Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas Parade (1986)

This is the fourth Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas Parade to be aired on network television since 1984. This parade would become a staple for decades and something important in growing up Disney in the 80's and 90's, although the "Christmas" name would be dropped near the end of the Eisner age. The Christmas parade telecast really became a 2 hour infomercial for what the Walt Disney Company had in the works for the upcoming year. Eventually annual Easter and Independence Day Parade telecasts would join the Christmas Parade and the Christmas Parade itself would expand to a 2 hour Christmas morning broadcast tradition. Regis Philbin became the figure most associated with these parades and this is second parade. (The Easter and Independence Day Parade broadcasts were dropped near the end of the Eisner years as well.) The Christmas and Easter parades always aired on the ABC Network. The previous year's parade had been a 90 minute broadcast and proved so successful that this year it was a 90 minute one as well and expanded to include Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland. We also get to see a focus on the then current 15th anniversary of Walt Disney World and the upcoming 50th anniversary of Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs in 1987. This is also the first Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas Parade to feature Christmas Day greetings from world leaders. In the years to follow, only the President of the United States would hold this honor.

This is a time capsule into Walt Disney history past. This is where the Eisner regime really took control of the company and you can start to see their influence coming through. Here, we get a glimpse at what Disney was like in these earlier years BEFORE Pixar, before The Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty & the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and the other beloved properties that came later and they could only rely on the characters that Walt Disney personally created. Walt had been dead for nearly 20 years at this point, and they were STILL coasting on the fumes he'd left behind. You can see how this was still a small company that was run like a family on the verge of becoming the global conglomerate people think of today. Many of these characters you don't see anymore either and they STILL cared about the legacy of Walt Disney. What a tremendous time capsule this is.

Joan Lunden and Ben Vereen co-host this parade with Regis Philbin.

Lunden was then the current co-host of Good Morning America and Vereen was a popular stage, TV, and film actor at the time. Regis was a well known talk show host vet even then. This archetype of hosts for the parade broadcasts would continue with the parade for decades even though the hosts would change.

Joan Lunden is the longest-running host of the Disney parade broadcasts.

Original air date December 25, 1986

Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.