Magic Highway USA - May 14, 1958

Today marks the 50th Anniversary of one of my favorite pieces of Disney entertainment. This occasion will likely go unnoticed by most; its subject is not a high profile animated feature nor a celebrated character. It was a simple one hour program that was broadcast on the Disneyland television show on May 14, 1958, yet it spoke to the idealism and optimism of a generation now five decades removed. Magic Highway USA is a happy reminder of a Disney dynamic of edu-tainment that in fact predated the likes of EPCOT Center by nearly twenty five years and was rooted in Walt Disney's then symbiotic television and theme park endeavors.

I have lauded and celebrated this Ward Kimball-created presentation in prior posts and was very happy to later be able to present the program's final and visually arresting "Road Ahead" segment.

If you haven't already, check out those earlier articles for some fun and informative rides on the Magic Highway.

Styling That Never Grows Old!

What do the characters from Disney's animated feature Peter Pan have to do with televisions and refrigerators?

Nothing, really. But that didn't prevent Walt Disney and appliance manufacturer Admiral from engaging in an extensive campaign of advertising cross-promotion during the movie's original release during the late winter and early spring of 1953. Even rather secondary characters such as lost boy Foxy and Princess Tiger Lily were prominently featured in print advertising, as well as in-store promotional displays. While Peter's endorsement of appliances would prove short-lived, his legacy in peanut butter would be farther reaching, and at least to this day, everlasting.

It's the Greatest!

We mentioned in a post a few days ago how the original Mickey Mouse Club was a major part of 1950s popular culture, and this magazine ad from 1956 certainly bears that observation out. It was very important that the Mouseketeers at home identify with their television counterparts, and a genuine and OFFICIAL Mouseketeer Polo Shirt with its multiple alphabet card of iron-on letters could go a long way to making that happen.

Mother will think they're super, too, when she learns they're made of the finest two-ply combed mercerized "Durene Yarn" (White Only).

Retail Price (including the iron-on letters): $2.00.

How the Mice Saved Christmas

Disney's "Studio Mice" that were prevalent in many different types of media during the 1950s, made an interesting Christmas-related appearance in the December 1957 issue of Walt Disney's Magazine. The story "How the Mice Saved Christmas" featured a narrator by the name of Grover Cleveland Mouse whose ancestry related directly to the studio's 1953 cartoon featurette Ben and Me.

Perhaps I should identify myself. I am Grover Cleveland Mouse. My lineage dates all the way back to Amos Mouse. My great-great-greatgrandfather George was Amos' brother, and lived in that small Philadelphia church.

My brothers and I live at the North Pole. Father migrated here many years ago. He read what Horace Greeley wrote about "Go West, Young Man," but he got his directions mixed. Before you could wink twice, he was heading north.

Passing through a small town called Detroit, he gave some advice to a young man named Ford who was working on a horseless carriage. He continued through Michigan, but he was nearsighted—when he crossed the Straits of Mackinac, he thought he was swimming the Mississippi. On reaching Hudson Bay he realized his mistake. It was too late to turn back, so he continued to the North Pole, where he became special advisor to Santa Claus.

The story details the efforts of Grover and his brothers--James Madison, John Adams, Andrew Jackson and Theodore Roosevelt--to help a sick Santa Claus complete his rounds on Christmas Eve 1907.

Studio veteran X Atencio had a hand in the illustration (pictured above) that accompanied the story.

Disney's Christmas Mice

. . . and we don't mean Mickey and Minnie.

A different breed of mice came into prominence at the Disney Studio during the 1950s, but they were of a different nature than the oversize icons with the big round ears that had come to represent the company. The design style of these creatures seems rooted in rodents of Cinderella, epitomized by Gus, Jacques and their many friends who helped that film's heroine ultimately realize her happily ever after destiny.

Similarly-styled mice appeared in Ben and Me, of which the title character of Amos was the most prominent. This mouse-type also extended into other Disney efforts. In 1957, McCall's magazine featured the illustrated story Walt Disney's Christmas Carol that retold the classic Dickens tale but replaced Bob Cratchtet with the character of Cedric Mouse, who in physical resemblance could easily have been a cousin of Gus, Jacques or Amos. We featured illustrations and excerpts from Walt Disney's Christmas Carol in a post last December here at 2719 Hyperion.

In an interesting twist, the studio extended this mouse-mythology into the audio arena with the release in 1958 of Mickey Mouse Christmas Favorites which was in fact Walt Disney Records first holiday album. The album combined a number of previously released selections, the most notable of which was what would become the company's perennial Christmas tune "From All of Us to All of You." But as these liner notes describe, a number of the recordings came from some freshly discovered talent:

Discovered under a stairway at the Disneyland Studio, the unique all-mouse symphony orchestra under the able baton of Ludwig Mousensky is undoubtably the first and finest rodent ensemble in the world. And, we here at Disneyland Records are proud to present their first recording, "The Christmas Concert." Here are Yuletide hymns, "Hark The Herald Angels Sing," "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "O Come All Ye Faithful," "Jingle Bells," and the popular 'Winter Wonderland." The Mousensky group's rendition of these songs is truly a delightful experience for all. Under the maestro, the orchestra, consisting of Squeeky, Zeke, Horace, Henrietta, Tubby, Tootie, Clarence, Pinky, Stuffy, Zooty, Hans, Fritz, Otto (these three were formerly with the Vienna's famed DeutschMICEster Band), Pee Wee and Frenchy give a new dimension to these Christmas favorites. All proving that Christmas is a time for both mice and men.

While the album jacket did not provided any visual representations of this "rodent ensemble," its high-pitched renditions are certainly reminiscent of those performed by Cinderella's pint-size pals.

Coming tomorrow: More Disney Christmas Mice from the 1950s.

1950s Christmas Fun

This insert appeared over the table of contents page in the December 1957 issue of Walt Disney's Magazine. Used to promote a subscription premium offer, the artwork of Mickey, Pluto, Huey, Dewie and Louie had actually been recycled from the 1955 studio Christmas card. A television set featuring Donald Duck on the screen was replaced with an official Mickey Mouse phonograph to tie in with the subscription card's offer of a free Mickey Mouse Club record. Instead of Christmas songs, the nephews were originally reading a copy of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Mars and Beyond - December 4, 1957

Time constraints relating to my trip to MouseFest later this week have prevented me from doing a more extensive post on one my favorite episodes of the Disneyland television program. But I still wanted to at the very least acknowledge that today was in fact the 50th anniversary of perhaps the show's very best Tomorrowland segment, "Mars and Beyond."

The incredible talents of Disney Studio veteran Ward Kimball were distinctly showcased in the program's entertaining mix of history, comedy and scientific speculation. The opening introduction featuring Walt Disney and GARCO the robot truly communicated the era's fun sense of futurism.

Walt Likes Ike

While Walt Disney often possessed very strong political convictions, he rarely if ever used the company he and his brother Roy founded as a conduit to the general public for those opinions and viewpoints. Walt's political adventures have generally stayed under the radar, even when they have come to attain a degree of historical significance. This is especially true in the Disney Studio's creation of the what is largely considered one of the first presidential campaign television commercials, aired in 1952 for then Republican candidate Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The animated "I Like Ike" one minute spot channeled the famous campaign slogan into a cross sectional demographic march to the White House led by Uncle Sam and followed close behind by a flag-carrying, drum beating elephant. Certainly benign by today's mudslinging standards, its harshest moment portrays Adlai Stevenson, the Democratic candidate, riding a donkey away from Washington, accompanied by the lyrics "Let Adlai go the other way, we'll all go with Ike." But it was a bold move for 1952; Stevenson generally disdained the use of television commercials, but Eisenhower had no such qualms. He reached some 19 million viewers and went on to win the presidency in a landslide vote.

While Walt did have a reputation for sometimes bullying studio subordinates into making political contributions, he typically did not make many public endorsements. The Ike commercial was credited to brother Roy Disney as a producer and sponsored by the Citizens for Eisenhower-Nixon. It would be the genesis of a warm and friendly relationship between Walt and Ike that would extend all the way to Walt's death in 1966. Walt corresponded with the former president as late as summer of 1966; a few weeks following Walt's passing, Ike eulogized him, saying in part, "His work will endure so long as men and women and children retain a sense of wonder, a need for bright laughter, a love of the clean and decent. Consequently, Walt Disney's name and his creations will endure through generations. In honoring him, we salute an American who belongs to all the world."

The Road Ahead from Magic Highway USA

It is with great pleasure that I am finally able to present the video of "The Road Ahead" segment from the 1958 Disneyland episode Magic Highway USA. I provided background on this nifty piece of 1950s futurism in the posts The Road Ahead and Another Drive Down the Road Ahead.

Enjoy!

Something Special Afoot

Mouseketeers know Mickey's own Mickey Mouse shoes are extra soft and comfortable. They're so flexible you feel sure-footed as a deer. And the full cushioned insole lets you walk on clouds. They're tough, too, for lasting wear . . . and so good looking. Tell mother about the Mouseketeers' Special Shoes. They're only $4.95 to $6.95 depending on size.

It's been a little while since we visited some good old fashioned pop culture from the 1950s. This ad for Trimfoot Shoes appeared on the inside front cover of the December 1956 issue of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Club Magazine. If you look closely, you'll see John Hench's 25th Birthday portrait of Mickey being offered as part of a mail-in premium, along with the official Mickey Mouse Club Ring.

Another Drive Down The Road Ahead

One of the most popular posts here at 2719 Hyperion has proven to be about something that is not altogether immediately recognizable as a Disney entity. My article on The Road Ahead, a fifteen minute segment from the 1958 Disneyland episode "Magic Highway U.S.A." was widely linked outside of the Disney online community and recognized by a number of retro-futurism bloggers.

I thought it would be fun to take another ride down The Road Ahead and visit again the transportation dynamics of late 2oth century America, as they were imagined by 1950's visionaries. So let's all jump into our highly specialized pleasure vehicles and take a trip along the magic highways of a future that never quite came to be.

"Speed, safety and comfort will be the keynotes of tomorrow's highways. A multi-colored highway system may enable the motorist to reach his destination by following the correct color strip. The increased speed of tomorrow's automobile will demand that highway signs be larger and more simple to read."

"Dashboard panels featuring built-in safety controls and electronic operating devices are predictions for tomorrow. A teletype panel shows up-to-the-minute traffic bulletins. The recommended safe driving speed is automatically indicated. Our rear view mirror is actually a television picture."

"Airborne emergency units would combine police, fire and ambulance services. Quick removal of disabled vehicles will reduce traffic tie-ups."

"Combining new formulas of concrete with quick-setting ceramic materials, a mobile kiln is supported by the bridge it builds."

"For tunneling through mountains, this atomic reactor applying incredible heat literally melts the hard rock as it makes molehills out of mountains."

On entering the city, the family separates, father to his office, mother and son to the shopping center. These new forms of vehicles will bring about special purpose roadways."

"Office buildings will combine unique parking and elevator services. From his private parking space, father will probably have to walk to his desk."

"These non-stop farm-to-market transports will bring remote agricultural areas to within minutes of metropolitan markets."


"Advances in technology will give us more time for leisure in tomorrow's living. The family vacation will always be decided by a family vote, but getting there will be simplified by a punched card system and the car is automatically operated and guided to preset destinations. Highly specialized pleasure vehicles will have every convenience of home."

Images © Walt Disney Company

Four Color Island Adventures

Pirates have invaded Disneyland's Tom Sawyer Island recently with the Imagineer-installed Pirate's Lair overlay. But here's a view of the Mark Twain-inspired environment from nearly a half a century ago. This map was featured on the inside front cover of the 1958 comic book Walt Disney's Donald and Mickey in Disneyland on Tom Sawyer Island.

This Dell Giant featured stories that tied into the various landmarks located throughout the island. Goofy explores Injun Joe's Cave. The Brer characters go fishing at Catfish Cove. Uncle Scrooge encounters both Captain Hook and Beagle Boys at an adventure at Smuggler's Cove. Chip 'n' Dale try to find a new home in the Tree House, while Grandma Duck and Gyro Gearloose share a story at the Old Mill. The issue's centerpiece story is Donald and Mickey at Fort Wilderness. Set in 1812, Donald plays a frontiersman to Mickey's fort commander. The highlight of the story is the appearance of Davy Cricket, a funny spin on a certain former Pinocchio sidekick. An activities section at that back even features a Davy Cricket's B'ar Trap Game.

Johnny Tremain - 1957

Fifty years ago this summer, the feature film Johnny Tremain arrived in theaters. It was a well-received adaptation of the classic children's novel by Esther Forbes, and its young stars, Hal Stalmaster and Luana Patten graced the cover of the June 1957 issue of Walt Disney's Magazine.

This is the Space Age!

Explorer! Vanguard! Sputnik! What are they -- and WHY have they been rocketed into space? This is their story . . .

The future from 1958 was oh so bright and shiny and fun. Walt Disney was certainly one of the biggest proponents of the U.S. space program during the Eisenhower years, as reflected by his many space-themed television shows and also by Tomorrowland in Disneyland. These endeavors spilled over into other entertainment formats, and kids of the era were even able to get a pretty strong dose of scientific idealism at their local newsstand.

The comic book Walt Disney's Man in Space: Satellites is a wonderful example of 1950s pop culture futurism. Here are a couple of fun panels from that 1958 four color excursion into outer space.

Four Color Fairy Godmothers

In the 1950s world of Disney comic books, even supporting characters could become stars in their own right. Case in point--Flora, Fauna and Merryweather take center stage in this Dell Four Color Comic from 1959.

Crossovers with other Disney personalities were common to these types of character showcases and Sleeping Beauty’s Fairy Godmothers had some very distinct guest stars appear between its pages. In the issue’s first story, “Good Deed Day,” Merry attempts to cheer up a lonely and depressed Reluctant Dragon, the star of the 1941 feature film of the same name.

In “To the Rescue,” the girls do their best, with the assistance of Timothy Mouse, to help Dumbo weather an extreme crisis of confidence that has the little elephant grounded. In the end we learn that “Sometimes a good heart does more than all the magic in the world.”

In the issue’s final tale, the trio find themselves in the middle of some messy court politics centering on the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. They come to the aid of the Knave of Hearts who has been falsely accused of stealing tarts.

Rounding out the book is the back cover recipe for Flora’s Fudge, a magical dessert for any occasion.

The Creek Indian Territory

Here's a fun piece of artwork from a vintage 1950s Disney comic book. This illustration was featured on the back cover of Dell Four Color Comics #631 from 1955. The subject of the issue was of course Davy Crockett, this time being the adaptation of Davy Crockett Indian Fighter. A photo-illustration of Fess Parker graced book's cover, and the inside front cover provided the following introduction:

Legends of the American frontier are still vigorous and young. The adventurous deeds of our heroic ancestors in this country are a vital portion of American Lore and will live forever in its colorful history. This is a story about one of those valiants whose fame shone brightly on the horizons of our early frontiers. This is a story about Davy Crockett.

Man in Space: March 9, 1955

The episode Man in Space that aired on March 9, 1955 on the Disneyland television program is significant on so many levels. It began a Disney “futurism franchise” that would extend from television into movie theaters, print media, and ultimately form the very basis of Tomorrowland at Disneyland and later Walt Disney World as well.

Unlike the majority of Disney-produced entertainment from the same time period, Man in Space has not aged well beyond being an interesting time capsule look at the genesis of America’s fascination with, and the ultimate execution of a program of space exploration. Co-written, produced and directed by Ward Kimball, the program would be the first of numerous episodes under the Tomorrowland brand, helmed by Kimball, that focused on space travel and other science-related topics. A shortened version of the show was released theatrically in 1956, and was even nominated for an Academy Award.

Even with the infusion at times of trademark Ward Kimball wackiness, Man in Space rarely rises above a series of dry lectures by then notable scientific luminaries Willy Ley, Heinz Haber and Wernher von Braun. One particularly bizarre set of contrasting elements is the Haber dissertation on the physical impact of space travel on human beings. While Haber drones on about the problems of weightlessness, the accompanying animated sequence comically portrays a cigar-smoking, martini-drinking astronaut-in-training, experiencing the very trials that Haber is expounding on so seriously.


It can feel at times a long road to the program’s final dramatic and visually dynamic realization of an orbital space mission. Despite, or even perhaps due to the sequence’s limited animation and high contrast images, it is a shining example of the 1950s futurism that became a distinct part of post-war popular culture.



Like the television-theme park hybird that Disneyland essentially was in 1955, Tomorrowland the place and Tomorrowland the program seemed to experience simultaneous development, clearly drawing from the same sources of inspiration. Up until the 1990s re-imagining of the Anaheim, Tokyo and Florida Tomorrowlands into “futures that never were,” (patterned after EuroDisney’s Discoveryland that debuted in 1992), the prior visions of these Magic Kingdoms’ areas were always for the most part rooted in Man in Space and the subsequent space and science themed episodes of the Disney television show. As late as 1993, Walt Disney World guests were still experiencing an incarnation of those early television shows in the form of Mission to Mars, an evolved version of Disneyland’s original Flight to the Moon attraction.

Perhaps the most interesting footnote about Man in Space is the largely unnoticed impact it had on the development of the U.S. space program. President Eisenhower was so impressed with the program, he requested a print of the film to screen for high-ranking Pentagon officials, which was evidently instrumental in kick starting the country’s space initiatives. Many 20th century historians would no doubt bristle over giving acknowledgment to a Hollywood cartoon maker for in anyway potentially inspiring mankind’s initial conquests of space.

Semi Pneumatic Tires and Congo Graphite Bearings

Seriously. Those are the key selling features of the Mouseketeer Express coaster wagon in this advertisement for Radio Line products from 1956. Did kids back then really know their wagons to that extent? Wow.

Mountain Men - 1950s Style

Heroes of folklore and legends of the wild west were popular subjects during the 1950s, and the young people of the period were particularly fascinated by practically anything relating to frontier life. Disney took distinct advantage of this in many ways, from film and television productions such as Davy Crockett and Paul Bunyan, to the creation of Frontierland at Disneyland.


Smaller scale endeavors were also numerous, as this article that tells the stories of famous mountain men Jim Bridger and John Colter from a 1957 issue of Walt Disney’s Magazine demonstrates. While studio vet Milt Banta is shown as the author of Yellowstone: Land of Burning Mountains, the artist of the illustrations is uncredited. The renderings of Colter and Bridger are however very similar in style to the studio's cartoon version of Paul Bunyan, that was released the following year. The character of Jim Bridger would appear in a two part episode in 1977 of the Wonderful World of Disney entitled “Kit Carson and the Mountain Men.” He would be portrayed in that show by actor Gregg Palmer.

"The Ballad of John Colter" by well know Disney composer George Bruns would be sung by Fess Parker in the Disney film Westward Ho the Wagons, and would also be included on Parker’s own record album Cowboy and Indian Songs.

Here is the text from Yellowstone: Land of Burning Mountains, a small piece of fun nostalgia from the 1950s:

A man had room to grow out on the western frontier — before the towns came in, and the farms and the factories. Sometimes men grew so great, and their fame spread so far, that they became legends in their own time. John Colter was one of these. Folks say that John was chased by hostile Indians once, and he fooled them by hiding under the surface of a deep stream, breathing through a hollow reed.

Now a man who'll keep cool when a pack of redskins are after his scalp will keep cool most anywhere. That's probably a good thing, because Colter needed all his wits about him when he stumbled into Yellowstone.

It was along about 1805 or 1806 that Colter decided to leave the trail and strike out on his own. He walked for nearly 500 miles before he found himself in a valley like no other place he had ever been before.

First, Colter saw a great lake stretching out in front of him. Then he came on huge waterfalls in the midst of a yellow rock chasm. He found springs of scalding water that bubbled right out of the ground, and spectacular geysers and steaming pools of mud. "Land of Burning Mountains" the Indians called the place, and to them it was filled with evil spirits. Colter went back east and told everyone who would "There couldn't possibly be a place like that," they scoffed. John Colter was so hurt and humiliated at this that he went back to the peace and quiet of the mountains. But his stories went on.

It was about 25 years later that another great frontiersman, Jim Bridger, heard the tales of Colter and the Yellowstone country and decided to find out for himself whether the tales were tall ones, or true. Bridger found Yellowstone and saw that Colter had been right. When Bridger went back east and told the folks about Yellowstone, they laughed at him, just as they'd laughed at Colter. But Bridger didn't take to the hills to nurse his wounded pride. Instead, he decided that since no one believed his true stories, he'd tell some fantastic tales about the mysterious place.

There was a mountain there, he said, called Echo Mountain, where it took six hours for an echo to come bouncing back. And there was a glass mountain that had a peculiar way of making things miles away seem a whole lot nearer.

Bridger's favorite yarn was the one about the "Peet-rified Forest" filled with petrified birds singing among petrified leaves in the petrified moonlight.

Strangely enough, the tales of Colter and Bridger are, still told in Yellowstone, "Land of Burning Mountains," which is now a national park, preserved for all to enjoy.

Roy Williams and the Birth of an Icon

They’ve been a part of our popular culture for over fifty years. Outside of Disney they are still instantly recognizable. To Disney fans, employees and cast members they are iconic. So much so that just the word “ears” can be used to reference any number of Disney-related connotations.

Mickey Mouse Ears. Fashionable shortly after their creation in 1955. A perennial souvenir bestseller at Disney Parks worldwide well into the 21st century.

I was recently reminded of the origins of this famous headgear while rereading Lorraine Santoli’s excellent (and sadly out-of-print) The Mickey Mouse Club Book. The now-famous studio personality and eventual Disney Legend credited with creating the ears is revealed in the following excerpt:

Chuck Keehne, head of the wardrobe department, outfitted the newly hired kids in their Mouseketeer outfits, including their uniquely designed hats, which Roy Williams is credited with creating. "In 1929, after the sound cartoons came out, Walt hired me for two weeks to sketch some ideas for his animated shorts," Roy explained. "One of them had Mickey tipping the top of his head to Minnie, which left him with a flat head. So when 'The Mickey Mouse Club' came about years later, Walt said, 'How do we dress the kids?' And I said, 'Why not with Mickey Mouse ears?' I made sketches of the first hats and Walt liked them. That's how it happened."

Roy Williams was certainly a jack-of-many trades during his long career with the Disney company. Beyond his invention of Mouse Ears and his status as the “Big Mooseketeer” on the Mickey Mouse Club, Roy was a veteran of the story department and one of the studio's most prolific gag men. Roy was also a successful magazine cartoonist outside of Disney. He wrote a short feature for the December 1956 issue of Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club Magazine that detailed his “moonlighting” and gave advice to aspiring young artists. The article also included a number of Roy’s cartoons from a then recently published collection.


Roy Williams passed away in 1976. His Disney Legends biography can be found here.