Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color - The Golden Horseshoe Revue (1962)

This episode of Walt's TV show celebrates the 10,000th performance of the Golden Horseshoe Revue. The Golden Horseshoe Revue was one of the original Disneyland attractions and stemmed from Walt's childhood love of Vaudeville. The headliners of the Revue were Wally Boag and Betty Taylor. Boag was an experienced stage performer who was originally booked for a two week run at Disneyland but it turned into the rest of his career. Taylor was also cast from the start. Both actors held the world's record for the number of performances with a show. They both passed away within 24 hours of each other in June 2011. Boag was also the mentor of comedian Steve Martin, who started at Disneyland.

For this TV episode, the show was expanded to fill an hour broadcast. Annette Funicello was added to the cast singing two special songs written for her by the Sherman Bros. The Shermans were Annette's primary songwriters and this is what brought them to the attention of Walt.

Disney favorites Gene Sheldon and Ed Wynn were also part of the cast. Wynn had been a vaudeville performer in his early career and a staple in Walt Disney's film. Sheldon had been part of the cast of Zorro and Babes in Toyland. He specialized in a mime performance in these projects which he carries on here. He also appeared in Walt Disney's Toby Tyler in a speaking role as a clown. He was one of the members of Walt Disney's stable of stars.

Fulton Burley also appears in this episode. He started with the Golden Horseshoe Revue in 1962 when one of the main players became ill. Wally Boag had worked with him at MGM and called him to fill in. He stayed with the show until it closed in the 1986.

The Golden Horeshoe Revue was a favorite attraction of Walt Disney's. He had his own special box in the theater and often caught the show or brought his own special guests to see the show from his box when they visited Disneyland. This is a historic film capturing this show what it was like in Walt's time with the original cast.

In 1965 this episode was released as a theatrical featurette with Walt Disney's The Monkey's Uncle.

Original airdate September 23, 1962

Posted for historical purposes. Walt Disney's voice is recreated with AI. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.