This 1937 short film was made at the request of Walt's distributor RKO Radio Pictures to show executives and theater managers who were interested in seeing how Walt Disney made his films. The footage was shot in early July of 1937 and features a plethora of notable Walt Disney Legends at work on some of Walt's most beloved films. While this film was never intended to be viewed by the general public, during the following year another documentary film was produced for general release titled How Walt Disney Cartoons Are Made that included some footage from this short. We're fortunate that this time capsule of Walt's studio was made and still exists today. Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This 1938 short film was made to advertise both Walt Disney's Studios and his new animated feature, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs. It was made at the request of Walt's distributor RKO Radio Pictures and features some footage from an earlier industrial short film never intended for the public called A Trip Through the Walt Disney Studios. This would have been screened before a feature length film in a movie theater during the evening program that would have included a short cartoon, news real, comedy short like Laurel & Hardy, and other additions to a night's entertainment at the movie's. We're fortunate that this time capsule of Walt's studio was made and still exists today. Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This 1939 short film was made to advertise both Walt Disney's Studios and his new animated feature, Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs. It was made at the request of Walt's distributor RKO Radio Pictures and features some footage from an earlier industrial short film never intended for the public called A Trip Through the Walt Disney Studios. The animation sequence was adapted from an earlier cartoon created for the Academy Awards and reused animation like the Disney studios would later do in some similar parades in WWII cartoons and 1950's TV episodes. This would have been screened before a feature length film in a movie theater during the evening program that would have included a short cartoon, news real, comedy short like Laurel & Hardy, and other additions to a night's entertainment at the movie's. We're fortunate that this time capsule of Walt's studio was made and still exists today. Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

In the spring of 1940 Walt Disney and Billy Bletcher were filmed at their recording session for the Mickey Mouse cartoon Mr Mouse Takes a Trip. The short was released on November 1, 1940. This is the only footage of Walt performing Mickey Mouse's voice that's known to exist. Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This 1951 promo for Walt's new film, Alice in Wonderland, aired on the June 14, 1951 episode of the Ford Star Revue. It's narrated by opera singer James Melton for his daughter Margo. In the time, there were very few behind the scenes documentaries on how films or cartoons were made so this was very much a novelty. Some of the footage is reused from the 1941 theatrical film The Reluctant Dragon. This short also demonstrates just how much of an A-list release Alice in Wonderland was for Walt Disney. Original airdate June 14, 1951 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This 1952 trailer for Peter Pan features rare documentary footage of Walt's collaborators working on the film. Such documentaries on how films or animated cartoons were made were unusual for the time. Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This 1942 documentary trailer was released to advertise the forthcoming films Walt Disney had in production. Ultimately only Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros were completed but several others were planned. The documentary was distributed by the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs rather than in theatrical venues. Walt and 18 of his artists had been sent on a Goodwill Tour of South America on the cusp of World War II because the American government feared the Nazis gaining a foothold on America's doorstep. Several film makers were sent under this policy in the hopes that American capitalism and freedoms would take root in the Latin American countries. Orson Welles was another of these film makers who were sent on a tour via this policy but his films were abandoned and went unfinished in his lifetime. We are very fortunate that this footage exists because documentary films of film productions and animation were a rarity at the time. Release date November 23, 1942

Perhaps no other Walt Disney film has had more TV specials devoted to it than Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs. This one tied in with the 1983 rerelease and is hosted by comedy star and character actor Dick van Patten. He was in several sitcoms in his career but may be best known to today's audiences for his numerous cameos in Mel Brookes comedy feature films. This TV special only aired once on CBS. This documentary was filmed by former Disney CEO Card Walker who'd been at the studio since the 1938 when he started as a mail clerk and personally knew all of these people and their important contributions to the studio. Walker cared very much about history and understood the importance of the Walt Disney legacy being preserved. He went on to make The Walt Disney Family Album after this. What makes this TV special unique is we see so many of the people involved with the film. This may be the only TV special on Snow White where many of them ever appeared. We hear from legendary Disney artists including Ken Anderson, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Woolie Reitherman, Ward Kimball, and Eric Larson. We also see a brief interview with Adriana Caselotti and Harry Stockwell who played Snow White and the Prince. Disney voice actors Paul Winchell and Clarence "Ducky" Nash also have a few comments. Wayne Allwine demonstrates some of the sound effect props that Jimmy MacDonald used in the original film at the Los Angelos Childrens Museum. We also see several very young Disney artists very early in their careers such as Glen Keane, John Lasseter, Phil Nibbelink, and Cyndee Whitney. We also see a comment from Joseph Bottoms who portrayed Major Effects in the infamous episode from Walt's TV show. There's also contemporary 1980's stars of time as well as vintage footage of Walt from the time of the film's original release. This is an important record of Walt Disney history and we're blessed it was produced at all. Original air date May 28, 1983 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This Disney Channel TV special was created for the 1993 rerelease of Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs. While not as in depth as the making of documentaries they'd produce for the contemporary films, the reason this program is so valuable is because it features some of the last interviews ever conducted from the people who made this film. We hear from Snow White's voice Adriana Caselotti and several of the Nine Old Men including Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Marc Davis, and Ward Kimball. There's also a few soundbites from Roy Disney, Jr and animation historian Charles Solomon. There's lots of historical footage and we also get a segment on the restoration of the film as well as a few clips of both celebrities and average Americans discussing how they feel about the film. It's interesting to note just how diverse the audience is and they all universally praise the film. It's a shame this documentary has never been officially released on one of Snow Whites DVD releases. It's an important record of Walt Disney History. *Quality note - This is the best quality print of this film that could be located and opening is missing. If a better quality/complete print ever surfaces we will replace it in this archive. Original air date June 10, 1993 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

Bedknobs & Broomsticks was the backup project Walt Disney secured if Mary Poppins fell through. P.L. Travers was a crisp woman to work with and her selling Walt the rights to the Mary Poppins books wasn't a sure thing. When Mary Poppins happened, Bedknobs & Broomsticks was put on the shelf and Walt passed away before it could be revisited. Bedknobs & Broomsticks is based on the books The Magic Bedknob and Bonfired & Broomsticks by Mary Norton, best known as the author of The Borrowers book series. The same team who developed Mary Poppins developed this film and it was they, under Walt's supervision, who changed the setting to World War II among other things. After Walt died, the studio wanted to develop another project in the vein of Mary Poppins and development on Bedknobs & Broomsticks resumed. Originally the film was to cast Julie Andrews and Ron Moody in the leads but Andrews took too long to decide if she wanted to accept this role and Moody signed to make the film version of Oliver! (which was originally set to film at the same time) to portray Fagin, the part he originated on Broadway. The parts went to Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson instead. Many story points that had been developed by the Sherman Bros were overridden by the committee that took over the studio after Walt's passing and the film has been unfairly pegged as a Mary Poppins imitator. When the film was shot, it was intended to be a companion piece to Mary Poppins but to premiere at Radio City Music Hall nearly a half hour of footage was cut to get the film under two hours. In the early 1990's an attempt was made to reinstate the missing footage and that version of the film was screened September 27, 1996, at the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California. That version was released to laserdisc in 1997 and debuted on the Disney Channel in 1998. These are all of the segments that aired alongside that Vault Disney airing in one video. The restored version of Bedknobs & Broomsticks was released to DVD in 2001 along with some of this footage combined with a Sherman Bros Vault Disney event combined into a new documentary. This is the version of the film to own as when the film was released to bluray the documentary was edited down and the restored film was back to the cut version. The missing scenes could only be viewed on their own and not cut back into the film. This was the sort of care for Walt Disney history the Walt Disney Company used to have just a few decades ago. Now they could care less. When the 50th anniversary of Bedknobs & Broomsticks rolled around there was little fanfare. Woke Disney considers the film "problematic" because the villains are the Nazis. A stage adaptation of the film spearheaded by Richard M Sherman debuted in 2021. Original airdate August 9, 1998 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This documentary narrated by Mason Adams was produced by the Disney Channel to serve as a way to claim Eisner's Disney was built on the foundation of Walt and Roy's Disney. It features interviews with Disney Legends like Marc Davis, Ken Anderson, Ward Kimball, Frank Thomas, Ken O'Conner, Ollie Johnston, Jimmy MacDonald, and others as well as then contemporary figures such as Richard Williams, Roy Disney Jr, Michael Eisner, Jefferey Katzenberg, and more. However, this documentary isn't without flaws. It's not nearly comprehensive but focuses on some interesting anecdotes about projects like Pinocchio. Some of the name pronunciations, facts, and dates in the narration are wrong (How do you get basic information like the year Mickey Mouse debuted or the name Ub Iwerks wrong...) so don't treat this as gospel. The real gem is the vintage footage, rare home movies, and interviews with people who collaborated with Walt. Nevertheless, you can see the seeds of PC Disney being planted here within the content of this program. This documentary aired on the Disney Channel until the early 1990's when Jeffery Katzenberg left the Walt Disney Company and Michael Eisner put an embargo on his contributions to projects ever being mentioned again in company history. That has since gone away. This is still an interesting part of Walt Disney history and a snapshot of what the Walt Disney Company was like on the eve of the animation renaissance it would soon enjoy. Original air date March 10, 1989 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

By this time in the run of Walt's TV show, very few new episodes were being produced. This was one of the rare exceptions. To commemorate the release of the recently published book The Illusion of Life written by legendary Nine Old Men members Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, this episode hosted by Disney favorite Hayley Mills was produced. Although there had been books written about the Walt Disney Studios going back to the 1930's, their book came during a surge of books written about the Walt Disney Studios and became the standard textbook on animation principles. Not only do we get to hear from most of the surviving Nine Old Men including Frank, Ollie, Ward Kimball, Eric Larson, Marc Davis, Milt Kahl, and others, but we also get to witness rare behind the scenes footage on the making of films like The Fox & the Hound and The Black Cauldron. In one sequence, actress Pearl Bailey records the song Best of Friends for the soon to be released The Fox & the Hound. Besides hearing anecdotes from most of the Nine Old Men, we also get to see a very young John Musker caricaturing Hayley. He would become one of the top directors of the 80's and 90's co-directing such classics as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and others with Ron Clemons. Musker became legendary for his caricature around the studio. Animator Glen Keane also makes an appearance discussing how animators look to the past to create the future. His father was Bil Keane, creator of the Family Circus comic strip and inspired by real life situations from the Keane family. Glen was the lead animator on such characters as Ariel, the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Tarzan, and others. He was known as one of Disney's Nine Young Men. Another animator who was part of the Nine Young Men is animator Andreas Deja. We get a glimpse of him with some of his Black Cauldron character designs. He would become the lead animator on such characters as Gaston, Jafar, Scar, Hercules, and others. In the final segment Hayley Mills goes on an audition for The Black Cauldron. This was the first public announcement of the forthcoming film. This episode was created at a time of transition at the Walt Disney Studios and it captures that. This was what the animation studio was like before the Eisner regime took it over in 1984. That makes this film an important part of Walt Disney history. This was also one of the few episodes ever released to the early home video rental market shortly after it aired. Original airdate April 26, 1981 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

Although Walt had devoted glimpses at animated films in production on his TV shows since his very first Christmas specials, this was the first time a formal Making of documentary was ever produced for a Disney animated project. Mickey's Christmas Carol was an ambitious project for the time. It was produced largely by the team of young animators who came to work at the studio in the late 1970's and early 80's. Some of them you see in this film and they both revered the past and were seeking to prove themselves. We even see a few shots filmed in the studio morgue where the original artwork from the films were kept. Although such documentaries are commonplace today, this was very unusual for the time and was produced for the brand new Disney Channel. Mickey's Christmas Carol was conceived as Mickey's return to the big screen for the first time in over 30 years but the real star is Scrooge McDuck. It had originally been intended for the TV special market after its theatrical run and so it had to be a shorter running time than other Disney featurettes from the past. As a result, some scenes were left on the cutting room floor that involved Pluto and Minnie Mouse. The entire concept is based on a 1974 LP co-written by Alan Young who also provided the voices of many of the characters. Although there are some differences between the LP and the animated film, there are passages that are similar. Disney legend Burny Mattinson led this project. He started at Disney in 1953 with Floyd Norman and started out as an animator but primarily worked in the story dept until his death in 2023. When he wanted off The Black Cauldron, at the urging of his wife, Burny approached CEO Ron Miller with the idea and the LP. The project was immediately greenlit. The plan was to release the film in 1982 and a comic strip tying in was released that Christmas, but due to an industry wide animation strike the film was delayed until 1983 with the first reissue of The Rescuers. Burny co-directed The Great Mouse Detective after this. In many ways, Mickey's Christmas Carol is a historic film. Aside from being Mickey's return to theater screens, it marked the first time Wayne Allwine voiced Mickey in a theatrical project. He took over from Jimmy MacDonald and would remain Mickey's voice until his death in 2009. This was the final film featuring Clarence "Ducky" Nash as Donald Duck. He'd originated the character in 1934 and would pass away shortly after its release. In fact, the film was tied in with Donald's 50th birthday. This also marked the first time Alan Young provided the voice of Uncle Scrooge McDuck in animation. He had supplied the voice in the original 1974 LP. In this documentary he talks about how he got to also portray the voice in animation. He would voice the character across the board until his death in 2016. Hal Smith and Will Ryan are also interviewed. Smith was a prolific character actor and voice artist. He's perhaps best known as Otis the Drunk on The Andy Griffith Show. In Mickey's Christmas Carol he portrays Goofy. He'd also appeared as multiple characters on the original LP. Will Ryan portrays multiple characters in Mickey's Christmas Carol but the most prominent are Willie the Giant and Pegleg/Black Pete. Ryan was a talented voice artist of the time being part of the primary voice cast of multiple Disney Afternoon shows in the 1980's, a regular on the Focus on the Family radio series Adventures in Odyssey, but he may be best known at that time as the voice of Grubby in the Teddy Ruxpin toy line and animated series. Mickey's Christmas Carol was also the first major project made up of the next generation of animators without the Nine Old Men. Glen Keane animated Goofy and Willie the Giant. He would go one to be one of Disney's top animators. Mark Henn animated Mickey and he also went on to be the lead animator for many of Disney's princesses in the forthcoming animated features. The other animator interviewed is David Block. He was a lesser known animator of the Eisner era because he spent much of his career at Walt Disney Television developing animated series for TV and direct to video cheapquels before returning to Walt Disney Feature Animation. For decades Mickey's Christmas Carol was broadcast on network TV as a Christmas special and has aired on all three major networks (CBS, NBC, and ABC.) It was often paired with vintage Disney cartoon shorts with a winter theme and a behind the scenes segment on the latest animated feature from the studio. It's become a perennial favorite but this behind the scenes documentary is rarely seen. Also of note is this documentary features interviews originally shot for the Disney Channel series The Walt Disney Family Album. Original airdate December 1, 1984 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

Dateline Disney was an ongoing segment on the Disney Channel that would air between programs that kept the general public abreast on the latest happenings with the Walt Disney Company. This covered film releases, theme park events and updates, Disney Channel projects and more. These installments center around Walt Disney picture's 26th animated feature The Great Mouse Detective. The film started under the Ron Miller administration and many animation staff jumped ship on The Black Cauldron to work on it. When the Eisner regime took over the Walt Disney Company they greenlit the film since they had to pay the staff either way. The film was originally to be called Basil of Baker Street but Jeffery Katzenberg changed the title when the Steve Spielberg film Young Sherlock Holmes bombed. It was believe anything tying in with Sherlock Holmes was box office poison. This is the first animated feature to be co-directed by Ron Clemons and John Musker. They would become Disney's most successful directors later directing The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Treasure Planet, Moana, and others. When the film was a release it was a modest success and the Disney Animation Studio was on its way to reestablish itself in the industry and American culture. These segments feature some behind the scenes footage on the making of the film. At the time, such footage was rare and because this film isn't one of the A-list releases, it's been rarely seen. Original airdate May 1986 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is a Making of special that only aired once on Fox to kick off Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers joining DuckTales and thereby creating the Disney Afternoon. This aired in place of the first episode and features many of the behind the scenes figures who created the show. We also get to see how Professor Norton Nimnul's design was based on a real guy. This only aired once. These Disney Afternoon launch specials would move to prime time and expand to an hour long presentation over the next few years. (Although, Adventures of the Gummi Bears and Fluppy Dogs did air as episodes of the Disney Sunday Night Movie a few years prior.) They always featured a music video of the show's theme song, this one performed by the Jets. Like all Disney Afternoon series, Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers debuted on the Disney Channel with a handful of weekly episodes that winter/spring before moving to daily network television in the fall. It went on to become one of the most beloved series of the programming block and Disney+ released a reboot film in 2022. Original air date August 28. 1989 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is the first of the Making Of specials that aired on the Disney Channel at the time of their latest animated film releases. As each successive film was released, some felt they became monotonous but each film is a different story with different challenges behind it. The objective of The Little Mermaid was the jumpstart Walt Disney Feature Animation with a classic film and this documentary demonstrates how much the filmmakers revered those earlier films from Walt's time. As we all know, they succeeded. A Highlight of this documentary include the only interviews with Howard Ashman who died before Beauty & the Beast and Aladdin were released. He was regarded as the instrumental figure in rebooting Disney animated features. He understood the past and was able to build the future on it. Many of the filmmakers who worked with him were still utilizing lessons he'd taught them on story, character, and music well into the 2000's. He only cared about story and character, he wasn't for this wokeness. In recent years, there's been a push by the woke to make Ursula a drag queen in reimaginings and performances of the music because one of Ashman's inspirations for the character was a drag queen known as Divine. However, this was NOT the only inspiration for the character and when the animators were going too far with the Divine influence, it as Howard who told them to pull it back. Howard Ashman didn't just write the songs and work on the stories and characters for The Little Mermaid. He was one of the film's producers and that made a huge difference in what came later in the late 90's and early 2000's. His influence was pivotal in restoring Walt Disney animated features to the artform they became known for again. In this documentary, you also get to see many of the actors and artists who worked on this special film. It's interesting to see these people at the beginning of their journey, not realizing just how much Walt Disney history legacy was before them that they'd all play a role in rebuilding. Alyssa Milano is the host as she was one of the models for the design of Ariel but not the only one. Original air date November 11, 1989 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is the second of the Making Of specials that aired on the Disney Channel at the time of their latest animated film releases. As each successive film was released, some felt they became monotonous but each film is a different story with different challenges behind it. The objective of The Little Mermaid had been to jumpstart Walt Disney Feature Animation with a classic film, the objective of Beauty & the Beast was to solidify it. This documentary demonstrates how that was accomplished. The Walt Disney Studios knew they had something extra special with Beauty & the Beast and that would be affirmed in the coming months with unprecedented box office returns, award wins and nominations. David Ogden Stiers, who plays Cogsworth and the Narrator in the film, hosts this documentary in what would become the standard template for such Making of specials. Stiers would go one to portray several more characters in both Disney live action and animated films but Cogsworth was his first Disney role. We meet the voice cast, the animators and many of the behind the scenes figures who produced this film. Given how much of this sort of thing we see today, the unique novelty of this may have worn off. There was still a lot of Walt Disney history legacy ahead of this team and it's exciting looking back at this time knowing the heights they would reach in only a few short years. Original air date November 16, 1991 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

In December 1990, Walt Disney Feature Animation worked out a deal where the TV news magazine 20/20 on the ABC Network would do a segment on the production of their latest film Beauty & the Beast. This footage is cited in the Making Of book that came out at the time but has rarely been seen since it initially aired once in November of 1991. Here is that segment to catch a snapshot of this period in Walt Disney history. Although some of these specific scenes may have been created for the camera, they capture the flavor of the process very well. In these segments you'll see such modern Disney legends as Glen Keane, Nik Ranieri, Will Finn, Roger Allers, David Pruiksma, Brenda Chapman, and others. You also see the directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale as well as producer Don Hahn. Jeffery Katzenberg dominates this segment and you get the idea of what kind of a producer he was. Many animation figures from this time who were still at Disney in recent years have commented on back then they only had to answer to Jeffery. Now there's dozens of Jefferys micro managing productions. Beauty and the Beast was the most successful animated feature up to that time. It was the first animated film to win the Golden Globe for Best Picture and is still the only hand drawn animated film to ever be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It lost to Silence of the Lambs. (It's nomination eventually led to the creation of the Best Animated Feature category of the Oscars.) It's still a classic on par with anything produced in the Walt era and it's fantastic to peak behind the curtain in this segment to see how it was made. Original airdate November 1991 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

BBC Omnibus was a UK TV magazine series that started in 1967 and aired through 2003. It focused on arts and entertainment in subject matter producing episodes of musical figures, book authors, actors, directors, stage performers, etc. This 1992 episode was produced to tie in with the Walt Disney animation renaissance going on at the time. It explores the fairy tale roots of many of Walt Disney's films and how he adapted them all across his career and how his company continued doing it at the time. It ties the recent releases of The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, and the upcoming Aladdin in with the fairy tale films Walt Disney produced himself. Along the way we hear from Disney Legends like Ollie Johnston, Marc Davis, Ward Kimball, and others, Looney Tunes director/animator Chuck Jones and contemporary Disney Legends like Ron Clements, Kirk Wise, Gary Trousdale, and Glen Keane. There's lots of behind the scenes footage from both vintage and contemporary Disney Feature Animation and animation Charles Solomon also presents some Disney That Never Was material. This is one of the better Walt Disney documentaries out there because we get to hear from several of the people who were involved in these animated films. Aside from some historical information that's debatable about Walt's family a lot can be gained from seeing it. Original airdate September 22, 1992 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is the third of the Making Of specials that aired on the Disney Channel at the time of their latest animated film releases. As each successive film was released, some felt they became monotonous but each film is a different story with different challenges behind it. The objective of The Little Mermaid had been to jumpstart Walt Disney Feature Animation with a classic film, the objective of Beauty & the Beast was to solidify it. Aladdin continued to build on it. This documentary demonstrates how that was accomplished. The Walt Disney Studios felt that Aladdin was a unique film in their canon. They'd hired Robin Williams to portray the Genie and he was really the first A-list celebrity to voice an animated character in the modern era. That trend has continued where quite often casts of animated features are comprised only of A-list celebrities. Walt always used radio actors for his animated films because they understood how to act with their voice. Robin Williams ended up having a strained relationship with Disney over Aladdin. In 1992, he was starring in Toys in direct competition with Aladdin. He didn't want Disney to market the film on his back so he wasn't allowed to be mentioned in advertising. (He wasn't mentioned in the Making of book either and after this making of special initially aired, he segment was edited out.) However, the Genie was everyone's favorite character in testing so Jeffery Katzenberg went back to Williams asking to amend the agreement to advertise with the Genie. Robin agreed but Katzenberg took it too far. Robin Williams refused to work with Disney until after Katzenberg had left the studio. Actor John Rhys Davies hosts this documentary in what would become the standard template for such Making of specials. Davies had no connection with the film but was cast because of his affiliation with the Indiana Jones franchise as Sallah. He would go one to portray Aladdin's father in the direct to video cheapquel Aladdin & the King of Thieves. We meet the voice cast, the animators and many of the behind the scenes figures who produced this film. Given how much of this sort of thing we see today, the unique novelty of this may have worn off. There was still a lot of Walt Disney history legacy ahead of this team and it's exciting looking back at this time knowing the heights they would reach in only a few short years. This making of would later air on ABC in extremely edited form a few years later. Aladdin was an even bigger hit than Beauty & the Beast had been and the future of Walt Disney Feature Animation never seemed brighter. Original airdate November 25, 1992 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This documentary was created as an industrial film for Walt Disney Feature Animation and was never intended to be seen by the general public. The film features lots of behind the scenes footage from various animated features as well as scenes from many Walt Disney animated films. Some of the release years on the animated features are incorrect. There's also an interview with Disney animator Glen Keane. Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is the fifth of the Making Of specials that aired on the Disney Channel at the time of their latest animated film releases. As each successive film was released, some felt they became monotonous but each film is a different story with different challenges behind it. Actress Irene Bedard hosts this documentary and she was the speaking voice of Pocahontas in the film. Her segments were filmed on location of the real Jamestown Settlement site in Virginia. Pocahontas was designed to be the Romeo & Juliet of the Disney animation canon. An earlier version of the story was in development that was more in the tradition of Walt Disney animated features where the animals talked and there was more comedy. When Beauty & the Beast was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, the film was rebooted to be more serious in tone in hopes of tailor making a Best Picture winner. John Candy and Stephen Fry had recorded dialog for animal characters in that version but it was all tossed aside for this new approach. Pocahontas was the first Disney animated feature to draw from history but that created a controversy at the time with the liberties taken with the historical events. The descendants of Pocahontas who'd consulted on the film became some of its harshest critics upon release. They went on a media tour educating viewers on the historical Pocahontas. Some American Indian advocates hailed the film for how they felt it portrayed their narrative on their ancestors. Whether that's accurate or not is up for speculation. Even though Disney consulted with all of these PC groups, decades later the film would come under fire by these same groups for being "racist." Maybe it's best to just do the best film you can and not worry about the "experts" like Walt Disney himself did. In this documentary we meet many of the key talent from the directors and animators to the voice talent and songwriters and beyond. It's a fairly standard format by this point but each film has its unique backstory and Pocahontas has one of the most interesting histories of the Eisner era animated features. Sadly, this documentary doesn't get into this backstory. When Pocahontas was released, while it was more successful than The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, and Aladdin had been, it did not top The Lion King, which had been the most successful animated feature ever up to that time. Because of that, Pocahontas is believed to be a flop. It wasn't. It's a beautifully made film and the first of the string of animated epics Disney would make in the late 1990's. It didn't garner the awards that had been anticipated and it quickly faded away. Even today, very few people cite it as their favorite Disney film. Disney had also followed every PC edict of the "experts" on how they handled the American Indians in this film. This same crowd now claims the film is "racist" under their woke ideology. Perhaps Disney would have been better off just producing the best film they could without trying to force things into it. Original airdate June 11, 1995 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.

This is Making Of special is a bit of an anomaly because there's nothing about it online. It's not the same one that aired on The Disney Channel in 1995 and may have been produced for the international english speaking market. Actor David Ogden Stiers hosts this look behind Walt Disney Feature Animation's 33rd animated feature Pocahontas. He portrayed both Wiggins and Governor John Ratcliffe in the film and also hosted the Disney Channel Making Of for Beauty & the Beast. Pocahontas was designed to be the Romeo & Juliet of the Disney animation canon. An earlier version of the story was in development that was more in the tradition of Walt Disney animated features where the animals talked and there was more comedy. When Beauty & the Beast was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, the film was rebooted to be more serious in tone in hopes of tailor making a Best Picture winner. John Candy and Stephen Fry had recorded dialog for animal characters in that version but it was all tossed aside for this new approach. In this making of we meet many of the filmmakers and get the typical PC spin that surrounded the film at the time. We meet some of the animators, the executives, the actors, the songwriters, and more but this documentary is unique from others for a few reasons. One aspect that makes this documentary a valuable resource is because the animators discuss how they collaborate to have their characters interact together in a scene. In Walt's era one animator who handle all the characters in a scene alone. In the Eisner era one animator mostly handled only their character in a scene. Each method has his merits but are very different ways of working. No other documentary gets into this aspect of a hand drawn performance. Another aspect no other making of covers is how Disney animated features are dubbed into other languages. This may be the only Disney documentary that covers how precise this process was done at the time. Also worth noting is during the segment on the songs, if you listen close you will hear Alan Menken singing a deleted song called Powerful Magic. This demo has never been officially released while many others from the film have. When Pocahontas was released, while it was more successful than The Little Mermaid, Beauty & the Beast, and Aladdin, it did not top The Lion King, which had been the most successful animated feature ever up to that time. Because of that, Pocahontas is believed to be a flop. It wasn't. It's a beautifully made film and the first of the string of animated epics Disney would make in the late 1990's. It didn't garner the awards that had been anticipated and it quickly faded away. Even today, very few people cite it as their favorite Disney film. Disney had also followed every PC edict of the "experts" on how they handled the American Indians in this film. This same crowd now claims the film is "racist" under their woke ideology. Perhaps Disney would have been better off just producing the best film they could without trying to force things into it. Original airdate Summer 1995 Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.