On that day, October 27, in 1954, nine months before the opening of Disneyland, Walt announced on the ABC television network a TV series that would present his new park, Disneyland, bringing the worlds from his movies, characters and ambitions to life.
Walt Disney utilized the broad reach of television to show viewers around the country why Disneyland would be unlike any place on earth to visit. This was groundbreaking, as it was the first time anyone utilized the power of television to showcase a new business venture in such detail, in this case a theme park, to a national audience. This was also a large risk for Walt – to feature his ideas on television. However, the venture with ABC Television Network was a success. Of 54.6 million television sets in use, 52% were tuned into the showing, meaning some 28.4 million television sets were tuned in and watching. In addition, the first season was so well received it won the Emmy for Best Variety Series.
Each episode promoted the hopes and dreams of Walt Disney. In the first episode titled “The Disneyland Story,” viewers were given a birds-eye-view tour of the inner workings of The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. Then, Walt captivated the audience by describing the location of Disneyland in Anaheim, detailing what would be found in this groundbreaking theme park. He also shared how the park would be a world of imagination and innovation to all who visit. As he stated, Disneyland would be, “a place of hopes and dreams, facts and fancy all in one.” Each following week, Walt gave “progress reports” of his park featuring segments on the Disneyland realms – or different lands: Fantasyland, Adventureland, Tomorrowland and Frontierland.
Disney Parks released the short video below with footage from the first original TV series, in which we can find the original artworks by Bruce Bushman or Herb Ryman showing each land of Disneyland as well as each land logo and footage showing the Main Street model. I did screen captures of each that you can find below, as well as this fun picture on the top inspired by the a-bit-too-famous 1917 James Montgomery Flagg Uncle Sam poster done to recruit Americans soldiers for the U.S army. After all, with this 1954 presentation, Walt also sent the message that he wanted all of us to come to Disneyland...
Pictures: copyright Disney
