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Private Notes
Disneyland began its 4th season on the air with a gala, all-star ""special"", essentially designed to promote all 3 of Disney's network TV series. Pressured by his cartoon creations and the latest crop of Mouseketeers to tell them what's in store for the 1957-58 season, host Walt Disney offers tantalizing glimpses of the new weekly adventure show Zorro, the Disneyland miniseries The Saga of Andy Burnett (with Jerome Courtland in the title role) and the newest installments of such Mickey Mouse Club serials as ""Spin and Marty."" The remainder of the 4th Anniversary Show is an uncut presentation of the ""Peter and the Wolf"" segement from the 1946 animated feature Make Mine Music.
Walt takes us to the Studio Morgue where great ideas stored here are used in future projects. He also talks with Winston Hibler about the making of another True-Life Fantasy feature called Perri.
To teach us about the world of fantasy in animation, inanimate objects come to life and introduce various cartoons.
A show all about ""hero"" dogs. Walt Disney narrates the first segment. Dorothy McGuire gives us a preview of ""Old Yeller"" and the last half of the episode is the 1955 People and Places short Arizona Sheepdog.
"Mars and Beyond" is an episode of Disneyland which aired on December 4, 1957. It was directed by Ward Kimball and narrated by Paul Frees. This episode discusses the possibility of life on other planets, especially Mars. It begins with an introduction of Walt Disney and his robot friend Garco, who provide a brief overview. It continues with an animated presentation about mankind seeking to understand the world in which he lives, first noticing patterns in the stars, and developing certain beliefs regarding the celestial bodies. Theories from scientists and philosophers are discussed, including Ptolemy's inaccurate, but formerly-accepted theories, as well as those of Copernicus. Life on other planets is considered, soon focusing on Mars. Ideas from science-fiction authors H.G. Wells and Edgar Rice Burroughs are brought to life with more colorful animation. Pulp science fiction comics of the time are parodied in the same straightforward tone as everything else.
After this, the program adopts a serious tone as it profiles each of the planets in the solar system, from the perspective of what would happen to a man on them. The program claims that whereas most of the planets are either too cold or too hot for life as we know it, life on Mars could almost be normal, something that is of increasing importance for the future. Dr. E.C. Slipher then discusses the Red Planet and the possibility that life is already there. More animation speculates what the conditions on Mars might be like. This section is filled with striking, inventive and atypical Disney animation.
Tinker Bell takes us on a tour of Disneyland with her pixie dust.
Walt talks about how art has many different visions.
