1956 • 26 Episodes
September 12, 1956
Walt Disney hosts a look at his plans for a brand new documentary on Antarctica.
September 19, 1956
Walt talks about the cat family, primarily focusing on lions and domestic cats. It is explained particularly on the cats' importance to ancient Egypt and how some people would respect them, and others would fear them as superstitious beings.
September 26, 1956
Once again, Disneyland plays host to Winston Hibler, the familiar narrator (and sometimes writer/director) of Disney's ""True-Life Adventures"" short subject series. Hibler describes the various techniques used for making such up-close-and-personal nature documentaries as the then-upcoming Disney theatrical feature Secrets of Life, including the development of miniature lense and stroboscopic ""cold"" light. Highlights include a foray into a beehive and a visit to an ant colony, and a time-lapse-photography sequence of blossoming plant life to the tune of Maurice Ravel's ""Bolero"". Searching for Nature's Mysteries originally aired 2 months before the official November 20, 1956 release of Secrets of Life.
October 3, 1956
Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue (1953) re-edited into a two-part television presentation.
October 10, 1956
Rob Roy, the Highland Rogue (1953) re-edited into a two-part television presentation.
October 17, 1956
No overview available.
October 24, 1956
No overview available.
October 31, 1956
Walt explains a principle of his style of animation called ""the plausible impossible,"" in which things that cannot be done in reality can be done in animation if there is a plausible basis for it. He uses clips from several cartoons and features to demonstrate.
November 7, 1956
No overview available.
November 14, 1956
Walt takes us on the famous Oregon Trail, a pathway from Kansas City to Oregon, where the settlers moved westward. And speaking of westward, We also go behind the scenes of the new Disny feature Westward Ho the Wagons! with the famous Fess Parker himself.
November 21, 1956
It's Donald's birthday, and Huey, Dewey, and Louie are thrown a party by their uncle in honor of his own birthday! He treats the boys to special home screenings of his own movies on 8mm film reels, but they want to watch the Mickey Mouse and Goofy cartoons. Adding insult to injury, the boys would rather watch the Mickey Mouse Club on TV.
December 12, 1956
No overview available.
January 16, 1957
Donald Duck convinces Walt Disney to let him take over the hosting duties for one episode. Then he goes on to host an episode that he calls "The Duckland Four-In-One Show", where he goes through his own versions of the lands of Disneyland.
January 23, 1957
"Our Friend the Atom" is a 1957 episode of the television series Disneyland describing the benefits of atomic power.
January 30, 1957
Walt Disney explores the Basement of the Disney Studios to show us the art of magic with the help of the magic Mirror from Snow White.
February 13, 1957
Walt explains the methods by which motion picture animation is made, using recreations of studio study sessions, clips from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Bambi, and Fantasia and some new footage of Mickey Mouse.
February 27, 1957
No overview available.
March 6, 1957
No overview available.
March 20, 1957
Goofy? An Adventure Story? That's the theme for today's episode.
March 27, 1957
Walt finds himself troubled by Donald Duck's constant outbursts; he then promises his feathered star a medal if an entire week passes without any complaints about his behavior.
April 3, 1957
Walt treats the audience to a tour of Disneyland, followed by the Pecos Bill segment of Melody Time (1948), which had been re-edited for television presentation.
April 10, 1957
No overview available.
April 17, 1957
No overview available.
May 1, 1957
No overview available.
May 29, 1957
The first half of this story is an excerpt from the upcoming theatrical release ""Johnny Tremain."" The second half is an airing of the 1953 cartoon ""Ben and Me,"" in which a church mouse named Amos befriends Benjamin Franklin.
June 5, 1957
No overview available.