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 26)
The Absent-Minded Professor (1) (Episode 1)
Air date: 1979-09-09
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Ned Brainard is the forgetful science professor at Medfield College. In this 1961 theatrical release, he tries to manage his love life, his dog, and his accidental new invention, flying rubber, or ""flubber.""
The Absent-Minded Professor (2) (Episode 2)
Air date: 1979-09-16
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Ned Brainard is the forgetful science professor at Medfield College. In this 1961 theatrical release, he tries to manage his love life, his dog, and his accidental new invention, flying rubber, or ""flubber.""
The Love Bug (Episode 3)
Air date: 1979-09-23
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: In this 1969 theatrical release, a race car driver buys a white 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, only to find that it has a mind of its own.
Baseball Fever (Episode 4)
Air date: 1979-10-14
Runtime: 60 min
Major Effects (Episode 5)
Air date: 1979-12-16
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Although the narrator speaks of the show's star, Major Effects, as being a hero of superhuman proportions, a 100-year-old man appears. It's all a bit of special effects, explains the Major, who is actually actor Joseph Bottoms (star of the studio's then-current theatrical releaseThe Black Hole). He introduces a wizard known as ""Bigger-Than-Life,"" who endows him with magical powers to explain how the effects are realized.
From All of Us to all of You #7 (Episode 6)
Air date: 1979-12-23
Runtime: 60 min
That Darn Cat! (Episode 7)
Air date: 1980-01-13
Runtime: 60 min
Mickey's Greatest Adventures (Episode 8)
Air date: 1980-01-20
Runtime: 60 min
Donald's Valentine's Day Salute (Episode 9)
Air date: 1980-02-10
Runtime: 60 min
Escape to Witch Mountain (Episode 10)
Air date: 1980-02-17
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: In this 1975 theatrical release, Tia and Tony are two siblings with extraordinary powers. Lucas Deranian poses as their uncle so that he can claim them for his sinister boss, millionaire Aristotle Bolt.
The Kids Who Knew Too Much (Episode 11)
Air date: 1980-03-09
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Two kids get into real trouble when a dying man leaves a package in their toy sailboat.
Son of Flubber (Episode 12) 4.0
Air date: 1980-03-16
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: This 1963 theatrical sequel to ""The Absent-Minded Professor"" finds Professor Ned Brainard inventing ""flubber gas,"" a gaseous form of his original concoction.
Disney's Oscar Winners (Episode 13)
Air date: 1980-04-13
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: This retrospective installment highlights Disney films that have won or been nominated for Academy Awards.
The Sultan and the Rock Star (Episode 14)
Air date: 1980-04-20
Runtime: 60 min
Overview: Sultan, a gentle Bengal tiger who appears on a popular (but unnamed) television series, is taken to Sportsman's Island by Alec Frost, a disreputable gamekeeper, and tortured in an attempt to make him vicious. Several days later, he is turned loose to be the object of a hunting party led by the island's cruel owner, George McKinzie. Meanwhile, Paul Winters, a young pop singer on tour near here, becomes tired of his busy schedule and runs off from his mother and manager. He finds himself on Sportsman's Island and befriends Sultan.
Secret of Lost Valley (1) (Episode 15)
Air date: 1980-04-27
Runtime: 60 min
Secret of Lost Valley (2) (Episode 16)
Air date: 1980-05-04
Runtime: 60 min
Misadventures of Chip N' Dale (Episode 17)
Air date: 1980-07-27
Runtime: 60 min
