Here it is Sunday and as I think about what’s on TV tonight the first thing that comes to mind is Sunday Night = Walt Disney.
It’s been a whole lifetime since my family gathered in front of our TV on Sunday nights to eat pizza and watch Walt Disney, but for some reason it is burned into the geography of my brain. At 48 I know that I will forever equate Sunday nights as being Disney Night, just as I will forever feel that there is a hole in the late afternoon that is supposed to be filled by Mr. Rogers.
I know Disney testified before The House Committee On Un-American Activities accusing the Screen Actors Guild of being a Communist front, and he participated in getting several of his former animators blacklisted. I also know he’s been accused of antisemiticism, although there is little evidence proving the accusations (in fact, he had several Jewish employees in prominent positions at his studio).
But I didn’t know any of that when I was a kid, nor would I have understood it. All I knew then was that Sunday night meant Walt Disney and pizza, and when I saw this opening clip from The Wonderful World Of Disney I was suddenly 4-years-old again and it was the most exciting night of the week.
I believe I caught the tail end of that era when I was just a tike. I remember those Sunday evenings fondly, but I’m sad (try jealous) to report mine did not come with pizza. π Dang it.
If it makes you feel any better — and I think it will — if it wasn’t pizza it was Welsh Rarebit on toast. I hope for your sake you have no idea what that is.
Not a clue. π
It’s a cheese sauce served over toast. As an adult you might like it, but as a kid you probably wouldn’t have. I didn’t.
When I was a kid I always thought Welsh Rarebit was Welsh Rabbit. I so remember Sunday Nights. I never missed an episode. I don’t think we had pizza ever back then. But whatever we ate Soupy probably cooked it so it was good. I wanted that video to keep going. I was very disappointed when it stopped. I even remembered the announcer’s voice. I have to listen to it again.
Yes! Hearing the announcer’s voice was immediately nostalgic for me, every week he started off the wonderfulness that was the Disney show. And seeing that clip made me want to watch Alice In Wonderland.
I know Soupy made you excellent Sunday night dinners. π
I recall Disney on sunday nights. It gave the acting world Snake Plisken. We weren’t allowed to eat food in the living room. Disney, the man was a marketing genius, he took a drawing and was able to squeeze a billion dollar empire from it that still rakes in the money.
Yeah, you couldn’t go a whole month without seeing a Disney movie with Kurt Russell in it. I loved Kurt when I was a kid. I still do, actually. And Snake Plisken was the best character he’s ever done. You’re right about Walt Disney being a marketing genius, that was his real talent. But I still won’t go to Disney World.
Whatever are you talking about?
Before there was Disney World, Disney was a TV show on Sunday nights. It was a huge hit for a long time. Now it’s such an empire with cable channels and movies and amusement parks, it’s hard to imagine the show was once free on TV. π
Funny that the theme music reminded you of all that and brought back so many memories. I vaguely remember hearing the music and commercials for the wildlife movies from the “Mutual of Omaha” as a kid. Whew. We used to watch that as a family but I don’t think we got pizza either. π¦ Welsh rarebit doesn’t actually sound bad though – it’s like a cheese sauce on toasted bread, right?
Yes, the music took me right back. And I remember Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, it used to upset me because there was always some animal being eaten by another animal. Speaking of eating. Now that I’m an adult I’d probably like Welsh rarebit. It is a cheese sauce with a bite, served over toast. My mother loved it and made it often, but as a kid it made me gag. I couldn’t stand to look at it, let alone eat it.
If Walt Disney were still alive, I’d wish that he was dead. As it is now, I can only hope that he’s rolling over in his grave.
I well remember the “Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color” on Sunday nights in the 60s (it blossomed simultaneously with Color Television). The title of that show takes a completely different meaning now, doesn’t it?
It wasn’t until I visited Disney World as an adult that I fully realized the depths of Disney Depravity and their Conspiracy to Nauseate The World With Cuteness. What made me the most nauseous was the Epcot exhibit of GM, which promised to “harness the universe”. I couldn’t picture the universe with a harness on it. Plus a hot dog in Disney World cost $5!
I’m proud to say I’ve never been to Disney World. I refused to be sucked into that whole Disney vacation thing that people with kids get caught up in. My fascination with Walt Disney ended when I turned 9 or 10. Depravity is the right word for that monster-scam. π
Ah I loved growing up with Walt Disney Sunday nights! Those were the nights were I felt like I could fly away and become a princess, even if my greasy knotted hair suggested otherwise π
I agree, Disney made Sunday nights magic. But you are so wrong about your hair! Your hair looks so beautiful in photographs, hair to kill for!
I was going to mention the Mutual of Omaha (which I can’t say, I have to sing it) but Teeni beat me to it.
Sundays WERE always dedicated to sitting in front of the TV and I always tried to get my homework done before it started. We had popcorn for dinner. The one night Mom said “I DO NOT COOK”. I even have fond memories of the pretty blue melting pot for the butter to pour over the popcorn.
Thanks Wendy!
That’s so funny about popcorn for dinner, you were probably the envy of all your friends. I do something like that now, only I’ll have candy or ice cream for dinner. Not often, but on occasion.
Mutual of Ohama was cool. I remember some comedian back in the 80’s was doing his stand up routine and he would mention Mutual of Omaha and ask the audience if they remembered it. He would then talk about how Jim the young guy was the one who would do all the work and the comedian said something like “Why doesn’t that old man Marlin Perkins tell it how it really is– There goes my assistant Jim Fowler running for his life as the big hungry lion chases him in the brush while I sit back, up in the shade of this tree eating my bag of doritos.”
Wow, I remember those days. Although it wasn’t always accompanied by pizza, I do remember sitting with my family and watching The Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday.
Hi,
I have 3 children that love Disney World and all that is Disney related. I too grew up watching the Sunday night Disney movie and so did my sister. We would rush home from Sunday night youth meeting just in time to get on our PJ’s and get some milk and cookies before the movie started (no VCR’s back then).
My reason for writing is to find out if there is any way to get copies of these wonderful old movies, and if you or anyone you know may have these already. I would like to buy some of them for my children to enjoy as well as me and my wife to rewatch, now 35 + years later.
Please let me know if you know where to find them.
Mark
Hi Mark! I’d love to see the old Disney shows too, but unfortunately I don’t think they’re offered anywhere. My sister is always on a quest to buy old Disney movies, she looks on eBay and Amazon as well as in brick and mortar DVD stores. I’ve never seen any with Walt Disney’s introduction, though. Too bad, but I think you can only catch him in clips on YouTube.
I remember Sunday Disney nights, it was something that we always looked forward to. I have been trying to remember the name of one movie of little kids and a young girl who was a ghost. They ended up helping her get her doll that was caught in the wall of the well where she died. In the end, someone had either chased her or pushed her down the well , they were looking for the diamonds that were hidden in the doll. Does anyone else remember that movie and what it was called. It has been bothering me for a long time.
If you ever figure out what episode that was — I do not think it was the Child of Glass episode — please share. I have been haunted by that show for years.
Oops. I just read a full synopsis. Child of Glass it be.
Hi Cherie! I took a look around the Interweb and I think the movie you’re talking about is Child of Glass, which was based on the book The Ghost Belonged To Me. The book is still in print and available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble, unfortunately I can’t find the movie available anywhere…just like a Disney movie that was a favorite of mine, Hector The Stowaway Dog. Hector was a very brazen Airedale, stows away on a ship to Barcelona, lots of jewel thief hijinks, yadda yadda yadda. I loved it when I was like 4 or 5. Where are these movies and why are they keeping them from us?!
==>why are they keeping them from us?!
Those dreaded THEY people again. Bastids.
Wicked stingy bastids. We should start a letter writing campaign.
The Wonderful World of Disney was simply the only thing to do on Sunday evenings! We would rush home, eat dinner and then make (here is what OUR family would eat) lime sherbet in a glass with milk.
Memories…
I actually think they should revive it, although it would be competing with some heavy hitters – 60 Mins., The Simpsons, Family Guy, etc.
They should revive it and just change the time slot…or maybe make it available in the late afternoon?
My husband and I have been trying to explain to our kids how excited we were to watch The Wonderful World of Disney on Sunday nights. My husband has been imitating the wonderful voice of the man who would narrarate the actions of the animals. It sounded like warm chocolate syrup. Who was that guy and where can I find an audio of his voice? I have searched YouTube, but I don’t know if I am searching the correct thing. Thanks for anyone’s help!!
Once upon a time, there was a young visionary director called Tim Burton who lent his unique style to such modern fables as Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands as well as the poignant character study about the art of film-making, Ed Wood. He was accompanied by an unusual acting talent called Johnny Depp, an off-kilter leading man who lent his remarkable physical grace to every character he portrayed. Together, they joined the ranks of Scorsese/De Niro and Herzog/Kinski as one of the seminal actor-director teams in the history of cinema.
I have been looking for a movie I believe was made by Disney but I dont know exactly. All I remember is that there was a father an a son, both if got scratched could instantly heal themselves. There was also a scene where the dad was investigating a train that disappeared into a tunnel and did not come out the other side. He also drove a 18-wheeler with an explosive in the trailer off a cliff and into water and survived.