User Reviews

Over more than a third of a century and under a multitude of titles, Walt Disney's DISNEYLAND show offered its audiences a family-friendly view of the goings-on in front of and behind the camera. It also cannily offered a look at Disney products, from rerunning old cartoons to background documentaries atop tall mountains, introduced, for its first decade and a half by Uncle Walt himself.

This one is a one-hour look at Disneyland in its second decade, from maquettes in the workshops, to the animatronics of the "Small World" exhibit (which I had first seen at the 1963 World's Fair in New York), to a man flying around Sleeping Beauty castle, to Abraham Lincoln talking about liberty. It's a happy, colorful hour of television, sure to incite any child who saw it to ask his parents for a trip to Anaheim and the theme park.

This episode of "The Wonderful World of Color" (later entitled "The Wonderful World of Disney") was re-shown recently on Turner Classic Movies along with the introduction by Leonard Maltin. The show is from 1966 and stars Walt Disney himself (he apparently died just days before this was shown--though he looks vigorous here). You see the way Disneyland looked back at that time as he narrates and shows you many of the attractions and especially celebrates some of the newer ones (such as "It's a Small World" and "Hall of the Really Boring Presidents"). In addition, you see some wonderful memories such as the Dixieland band, Christmas at Disneyland and a wonderful parade shown in what appears to be its entirety.

This was wonderful and nostalgic fun. People of all ages will enjoy seeing how much the park has changed, its similarities and differences with Disneyworld and how fashions change. All in all, a ton of fun and a great little history lesson. Well worth seeing.