Walt Disney Animated Feature Promotion History

Hall of Fame was a radio show that aired on NBC in the early 1930's hosted by John McIntire. For their 1934 Christmas show they brought in Walt Disney and his stable of animated characters. This is one of Walt Disney's earliest radio appearances and you get a glimpse at who the popular Walt Disney characters were in 1934. Over the years several of them vanished from the core group but here they are at the dawn of the Walt Disney Studios and their popularity. Both Walt and his characters would go one to appear on several radio shows at the height of the medium. Original airdate December 23, 1938 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

Lux Radio Theater was a classic radio anthology series broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company [ABC] in 1943–1945); CBS Radio network (Columbia Broadcasting System) (1935–54), and NBC Radio (1954–55). Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays[1] during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences. The series became the most popular dramatic anthology series on radio, broadcast for more than 20 years and continued on television as the Lux Video Theatre through most of the 1950s. The primary sponsor of the show was Unilever through its Lux Soap brand. The show reenacted theatrical films as radio plays and was hosted by the legendary film director Cecil B. deMille. For their Christmas 1937 program, Song of Song, Walt Disney dropped in at the end of the show to plug the world premiere of his new film, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs. Snow White would premiere less than 24 hours after this. In this rare clip you can hear Walt list of future films that were years away such as Bambi and Fantasia. Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

On December 21, 1937 Walt Disney's Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs premiered at the Carthay Circle Theater. A who's who of Hollywood fixtures came out to see the film. Some of the first costumed Walt Disney characters ever also appeared at this event and intermingled with the celebrities. This legendary premiere was a huge success that far surpassed expectations. Here's a radio broadcast of the red carpet before the premiere edited with photos from the event. This is a treasure we're blessed still exists. Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

Lux Radio Theater was a classic radio anthology series broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company [ABC] in 1943–1945); CBS Radio network (Columbia Broadcasting System) (1935–54), and NBC Radio (1954–55). Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays[1] during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences. The series became the most popular dramatic anthology series on radio, broadcast for more than 20 years and continued on television as the Lux Video Theatre through most of the 1950s. The primary sponsor of the show was Unilever through its Lux Soap brand. The show reenacted theatrical films as radio plays and was hosted by the legendary film director Cecil B. deMille. For their Christmas 1938 program, Walt Disney appeared with most of the cast from his film Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs to retell the story to listeners at home. In the adaptation, there's a few extended versions of the songs. At the end of the show deMille interviews Walt Disney on the success of his films. Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

Lux Radio Theater was a classic radio anthology series broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934–35) (owned by the National Broadcasting Company, later predecessor of American Broadcasting Company [ABC] in 1943–1945); CBS Radio network (Columbia Broadcasting System) (1935–54), and NBC Radio (1954–55). Initially, the series adapted Broadway plays[1] during its first two seasons before it began adapting films. These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences. The series became the most popular dramatic anthology series on radio, broadcast for more than 20 years and continued on television as the Lux Video Theatre through most of the 1950s. The primary sponsor of the show was Unilever through its Lux Soap brand. The show reenacted theatrical films as radio plays and was hosted by the legendary film director Cecil B. deMille. For their Christmas 1939 program, Walt Disney presented Pinocchio with most of the cast from his film. The film had fallen behind schedule and missed its planned Christmas release but would debut six weeks later in February. This was the first time audiences ever met any of the characters or were told their story that's become quite familiar today. A few deleted verses to songs and a deleted reprise of When You Wish Upon a Star by the Blue Fairy can be heard in this special presentation. Pinocchio is the most lavish animated feature ever made and it's a shame it's not counted among the other 1939 Hollywood classics as the greatest year in cinema history. Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

Song of the South was an A-list production and Walt's first since Bambi. World War II had slowed down the output of animated features at his studio and it wasn't until Cinderella that Walt would get to make a true animated feature again. After the war, the Walt Disney Studios could only churn out what's known as "package features" with shorts and featurettes edited together to feature length. Walt wanted to get into live action to increase output and keep costs down. RKO, Walt's distributor, required animation must be included in his films. The solution was to transform the animated feature Uncle Remus, which had been in development at the studio since the 1930's, into a live action film with animated sequences. Many of Walt's artists agreed that Song of the South was the highpoint of their careers at the studio. The project was an important personal one for Walt, having grown up with the stories, and when he selected James Baskette to star as Uncle Remus, he'd planned to do a series of films based on the Joel Chandler Uncle Remus stories. Unfortunately, Baskett passed away shortly after the film was released, but not before Walt personally saw to it that he was awarded an Oscar for his efforts. To promote Song of the South, Walt Disney starred in these radio shows with the cast of the film and his stable of stars interacting with the characters. He'd been doing radio shows like this since the 1930's and would continue to interact with his characters in television in the 50's and 60's adding to their realism. These song of the South shows were syndicated and aired in markets to promote the film. These show stars Walt Disney, James Baskett, Nick Stewart, Johnny Lee, Clarence "Ducky" Nash, Luana Patten, Bobby Driscoll, and Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers, Walt Disney, James Baskett, , Nick Stewart, Johnny Lee, and Donald Duck. Be sure to nominate this historical film on the National Film Registry at the link below. https://www.research.net/r/national-fim-registry-nomination-form Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

Edgar Bergen was a ventriloquist who had a weekly radio show with his dummies Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd that started in the 1930's. Bergen and his characters starred in feature films and were like the Muppets of their era. (Jim Henson had Bergen and his characters on the Muppet Show, cameo in The Muppet Movie and dedicated that film to his memory.) In 1947 Walt Disney cast Bergen and his dummies as themselves in his package feature Fun & Fancy Free. Bergen was a friend and neighbor of Walt Disney and Walt called on him again to star in his first TV show One Hour in Wonderland in 1950. To promote Fun & Fancy Free, Walt appeared on Bergen's show with Donald Duck. When the film debuted, Bergan and his dummies were given top billing. When the film was released to VHS, DVD, and streaming many decades later, they're no longer featured in the promotional materials. The irony is this film is probably the only piece of media that most modern audiences of today have seen with Bergen and his dummies. His daughter is actress Candince Bergen. Original airdate September 21, 1947 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

In 1949 Bing Crosy devoted several different segments of his radio show across two months to promote Walt Disney's new animated feature The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr Toad. Bing told and sung the Ichabod segment. For your enjoyment, here are all four segments edited into one clip. Each of these songs contain verses not used in the final film. Original air dates: Katrina Sept 21, 1949 Katrina October 5, 1949 Ichabod October 12, 1949 Headless Horseman October 26, 1949 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

In this 1950 episode of Perry Como Presents this promo for Walt Disney's Cinderella. The sequence features Perry Como, the Fontane Sisters, and Cinderella's actual voice in the film, Ilene Woods. There's also a cameo by Clarence "Ducky" Nash and Donald Duck. Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

To promote the original release of Alice in Wonderland, Walt appeared on the Fred Warring Show along with several actors from the film who played their characters in person. Walt had been doing similar promotions with his film releases going all the way back to radio in the 1930's. Fred Warring was a popular musician and bandleader in the golden ages of television and radio. His band was known as Fred Warring & his Pennsylvanians and recorded dozens of albums over the years including an album tying in with the release of Alice in Wonderland. The Fred Warring Show ran on radio from 1933 to 1957 and transitioned to television from 1949 to 1954. Warring was a comic strip art collector and had a friendship with Walt Disney so it was natural they would collaborate together on this episode. This presentation is notable for including characters from the book who were cut from the film. Walt had been trying to adapt Alice in Wonderland into a feature film since the early 1930's and when he was finally successful, it was marketed just like all of his previous films had been. Starring Walt Disney Fred Waring & his Pennsylvanians Kathryn Beaumont as Alice Sterling Holloway as Cheshire Cat Hugh "Lumpy" Brannum as The Mad Hatter Mark Brull as Jabberwocky Mike Doty as Tweedle Dum Poley McClintock as Tweedle Dee Hugh Fleming as The Queen Nadine Gay as Boy with the sword Herman Hennig as Walrus Ray Sax as Carpenter Gloria Mudell as Dormouse Johnny Petterson as White Rabbit Betty Reynolds as Duchess Directed by Bob Banner Original airdate March 11, 1951 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.