Disney Legend #27: Fess Parker

The 27th inducted Disney Legend was Fess Parker. Mr. Parker was just about ready to give up his acting career when he was asked to audition for the role of a lifetime- Davy Crockett.

Walt Disney enthusiastically chose Mr. Parker for the role, which catapulted Fess to superstardom. Every young boy in the 1950's wanted to be just like Fess Parker and he decided to be a role model of the highest order. His appearances at DISNEYLAND and personal attention to his fans made him a favorite of kids everywhere.

After his Disney career ended, Fess took a similar role as Daniel Boone. When his Hollywood career began winding down, Mr. Parker began investing in real estate, buying a winery, which he ran until he passed away in 2010. He also began the development of a theme park in Santa Clara that eventually opened as Marriott's Great America in 1976.

In 2005, Fess was honored with a window in Frontierland at DISNEYLAND, a rare and exclusive honor.

A Horseman Known as Zorro

After the success of Davy Crockett, the world was wondering what Walt Disney would do for an encore. ABC wanted westerns, but Mr. Disney was never someone who would just do what everyone else was doing. He would always put his spin on anything he did. So instead of doing a traditional western, he chose to make Zorro, the masked avenger who fought against the Spanish government in pre-revolution California on behalf of the Californios and the native population.

Zorro was a huge success, inspiring the traditional merchandise like books:

Lunch kits:

Records:

And costumes:

Zorro even appeared in live performances at DISNEYLAND:

And he was visited by other Disney celebrities:

Unfortunately, Zorro couldn't conquer his biggest foe- Hollywood lawyers. In the late 1950's, ABC was dragging its feet in upgrading its technology and paying Walt Disney Productions. The network was also obstructing various projects at DISNEYLAND. Roy Disney decided to buy out their shares in DISNEYLAND and Walt took his weekly show to NBC. ABC, which saw the writing on the wall, decided to claim ownership of Zorro to prevent the show from jumping ship too. Walt chose to fight back; after all, ABC was never promised a piece of Zorro and never fully paid the studio its licensing fees. Tied up in court, the show left the airwaves. By the time the case was decided in favor of Walt Disney Productions, the show had been off the air for so long, it was felt that it would no longer be viable to bring it back on NBC. Zorro had been vanquished.

Disney's Gummi Bears

The idea for the Gummi Bears came from then new Disney CEO Michael Eisner. Eager to turnaround the company quickly, Mr. Eisner kept throwing ideas around to see what would stick. After seeing how much his son loved Gummi Bear candies, Eisner brought up the idea of doing a cartoon.

Disney Television Animation put together a show that had nothing to do with the candy, except the shared name. In fact, the characters are shown farming "gummi berries" which were a wholesome fruit with special powers instead of sugary candy. The show was a modest success.

Mrs. Beakley: Scrooge McDuck's Maid

Mrs. Beakley was Uncle Scrooge's maid, who was permitted to live in McDuck Mansion with her granddaughter Webbigail Vanderquack. (A granddaughter who Uncle Scrooge treated like a niece.)

Not well known is Mrs. Beakley's first name- Bettina. By the end of the show's run, Mrs. Beakley is like a member of the family.

Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Monochrome

When Walt Disney sold the idea of a television show to ABC, he was overjoyed that he would get the money he needed for his Magic Kingdom. There was one drawback; as the youngest of the networks, ABC didn't have the resources to begin broadcasting in color. It also didn't plan to. The magical worlds of Disney would appear in black and white.

Walt Disney, however, saw everything in color. Despite the fact that his viewers wouldn't see it on their television screens, he filmed his shows in full color and with film stock.

This infuriated his brother Roy, who saw it as a waste of money. ABC wouldn't pay for the full cost of the color production, so the studio was losing money on every episode. Walt always looked to the future and he realized that doing the shows his way would make them more valuable. Television wouldn't be black and white forever and future audiences would want to see things in color. His foresight paid off nearly immediately, however. With the huge success of Davy Crockett, kids were clamoring for more Davy. Disney gave it to them on the big screen, editing the shows together and putting them on the big screen. It was hugely profitable and impossible without Walt's foresight. 

Mouseketeer Roll Call! Red, White and Blue!

Not all of the Mouseketeers were equal. Originally, the group was divided into three groups to better manage the children, who had limitations placed on their availability by California law. For example, the Red Team could be filming, the Blue Team could be in classes and the White Team could be on break. It soon became apparent, however, that some kids were more popular than others (Annette) or more pleasant to be around (Annette) or easier to deal with (Annette). This meant that the teams began to signify a mouseketeer's status on the show.

The Red Team became the "It" kids. These were the most popular, talented Mouseketeers who were always front and center. In this group were obviously Annette and Darlene, and also Bobby, Cubby, Lonnie and Tommy.

The Blue Team was the second tier group. They might be used in a dance routine, but never in the front and could fill in for a Red Team member from time to time.

The White Team was the third tier. They were often used onscreen only as spectators or stand-ins. If a grocery store or local parade had a "Meet the Mouseketeers!" promotion, a White Team member was most likely who might appear. (Though the Red Team members were most likely who one might encounter at DISNEYLAND appearances.)

In the final years of the show, the cast was mostly reduced to just Red and Blue Team Members. As production of the show became a well oiled machine, use of the lower tier Mouseketeers became unnecessary.

MMC- Rock the House!

In the late 1980's, programmers at The Disney Channel noticed something strange- one of the most popular shows on their schedule was the 30 year old Mickey Mouse Club and it wasn't just wistful adults watching; their kids were watching in droves as well. If the classic show was such a hit, would a new version be just as successful?

The company was a bit gun shy after a late 1970's version failed to connect with kids. However, times had changed. The company had its own channel now, so a huge flop wouldn't be too big of an embarrassment. Also, the new Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park at Walt Disney World was having problems getting shows to actually film there, so a new Mouse Club show would actually fill a void at the park while also promoting it to viewers. The network gave the green light and soon production began on Disney-MGM's first and ultimately only production- MMC: The New Mickey Mouse Club.

 

The show took the mainstays of the original show, gave them some 1980's polish and hit the cable airwaves in 1989. It was a phenomenon, quickly becoming the channel's top rated show and introducing America's kids to an impressive number of future superstars.

Future stars included Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, J.C. Chasez, Keri Russell and Ryan Gosling. The show didn't really help in luring more television productions to Orlando, but it did attract viewers. Disney Channel wouldn't have as big a hit until Lizzie McGuire premiered nearly ten years later.

The Recycled World of Disney

In 1988, NBC decided to lure The Disney Sunday Movie away from ABC. The new iteration of Disney's storied anthology series would be called The Magical World of Disney and bring the show back to its first color home. It would be a perfect homecoming at a time when The Walt Disney Company was about to experience a true renaissance.

Except- 1988 would prove to be a bad year for television. A writer's strike meant that production of new television shows would cease until a new agreement was signed. Disney had a plan to get its centerpiece show back on the air without writers. How could it do so? By recycling old scripts!

Disney quickly put remakes into production- like The Absent Minded Professor with Harry Anderson:

And a nod to the original Disneyland TV show- Davy Crockett:

When the strike ended, the show quickly returned to producing new programming.

Webbigail Vanderquack

One of the cutest Disney characters ever is little Webbigail Vanderquack. Honorary niece of Uncle Scrooge and granddaughter of Miss Beakley, little Webbi was often underestimated by Uncle Scrooge's nephews who didn't see how brave or smart she could be.

Always accompanied by her Quacky Patch Doll who was dressed just like her, Webbigail often helped the team get out of whatever jam they were in.

Gitchee Gitchee Goo

One of the signature features of Phineas and Ferb is the catchy music that's played in every episode. It's almost like it was always supposed to be that way. Except it wasn't.

The producers never actually intended for there to be a song in every episode. The only episode that was supposed to have a song in it was Flop Starz in which Phineas would write, record and perform the catchy song "Gitchee Gitchee Goo", become a one hit wonder, then retire.

Disney Channel executives saw an early cut of the episode and absolutely loved the song. They requested that each episode, even the ones already produced, have a song in them. And the creators obliged. Music became a huge part of the show, inspiring theme park shows and soundtrack albums. But it all started with the greatest song of all- Gitchee Gitchee Goo.

Fess Parker, King of the Wild Frontier

In the mid 1950's, Fess Parker's career appeared to be going nowhere. Stuck in B-Films, he was beginning to enter a crossroads- if his career wasn't going to take off the way he'd hoped, he would have to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. What happened next was beyond his wildest dreams.

Fess caught the eye of the man who would change his life forever- Walt Disney. Mr. Disney thought Fess would be perfect to play the role of Davy Crockett. Little did Fess know that the role would vault him from near obscurity to one of the most famous faces of the 1950's. Davy Crockett was everywhere- movies, TV, music, even DISNEYLAND. It was a one in a million opportunity and it catapulted Mr. Parker into a world of fame and wealth. The boys of America wanted to grow up to be just like him and he became the first big television celebrity.

Rather than fritter away his newfound wealth, Mr. Parker proved to be a great investor. He soon found himself owning a winery, resorts and hotels. Fess didn't need to act anymore and practically retired after his second big hit- Daniel Boone, left the airwaves.

Eager to follow in the footsteps of the man who started it all for him, Fess looked north for a new opportunity; he wanted to build a Frontier theme park and purchased several hundred acres in Santa Clara, California for a possible theme park. Fess hired the same man who did the initial feasibility studies for DISNEYLAND to assess the opportunities in Santa Clara. The opportunities were good, but Fess had a hard time convincing his business partners to actually build the park. J.W. Marriott, who had seen the success of DISNEYLAND had dreams of his own; he wanted to build three parks, one of which would be on the west coast. Since Mr. Parker had already gotten much of the footwork completed, the Marriott Corporation entered into an agreement to buy the land from Fess Parker. Marriott's Great America opened in 1976, just in time to celebrate America's centennial. Mr. Parker's dream came true, only for someone else.

In December 2004, Mr. Parker returned to the place where it all began- DISNEYLAND- to receive a rare honor- a window in Frontierland- the land that Davy Crockett built.

One Hour in Wonderland

America received a special gift for Christmas in 1950 from NBC and Walt Disney. One Hour in Wonderland was the first time a Hollywood studio produced a Special for an American television network. Featuring Edgar Bergen and Katherine Beaumont as Alice, the show was sponsored by Coca-Cola, the company's first association with the Walt Disney Company.

The special was a gigantic success, capturing 90% of the viewing audience. Mr. Disney would remember this success four years later when he premiered DISNEYLAND: The TV Show.

The British Golden Girls: Brighton Belles

Touchstone Television's The Golden Girls not only took the United States by storm, it also became a huge hit overseas. One of the biggest markets for the show was in England, where the show counted even the Queen as a fan. It seemed like a no-brainer to make a version of the show catered specifically for the United Kingdom.

Enter the Brighton Belles. Touchstone Television licensed the adaptation to a U.K. television network that adapted the show's existing scripts for British audiences.

Unfortunately for these belles, they had to compete with the real thing. Rather than come up with new situations for their seasoned cast, they merely re-wrote existing scripts. The result was a show that looked like a Senior Center talent show version of a Golden Girls rerun. Even the show's publicity photos looked cheap:

Unlike the American original, this show was canceled after less than one season. The American show still airs in reruns in the U.K. while the Brighton Belles are just a memory in their own country.

"Kids Don't Have Money"

Many folks who were alive to be in the very first class of Mouseketeers remember that sad day when the Mouseketeers waved goodbye and had their final first run Mouseketeer Roll Call on the ABC Television network. Despite being a cultural touchstone and a wild success, the show had been canceled by the network.

Now why would such a popular show get canceled? Perhaps nostalgia has blinded those faithful Mouseketeers; the show obviously wasn’t popular enough, right? Wrong. The Mickey Mouse Club was a huge success by anyone’s standards. The people who killed The Mickey Mouse Club were the very Wall Street types who thought that Disneyland wouldn’t last 6 months, much less 60 years.

Why would a television network cancel a massive hit like The Mickey Mouse Club and what do Wall Street types have to do with the decision? Well, one would have to understand the conventional wisdom of the time. Compare TV ads for Children’s products from the 50′s to those of the 80′s or even today. In the 50′s, these ads were boring and rarely geared toward children. In fact, many television shows advised the children in the audience to grab Mom or Dad and bring them into the living room during commercial breaks. By the 1980′s, these same TV ads were colorful, full of cartoon characters and the phrase “Hey kids, get your parents and bring them in to see some important messages” was practically extinct. It appears that the business world discovered something that Walt Disney himself knew 30 years before.

Yes, back in the 1950′s, businesses rarely advertised even toys directly to children, because conventional wisdom around Wall Street at the time was that kids didn’t have money; their parents did. So if a toy company wanted to move their merchandise, they needed to gear their advertising to the adults in the audience. So while The Mickey Mouse Club was watched by virtually every American kid, advertisers felt that advertising during a show solely geared to children was a complete waste of time. It was better to advertise toys on shows that parents watched, so that a sober announcer could tell them how smart they were for buying their kids a toy that was such a great value. ABC tried valiantly, but eventually had to pull the plug because the advertising dollars just weren’t there. Children’s television remained the province of cheap local programming filled with frightening clowns and old bargain basement cartoons.

We all now see how ridiculous this theory was; anyone who has been in a Toys R Us or visited Disneyland can see that kids may not have much money, but they can definitely influence their parents. These same parents frequently cave in and buy that Barbie doll or XBox. Kids may not have money, but they have a lot of clout.

So, before you become impressed with Wall Street analysts and their wisdom, just remember- 50 years ago, conventional Wall Street wisdom stated that advertising on children’s shows was a waste of time because “Kids Don’t Have Money.”

Quackaroonie!

The beloved DuckTales, a staple of The Disney Afternoon from the 1980's is being brought back to life on Disney XD in 2017, 30 years after its initial syndication run. Woo-Hoo!

The Mouse Factory

In 1972, Walt Disney Productions was afraid that kids were forgetting the Disney characters and the classic cartoons. With the Walt Disney World Resort opening the year before, it would be disastrous if the world had lost its affinity for all things Disney. So they set out to get the characters back in the public's eye.

To do this, they turned to Disney Legend Ward Kimball to produce a show that could present the Disney cartoons in a fresh, hip format. Ward Kimball came up with a Laugh-In style show called The Mouse Factory.

Featuring revolving guest stars such as Harry Morgan, Jo Ann Worley, Annette Funicello and Charles Nelson Reilly, the show was set at the Walt Disney Studios- a mouse factory- the show began with the various guest stars and Disney characters punching in for work. Morals and lessons were taught using Disney classic shorts. The guests would introduce the lessons and shorts with comedic routines filling in the rest of the time.

The show never caught on with audiences and was canceled in 1974. The show's reruns aired on The Disney Channel in the late 1980's but has not been seen since.

Leslie Nielsen Sings!

Before he was making people laugh as the bumbling Frank Drebin, Leslie Nielsen was Walt Disney's Swamp Fox. Airing on the Disneyland television show, Swamp Fox told the story of Francis Marion, a real life soldier who fought against the British in America's Revolutionary War.

Amazingly, Leslie Nielsen even sang the theme song to the show. The show didn't have the same success as Davy Crockett, but it is still fondly remembered by Disney fans.

Mickey Mouse Club Week: Talent Roundup Day!

"Round 'em up! Bring 'em in! Everybody's sure to win! Step right up, here we go, oh what a rodeo!" Fridays were Talent Roundup Day on the Mickey Mouse Club! Lucky and talented kids were invited to show their skills off before a national audience of Mouseketeers!

The talented kids who performed were awarded with honorary mouse ears and memories to last a lifetime.

Mickey Mouse Club Week: Circus Day

Thursdays on the Mickey Mouse Club were Circus Day, a day where the Mouseketeers would show their various circus related talents.

Circus Days were a strange choice to fill a day, considering that the Mickey Mouse Club Circus at DISNEYLAND was a rare failure for the park. Circus Days were eventually Eliminated by season three of the Mouse Club, replaced by an un-themed day.

Mickey Mouse Club Week: Anything Can Happen Day

Anything could happen on Wednesdays; it was Anything Can Happen Day on the Mickey Mouse Club! Skits often centered on amazing things, such as rides at DISNEYLAND, educational films about other countries and interesting hobbies or abilities of the Mouseketeers themselves.