Line #43 Series/WaltDisneyPresents


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/walt_disney_presents_1958.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"And now your host, Walt Disney."'']]
3
4	->''"Hello. I'm Walt Disney. Thanks to some old-fashioned magic we call 'imagination,' right now we're leaving the world of today behind. So if your imagination is ready... here we go."''
5	-->--'''Creator/WaltDisney''', ''Magic Skyway'' narration re-edited for the 2015 intro
6
7	The Creator/{{Disney}} television anthology series began airing in 1954 on [[Creator/AmericanBroadcastingCompany ABC]] to provide funding for Ride/{{Disneyland}}. Rather than stick to one genre, the series covered a wide gamut of genres. The original ''Disneyland'' series was themed around each of the four sections of the Disneyland theme park: "Adventureland" was for the studio's nature documentaries, "Frontierland" was dedicated to dramatizations of US history, "Fantasyland" showcased the WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts and [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon feature films]], and "Tomorrowland" was dedicated to the wonders of science, particularly the then-nascent space program. Walt Disney often promoted upcoming movies and new theme park attractions on this show. In 1961 the series moved to {{Creator/NBC}} and was broadcast in color for the first time. The series remained on NBC for 20 years before moving for two seasons on {{Creator/CBS}} in 1981.
8
9	The series was canned in 1983 as not to provide competition for the new Creator/DisneyChannel. But in 1986, the series returned to ABC and then to NBC in 1988 before being cancelled again. It moved to the Disney Channel in 1990 as an umbrella title for Sunday night movies and specials.
10
11	After Disney's buyout of ABC, the series returned to television in 1997 as an outlet for Disney movies and specials, as well as miniseries and films from outside studios. In the early 2000s, the series aired periodically, usually in the summer months. It was apparently cancelled for good in 2008, making the Disney anthology series [[LongRunner the second longest-running primetime show on television.]]
12
13	The series returned to ABC in December 2015, again only airing new specials or televisings of Disney-owned movies on a sporadic basis.
14
15	The series aired under many different titles, and some of the serials and specials have their own pages here:
16	[[index]]
17	* ''Disneyland'' (1954–58)
18	** ''Series/{{Davy Crockett\|1954}}''
19	* ''Walt Disney Presents'' (1958–61)
20	** ''Series/TheSwampFox''
21	* ''Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color'' (1961–69)
22	** ''Walt Disney's Wonderful World'' (in countries where color TV was not yet available)
23	** ''Series/DoctorSynTheScarecrow''
24	* ''The Wonderful World of Disney'' (1969–79)
25	** ''Film/ChildOfGlass''
26	* ''Disney's Wonderful World'' (1979–81)
27	* ''Walt Disney'' (1981–83)
28	* ''The Disney Sunday Movie'' (1986–88)
29	** ''Film/SplashToo''
30	* ''The Magical World of Disney'' (1988–90)
31	** ''Film/TheMuppetsAtWaltDisneyWorld''
32	* ''The Wonderful World of Disney'' (1997–2008)
33	** ''Film/{{Toothless}}''
34	** ''Film/TowerOfTerror''
35	** ''Film/{{Cinderella\|1997}}''
36	** ''Film/SafetyPatrol''
37	** ''Film/MyDateWithThePresidentsDaughter''
38	** ''Film/MiracleAtMidnight''
39	** ''Film/{{Annie\|1999}}''
40	** ''Film/LifeSize''
41	** ''Film/{{Geppetto}}''
42	** ''Theatre/TheMiracleWorker''
43	** ''Literature/ConfessionsOfAnUglyStepsister''
44	** ''Series/DinotopiaMiniseries''
45	** ''Theatre/TheMusicMan''
46	** ''Film/EloiseAtThePlaza''
47	*** ''Film/EloiseAtChristmastime''
48	** ''Film/{{A Wrinkle in Time\|2003}}''
49	** ''Film/TheMuppetsWizardOfOz''
50	** ''Theatre/OnceUponAMattress''
51	** ''Literature/LittleHouseOnThePrairie''
52	* ''The Wonderful World of Disney'' (2015–current)
53	** ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid\|1989}} Live!''
54	** ''WesternAnimation/OnceUponAStudio''
55	[[/index]]
56	----
57
58	!!The Disney series contains examples of:
59
60	* AbsentMindedProfessor: Ludwig Von Drake.
61	** Also featured a remake of the [[Film/TheAbsentMindedProfessor movie named after the trope]] in the late '80s, with Harry Anderson in the title role.
62	* AccordionMan: Happens to Donald Duck in "The Plausible Impossible", after he gets crushed by a safe as part of a demonstration by Walt on plausible effects.
63	* ActorAllusion: In the 2019 special "The Little Mermaid Live!", Shaggy portrayed Sebastian. In the 1998 re-release of the 1989 movie, Shaggy sang the end-credit version of "Under The Sea" in select countries.
64	* AlienAbduction: The episode "Mars and Beyond" featured a frenetic take on a "typical sci-fi story" where a scientist's secretary is nabbed by aliens, done by Creator/WardKimball in peerless '50s style.
65	* AnimatedActors: Some episodes depict the Disney cartoon characters as these.
66	* AnimatedAnthology: "Fantasyland" episodes.
67	* AnimateInanimateObject / SentientVehicle: Both tropes serve as the basis for a 1957 episode called "Adventures in Fantasy", which is devoted to how anything that can be drawn, including inanimate objects, can be given life and personality.
68	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: In "How to Relax", a 1957 episode with WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}}, an anatomical chart of Goofy shows how man is a victim of the frenzied tempo of modern living. In the chart Goofy's brain, various words associated with this tempo pop up, including "Taxes", "Bills", "Job" and "Golf Score".
69	* ArtisticLicenseFilmProduction: Many episodes on the production of Disney movies clearly show them staged and simplified and thus not entirely accurate. This is especially significant with episodes showing the production of [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon animated films]]. To see this particular trope in action here, take a look at no less than ''two'' episodes on the production of ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp'', "A Story of Dogs" and "Cavalcade of Songs".
70	* {{Autocannibalism}}: In the third act of "Mars and Beyond", where the narrator discuss the possibility of life on Mars, one of the creatures shown are "plants that feed on themselves", which is a case of ArtisticLicensePhysics, as such an organism would basically be a naturally-evolved perpetual motion machine.
71	** {{Cannibalism}}: Right before that, we're shown "plants that feed on other plants".
72	* BallCannon: ''The BRAT Patrol'' features a tennis ball launcher used as a "weapon" to annoy people. See it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMcycI-RgqE&t=15m30s here]].
73	* BeYourself:
74	** One segment of "An Adventure in Art" (also known as "4 Artists Paint 1 Tree") follows character animator Marc Davis, special effects animator Joshua Meador, color stylist Eyvind Earle, and background artist Walt Peregoy as they each paint pictures of an oak tree. Just as each person specializes in a different field of animation, so too does each one apply different painting techniques and artistic interpretations. Narrator Walt insists that even though none of the men took the same approach, none of them picked an inherently improper one, because they chose to follow their own individual mindsets instead of conforming to another person's style.
75	** This phrase also becomes a mantra in "The Donald Duck Story", such that Walt has a little sign on his desk with it.
76	* BigFinaleCrowdSong: "This is Your Life, Donald Duck" concludes with a huge crowd of Disney characters, at host Jiminy Cricket's behest, gathering together to pay tribute to Donald, with ''two'' songs. As they parade onto the stage, they sing a rousing rendition of "Quack Quack Quack Donald Duck" (a song that originated in another episode, "A Day in the Life of Donald Duck"). After everyone is together, they all sing, "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow". Donald is touched by this gesture as his nephews all jump into his arms as well.
77	* BigWordShout: "COLOR!"
78	* BornDetective: In "Michael O'Hara the Fourth", the eponymous Michael O'Hara is the teenaged daughter of a police detective, who is the a himself a third generation cop. Michael the Fourth is already proving herself to be an adept KidDetective.
79	* BootstrappedTheme: Unsurprisingly for Disney, several intro credits used rearrangements of [[WesternAnimation/{{Pinocchio}} "When You Wish Upon A Star"]].
80	* CameraAbuse: In "The Mad Hermit of Chimney Butte", the hermit (Donald Duck) spots a camera with a telephoto lens filming him from miles away and shoots it, shattering the lens.
81	* CanonWelding: "The Goofy Adventure Story" took numerous Goofy cartoons taking place in different time periods (with [[NegativeContinuity no continuity between them]] and with Goofy sometimes [[UniversalAdaptorCast playing different roles]]) and presented them as the exploits of Goofy's ancestors. Future media with Goofy would keep the idea of him having an InsanelyInternationalAncestry.
82	* CanonImmigrant: Moby Duck, who appeared in Disney comic books, hosted "Pacifically Peeking".
83	* CatScare: In "The Great Cat Family", during the Dark Ages, an old woman suddenly becomes terrified of her cat when it just stares at her. Then a fire sparks from the fireplace and lands on the cat's tail, making it screech and jump over its owner to the window. This made the old woman assume the cat transformed into a monster.
84	* CentrifugalFarce: "Man in Space" has a section on how astronauts would be trained, including being put on a centrifuge. Seeing how far the show predates the actual space program, it's remarkable how far ahead the scientists involved (who were consultants on the episode) were preparing.
85	* ChristmasSpecial: "From All Of Us To All Of You", and later, "A Disney Christmas Gift", followed by rebroadcasts of ''WesternAnimation/MickeysChristmasCarol''. The feature has become [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff a classic in Scandinavia]].
86	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: One segment of "Tricks of Our Trade" features actress Helene Stanley dancing ballet to help inspire the animators of the "Dance of the Hours" segment from ''WesternAnimation/{{Fantasia}}''. She overhears them comment on such features as the pudginess of Hyacinth Hippo and the big feet of Madame Upanova the ostrich, and mistakes these comments for insults directed towards her. When she decides to leave early, the animators convince her to stay longer by letting her see their animal drawings, then praising her fashion sense. (Helene's cap and cape in particular inspire the costume of Ben Ali Gator.)
87	* CompilationMovie:
88	** Several animated episodes do this, combining older shorts with new footage linking them.
89	** Serials from this show sometimes became re-edited into theatrical pictures, including ''Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier'' and ''[[Literature/DoctorSynTheScarecrow Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow]]'' (originally "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh").
90	** Clips and segments from one episode sometimes gets re-edited in later episodes, such as "Inside Outer Space" and "Down and Out with Donald Duck".
91	* CrazyPrepared:
92	** In a real-life example, Walt Disney filmed ''Disneyland'' and ''Walt Disney Presents'' in color, even though ABC only broadcast in black and white at the time. Walt knew that there would a time when television would be in color. Sure enough, within a few years of the show's broadcasting, color television became more common among households, and networks could air the color versions of these episodes when showing reruns of the show.
93	** In another real-life example, Walt Disney filmed "The Scarecrow in Romney Marsh" in widescreen, even though TV channels and screens at the time only had 4:3 picture. This allowed Disney to re-edit the episodes into a movie, and play it in British movie theaters. Even later, the widescreen masters allowed Disney to release a ''Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh'' Walt Disney Treasures DVD with picture that fills more of a 16:9 HDTV screen than a 4:3 DVD would have.
94	* DamselOutOfDistress: The episode "Mars and Beyond" parodies pulp SpaceOpera, introducing TheHero (a pipe-smoking egghead) and his SexySecretary who gets kidnapped by a robot because MarsNeedsWomen. She endures numerous perils while fleeing an assortment of hideous aliens [[RuleOfFunny and Donald Duck]], all while the supposed 'hero' of the story is obliviously puffing away on his pipe, pondering arcane equations. Finally she dons a superheroine costume, outwits the Martians with her cunning, then {{jetpack}}s back to Earth and the office just in time to take a letter from her egghead boss stating that in his opinion [[TemptingFate there is no life on Mars]]. [[HereWeGoAgain Whereupon the robot reappears and abducts him instead.]]
95	* DebatingNames: The episode "The Donald Duck Story" features a flashback sequence where the Disney studio artists conceive a new duck character and try to find a fitting name for him. They pass around names like "Jimmy Duck" and "Roger Duck" before settling on "WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck". They did consider "Donald Drake" (since he's a male), but felt that "Duck" rolls off the tongue better and used his mother's maiden name.
96	* DecoyProtagonist: In the episode "Mars and Beyond", a supposed stock SpaceOpera plot with a ScienceHero as protagonist is described, but actually the so called hero is too busy thinking about equations to even notice that his secretary gets kidnapped by a Martian robot. Eventually, it turns out that the secretary is the real protagonist who manages to save herself and get back to Earth in time to type a letter for the scientist.
97	* DeliberatelyMonochrome: "Adventures in Color" opens in black and white, with Walt hosting from his studio's paint lab. After talking about the transition from black and white to color film with his animated films, he then annouces that from now on the show will be shown in color, and the image changes accordingly. However, three female lab workers appear, still in monochrome. Walt tries to fix it with the incantation "[[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} Bibity-bobbity-boo]]", but that only makes each woman turn red, green and blue, respectively. Walt then corrects things with a new incantation, "NBC Color TV!"
98	* DistractedByTheSexy: As Walt tries to introduce the second half of "Adventures in Color", he keeps getting distracted by the female employees of the studio's color department going by.
99	* DoubleVision: Utilized in the show's three-part version of ''Literature/ThePrinceAndThePauper'' (with the same process used in ''Film/{{The Parent Trap\|1961}}''). Also used in the show's introduction, which had Walt encountering a duplicate of himself.
100	** In one opening to "A Disney Halloween", this happens with Michael Eisner encountering Goofy dressed up as him, compared to Mickey and Minnie dressed as their Theme Park versions in costume.
101	* DrivenToSuicide: Goofy almost does it by walking into the sea in "The Goofy Success Story".
102	* EarthIsTheCenterOfTheUniverse: One segment of "Mars and Beyond" shows many philosophers discussing their own views on this.
103	-->'''Ptolemy:''' Learned men of science, I have listened to all your arguments. I now decree that our great Earth stands immovable as the hub of the universe -- the supreme center of intelligent thinking.
104	* EatMe: Episode "Mars and Beyond". One segment about the plant men in Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs' Literature/{{Barsoom}} stories has a bird with a saw-beak drop an egg on the plant man's head. The plant man swallows it, then a baby bird cuts its way out with its beak.
105	* EvolvingCredits: Multiple versions of the intros to ''Wonderful World of Color'' and the 1970s ''Wonderful World of Disney'' exist, each containing different clips and/or music.
106	* ExplosiveCigar: Episode "Mars and Beyond" part 2: "Mars in Pop Culture" has a segment where a SexySecretary is kidnapped by Martians. She eventually changes into a superheroine and defeats the Martians by giving them exploding cigars.
107	* FlyingSaucer: The episode "Mars and Beyond", while speculating on possible intelligent life on Mars, shows an animated flyer saucer, rapidly followed by a flying (lit) cigar, a flying lampshade and a flying water bottle. Wernher von Braun objected to what he saw as Hollywood frivolity, so the narrator suggests that humanity will one day develop an 'electromagnetic drive' saucer spaceship. The final scene shows several flying saucers zooming over a domed human colony on Mars, ascending into a giant mothership saucer which flies off into interstellar space. Also worthy of note are the 'umbrella ships' of the Mars Expedition Fleet, each topped with a huge round heat radiator for the atomic generator.
108	* FuturisticSuperhighway: "Magic Highway, U.S.A." [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyaKfLyKhbw has a segment]] based around this trope, predicting things like multi-colored lanes indicating their destination, heated roads for rain and snow, cantilevered highways above canyons, tubular highways, air-conditioned desert highways, mountain highways that protect from sub-zero temperatures, underwater highways, upside-down highways etc.
109	* GenreAnthology
110	* SugarWiki/AHallmarkPresentation
111	* HeadsIWinTailsYouLose: In "At Home with Donald Duck", Donald tries to celebrate his birthday by showing his nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, some of his cartoons, but they want to watch other Disney characters' cartoons instead. At one point, to compromise, Donald has a coin-flip bet with the boys and picks heads, but Donald tries to cheat by using [[TwoHeadedCoin a coin with heads on both sides]]. Not only do the nephews not fall for his scheme, but they retaliate by tricking him so that Donald has to run after the coin out of the house. In their uncle's absence, the boys watch a Goofy cartoon.
112	* TheHermit: Donald plays the title character in "The Mad Hermit of Chimney Butte", who got sick of being around people until he moved to a remote cave in the desert, [[spoiler:which gets obliterated by an A-bomb test. Being a cartoon character, he survives and gives up the hermit life.]]
113	* HeroicBSOD: Goofy in "The Goofy Success Story", when he doesn't win a single Oscar and is almost DrivenToSuicide. He snaps out of it when he's assigned to star in "Motor Mania".
114	* HerrDoktor: Ludwig Von Drake.
115	** Also, various real-life top-notch scientists of German descent hosted numerous "Tomorrowland" episodes, including Willy Ley, Heinz Haber and Wernher von Braun.
116	* TheHost: Creator/WaltDisney himself for much of the show's run, and studio CEO Michael Eisner in the 1980s and '90s.
117	** Occasionally, Walt would pass hosting duties to someone else, most notably Ludwig Von Drake and the Magic Mirror from ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''.
118	** Other hosts included Jiminy Cricket ("On Vacation", "From All of Us to All of You", "This is Your Life, Donald Duck") and WesternAnimation/ChipAndDale ("The Adventures of Chip 'n Dale").
119	** Creator/DickVanDyke hosted the 2015 ''Film/MaryPoppins'' airing that heralded the ''Wonderful World'''s return to ABC.
120	* HumanTrafficJam: Episode "Mars and Beyond", during the "typical science-fiction story" sketch while the secretary is being pursued by the Martian leader and his minions. After she changes into her superhero costume, she holds up her hand to stop the leader and his minions slam into him.
121	* HumansAreMorons: Ludwig Von Drake's thesis in "Man is his Own Worst Enemy"[[note]]later to be called "Ducking Disaster with Donald and his Friends"[[/note]] is that people are the biggest challenge facing people to-day because people cannot think for themselves.
122	* ItsAWonderfulPlot: "Mickey's 60th Birthday" provides a variation: against the warnings of a sorcerer (not Yen Sid) to not use other people's magic, Mickey makes off with his sorcerer's hat. The sorcerer in question punishes Mickey for it by casting a spell on him in which no one will ever recognize him until he learns to find his own magic.
123	* ItWillNeverCatchOn: In "Mars and Beyond", a series of busts of Greek philosophers offer their ideas of the way the universe works. When one, Aristarchus, proposes that the Earth and other planets revolve around the sun, he is pushed aside by the bust of Ptolemy, who then declares the Earth the unquestioned center of the universe, while the bust of Aristarchus [[KilledMidsentence crashes offscreen in mid-sentence]].
124	* JokerJury: In ''The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh'', the Scarecrow and his gang of smugglers hold a mock trail for one of their number who had betrayed them to the army.
125	* {{Letterbox}}: The {{Biopic}} "The Peter Tchaikovsky Story" boasted to mark the first time movie clips (in this case, scenes from ''WesternAnimation/SleepingBeauty'') played on TV in widescreen. However, the clips shown have an aspect ratio of 1.82:1, which means the picture still underwent trimming.[[note]]Disney animated ''Sleeping Beauty'' in 2.55:1, and movie theaters projected it at either 2.20:1 or 2.35:1.[[/note]]
126	* LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek: Some of the later ABC movies, like "Ruby Bridges".
127	* LimitedAnimation: Used on the "Tomorrowland" episodes and on some of the later shows. Averted with the "Fantasyland" and Ludwig Von Drake episodes, which have animation on par with the studio's theatrical fare.
128	* LongRunner
129	* TheManBehindTheCurtain: In "The Title Makers", stars Annette Funicello and Tommy Sands are interrupted by a godly voice who guides them (and the audience) through scenes from ''Film/{{The Parent Trap\|1961}}''. The man is revealed to be Walt (although the voice was actually Creator/PaulFrees).
130	* MarsNeedsWomen: Spoofed in "Mars and Beyond".
131	* MeetYourEarlyInstallmentWeirdness: TheTeaser for "The Mickey Mouse Anniversary Show".
132	-->'''Mickey:''' ''(seeing his 1928 version of himself dancing)'' Uh, hey! Hey, you!\
133	'''1928 Mickey:''' ''(lets out a noise that reads "Squeak?")''\
134	'''Mickey:''' Uh, were you the first original Mickey Mouse?\
135	'''1928 Mickey:''' ''(lets out a noise that reads "Squawk")''\
136	''(Current Mickey looks perplexedly to the camera)''
137	* MissedHimByThatMuch: Occurs in "Disneyland Showtime".
138	* MuggedForDisguise: In ''The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh", the Scarecrow's gang incapacitates a Royal navy press gang and steals their uniforms; using to them march into the prison and march prisoners out right under the noses of the guards.
139	* MultiPartEpisode: Several of Disney's live-action films were either split into several parts for television or condensed into an hour. This was abandoned sometime in the late 1970s, when feature films like ''Film/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' and ''Film/{{The Parent Trap\|1961}}'' were shown longer than the traditional hour-long slot. This was also the case with original television productions like "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh" and "The Boy From Dead Man's Bayou".
140	* {{Muppet}}: This series brought forth two TV specials with Franchise/TheMuppets: ''Film/TheMuppetsAtWaltDisneyWorld'', and ''Film/TheMuppetsWizardOfOz''. Kermit the Frog also made a cameo in ''Mickey's 50'', as did Miss Piggy and Gonzo in ''Disneyland's 35th Anniversary Celebration''.
141	* NatureDocumentary: The "Adventureland" episodes.
142	* OfficerOHara: In ''Michael O'Hara the Fourth'', the O'Haras are a multi-generational family of cops. A flashback shows Michael O'Hara the First to have been a stereotypical turn-of-the-century Irish cop.
143	* OhCrap: In "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow", this was young Washington Irving's reaction when his schoolmaster caught him reading ''Literature/RobinsonCrusoe'' in class instead of his spelling book.
144	* OrigamiGag: In "Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom", Professor Owl begins talking about the "three R's" while cutting a paper doll chain with "R" shapes, but when he sees his chain has ''four'' R's, he snips the extra one off. He then does more cutting to make a chain that spells "R-E-A-D".
145	* PrivateDetective: Jiminy Cricket in "Donald's Award".
146	* ProductDisplacement: One of the edits made to the ''Magic Skyway'' narration for the 2015 intro removed a mention of the ride's sponsor, Ford Motors.
147	* ProductPlacement: One of the show's original purposes was to promote Disney's latest theatrical releases and the Disneyland theme park in California.
148	* ProudPeacock: In the first episode of ''Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color'', Ludwig von Drake sings "The Spectrum Song" while playing a piano keyboard that shoots out rays of color. At one point, these rays form the tailfeathers of the NBC Peacock, who walks in front of von Drake so that the audience can only see him and his colorful train. Von Drake is not amused and tells the peacock off, and the peacock walks away indignantly.
149	-->'''Ludwig von Drake''': Ooh, what a showoff! (to the audience) How do you like that guy? I'm gonna let you in on something. Confidentially, he dyes his feathers.
150	* RaceLift:
151	** ''Polly'' and ''Polly: Comin' Home!'' retell ''Literature/{{Pollyanna}}'' with a mostly-African-American cast.
152	** Their 1997 version of ''Film/{{Cinderella\|1997}}'' stars Music/{{Brandy}} as Cinderella. Additionally, Music/WhitneyHouston plays the fairy godmother, African-American Natalie Desselle plays stepsister Joy, Paolo Montalban, a Filipino actor, plays Prince Christopher, black actress Creator/WhoopiGoldberg plays his mother Queen Constantina, and Canadian Creator/VictorGarber plays his father King Maxamillian.
153	** Their 1999 production of ''Film/{{Annie\|1999}}'' had Grace (the social worker who brings Annie to Daddy Warbucks's mansion) be played by Music/AudraMcDonald, a black actress - which raises eyebrows at the very end, when Daddy Warbucks proposes marriage to Grace. (Interracial marriage was not illegal in New York in the 1930s, but it is ''extremely'' far-fetched to suppose that [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory such a rich and powerful character would publicly attempt it]].)
154	** In ''Film/TheMuppetsWizardOfOz'', African-Americans portray Dorothy (Music/{{Ashanti}}), Aunt Em (Music/QueenLatifah), and Uncle Henry (Creator/DavidAlanGrier), a la ''Theatre/TheWiz''. Plus, in an example more reminiscent of a Species Lift, Toto the dog is made a prawn to allow Pepe to play him.
155	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: The basis of "Where Do the Stories Come From?", which suggests that any commonplace occurrences has the potential to be made into cartoon stories.
156	** A variant of this crosses over with both AllMythsAreTrue and DoingInTheWizard in "The Plausible Impossible", where Walt suggests that the idea of [[OurCentaursAreDifferent centaurs]] in Myth/ClassicalMythology was that a man in a chariot saw a [[BornInTheSaddle horseback rider]] pass by and wave at him, mistaking the rider and the horse to be one creature.
157	* RevisedEnding: When ''WesternAnimation/NoSmoking'' was featured in "A Salute to Father", the closing narration, "Give a smoker enough rope, and... he'll hang onto his habit," is omitted, and when the cigar explodes, instead of showing Goofy continuing to enjoy what's left of the cigar, he is shown bemused by it and throwing the remains on the ground, declaring, "I QUIT! And this time, I mean it!"
158	** Interestingly, while Walt Disney's smoking habit is well known, Goofy's voice actor, Pinto Colvig, was ''also'' a chain smoker. In fact, he was one of the most outspoken advocates of putting a surgeon general's warning on all cigarettes.
159	* RogerRabbitEffect: Walt Disney interacted several times with his cartoon characters in the 1950s (example: a 1956 episode called "A Day In the Life of Donald Duck", which centers on Donald going through a typical day at the Disney studio).
160	** Also, the opening to "The Best of Disney: 50 Years of Magic" with Micheal Eisner. Fittingly enough, Roger was also present in this opening.
161	** A few openings to the program in the late 80's featured Mickey, the Dwarfs, and Roger interacting with the theme parks, notably with Mickey as the Sorcerer's Apprentice performing magic on top of Spaceship Earth and Roger getting caught in a door from Disney-[=MGM=] Studios.
162	* SceneryPorn: Many episodes have this, be it live-action or animated.
163	* ScienceHero: Lampshaded and parodied in the episode "Mars and Beyond", where the science hero is too busy thinking up arcane equations to notice the DamselInDistress has been [[MarsNeedsWomen kidnapped by evil Martians]]. Fortunately she's resourceful enough to [[DamselOutOfDistress rescue herself]].
164	* ScienceHerosBabeAssistant: The 1955 special "Mars and Beyond" has [[https://youtu.be/E0sbqqYo97s?t=775 a segment describing the stock plot]] in contemporary sci-fi comics and pulp stories, of a brilliant scientist hero who must rescue his SexySecretary from an extraterrestrial menace. Of course, Disney's version quickly turns into a complete parody: the brilliant scientist is so caught up in his calculations, [[FailedASpotCheck he doesn't even notice]] when the Martian robot abducts the secretary. And the secretary [[ScreamingWoman screams for several minutes]] but eventually dons a superhero costume and [[DamselOutOfDistress rescues herself]].
165	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: At the end of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow".
166	-->'''Bing Crosby/Narrator:''' Man, I'm getting out of here!\
167	'''Walt Disney:''' I'm getting out of here, too!
168	* SeriesMascot: Tinker Bell of ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan'' fame flies past and/or creates fireworks at the beginning of each episode. The sight of her flying in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle became so iconic to Disney fans, that Disney decided to have a Tinker Bell actress "fly" through the air during fireworks shows at the theme parks.
169	* SettingUpdate: ''Polly'' and ''Polly: Comin' Home!'' retell ''Literature/{{Pollyanna}}'' with the location and time period changed from Vermont in the 1900s to segregated Alabama in TheFifties.
170	* SexySecretary: Episode "Mars and Beyond". The secretary that gets kidnapped by Martians is originally depicted as being sexy and not very bright. After she's kidnapped by Martians, she [[DamselOutOfDistress turns into a superheroine and rescues herself]].
171	* ShockinglyExpensiveBill: In "Inside Donald Duck", Donald's temper is cured by Professor Von Drake and he now speaks in a clear British voice. Once Donald gets the psychiatrist bill, amounting to $1,340, he goes back into a squawking rage.
172	* ShoutOut: In ''Ruby Bridges'', one of the times Ruby is taken up to the school has her wearing a white dress, the words "nigger" and "KKK" graffitied on the building, and a thrown tomato hitting the words - all adding up to referencing Creator/NormanRockwell[='s=] ''Art/TheProblemWeAllLiveWith''.
173	* SiliconBasedLife: The episode "Mars And Beyond" briefly mentions silicon based life in a segment about what life on Mars would look like. It suggests that it would take the form of crystalline structures that rise during the day, then shatter into oblivion in the cold Martian night.
174	* SillyBrainDiagram: In "How to Relax", a map of Goofy's brain shows it labeled with all the worries of modern life: Taxes, Bills, Job, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Golf Score]].
175	* SongOfManyEmotions: In "An Adventure in Color", Ludwig von Drake sings "The Green with Envy Blues", which combines this with ColorfulSong, mentioning that he has "green with envy, red with anger, purple-passionate blues."
176	* SpeculativeDocumentary: The "Tomorrowland" episodes usually ended with dramatizations of what life in the future would look like. One episode, "Mars and Beyond", had a segment dedicated to the possibility of life on Mars.
177	* SplitScreenPhoneCall: "Two Happy Amigos" has a live-action/animation variation, with Walt on one side and WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck on the other.
178	* StarfishAliens: The segment of "Mars and Beyond" speculating what sort of creatures could live on Mars is incredibly varied.
179	* StockFootage: The animation from the ''Wonderful World of Color'' opening of Tinker Bell tapping the background with her wand has re-appeared in several other places, such as trailers, the ending of ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'', and the VanityPlate for the Walt Disney Masterpiece Collection of VHS tapes and Laserdiscs (which lasted from 1994-1999).
180	* SuicideBySea: Episode "The Goofy Success Story" has WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} attempting to do this, when he is distraught at not receiving an Oscar, as a ShoutOut to ''Film/AStarIsBorn1937''. Thankfully, he's saved when he gets a telegram offering him a big role.
181	* ThereAreTwoKindsOfPeopleInTheWorld: A segment in the episode "Mars and Beyond" about a Sweden philosopher's conception of what the inhabitants of each planets in the solar system look like:
182	-->''[Animated depiction of two Venusians standing side-by-side with neutral expressions, flashing red and yellow. The right one suddenly hits the left one with a mallet, plumping him into the ground with his head out.]''\
183	'''Narrator:''' There are two kinds of people on Venus: mild people and fierce people.\
184	''[The left Venusian turns yellow and smiles (mild), the right Venusian turns red and frowns (fierce).]''
185	* TitleSequenceReplacement
186	* ToonPhysics: Discussed on "The Plausible Impossible". Mickey and Donald are used as test subjects, including the aforementioned "Accordion Man" trope
187	* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Some of the episodes promoting then-new movies spoil major plot points.
188	* TrapDoor: In one segment of the episode "Mars And Beyond", the Martian leader pulls a rope and a trap door opens under the kidnapped heroine.
189	* TheVoice: "An Adventure in the Magic Kingdom" has Walt let the show's announcer, Dick Wesson, guide us through Disneyland. He is heard, but not seen, and is represented by sound waves.
190	* TheVonTropeFamily: Ludwig Von Drake.
191	* VerySpecialEpisode: ''Ruby Bridges'', which opened with a message from UsefulNotes/BillClinton and was followed by an ABC News interview with the real Ruby.
192	* WithLyrics: The episode "The Hunting Instinct" redubs ''WesternAnimation/ThePlasticsInventor'', replacing the original short's Professor Butterfield with Professor Ludwig Von Drake. At one point, Von Drake adds lyrics to an originally wordless song that played while Donald was baking motor parts. He even gives it a title: "Music to Bake an Airplane By".
193	* WomenDrivers: "Magic Highway, U.S.A" has a joke about his and hers lanes on highways. Ah, TheFifties...
194	* TheWormThatWalks: One scene in the episode "Mars and Beyond" shows a pursuing alien transforming from a swarm of insects back into his true form while chasing a secretary.

Context Series / WaltDisneyPresents