In July, Walt Disney's 1962 live-action feature Moon Pilot will be screened at 1pm & 4pm daily except Tuesdays and July 16, 17, and 23. Guest blogger Scott Wolf shares some unusual stories of an unusual Disney film.
The 1962 film Moon Pilot has a unique place not only in Disney history, but also in the history of Radio City Music Hall. But just what made ticket sales soar for this film is a little known and fascinating story.
According to park hostess Valerie Watson, "Among the VIPs that I took on tour was a man named Russell Downing and his wife Sally and I spent two days with them, showing them every part of Disneyland. I had no idea why they were there, but he was president of Radio City Music Hall in New York and he was on a confidential visit to meet with Walt Disney on how best to market a new film that was going to be released, called Moon Pilot. They wanted to release it at Radio City Music Hall, and in the east coast there was no real familiarity with Pluto and Mickey and Donald Duck and so forth—the 'live' characters—so a stage production was in the works to launch Disney in the east, this was long before Walt Disney World.
"They decided, 'How can we get the interest of the press in New York?' who was considered very jaded, having seen everything, so they came up with a tag of 'Miss Disneyland.' They weren't looking for a beauty queen. They were looking for someone who had knowledge of the organization, and enthusiasm, and Russell Downing proposed my name, so he gave that idea to Walt Disney. It was quite a Cinderella story."
Valerie was the first person to be chosen as an official "Ambassador," and helped publicize the park, the stage production, the film, and a couple of records; one featuring a song from the film and the other featuring an instrumental Moon Pilot melody by Tutti Camarata.
Two years after Valerie's reign, the first yearlong "Miss Disneyland" Ambassador was named to serve during Disneyland’s "Tencennial Year" in 1965. From that point on, Disneyland has continued to select their official Ambassadors to serve as the emissaries of goodwill for the Resort—yet it all began with Moon Pilot.
As for the live stage show, Disneyland U.S.A. was a lavish production that spared no expense. Walt told one newspaper, "I raised my eyebrows when some of the figures began to come in, but everyone said to just keep on going. All I know is that it’s way beyond the usual Music Hall budget." Ed Serlin was the public relations chief for the theater, and at that time said that from a production standpoint, it was the biggest show put on in the venue’s 30-year history.
The show was developed by a team of Disney superstars including Disneyland's entertainment director Tommy Walker, choreographer Tom Mahoney (The Mickey Mouse Club, Babes in Toyland), and composer George Bruns ("The Ballad of Davy Crockett," "Yo Ho [A Pirates Life For Me]") served as music director.
Disneyland, U.S.A. was essentially a virtual tour of the park, beginning with a scene entitled "Magic Kingdom." This featured Walt Disney on film; interacting with Mickey Mouse, live on stage. The show continued to represent each of the lands with themed entertainment, including Wally Boag of "The Golden Horseshoe Revue" for the Frontierland scene.
Nationally, Moon Pilot only saw a modest success, but it was a different story at Radio City Music Hall. The collaborative efforts of Russell Downing and Walt paid off. Between the historic first live stage show and the first "Miss Disneyland," it broke box office records at the famed palace, and with Moon Pilot, Radio City ticket sales rocketed to an interplanetary high.
Images above: 1) From Boxoffice Magazine, February 5, 1962. Courtesy of Scott Wolf. 2) Valerie Watson with the costumed cast of the Radio City Music Hall stage show. Courtesy of Scott Wolf. All rights reserved.
Scott Wolf started his Disney association in Television Animation in 1988 as part of the DuckTales production team. Today, he is still called upon by Disney for writing and producing work. As a hobby, he enjoys interviewing people who have been an important part of Disney history, and brings many of those interviews to his personal website Mouse Clubhouse.com.
MouseClubhouse.com features rare and never-before-heard stories from Scott Wolf’s personal interviews with people who are, and have been part of the magic of Disney.