Synergy never sleeps at Disney.
The Adventureland segment is by far the strangest (starting at 9:30).
Ostensibly an introduction to the Tru-Life Adventures, the audience is
subjected to scenes around the world of “interesting people,” which somehow
includes both native dancing in Africa and bull-riding in Spain. Sure. And of
course let’s not forget the futility of the cameraman to film the penguins, who
were too interested in him to actually do anything entertaining (so of course
they go with the obvious solution and throw a mirror into the middle of
everything to “distract” them, which just led to them wandering up to the
mirror and wondering what the hell it was).
16:00 starts the Tomorrowland segment, where Ward Kimball makes his
debut to talk about the upcoming series of space-related documentaries that
would be shown on Disneyland.
Tomorrowland, is about “understanding what lies before us,” which is hilarious
to us because this is 1955 we’re talking about. However, once we regain our
perspective, think about how scarily accurate some of Disney’s future
predictions are when you realize people did not make it to space until 1961. And not only that, but Ward and
his team provide descriptions of atomic-powered space stations and trips to Mars. No seriously, they talk
about Mars like it’s going to be a walk in the park after we get to the moon. And
we have an appearance by the Ward Kimball Common Man! Always a treat.
The Fantasyland segment starts at 20:00 and it’s practically nothing
unless you really like Song of the South.
There’s no view of Fantasyland besides the castle, and Walt just shows us a
glimpse of a few animated movies before strangely diving into the Laughing
Place scene from Song of the South.
Talk about random. And I think Parkscope is now on some FBI watch list for playing
a segment from Song of the South. Though,
Walt does make a lovely portrayal of Fantasyland when he says it’s a place
where “hopes and dreams are all that matter.” We love you, Walt.
"You're welcome, Parkscope!"
Thus begins the meatiest part of the show, which is the Mickey Mouse
segment. And by golly, Walt will not go away before you know Mickey’s entire
life history. We learn about his, shall we say, “rambunctious” years of the
late 20s (when he had quite the teenage hellion streak about him), his time
with Pluto, his teaming up with Donald and Goofy in Lonesome Ghosts, and his solo piece de resistance effort in Fantasia. Of note, this was before the Mickey Mouse Club debuted, which means
that Mickey was not doing well in popularity. In fact, at the time Donald was
far more popular than Mickey. Walt used this segment to remind audiences how
great Mickey was, and was an opening salvo for the full-throated attack that
would come later starring Annette and the Big Mooseketeer. Walt would never
give up on the ol’ Mouse, that’s for sure.
We end the show with a glimpse into the next Disneyland episode, where Walt featured the TV debut of Alice in Wonderland. One can assume Walt
chose this particular movie because of all the animated movies released during
the 1950s, Alice was the least
popular. I’m sure Walt felt this was a way to try to re-ignite Alice in the
minds of the American audience.
As we end the show, “When You Wish Upon a Star” plays through the end
credits, forever connecting the Disney castle park with that timeless Disney
anthem. Amazing how so many of these tropes were set up from day one.
And so ends a milestone event in both television and theme park
history. The most significant point I got from re-watching this classic is the
fact that Walt Disney is such a bloody good storyteller and salesman. The man
literally is selling a flea circus at this point in Disneyland’s conception,
and yet here he is trotting out phrases like “The Heartline of America” and “a
place of hopes and dreams.” He connects all of Disney’s history so well in just
one episode of television, providing a thesis statement for the entire country
as to who Walt Disney is and what he stands for. I honestly can’t think of a
better introduction to Walt’s brilliance.
Joe
It would be a lie to say the Disney company has always been profitable, stable, and independent. Constantly over the years various projects have been sold to others, outside work contracted, sponsorships signed, and internal projects promoted. It wasn't till the Eisner/Wells duo in the 80s and 90s that made the Walt Disney Company a powerful standalone entity.
The Disneyland Story pulls double duty as not only a theme park promotion item (for a park opening over a year away) but as a sort of media perpetual motion machine. New TV shows and specials would be developed under the Disneyland brand, and as such, would end up in the theme park. The theme park would then inspire developments on the TV show. And to boot it was all sponsored and funded by someone else's money. Brilliant!
While The Disneyland Special features specials guests and what TV shows you can expect, the park is hardly covered. While discussing Adventureland (nee True Life Adventure Land) such things as the Jungle Cruise is still a nebulous concept. And it's not just that, Frontierland doesn't mention mule rides, Fantasyland doesn't talk about flying elephants or tea cups, and Tomorrowland was barely finished by the time the park opened! The only land that seems to get any attention was Main Street USA (Hometown USA) with a sweeping shot of the model somewhere in Glendale. This is probably because Walt didn't have any movies or plans for shows based around the turn of the century.
The framework for future specials could be seen though. Special guests were present in some form, there was singing (oh the future specials will get to singing), pan media coverage, executives, and Mickey. The focus is never on the individual rides or singular experiences as much as it is about the concept, the feeling of Disneyland. Viewers get the vibe of Disneyland more than a travelogue, which is what the next Disneyland special turns into (with spectacular results...)
Thanks for reading and watching with us. Tube in next week for Parkscope YouTube Tuesday #2!
--Jeff (@ParkScopeJeff) and Joe (@parkscopejoe)
No comments:
Post a Comment