Walt Disney's Disneyland - An Adventure in the Magic Kingdom (1958)

On his TV show, Walt Disney often took his viewers to Disneyland so the viewers at home could see what was new and going on there. His entire TV show had been established to fund building the park and he had given progress reports from the start. After it was built, these progress reports continued has he kept updating things. For those of us living decades later, these episodes have become a time capsule of what Disneyland looked like in the past. Walt had said on several occasions that he’d build Disneyland to be an eternal world’s fair celebrating American ideals and many of these attractions no longer exist.

Of special note is the American Indian Village that had been part of Disneyland from the start. In recent years this attraction has been smeared by woke leftists as racist but it was very inclusionary. Dozens of real American Indian Tribes were hired where they taught guests about their customs and traditions. At the time, no one was doing this and many of the American Indians and their tribes expressed gratitude to Walt Disney for allowing them a venue to educate the public that their people were not the constant stock villains often used in westerns of the time. Walt Disney, and his studio after his death, created several films and TV shows where American Indians were treated with respect and dignity; something that often gets ignored today. The American Indian Village was removed in the 1970’s to make way for Critter Country.

You'll also see Holidayland, the only land in the history of Disneyland that closed down.

Most of this footage was shot in 1956, the year after Disneyland opened and many shots in this episode come from the theatrical short of People & Places titled Disneyland USA. This episode was later split in half and aired as two episodes of Walt Disney’s Adventure Time, a show that aired on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the time slop of the 1958-59 season of The Mickey Mouse Club.

This is also the first episode where Tinkerbell is named Official Hostess of Disneyland and to introduce the fairy bell Walt has in his office to summon her. You may also recognize shots from Walt’s introduction of this episode as being recreated with actor Tom Hanks as Walt in the 2013 film saving Mr. Banks. Tom Hanks is no Walt Disney and by the way, the shots of Tinkerbell in the recreation were reanimated by Disney Legend Mark Henn.

The gag with Walt introducing Dick Wesson’s voice was a reuse of a gag used in Fantasia. Dick Wesson was the narrator of Walt’s TV show from 1954 through 1979. He was a well-known announcer and radio personality as well. He was one of two voices of Disneyland. The other was Dick Tufeld who hosted and narrated Disney productions and events even longer. Wesson appeared on camera in the film footage for the Rocket to the Moon attraction at Disneyland. He passed away in 1979 committing suicide after a long struggle with cancer.

Original Airdate April 9, 1958

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