Walt Disney Productions has produced an anthology television series under several different titles since 1954. The original version of the series premiered on ABC, Wednesday night, October 27, 1954. The show, which was hosted by Walt Disney until his death and then from 1996 to 2002 by then-CEO Michael Eisner (with one-off hosts or no hosts during other periods) has since aired continually as either a weekly program or an irregular series of specials on several networks and streaming services, most recently on ABC and Disney+. The show is the second longest showing prime-time program on American television, behind its rival, Hallmark Hall of Fame. However, Hallmark Hall of Fame was a weekly program only during its first five seasons, while Disney remained a weekly program for more than forty years.
The Wonderful World of Disney (Season 24)
Gus (Episode 1)
Air date: 1977-09-18
Runtime: 60 min
The Treasure of Matecumbe (Episode 2)
Air date: 1977-10-02
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: In this 1976 theatrical release, two runaway boys from post-Civil War Kentucky head for the island of Matecumbe off the Florida Keys, where a treasure is supposedly buried.
Charley for the Angel (Episode 3)
Air date: 1977-10-16
Runtime: 60 min
The Incredible Journey (Episode 4)
Air date: 1977-10-23
Runtime: 60 min
Halloween Hall O' Fame (Episode 5)
Air date: 1977-10-30
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Halloween Hall o' Fame is a television special that first aired on October 30, 1977 as part of The Wonderful World of Disney. The special featured Jonathan Winters as a security guard working late at the Walt Disney Productions studio on Halloween night. He is accompanied by his dog, Peanuts. Winters, bitter about working on Halloween night, stumbles upon the prop room at the studio and begins acting out scenes with various props. Eventually he finds a crystal ball containing a talking pumpkin, Jack o' Lantern. Jack o' Lantern is hiding out from Halloween because it is no longer scary like it was in "the old days". The dialogue between the security guard and the pumpkin is interspersed with Halloween-related Disney cartoons, that Jack o' shows the security guard in his crystal ball and which the audience gets to enjoy. List of cartoons: The first cartoon, "Trick or Treat", features Huey, Dewey, and Louie as they go trick or treating. Donald plays a mean trick on them and the boys seek revenge on him with the help of a witch. The second cartoon, "Pluto's Judgment", shows Pluto on trial for tormenting cats featuring a jury of felines who instantly proclaim he's guilty. Thankfully, just as he's given the penalty, he wakes up, reveling it all to be a nightmare.
The Mouseketeers at Walt Disney World (Episode 6)
Air date: 1977-11-20
Runtime: 60 min
From All of Us to All of You #6 (Episode 7)
Air date: 1977-12-25
Runtime: 60 min
Three on the Run (Episode 8)
Air date: 1978-01-08
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Two brothers enter a dogsled race with white German shepherd, an English sheepdog and a bloodhound. Action happens when a grizzly bear appears.
Journey to the Valley of the Emu (Episode 9)
Air date: 1978-01-22
Runtime: 60 min
The Shaggy Dog (Episode 10)
Air date: 1978-01-29
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A suburban teenager finds a magic ring that spontaneously causes him to turn into a dog.
The Million Dollar Dixie Deliverance (Episode 11)
Air date: 1978-02-05
Runtime: 60 min
Race for Survival (Episode 12)
Air date: 1978-03-05
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: An African game warden's plane crashes in a remote area in Nairobi. His greyhound, Smokey, escapes from the wreckage with a note with instructions to find the man and help him. On the way, the dog befriends a lion who helps him get through the African wilderness and find help for his owner.
Trail of Danger (1) (Episode 13)
Air date: 1978-03-12
Runtime: 60 min
Trail of Danger (2) (Episode 14)
Air date: 1978-03-19
Runtime: 60 min
Mixed Nuts (Episode 15)
Air date: 1978-03-26
Runtime: 60 min
Child of Glass (Episode 16)
Air date: 1978-05-14
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: A family moves into an antebellum southern mansion. Only Alexander, their son, realizes that it is haunted by the ghost of Inez Dumaine, a young girl who was murdered there during the Civil War. He and his friend, Blossom, have until midnight on Halloween to solve a riddle that will let Inez's ghost rest in peace.
The Young Runaways (Episode 17)
Air date: 1978-05-28
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: C.L. Doyle and his wife take their oldest kids Rosebud and Joseph T. Doyle on a trip to Alaska, but leave their younger siblings Freddie and Margaret Jean in foster care under the supervision of some crooks. Angered over her parents carelessness, Rosebud convinces her brother to join them in kidnapping their younger siblings and running away from home, sparking a manhunt and a show of support from kids rallying on behalf of their cause.
A Tale of Two Critters (Episode 18)
Air date: 1978-06-04
Runtime: 60 min
