Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 10, 1994 TAG: 9412130003
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: BURBANK, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
Disney became the first major film studio to produce entertainment for TV, breaking Hollywood's ban of the new medium, and the series brought struggling ABC into the big time, as the first of the network's shows to break into the top 25.
Tonight, ABC will celebrate the anniversary with ``The Wonderful World of Disney: 40 Years of Television Magic'' (at 8 on WSET-Channel 13). Lots of stars, mucho nostalgia. Remember Ludwig Von Drake? Remember Davy Crockett? They'll be back, and more.
Roy E. Disney remembers. The nephew of Walt and son of co-founder Roy O. Disney is one of the few remaining at the company who was around when ``Disneyland'' debuted. He goes back even further.
``I remember going to New York with my parents in 1937-38 and watching a demonstration of live TV at the RCA Building,'' Disney says. ``Which shows that Dad and Walt were thinking about television even then.''
Desperately needing money in 1954 to complete his pleasure park in Anaheim, Walt entered into an agreement with ABC. The network contributed a half-million dollars, and Disney agreed to provide a weekly TV series for $50,000 per episode. The first show on Oct. 27, 1954, was an entertaining, blatantly commercial account of the planning and building of Disneyland.
``Walt was one of the few people in town who saw television as an opportunity and not as a threat,'' Roy Disney said. ``One of the shows that first year was an hour's trailer for `20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.' And it won the Emmy for the best show of the year!''
Disney was talking in his memento-jammed office on the third floor of the Animation Building. It had been Walt's office, and it was where Walt gave Roy his first assignment for the TV show. Roy had been working on some of the nature films and he was leaving for Utah, where ``Perri'' was being shot.
``On my way out, I stopped by here in this room to say goodbye,'' he recalled. ``Walt said, `Why don't you take a movie camera up there and shoot a bunch of behind-the-scenes footage of how the film gets made? We'll use it on the TV show.' I did, and the material was on the show in the second season. I got my first screen credit as one of the cameramen.''
He worked on 40 shows over the years, ending as producer.
Walt Disney died in 1966, but the TV show persevered, changing formats, networks and titles along the way. The final cancellation came in 1990, and the show's 36 years set a record for network prime time.
Roy E. Disney left the studio in 1977 in a disagreement over how it was being run. He returned in 1984 in a management upheaval, which he helped maneuver. He immediately turned his attention to the Disney legacy - animation.
``It has been an incredible 10 years,'' he remarked. ``When I walked in the door 10 years ago, they were finishing `The Black Cauldron.' I saw it for the first time and said, `Oh my God, we've got a big problem here.'''
No amount of tinkering could save the movie, and it was Disney's biggest flop. New, young talent was pumped into animation, and the next film, ``The Great Mouse Detective,'' was a modest hit.
``The Little Mermaid'' began a dizzying climb that included ``Beauty and the Beast,'' ``Aladdin'' and the phenomenal ``The Lion King.''
Disney expects to be keeping ``an even closer eye'' on animation.
He added that company chairman Michael Eisner ``has got himself involved in it as well, which is delightful because Michael as a story man is absolutely wonderful. ... I think he has worked his way around to where he's going to stay on the creative side of the world.''
Last week marked the opening of a new animation building, a longtime crusade of Roy Disney's. The new regime had moved the animation department out of its longtime facility and miles away into makeshift quarters that grew to nine buildings.
``Communication and relations had gotten strained,'' Disney said. ``Now, everyone will be under one roof. It will actually help the product.''
He noted that former production chief Jeffrey Katzenberg had a lot to do with the revival of Disney animation. Now that Katzenberg has departed to form his own empire with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, will his absence be felt?
``My answer always is: Please take a look at the screen credits on `The Lion King.' You're going to see well over 400 names,'' Disney said. ``These are very talented, bright, ambitious people. You couldn't have made that film without all of them.''
by CNB