Walt Disney Presents...Disneyland!

By Wyatt Newman

One of the comfortable, enjoyable joys of a Sunday evening in front of the TV was to watch Uncle Walt introduce a story from one of his "Lands." Disney's hour-long "Walt Disney Presents" show was partly designed to promote his fun park development in progress, "Disneyland". From time-to-time he would show drawings and exlanations of his conception of a fun family place in the Los Angeles area. And it was

just that, and still is...a place where parents still like to "take the kids" for a good family adventure. If you ever board a plane at the Long Beach airport to fly home, you'll likely see someone hauling a huge Mickey Mouse or other Disney character on board, the kids wearing the Mouse Ears lid as worn by members of the Mickey Mouse Club, another popular Disney show of the 1950s.

"Walt Disney Presents," (I hope memory serves me well...that was the name of the show, wasn't it?), would feature a story from one of his four "lands' of Disneyland--Frontier Land, and...memory fails me. I invite any reader to update me, please. It was Frontier Land that was used to introduce the oh-so-popular, so fantastically popular that it nearly is the iconic symbol of the Fifties Decade itself...Davy Crocket. Just saying the name will call up the song in anyone's mind who watched the show--"Davy, Davy CROCKET! Kind of the wild frontier. Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee...." You can finish it with ease, I suspect.

Crockett was played by the quite handsome Fess Parker, a Disney-find that didn't seem to be in any movies other than Disney productions...the ones made for TV. Parker was ever in a movie made for theaters, then it beats me. Parker's...er, Crockett's faithful companion was played by Buddy Epson, who did go on to play roles on TV programs not produced by Disney, most notably "Green Acres." Epson's film career seemed to extend much further and farther than Parker's.

To wonder what kind of "land" show would be on each Sunday evening after dinner was part of the anticipation of watching the show itself. Frequently, the recognizable Disney cartoon characters were on...Donald Duck, Mickey, Minnie and quite frequently, playing different roles, Goofy, the dog-like character in hapless human-type roles.

I read a biography of Walt Disney. He could be a bit of a tyrant, an ogre with his employees at times, but to the public, he was the oh-so-comfortable, kind, senior-handsome looking gentleman with a perfectly clipped mustache and a warm smile, a soothing, baritone but slightly gravely voice. You just had to call him "Uncle Walt." He was the personification of what an uncle should look and act like. And he brought us gifts! Just like a good uncle would. The gift of a fun Sunday night, something special for us kids instead of more adult-oriented Sunday shows like Steve Allen and Ed Sullivan. The gift of an enjoyable after-school afternoon of the "Mickey Mouse Club," and the constant hope and dream of being able to visit Uncle Walt at his home: Disneyland.

Memo to Disney if you're in Eternal Rest Land: Thanks, Uncle Walt. You made being a kid in the 1950s a kind of special fun. Just like the theme song for your "Walt Disney Presents," taken from your production of "Pinocchio," "we could wish upon a star" and it made no difference who we were.

- Wyatt Newman