A Mouse on the Wall
I really wish I could eavesdrop on the conversations over at Disney+ Operations (or whatever the official name is). Here’s why.
I’m quoting Frank and Julia (who you should all follow on Twitter if you don’t already) not to grouse about their positive response to this watchlist thing. It is a great idea. None of us can go to Disneyland or any Disney theme park right now. Pointing people towards streaming content that might replicate the experience of going to a theme park is an unequivocally smart idea.
What a shame, then, that disturbingly little of the recommended titles are actually about the theme parks.
I won’t deny that many of these titles line up with the films, worlds, and characters represented in the theme parks. They do! But they’re not…about the parks. There’s plenty of footage thanks to archival specials to cull from, but none of it is present, not even the modern Wonderful World of Disney specials filmed in the theme parks. Someone pointed out to me on Twitter a possible reason: these specials may not be converted to HD and Disney may not want to post something that’s in standard-definition.
Two counters to that: first, if you ever find yourself watching Justin Morgan Had a Horse on Disney+, you’ll notice that the 70s-era TV-movie isn’t in HD. I cherry-pick that example because literally no one is asking for that film to stream. (I’ve seen it. You shouldn’t, unless you’re cripplingly curious.) And it’s in SD. My second counter is this: a few years ago, at a D23 Expo event, a friend of mine attended an event where a Disney archivist spoke about their work in the 21st century. Said friend asked the archivist after the panel about the status of the one film Disney would love to pretend never happened: Song of the South. The archivist told my friend that whatever would end up happening with an official release, Song of the South had been converted to HD. It was ready for Blu-ray. It just needed the green light.
If Song of the South is converted in HD, why wouldn’t that be the same for so many of the TV specials? And even if it isn’t, put it in SD for now. People will forgive you, Disney+. I promise. For now, we have to live with watching the theme-park specials on YouTube. Like this one.
Your Recommendation for Today
You have heard of The Mickey Mouse Club. You might even have watched the 1990s-era version of the show, the one featuring actors like Ryan Gosling, Keri Russell, and more, before they were the actors we know and love today. But you may never have seen any episodes of the original show, one of the earliest examples of Disney on television.
Disney+, for whatever reason, has the first week’s worth of episodes of the 1955-era version of The Mickey Mouse Club streaming. I’m recommending this title less because it’s truly incredible television, but because it is a genuinely fascinating time capsule of how television worked in the mid-1950s, back when broadcasters were figuring out the new medium. Here are a few of the things you can expect to see in these episodes:
An eight-minute stretch of an adult British man interacting with a bear puppet the size of his palm
Newsreel footage of kids riding speedboats
A five-part series about how to become an airline pilot or “airline hostess”, written by future Oscar winner Stirling Silliphant
Disney Legend Wally Boag playing bagpipes
A circus act
Jiminy Cricket teaching kids how to ride a bike
The Mickey Mouse Club was, in its earliest days, a vaudeville-style variety show. It’s not often great, but it’s always fascinating, both in terms of what content is presented and how deliberately it’s paced. Do you have a penchant for TV history? You will want to watch these episodes. And then wonder, as I have, why Disney hasn’t posted more than just the first week’s worth. Maybe one day we’ll get more.