Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas Parade (1991)

This is the ninth 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. (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.

We get to see many coming updates to Walt Disney World during its 20th anniversary celebration. This Walt Disney World Very Merry Christmas Parade features a Christmas Day Presidential message from George Bush. The Presidential message would be a staple of these parades for decades. We also see President Bush presenting his Points of Light campaign, which would also appear in the Walt Disney World Independence Day parade broadcasts of the time. Lee Greenwood and Sandi Patty perform the title song of this program. Both entertainers were known for their patriotic performances during the Gulf War.

This is a time capsule into Walt Disney history past. This is where the Eisner regime really reached their stride with the company and you can see their influence coming through and starting to slowly replace Walt's ideals. Here, we get a glimpse of Disney reaching the age of their animation renaissance. We get a behind the scenes segment on the newly released Beauty & the Beast. You can see this once small family company is transforming into the global conglomerate people think of today. Many of these characters you used to see are starting to be replaced by non Disney characters. The facade that they still cared about the legacy of Walt Disney is there though. What a tremendous time capsule this is.
There’s also segments on the then under construction EuroDisney, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Jim Henson's Dinosaurs, and more.

Joan Lunden and Regis Philbin co-host this parade with Mayim Bialik as the woman on the street.

Lunden was then the current co-host of Good Morning America and 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. Bialik was the star of the popular sitcom at the time, Blossom.

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

Original air date December 25, 1991

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