Kodak Presents Disneyland '59 - DisneyAvenue.com

[@cwwabu9196]

What I wouldn't give, to go back to this era....black and white and all. Life was simple as a child. Born in 1952, and in Los Angeles, to parents who never took me there, this coverage, made me cry, for so many reasons. What an awesome time to be alive, to look back on and dream about.

[@eliseolopez2790]

I know of a magical place genesis 15 land of milk and honey from the Nile to the Euphrates,all of mesopotamia (fertil crescent)

[@eliseolopez2790]

Disney is short in Babylonia,all the extinct ancient rivers tributaries in the desert to revive restoring all species making the great hurds in Africa seem small all the Forrest of the world are as a few branches compared to sea of trees and their fruits, what is more peaceful than Eden? Children, from whole nations will arrive planting trees in the desert, traveling to Babylonia where architecture from old to new how walt build Disneyland, Babylonia is bigger than Disney world uncostly full of thrilled,IF YOU COULD SEE WHAT I WILL DO FOR YOU!

[@eliseolopez2790]

Hebrews 4 come and enter my rest

[@AnnaandStanleyFNF]

I agree, I'm not american nor am I old enough to know the 50s , I still completely relate in my own memory and feeling of my own childhood where things were simple and being happy came naturally. Remembering is so sad and so happy.

[@MannyEmm]

Brilliant presentation. I loved seeing this. Did anyone notice, when Walt introduced then Vice President Nixon, Walt, said. “Mr Nixon”. , Nixon corrected Walt and said, “Vice President “! I loved how the left the Kodak spots in there. Why not, they paid for the show! Thank you for this!

[@Lineberrys]

That is my family and I (at 1:24:44) standing behind the rope to Walt’s right and when he takes down the rope the little girl with the hat turns to her right and Walt grabs me (Ed Lineberry) by the shoulder and I grab my little sisters hand and we walk in together with Walt Disney as the first guests in the newly re-dedicated Tomorrowland..I never forgot this moment but like everyone else I thought there was no footage of it. Here it is!! Thanks Disney Avenue!

[@passadonut]

Wow

[@designdoctor247]

That is cool 😎

[@bigdannysmokez1374]

Incredible

[@BakerMadness]

So AWESOME!!! Super glad there was footage

[@shanestuddard2606]

Curtis, this is INCREDIBLE! I'm so proud you finally got to SEE what happened to your family so long ago! What a TREASURE for you!

[@candaceemswiler]

I was born in 1959, but I often feel that I should have been an adult in the 50s! What a beautiful, imaginative, fairy tale time to be alive. I know there were hardships as there are in any time frame, but boy do I love this era! I would’ve loved to have been there. Thanks, uncle Walt!

[@rcandle08]

so sad Disney isn't like this anymore. very sad.

[@MannyEmm]

You couldn’t be more correct!

[@stanfordite1]

After my takeover it will be.

[@JosephStJames2000]

1959 --- the year I was born! The first time we went to Disneyland was in 1965. When the park was closing I stood in Fantasyland and told my parents in all sincerity that I didn't want to ever leave. I just recently took my grandchildren and we all had a great time. They didn't want to leave either.

[@beedumpling3820]

I was born in 1959 just a few miles from Disneyland. So amazing seeing this.

[@carlc5748]

Excellent footage, thanks for uploading this! My uncle was Park Operations Manager at Disneyland from 1956-1961. He supervised over 1,000 employees, and reported directly to Walt. He was the 5th official employee of Disneyland, being hired in 1954, before construction began.

[@northshore1000]

Can’t help but love Uncle Walt. I’ve never come across an article or seen an interview where anyone said a serious bad word about the man. We still need more like Walt Disney!

[@jaceyking5015]

I've seen some people say bad things about him, but most (if not all) are nothing but slander. I've seen those things debunked by so many people who knew him personally. Was he perfect? No. He was a human, like everyone else. But for my money, I'd still say that Walt was one of the good ones. And what he did for generations of children and adults truly was something special.

[@BeyondInvestigation]

Ole Walt was the master of amusement and entertainment. Notice that Walt doesn't allow the event to be about him, instead he allows his guests to be the center of attention. He didn't need attention as he was too busy looking into future ideas for his park/studio. Walt Disney and Walter Knott of Knott's Berry Farm had vision and they new how to entertain and make their guests be the most important and welcomed part of their amusement parks. It's too bad that both companies no longer have that vision. Thank you for posting this video.

[@greggoreo6738]

I love the man Walter Elias Disney. Sadly, I think he'd be MOST DISAPPOINTED in the "esprit de greediness" that ransavks his corporation today. His lesser minds know how to build, but none of those ingenuities knows how to:"*D*R*E*A*M!" Ah, how I miss that irascible Puck named Walt.... I love you, Sir! Always will! Gregg Oreo long Beach Ca

[@stevefilice9784]

I can watch stuff like this all day long!

[@daviatorcustoms3168]

How wonderful it would have been to be there that day. Walt was the dreamer and innovator so few can ever hope to be. He and his team were indeed the true imagineers.

[@JClark-34695]

Enjoyed Art Linkletter's Kodak commercial (at 39:40). Did you know that, in lieu of payment for his services at the opening of Disneyland in 1955, Art asked Walt for the film concession for the entire park? I assume it was the Kodak concession, and I think this commercial confirms it. And being a native of Rochester, NY (the home of Eastman Kodak), I'm proud of what I've seen!

[@bbsqtlead4939]

My parents took us to Disneyland in 1959 when I was 6 years old. I still have my father’s color slides that he took in the park on that trip, and I still remember how wonderful it all was.

[@hankaustin7091]

This is a true American gem!! Thank you for posting this video, it's truly spectacular!

[@lindawoody8501]

Although I had been there in probably 1957, I was there in 1959 and was old enough to appreciate it much more. So fun! I loved the submarine, the little cars the children could drive, the mule train, the canoe ride, the tree house and of course Fantasy Land. Guess Ricky & David Nelson's fishing experience was a one-off thing, huh?

[@eliseolopez2790]

Wow right in it's hay day

[@eliseolopez2790]

A clean heart is capable of great things is capable of seeing beneficiary living for all

[@dannyjepson1987]

Good memories from those times.

[@dbabayco]

I have been a fan of Disneyland since it opened. I still remember when my family went there for the first time - a year after it opened!

[@justme-n-gracie]

Boy this brings back some great memories! I grew up in Huntington Park and my mother was a Disney fanatic. We went to Disneyland every year. I was a little over a year old at this event. My younger siblings are all Disney fanatics as well. I have been to Disneyland more times than I can count and once to Disney World. I wish Disney still represented the same wholesome values that it did when Walt was alive.

[@coashddjj2]

I had no idea they had this kind of opening for Disneyland. What special memories it must hold for a lot of people. I've only been to Disneyland three times. The best time was at Christmas. It was all great, but very expensive and very crowded each time. The lines were long. But I'd do it all over again. It's a magical place.

[@davidlovesdiznee670]

This was not the opening. That was in 1955, this was 1959, so 4 years after the park opened.

[@justme-n-gracie]

this wasn't the opening, it was the 4 year anniversary!

[@shanestuddard2606]

Meredith Willson leading the band in "76 Trombones" is one of the most exciting things I've ever seen! (timestamp 35:40). Please know that at the time of this event at Disneyland, "The Music Man" was still one of the hottest tickets on Broadway, and Hollywood was already negotiating to make the show into a major motion picture. People! This was cutting edge stuff going on at Disneyland!

[@voiceofreason7856]

'The Music Man' remains one of my favorite movies to this day !!! Like to watch it, from time to time, to go back to a less complicated and innocent age !!! :)

[@thehapagirl92]

I just watched The Music Man movie for the first time on HBO Max a few weeks ago and loved it

[@sg-yq8pm]

He seemed deeply moved, what an amazing experience for him.

[@daviddrupa1638]

This is an important historical record. Five years in - what a treasure.

[@larrysmith6797]

1959-1955=4 years.

[@williamblanchard7527]

@@larrysmith6797 if you include the construction of the park as outlined and dated at the beginning of the film, it was 1954 to 1959, which is 5 years.

[@johndoe-cb5ck]

I wish Disneyland and Disney was still like this not what it has become in the year 2021...it's sad

[@alangray9117]

You can't afford it anymore. Why does an amusement park vacation have to cost as much as going to Europe? In some cases Europe is cheaper unfortunately.

[@topdawgentlv7029]

This comment I just took my daughter and Jesus the prices are insane

[@jantmorvr]

The Walt Disney Company and Disneyland were Walt, nothing is the same since he left.

[@sandraparolie7179]

THAT WAS A PARADE!!!! MADE ME CRY ... This is what the CEO of Disney needs to watch... Just maybe they will come back to their senses 😕

[@brittanybaldridge2188]

Thanks so much for uploading this treasure.

[@BrendanTheGent]

I know, very grateful to the uploader. this is wonderful. What I would give to be there.

[@michaelsandy6963]

That parade has to have been one of the best ever. All those celebrities from the movies and the music man band at the finale must have been epic! I wonder how much it cost to be able to get into Disneyland and see the parade that day

[@lynnbrunn7865]

More likely than not, all of the guests for the events that day including the parade were Disney family members; invited business associates, employees, and families; political individuals,celebrities, and other distinguished individuals and their families. As well as possibly, Disneyland Cast members and their families. But generally speaking admission to Disneyland at the time was $4.25 for adult admission and 15 attractions (which was actually a $5.85 value) so the ticket book was bargain. Admission and a ticket book with 10 attractions was $3.25. There were also ticket booths inside the park to purchase additional books or individual tickets. The treasured “E Ticket” was the ticket needed to ride the newest, most popular, and very best attractions in the park. I still have ticket books with left over tickets inside from way back then. We lived 15 minutes away from Disneyland so we were always there. During the summer Disneyland would have a spectacular fireworks display in the park at 9:00 each evening. We lived so close we could watch it from our backyard. Those were good times to be a kid. ❤

[@johnrichards4322]

$3.50 admission that day

[@fromthesidelines]

Originally telecast on June 15, 1959. Incidentally, Kodak would become Walt's co-sponsor {with RCA} on 'THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF COLOR" on NBC.....two years later.

[@garyrunnalls7714]

Walt Disney was amazing, I wish he were on our currency. Thanks Walt

[@jeffwillmitt5764]

So great to see the magic and charm, so sad it’s gone

[@Ltulrich]

Life used to be so cool and wonderful. I was born too late.

[@stephenbeecher7545]

1:28:51 I was surprised and pleased to see this credit for video control. Wallace Stanard; I knew him as Wally Stanard when he was Technical Director at the Lawrence Welk show as well as the game show, Family Feud at ABC in the early 1980's. He was a very good television broadcast technician and a very warm and kind person.

[@andrewh4855]

This is so cool. Love historic Disneyland shows. TFS! 👍

[@yabbadabba1975]

I;m sure somebody else has said this by now but. . . at the time of this filming, and into the 1960's, entry into the park was free. You bought individual tickets, or a booklet of an assortment of A through E tickets. E was the "wildest" ride at the time.. maybe the rocket to the moon in which you were seated in a circle around a 3 ft screen in the middle of the floor and you watched Disneyland fade away as the center of your seat collapsed to simulate the acceleration of blastoff. Didn't have to be rich. You could watch Mickey and quite often Walt riding in the parade at midday. I was 6 at the time. Glad to have experienced that. It was great that almost anybody could afford it. Now it's $1K a day.

[@ericdunn360]

I think camera phones have taken the magic out of photo taking.

[@TheFrenchPug]

At least the talent of taking good photographs without having to edit later or use AI.

[@colleenflattery4755]

I've actually tooken pictures on film cameras. It was nice, but I didn't think waiting to see the final product was worth it. It was hard to stand still for those or in the dark. I got some good ones though

[@chilimostess9763]

They have.

[@billdurham7455]

@@colleenflattery4755 America took alot of lousy photos through the years of film photography including myself. With a camera phone a person can instantly check to make sure they got a good picture where with film one had to wait before One Hour Photo a few days to find out how their pictures came out. Of course after that length of time it was to late to retake a picture at something like a family event or even of a vacation travel attraction. Even with processing speeded up with One Hour Photo a once in a life time event could not be recaptured if the film photos turned out bad.

[@Somethingisntright64]

The “Picture Spot” where you could buy film for your camera! The sign is still there to this very day on Main Street.

[@jonc2276]

Wow, awesome footage and history on Disney Land.

[@zovalentine7305]

Rest in powerful peace Walter Elias Disney 🙏 5 December 1901 ~ 15 December 1966⚘

[@moow950]

64 years ago!!!!!!

[@andymcness4412]

Many Thanks for uploading this Diz Avenue! My uncles worked on construction of the submarine attraction, was fun hearing their Walt Disney stories growing up. FYI - great Kodak commercials with “Ozzie and Harriet Nelson and sons!” Rare slice of Americana!

[@dogandpony4931]

Just taking a moment to say how amazing was the opening dedication of the Matterhorn!!! The Climbers, the Yodelers, the Dancers, the Cowfolk and that incredible Ice Skater on a tiny Ice Ring, Loved It!!!!

[@pizzaman8918]

Gotta admit, what a weirdly interesting way to open a major roller coaster

[@January.]

Thank you for uploading this gem!!!

[@eliseolopez2790]

Heart put in to songs lift the spirit of all who visit

[@HistoryPeasant]

Always enjoy watching a documentary about Disneyland. Old or new. Been a long time since I've been though.

[@tripjet999]

You'd think that Kodak would have used their COLOR FILM!

[@MsDana-mo9fp]

They probably did, but the televisions could only show it on their black & white televisions!

[@jemofthe80s18]

THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!! I remember watching the footage of Disneyland's opening day in 2005 on Regis and Kelly when they were live in the park for the week of the 50th anniversary, and ever since then I've had to see as much of it back then as humanly possible:):) Nothing like the magic of 1950s TV, fighting with the magic of 1980s TV to be my favorite:) I can't get enough of the narrator, the commercials within the show, and of course it's Disneyland AND the early days of ABC:):) And it's totally BECAUSE of Disney that I love 50s TV too, due to '101 Dalmations', 'What's My Crime?' Talk about getting me hooked on 50s game shows!!

[@Kodachrome40]

I like the old Kodak commercials.

[@deacondavis5098]

The RCA commercials were cool as well (RCA- The most trusted name in Television)!!

[@allenjones3130]

Disney's TV shows were recorded on Kodak film.

[@5keeper7ful]

My mom would have loved this. She was born in March of 1959.

[@ljones6767]

This was before I was born, but looks amazing! Even in black and white! 7:33, Nixon front-right.

[@eliseolopez2790]

I miss you walt

[@itiswhatitaintanditaintwha1427]

Even tho I wasn't born until 8 years later, in 1967, I still get a kick out of this stuff! I've seen the first one they did "Dateline: Disneyland", but I haven't seen this one in it's entirety. Bits and pieces here and there.

[@lukegreen5341]

Awesome Documentey About The Disneyland's Matterhorn Bobsleds Roller Coaster The Submarine Voyage And The Disneyland Monorail System. Thanks Mate. X

[@davidatovar]

This is how I wish to remember Disneyland forever, I have no desire to go back now but this way. 🏔🚀🔬

[@kevinherrera277]

Main Street looks so much wider in this video!

[@snowwhite923]

You can see Disney mouthing the words along with the speakers lol 44:00

[@ninjamaster3453]

Lol, yeah. I guess maybe he's feeding the admiral lines? If that's the case they both did fantastic.

[@countrycutie205]

I don’t believe he is mouthing words i believe his dentures are slipping and he is messing with them.

[@peteri8924]

Glad I am not the only one who noticed this.

[@kellyweingart3692]

creepy Mickey 😂

[@kellyweingart3692]

Patreecia 😂

[@JoshSchlottman]

Been looking for this one forever. Thanks for sharing!

[@jbmbryant]

The narrator is Richard Eastham. When this was aired he was the narrator and editor of The Tombstone Epitaph in the show Tombstone Territory.

[@MPYarnall]

Can we go back in time to tell Walt to STOP SMOKING!

[@sarafulton1053]

Love this! Thank you for sharing! Sad I am just now finding this.

[@bethdibartolomeo2042]

Amazing footage! :) It's also interesting that around 36:30, if you look closely, a band member quickly steps over to pick up something that fell and gets right back in line. I wonder what fell? At least he got back in line barely missing a step.

[@LextheRobot]

I couldn't spot it at the time code you mentioned, but I backed it up to about 36:15 and saw a xylophonist step out of formation and pick something up. Looks like he got it on the second try? Maybe a mallet, or whatever the term is for the sticks used to play the instrument?

[@MarquezSchoolgirl64]

Thanks so much!

[@bananafanafoferry6970]

David and Ricky Nelson were so attractive. Wow.

[@tomservo56954]

They were also sponsored by Kodak at the time...

[@LextheRobot]

What the hey? Look who's in the Submarine porthole at 57:50... Checking the imdb, it does make sense... a certain Disney film with Tommy Kirk, Annette Funicello, and Fred MacMurray *did* come out that same year.

[@michaelspilman5220]

a great discovery missing for many years. the footage in the park comes from a kinescope recording . from Michael from Yorkshire and proud of it .

[@robertgardner1498]

at 45:00 Walt is reciting the entire speech of the Admiral... hard to let go with so much on the line...

[@imsleepingbeauty]

Still so bummed they filled up the hole in the Matterhorn. That means for sure that the sky buckets are NEVER coming back 😟

[@imsleepingbeauty]

omi god Yeah I'm aware of the issues, I just miss the childhood memories and seeing the fireworks from that vantage point. My husband is a Disney imagineer. People also mentioned the asbestos problem since the mountain was built in 57'. Also people spitting and throwing things off the sky tram... it just wouldn't have worked these days😕

[@malvinderkaur541]

It’s in human nature to share something joyous and fun filled, nobody when creating something good ever knows how big it can become and that’s exactly what happened with amusement park industry grounded by Mr, walt Disney another way of creating something to which people can look forward to spending their time in pleasant manner absorbs time in productive activity it’s not something destructive as vile as a war or battle or other sordidness of society it’s clean and good

[@martinfelsenfeld6012]

Welcome back, Disneyland! It was a total of 411 days without it--if my calendar memory is correct! Alas, Art Linkletter is currently unavailable (lol). Mister House Party opened Disneyland himself in 1955!

[@berber8032]

THANK YOU

[@dsnyguy1]

Wonderful = thanks!

[@ellenarelkin1238]

So cool! 🤩🤩🤩

[@silent_souces]

Whats the name of this song 2:00

[@eliseolopez2790]

I'm proud of seeing my Huntington park marching band

[@DannyD714]

thank you for uploading this. i've seen clips but never the whole show. funny how this was sponsored by kodak with their amazing new color home movie cameras,but walt produced this in black and white. granted color tvs weren't the norm of the day,but for posterity walt should have known better to at least film this in color. maybe live color cameras were too expensive. i have seen the unedited version of nixon's kids cutting the ribbon to the monorail. actually, the scissors didn't work and walt ended up breaking the ribbon with his hands. it's noticeably absent from this film.

[@johnrichards4322]

This was ABC. No money for color broadcasting. Actually, no money for B&W either. Everything on the cheap.

[@georgesealy4706]

The only thing Disney did wrong was to not make it bigger. It's amazing to compare the first shots of construction in that farmland area with what is there today. He could have purchased more land for peanuts in those days.

[@darlingly]

24:00 aww I can see Annette Funicello in the car in the back!

[@jeremyfowler1519]

I remember watching this when it was live in 59’. I was 10 years old sitting on my grandmother’s floor having a popsicle when it came on tv. Wait. I was born in 81. My bad.

[@WhirlOmar]

Yup, and the monorails never came to fix our crowded streets.

[@isaacmarwell5435]

Las Vegas

[@WhirlOmar]

At least in one place.

[@kellyweingart3692]

Seattle

[@kellyweingart3692]

Miami

[@LextheRobot]

At the 50:59 mark, I'd swear that mermaid is using a dinglehopper!

[@kevins.butler3402]

Meredith Wilson must have beeb surprised to see and hear a top hatted and tuxedo marching band..playing the popular tune from his most famous and beloved stage and screen musical:"The Music Man":"76 Trombones".

[@mtlassen1992]

@30:07 the guy throws a chair, which bounces off the wall of the bar and hits the poor girl in the back of the head.

[@PeterRichardsandYoureNot]

Andrew Phillips yeah, where’s the concussion protocol?

[@youtubeviewer7030]

talk about occupational heath and saftey

[@LextheRobot]

Well spotted. Judging from the other broken chairs lying strewn about, let's hope it was a lightweight breakaway chair (possibly balsa wood) and didn't cause her any harm. She looks surprised but not in pain when it cuts to the closeup.

[@jeffreyhutton8283]

I remember this was so exciting as a kid thing were so different. Today I wonder as to why any of Walt or Roy Disney’s kids or Grandkids follow in Walt’s footsteps that they own any part of Walt Disney’s theme park. Walt Disney & Roy his brother had a vision that was so wonderful since 1959 time has sped on by Disney Land is a exiting wonderful place for kids of the future.

[@TheFrenchPug]

They're really shoving those Brownie Movie cameras down your throat during this episode. Lol

[@garyfrancis6193]

That was the sponsor. In those days often the stars of the show made commercials for the sponsor.

[@eliseolopez2790]

Walt I feel love towards you

[@ToyMarston]

Kodak didn't share the view of a future without film and developing using digital images, where many jobs would be lost like the typewriter operator or telephone operator, but some innovations are still being backstaged like ( liquid ) direct methanol fuel cell electric vehicles made with ceramic

[@designdoctor247]

Please upload more please please 🙏

[@PriestsandParamedics]

Would love to see this in its original 4:3 aspect ratio

[@ElementofKindness]

RIP aspect ratio

[@richardjarrell3585]

Presented originally in 4:3 aspect ratio.

[@passadonut]

Exactly what date was this made ? I was born in 1959 and I remember going to Disneyland as a baby

[@cdev2117]

What?! Where does that come from? Amazing!

[@mr.dan7144]

I would love to know what was Walt thinking while Nixon is prattling at the opening of the Monorail @1:01:29.

[@peterschultz6361]

Uploaded with the wrong aspect ratio. Please redo it, correctly this time.

[@DavidLee-wj9sp]

After walt tried to buy billy cat rail road in los gatos. Ansheim it was. The guy that sold the land. His house is still over the back fence

[@think2086]

LOL. When the guy is giving the speech about submarines, you can see Walt Disney mouthing the speech. Teleprompter? and he couldn't help himself?

[@gort162]

Is there a version of this video that plays in the original aspect ratio? The way you have stretched the image, side to side, to fit a high def screen really distorts the picture. Letter boxing the right and left sides of the image, rather than stretching it, would have been better. By the way, complaints aside, thanks for posting this.

[@josh021588]

Peak America?

[@tomservo56954]

Because it's White America?

[@Moosetta]

Is that "Marching Through Georgia" I hear the band playing?

[@kmkall6874]

Clint Eastwood @ 30:25

[@DaleFerguson]

The Kodak ads are for point and shoot cameras however the photos they show are taken with a professional camera 😆

[@garyfrancis6193]

Well yeah. What did you expect?

[@porchfyre612]

57:49 Was that a dog?? Lmao!!