Words From Walt
Page 16 of 20
December 27
Instead of considering TV a rival, when I saw it, I said, 'I can use that, I want to be a part of it. |
In the late 1930s, Disney's association with his film distributor, United Artists, was coming to an end. Already dissatisfied with the previous agreement, Walt decided to make a switch to RKO when UA wanted Walt to include the television rights to all of his pictures. Not knowing what television was, Walt said that he wasn't going to sign away the rights to something that he didn't know about. The move, like many Walt made in his life, would prove to be a smart one.
About a decade later, Walt would know very well what television was. Many in Hollywood saw these little boxes entering households and they worried what it would mean to the movie-going experience. Most looked at television as a rival and would do nearly anything to one-up it, hoping that the fad would fade.
But Walt saw that television had a promotional angle and sought to exploit that angle. If he could get into the living rooms of all of these television owners, he could convince them as to the reasons why they needed to get out of the house, down to the theater and into one of his pictures. On Christmas Day in 1950, Walt's first television show would air. A promotional piece for the upcoming Alice in Wonderland feature, One Hour in Wonderland featured Walt and his daughters Diane and Sharon hosting guests to the Studio including Edgar Bergen with Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, Kathryn Beaumont, Bobby Driscoll and Hans Conreid as the Slave in the Magic Mirror. The show would be successful enough to allow for another show the following Christmas - The Walt Disney Christmas Show - serving as a promo for Peter Pan.
Television would prove to be the vehicle that Walt would adopt to help finance his dream of building Disneyland. Roy urged Walt to not use Studio money in his creation of the theme park so Walt turned to television in order to find the funding that he needed to build. Third-place network ABC offered the best deal providing capital and guaranteeing loans in return for a weekly series. Disneyland first aired on October 27, 1954, and provided the best promotional vehicle for introducing his theme park to the American public. In addition to original programming and airings from his film library, Walt provided updates on the progress of Disneyland's construction and whetted the appetite of viewers who would have to be a part of Walt's dreams.
The Disney anthology series would remain on the air for nearly three decades becoming the longest-running prime-time show of all time. Other early series including The Mickey Mouse Club and Zorro. Walt was nominated for an Emmy for as "Most Outstanding New Personality" (he lost to George Gobel) as the host of the weekly series. His successful Western series spawned that genre of entertainment, which dominated television for nearly a decade. His success would convince other Hollywood studios to turn their attention to TV and produce content of their own.
Walt would be one of the first Hollywood producers to embrace television and his foresight paid dividends. Television would help Walt finance his greatest dream of Disneyland. It would serve as the best promotion for his films and his theme park. It would introduce "Uncle Walt" to a generation of Americans. While others feared that people wouldn't go to a theater and pay to see programming that they could get for free at home, Walt successfully created two motion pictures from his Davy Crockett series, which people flocked to see. Television was yet another tool that Walt used to his fullest advantage. He succeeded in the medium when others feared it. Walt's foresight in embracing television, like his foresight in so many other ventures, was what defined the man as a creative genius and innovator. His proactive adoption of technological innovations always kept him on the cutting edge. It is of little doubt why he would continue to succeed throughout his lifelong career.
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-- Matthew Walker
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