Disney Themes Through the Decades 1954 - 2014
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Walt Disney Productions (later The Walt Disney Company) has produced an anthology television series under several different titles since 1954:
Disneyland (1954-1959) Walt Disney Presents (1959-1961) Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (1961-1969) The Wonderful World of Disney (first era; 1969-1979) Disney's Wonderful World (1979-1981) Walt Disney (1981-1983) The Wonderful World of Disney (second era; 1983-1988 The Disney Sunday Movie (1986-1988; titled Disney Summer Classics during the summer months) The Wonderful World of Disney (third era; 1991- present) The Magical World of Disney (1988-2002) The Magical World of Disney Junior (2012- present) The original version of the series premiered on ABC on Wednesday, October 27, 1954.
The same basic series has since appeared on several networks. The show is the second longest running prime-time program on American television, behind rival film anthology, the Hallmark Hall of Fame. However, Hallmark Hall of Fame aired as a weekly program during its first five seasons before becoming a bi-monthly program, while Disney remained a weekly program for more than 40 years.
Originally hosted by Walt Disney himself, the original format of the Disney anthology series consisted of a balance of theatrical animated cartoons, live-action features, and other informational material (some original, some pre-existing) from the studio's library. For many years, the show also featured edited one-hour versions of such then-recent Disney films as Alice in Wonderland, and in other cases, telecasts of complete Disney films that were split into two or more one-hour episodes. Later original programs consisted of dramatizations of other historical figures and legends along the lines of the Davy Crockett mini-series.