![]() Much of the decline is often attributed to the declining amount of new material. The show continued to slip in the ratings until NBC cancelled it in 1981 an attempt to modernize the show in the fall of 1979 was purely cosmetic. It also did not help that CBS had placed 60 Minutes directly opposite it. At this time, Walt Disney Productions was facing a decline in fortunes, with declining box-office revenues. The series continued to get solid ratings, often in the Top 20, until the mid- 1970s. When Walt Disney died in 1966, no one replaced him as host, as everyone agreed that his presence, characterized by a warm, folksy persona, was irreplaceable. ![]() The character's voice was supplied by Paul Frees. The first NBC episode even dealt with the principles of color, as explained by a comical character named Ludwig Von Drake, a bumbling professor and uncle of Donald Duck. To emphasize the new color feature, the series was re-dubbed Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color and retained that moniker until 1969. In a marvelous display of foresight, Disney had filmed many of the earlier shows in color, so they were able to be repeated on NBC. The series moved to NBC in 1961 to take advantage of that network's ability to broadcast in color. In July of 1955, the opening of Disneyland was covered on this show, hosted by Walt along with Bob Cummings, Art Linkletter, Ronald Reagan, and various other guests. ![]() The TV episodes were edited into two theatrical films later on. Three historically-based hour-long shows aired in late 1954/early 1955, and were followed up by two dramatized installments the following year. Millions of dollars of merchandise were sold relating to the title character, and the theme song, The Ballad of Davy Crockett, was a hit record that year. The show spawned the Davy Crockett craze of 1955 with the miniseries about the historical American frontiersman, starring Fess Parker in the title role. Other studios feared television would be the death of them. This is significant because the series was the first one from a major movie studio. Hosted by Walt Disney himself, the show presented cartoons and other material (some original, some pre-existing) from the studio library.
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