Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color - Disneyland Around the Seasons (1966)

This episode of Walt's TV show covers the instillation of the World's Fair attractions at Disneyland. The premise is this is a year in the life of Disneyland and it turned out to be Walt's final year on earth. He passed away 3 days before this episode aired. When it aired, there was a special introduction with actor Dick van Dyke and TV newsman Chet Huntley remembering Walt but that footage has rarely been seen since and not in this print. If it's ever found it will be added.

Episodes like this that focus on Disneyland show how vastly different it and our world was in Walt's time. The footage filmed in the park back then often included genuine guests having a great time enjoying themselves. Children could run up and hug the characters and interact. The characters even roamed the parks. Those days are long gone with our cold and litigious society taking root. It's great to look back at what the real America was like.

Attractions highlighted include Small World, New Orleans Square, Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, Fantasy on Parade, and the Candlelight Processional. Some of this footage was used in earlier episodes and on other videos we comment on the history of them. Ending on the Candlelight Processional holds special meaning since this is the final episode made in Walt's lifetime that focused on the park. It's almost like this is a memorial service in honor of his passing.

This is an important piece of Walt Disney history in seeing how he left Disneyland when he passed away. Very few episodes would be filmed at Disneyland after Walt's passing where he always had a unit following things in his park the entire time he had his TV show. These episodes have created a historical body of work documenting the events of Disneyland that we can look back on and view today and into posterity.

Original airdate December 18, 1966

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