Feb 20, 2018
The Disney Family Album was an original documentary series produced by The Disney Channel in the mid 1980’s. Episodes aired from June 1984 until January 1986 with each episode running about 30 minutes. They were produced by Michael Bonifer along with Carden Walker, the son of Card Walker (The third Disney Company leader after Walt and Roy Disney).
The series lasted just 20 episodes and was designed to take a look at the artist and performance that shaped Disney Studios and Disney Parks, most of whom worked directly with Walt. The people featured created some of the most iconic Disney characters, movies and attractions ever developed. Narrated by Buddy Ebsen, the series is a true history lesson and provides the perfect time capsule with incredible insight and behind the scenes stories. In the greater scheme of things, the timing of these 20 episodes was perfect; any earlier or later in Disney History, and they may not have happened.
Of the 20 episodes produced, 7 showcased one of Walt’s Nine Old Men: Marc Davis, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Eric Larson, Wolfgang (or Woolie) Rytherman, Milt Kahl and Ward Kimball – all featuring stories directly from them! Only Les Clark and John Lounsbery, who both passed away in the 1970’s, are missing from Walt’s Nine Old Men. Other episodes featured Disney Legends like The Sherman Brothers, Ken Anderson, Annette Funicello, and Jim Macdonald to name just a few. One episode focused on Voice Actors, while another Disneyland Designers and WED Imagineers including interviews with Herb Ryman, Bill Evans, John Hench, and a very young Tony Baxter.
Disney Family Album was produced by MICA. The master tapes were given to Disney sometime after the series was cancelled in 1986. Most of the original footage was lost in the Disney tape vault, which was not digitized. While some has been found, most of the original footage and the finished first episode, “Clarence Ducky Nash”, was not found. The remainder of the episodes come from Disney Vault replays captured on VHS in the 1990’s. The Clarence Nash episode was not replayed in the 1990’s.
Brian McEntee and John Lasseter are credited with the “Title Design”, which of course, was computer generated; the timing is very interesting. Shortly after the production of the title design in early 1984, John was fired from Disney for promoting computer animation making this title design one of his last Disney credits. Of course, he joined Lucasfilms Computer Graphic Group which was later sold to Steve Jobs and became Pixar in 1986 – we all know the story from there.
For this episode of SamsDisneyDiary, I’m highlighting the second episode in the series, Ward Kimball. From a tour of Ward’s full size train in his backyard, stories of vacationing with Walt, reminiscing about the Firehouse 5 Plus 2, or his amazing toy collection, Ward covers his thoughts behind animating the Three Caballeros and the creating of Jiminy Cricket. It’s an amazing 30 minute journey into the mind of a remarkable man.
Look for all 19 Episodes of The Disney Family Album at www.SamsDisneyDiary.com and www.youtube.com/samsdisneydiary