Walt Disney Treasures - Disneyland USA

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To finance Disneyland he wanted to build, Walt Disney turned to the new medium of television. As host Leonard Maltin notes on this two- disc set of televised specials for the amusement park, Disney used the series to promote it, "and no one seemed to mind." ABC agreed to invest in return for a weekly one-hour program. The "Disneyland" TV show premiered on October 27, 1954: "Disneyland Story" introduced the park and its various lands, which would be the subject of future programs. The opening-day special, "Dateline Disneyland" (July 17, 1955), attracted an estimated audience of 90 million--virtually every television household in America. Hosted by Art Linkletter, Robert Cummings, and Ronald Reagan, the live broadcast includes such unplanned moments as Linkletter searching frantically for a microphone in Fantasyland. The Tenth Anniversary show (January 3, 1965) features cameos of Mary Blair and Marc Davis, two celebrated animation artists. Home movie footage of Walt pacing off distances at the barren site in Anaheim is intercut with peeks at forthcoming attractions. "Disneyland After Dark" (April 15, 1962) offers performances by Annette Funicello, Bobby Burgess, Bobby Rydell, Louis Armstrong, and a prepubescent quartet of Osmond Brothers. A must-have set for Disneyland buffs, Disney collectors, and nostalgic baby boomers. --Charles Solomon

Description

A special presentation of four Disneyland television specials - The Disneyland Story, Dateline Disneyland, Operation Disneyland, Disneyland After Dark - plus The Disneyland 10th Anniversary Show, all originally broadcast between 1955 and 1970, and hosted by Walt Disney himself. Also includes additional archival footage of Disneyland's opening day and other rare materials. Introduction by Leonard Maltin.

Customer Reviews:

Legendary Heroes.......2005-07-04

I love the Disneyland DVD and I think it is exellent. I have a suprise for people who like the Disneyland DVD. On December 6th 2005 a new set of shows about the Swamp Fox and heros from the Revolutionary War like Francis Marion will be released together on a DVD released through Walt Disney Treasures series. The shows come from the TV show Disneyland jut like the shows on the Disneyland DVD. Try to preorder it in advance. I hope everyone and myself enjoys the new DVD.

Great idea - wrong content.......2004-12-30

Great idea but wrong shows selected for the collection.

I recently discovered some of the shows that highlight the Disneyland park in Southern California while watching the old "Wonderful World of Disney" series on the Disney Channel. They were shown several times, so I recorded them on VHS tapes.

I bought this set thinking the programs I loved so much were included. I was wrong.

So you know what I am talking about, there were three shows in particular that should be, but are not, in this DVD set:

(1) Disneyland USA - I think dated 1956 and is pre-Wonderful World of Disney television show. This featurette was in COLOR and provides a tour of the original Disneyland park after it opened. It includes each of the "lands" and is nothing but park, park, park. It even has an extended piece on the Adventureland water ride. This program was more like a travel log feature that may have been shown in theaters (probably with a Disney movie).

(2) Day at Disneyland - from the Wonderful World of Disney television show and shown in BLACK and WHITE. This show started in the studio with Walt and Tinkerbell and moves to a tent in the parking lot from a Disney company picnic. It seems to have re-used footage from the Disneyland USA featurette and covered each "land" quite extensively.

(3) Pirates of the Carribbean - from the Wonderful World of Disney television show and shown in COLOR. This incredible show provides a design view of the ride, the actual building of the sets and mannequins and then film of the press opening with a full run through of the ride (like you were really in the little boat with the first riders).

It was shows like those listed above that really captured what the part must have been like in the beginning. It is really sad that the Anniversary Show and Disneyland at Night episodes were included but these three shows listed above did not.

Revisionist History.......2004-12-01

This dvd is indeed edited. Where are the mouseketeers? On the original program Dateline Disneyland they were shown marching in the parade and they did their own special musical number and roll call. You won't see them here.Folks, this is NOT the entire program that was shown nation wide on television in July, 1955. Disney only wants you to see what they want you to see. Could this be revisionist history? Disney,if Walt wanted them to be included in the original 1955 program,who are you to take out what your founder originally wanted? If you're going to edit out things that Walt approved or had no problems with, then don't call yourself "The Walt Disney Company" anymore. Since his name is a part of the company name, then his values should always be there and nothing should ever be edited out that he approved of. Otherwise, you're truly not "The WALT DISNEY Company"! ALWAYS do things the way Walt would have done them or no longer call yourself "The WALT DISNEY Company". In a way, to be "The Walt Disney Company" you need to be the man himself.

The star (Disneyland) deserves more screen time........2004-09-29

This is perhaps the most disappointing entry in the otherwise strong Walt Disney Treasures series, mainly because there's so little about Disneyland itself in it. The two discs feature four episodes from the Disney TV series, plus a companion feature so brief (under 9 minutes!) that it's hardly worth inclusion:

"The Disneyland Story" from 1954 shows how the TV series was essentially created to help bankroll construction of the theme park, but the episode features virtually no footage of the park or its construction (which was completed, remarkably, in less than a year). Instead, we see only models, padded with a rare glimpse of "Song of the South" but only in black-and-white. (Elsewhere in the Treasures series, footage originally filmed in color but broadcast in black-and-white is shown on the DVDs in color, but not this time, probably because the Disney Company has long been embarrassed by SOS's racial content--it's never been released in the U.S. on DVD.)

"Dateline Disneyland" features almost 90 minutes of live television coverage from opening day in 1955. It's heavily padded, however, with celebrity sightings, boring dedication speeches, marching bands and staged street performances that do little to highlight the attractions of the park. (How many times does the announcer have to say, "And here's Danny Thomas with his family!" before we get the point? I found myself fast-forwarding through two-thirds of this show.)

With the exception of some priceless color footage of jazz great Louis Armstrong performing on board the Mark Twain, "Disneyland After Dark" features mostly unremarkable stage acts interspersed with precious few scenes of the park lit up at night. All Walt Disney's scenes are filmed with actors on a sound stage--and they look it.

"Disneyland 10th Anniversary" from 1965 is the only segment that truly lives up to this set's billing as a showcase for Disneyland. Disney himself gives viewers a tour around the "imagineering" department, showing off early conceptual sketches and models for such classic attractions as the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, neither of which opened until after Disney's death in 1966. We meet such ground-breaking imagineers as Mary Blair and Marc Davis. Finally, we see color footage, narrated by Disney, of attractions that have long since been retired, like the Flying Saucers and Submarine Voyage. It takes a film like this to remind us what a boneyard Tomorrowland has become since Disney's death, but this episode alone is not enough to recommend the whole package.

Disneyland USA: One to Really Look Forward To!.......2004-07-15

Walt Disney Treaures Review 4 of 11
Sorry, no easter eggs on this set. (hidden DVD features)

Disneyland USA, the fourth and final volume of wave 1, is probaly the most important. Here, as with all the others, the DVD is enclosed in a numbered tin, along with a lithograph of the poster for Autopia, and a program booklet with a list of features and a letter from Leonard Maltin, the host of the series. On disc 1, we trace the early years of Disneyland with two complete episodes from the original TV show. Each have an intro by Maltin

The Disneyland Story: The very first episode of the Disneyland Television series, which give clips of whats to come in each section of the Disneyland television series anthology. There is a sneak peek of Disneyland, a peek at the new Davy Crockett series, and a tribute to Mickey featuring two entire cartoons.

Dateline Disneyland: Join your hosts Art Linkletter, Ronald Reagan, and Bob Cummings as they cover live, the inagural day at Disneyland, with the late Reagan covering the dedication. This is the most important of the set, and is a treat for Disneyland film buffs and fans alike.

On disc two, there are two more shows in full color, with intros by Maltin.

Disneyland After Dark: Here, we get to meet amazing stars from the sixties, journey through Disneyland after dark, and meet a couple of the famous "Mouseketeers," including Annete Funicello.

Disneyland 10th Anniversary: This piece has two parts. One showing new attractions at Disneyland, mainly the then in progress Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Manision and Its a Small World. Then the history of the park, during construction, new attractions and a lot of other juicy stuff.

Finally there are the bonus features.

The Magic Kingdom and the Magic of Television: This documentary gives a short history of the park and the Disneyland TV Show with Leonard Maltin

Gallery: A gallery of photographs and posters, as well as merchandise.

The smallest of the four in wave 1, Disneyland USA could have a little more material. However, that is a small price to pay for the historical broadcasts in this wonderful set. I'll write the reviews for Wave 2 tomorrow. See you then.

List of Reviews of Walt Disney Treasures:

Silly Symphonies
Mickey Mouse in Living Color
Davy Crockett
Disneyland USA
Mickey Mouse in Black and White
The Complete Goofy
Behind the Scenes at Walt Disney Studios
Mickey Mouse in Living Color Volume 2
The Chronological Donlad Volume 1
On Front Lines
Tomorrowland

All with the complete list of features, including Easter Eggs! (hidden DVD features)

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