Evening star., 1954-11-21

many. The only trouble was
that the humans couldn't
stand the competition with the
Disney folk.
His eye for color turned Dis
rley to another field, the cos
tune movie without cartoon
characters. The master Of
fantasy proved to be still the
master Of it with such swirling
and colorful swashbucklers as
1.-THE Sword and the Rose"
and Rob RoyI'' tHe also
showed that he has a fine eye
for a leading lady. by casting
Glynis Johns in both of these
films).
There was still another field
for Disney to conquer. He
both delighted and startled
some OF his admirers by find
ing one of his richest lodes
In stark realism. nature in the
raw. His True Life Adven-
ture films were made. by
venturesome cameramen and
imaginative editors. true classic
gems Of entertainment.
Disney, Of course. has not
abandoned fantasy for realism
in these. He has blended them
beautifully, to the delight OF
.Disneyites and, it must be ad-
mitted, to the pain of some
nom believers. Those bighorn
mountain sheep of Vanish
ing Prairie = for instance. do
not conduct their fabulous
springtiine head -butting en-
counters to the acconnpani-
,rnent Of "The Anvil Chorus"
They are vastly funnier doing
it that way, though, no matter
what the purist nature-lovers
say.
No Let Down in N
Standing at the head Of so
many classes in the movies,
Disney naturally was counted
on for some. great things in
television. He hasn't let us
down. either.
He started out a few weeks
ago with a program largely de-
voted to telling us what he
would do on subsequent pro-
grams. He did it so entertain
ingly and so appetizingly that
the period between that
Wednesday night and the fol-
lowing one was one of the
longest weeks televiewers have
known.
On subsequent Wednesday
nights over ABC-TV (WMAL), ,
Disney has shown us q neces-
sarily trimmed version Of his
imaginative "Alice in Wonder
land" and q dual bill Of his
Seal Island" and a faScinat-
ing picture story of the pho-
tographing Of a nature film.
Last week he gave us a delight
full hour with the life story Of
Donald Duck. This Wednesday
night he will show us another
of his theater films, so Dear
to My Heart" combining live
action with a typical Disney
cartoon sequence.
A Businessmen, Too
The impact Of Disney on
teleyision has been consider
able. So far he seems to have
topped all of his opposition
with at least a so per cent
share of the available audience
for every show.
This means, too, that he has
had an impact on the audi
ences at the theaters with
which he also deals. This Is
no problem, for Disney is
something Of a business genius,
too. Every Disney television
show is a compelling adver-
tisement for any Disney movie
available in theaters at the
same time. !
Incidentally, while this Dis
ney success in television was
expected. there is a certain
element of surprise attached
to his shows. 1t probably is a
sad commentary on the gen.
eral level of TV fare that we
can be startled merely by being
enchanted for once by what
that box in the corner is show
ing us. This. however, is no
thought to be harboring today.
We have Disney on television
and there is a Wednesday in
each and every week. This
man may recreate the family
circle, a feat which Tv often
has claimed 1t could bring of.