| Features |
 |
|
|
|
| Sponsors |
|
|
|
|
| Partners |
|
|
|
|
| Info |
|
|
|
|
|
During the war, Walt Disney made two films in South America, Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros, at the request of the State Department. His studio concentrated on making propaganda and training films for the military. When the war ended, it was difficult for the Disney Studio to regain its pre-war footing. Several years went by with the release of "package" features-films such as Make Mine Music and Melody Time, containing groups of short cartoons packaged together. Walt also moved into live action production with Song of the South and So Dear to My Heart, but because audiences expected animation from Walt Disney, these films included animated segments. Waltd some new doors by beginning the award-winning True-Life Adventure series featuring nature photography of a style never seen before.
1950 saw big successes at Disney - the first completely live action film, Treasure Island, the return to classic animated features with Cinderella and the first Disney television show at Christmas time. The company was moving forward again. After two Christmas specials, Walt Disney went onto television in a big way in 1954 with the beginning of the Disneyland anthology series. This series eventually would run on all three networks - and go through six title changes, but it remained on the air for 29 years, making it the longest-running prime-time television series ever. The Mickey Mouse Club, one of television's most popular children's series, debuted in 1955 - and made stars of a group of talented Mouseketeers.
Walt Disney was never satisfied with what he had already accomplished. As his motion pictures and television programs became successful, he felt a desire to branch out. One area that intrigued him was amusement parks. As a father, he had taken his two young daughters to zoos, carnivals, and other entertainment enterprises, but he always ended up sitting on the bench as they rode the merry-go-round and had all the fun. He felt that there should be a park where parents and children could go and have a good time together. This was the genesis of Disneyland. After several years of planning and construction, the new parkd July 17, 1955.
Disneyland was a totally new kind of park. Observers coined the term "theme park," but even that does not seem to do Disneyland justice. It has been used as a pattern for every amusement park built since itsng, becoming internationally famous, and attracting hundreds of millions of visitors. Walt said that Disneyland would never be completed as long as there was imagination left in the world, and that statement remains true today. New attractions are added regularly, and Disneyland still is as popular as it was in 1955.
The 1950s saw the release of the classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the first in a series of wacky comedies The Shaggy Dog, and a popular TV series about the legendary hero, Zorro. In the 1960s came Audio - Animatronics, pioneered with the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disneyland and then four shows at the 1964 New York World's Fair, and Mary Poppins, perhaps the culmination of all Walt Disney had learned during his long movie - making career. But the '60s also brought the end of an era: Walt Disney died December 15, 1966.
Continue -->
|
|
|
| Sponsors |
|
|
|
|
 |
