Misplaced Pages

#117882

124-640: The ABC Sunday Night Movie was replaced in 1998 with The Wonderful World of Disney although the Sunday Night Movie initially continued to air alongside TWWOD for its final season. Encouraged by the ratings success on NBC 's Saturday Night at the Movies , ABC initially purchased 15 United Artists films released in the late 1950s for its April 1962 premiere. United Artists Television also provided some short featurettes promoting upcoming United Artists cinema releases to fill out some films that ended before

248-463: A Nielsen rating of 31.0 and an audience share of 53%, which translated to 60 million viewers, the second largest TV audience for a film, behind The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). The film was released on VHS and DVD on October 16, 2001. It was released on Blu-ray on March 17, 2009. When the film's original soundtrack album was issued on LP by Decca Records , it featured a monaural remix of

372-463: A pre-credits sequence that led directly into the main title and so could not be altered, the opening credits of the particular film in question generally would not be shown until after the movie had ended. Instead, a teaser from the film was shown, whereupon an offscreen announcer (e.g. Joel Crager) would say the name of the film and its stars, and then the credit The ABC Sunday Night Movie would appear. A commercial would then follow, and when

496-530: A day later. Enchanted aired on November 17, 2022, to promote Disenchanted , which premiered on Disney+ a day later. During the airing of Hocus Pocus , a new title card premiered bookending with the new Disney100 logo to celebrate the Walt Disney Company's 100th anniversary. Avatar aired on December 11, 2022, to promote Avatar: The Way of Water , which premiered in theaters 5 days later. Home Alone aired on December 24, 2022. To kick off 2023,

620-420: A deal with ABC (which had merged with United Paramount Theatres in 1953) on March 29, 1954. The show contained teasers for Walt's park, as well as episodes representing life in one of the park's main sections: Adventureland , Tomorrowland , Fantasyland , and Frontierland , with the opening titles used from its inception until the show's move to NBC in 1961, showing the entrance to Disneyland itself, as well as

744-608: A dig at the 3D films of the day. The Academy Film Archive preserved The Robe in 2008. The Robe was due to open at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, but the Hall would not drop its stage show for the film's planned run, so the film premiered, instead, at the Roxy Theatre in New York City on September 16, 1953. It opened to the public at the Roxy the following day. ABC paid

868-452: A film on a religious subject, Henry Koster's The Robe has rather fewer lapses in taste than most of its predecessors. If the actual speaking of Christ's cry from the Cross is a major error, it is not multiplied. In general, the subject is treated with reasonable reverence and is a deal better than Quo Vadis , which was a perfect illustration of Aristotle's remark about the ludicrous being merely

992-580: A film presentation was over three hours or overflowed prime time. When the movie in question was a family film, the telecasts would begin at an earlier hour, so that the film would end at around 11:00 p.m, enabling younger viewers to watch without having to stay up too late. The Movie Special s invariably consisted of blockbusters , such as The Bridge on the River Kwai , The Robe , Oliver! , and The Ten Commandments . The last-named film continues its television career on ABC today, having become, like The Wizard of Oz , an annual television tradition. It

1116-458: A focus on Disney theatrical films than the English broadcasts at the time. In September 2003, The Wonderful World of Disney moved to Saturdays at 8:00 pm Eastern, with the previous Sunday time slot being ceded to AFV (which moved back to Sundays that season) and drama series in the 8:00 pm hour. Rare exceptions to the program's format occurred during this time; for example, a Little House on

1240-510: A half-hour. It also allowed CBS to schedule 60 Minutes at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time starting on December 7; prior to this, 60 Minutes had aired at 6:00 p.m. Eastern and did not begin its seasons until after the National Football League season ended. Disney fell out of the top 30, while 60 Minutes had its ratings rise significantly. In September 1979, the studio agreed to then-NBC president Fred Silverman 's request for changes to

1364-458: A key part of the show's appeal to viewers that the host segment was dropped. The final episode featuring Walt's host segment was the episode "A Salute to Alaska". The series was retitled The Wonderful World of Disney in September 1969, by which time the color distinction was no longer needed as all big three networks were broadcasting in color. It continued to gain solid ratings, often ranking in

SECTION 10

#1732875839118

1488-479: A kind weaver, that Demetrius is in the town, Marcellus confronts his former slave at an inn. Demetrius says the robe has no real power, and it is Marcellus' guilt over killing Jesus that is causing his illness. When Marcellus tries to destroy the robe anyway, he is overcome, and finds himself healed. Pilate having ordered the arrest of all of the Christian "fanatics", Paulus sneaks into Cana with his troops. After Justus

1612-474: A longstanding feud with Caligula, and he outbids Caligula for Demetrius, who does not attempt to escape again, as he feels honor-bound to Marcellus. Demetrius becomes Marcellus' personal servant. That evening, Caligula vengefully transfers Marcellus to far-flung Jerusalem . Diana goes to the port to say she will appeal to Tiberius on Marcellus' behalf, and the pair pledge their love and reaffirm their youthful promise to marry one day. Accompanied by Demetrius and

1736-498: A reboot of Davy Crockett , and the musical Polly , which was based on the book Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter and the Walt Disney's 1960 film adaptation of it . New television animation came in the form of Super DuckTales —a compilation of an arc from Disney's syndicated animated series DuckTales —as an Easter special on March 26, 1989; another DuckTales special, A DuckTales Valentine , aired on February 11, 1990. In

1860-456: A record $ 2 million to screen the film on television in the United States four times. Sponsored by Ford , The Robe was first telecast on Sunday, March 26, 1967 ( Easter ), at the relatively early hour of 7:00 P.M., EST , to allow for family viewing. It was shown with only one commercial break, a luxury not even granted to the then-annual telecasts of The Wizard of Oz (1939), and received

1984-579: A record gross for a week. The film earned an estimated $ 17.5 million in theatrical rentals in the United States and Canada during its initial theatrical release. Its worldwide rentals were estimated at $ 32 million. Critical reaction of the film and CinemaScope following the premiere in New York was generally favorable. In his review of the film, Frank Quinn of the New York Daily Mirror called CinemaScope "a new realistic and phenomenal concept of

2108-631: A regular program in 2008. At this point, the series began to shift focus toward Disney theatrical films, relying less on original television films; however, the series aired three Disney Channel Original Movies (2002's Cadet Kelly , 2008's Camp Rock and 2011's Phineas and Ferb the Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension , currently the only Disney Channel television films to have aired on a non-Disney Channel-branded network domestically) during its ABC run. The second ABC revival also included some family-oriented films produced by studios other than Disney under

2232-402: A regular viewing habit, gave ABC additional films from its library, including Old Yeller , The Apple Dumpling Gang and Candleshoe for the normal rerun mid-year period. The Last Electric Knight movie produced a spin-off series called Sidekicks (originally to be called Karate Kid ) for ABC's 1987 season. Despite improving ABC's numbers, the program's ratings were never strong as

2356-483: A sequel about Demetrius . John Buckmaster tested for the role of Caligula. Jean Peters was originally cast as Diana, but she became pregnant, and was replaced by Jean Simmons . Interestingly, the film's poster, which had already been designed, was not changed, and, therefore, shows the wrong "Jean" between the likenesses of Burton and Mature. Filming finished on April 30, 1953, two weeks ahead of schedule. Since many theaters were not equipped to screen films shot in

2480-451: A series of theatrical movies from the Disney+ library, which featured an updated title card, which includes Moana , Thor: The Dark World , Up , and Big Hero 6 , for four weeks beginning May 20, 2020. A fifth week was later added, featuring the 2010 Disney/Pixar film, Toy Story 3 , marking ten years since its theatrical release. The program returned on September 23, 2020, featuring

2604-406: A showing of Inside Out and that the program would air weekly on Sunday nights as part of ABC's 2024-25 schedule. The Magical World of Toons was the daily prime time programming block featuring character's key series episodes coinciding with the launch of Disney's new channel, Toon Disney , on April 18, 1998. It continued at least until 2003. In 2012, Disney Junior launched a variant of

SECTION 20

#1732875839118

2728-526: A sub-division of the ugly." On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 38% of 21 critics' reviews of the film are positive, with an average rating of 5.5/10. 26th Academy Awards : 11th Golden Globe Awards : The film's successful and highly praised sequel, Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954), featured Victor Mature in the title role; Michael Rennie , Jay Robinson , and David Leonard also reprise their roles from The Robe . Filming of

2852-571: A topic for such episodes, including clips from the actual film. Topics for "Fantasy Land" would include either actual cartoons, and animated films, or documentaries on "The Making of ..." (such as behind-the-scenes presentation of Peggy Lee singing the duet of the wicked Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp , or the barbershop quartet of lost dogs in the municipal Dog Pound); excerpts from a True-Life Adventure documentary might also be included (for example, one on

2976-558: A two-hour format in 1975). Walt Disney Productions also began running some of its multiepisode television programs, such as 1962's Sammy The Way-Out Seal , as televised feature films on the anthology series. A slightly edited version of the 1954 Disney film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea made its television debut as a two-hour special on NBC in October 1976. Several other Disney films, some of them not especially successful (such as Superdad , which

3100-526: Is captured and tortured for information. Caligula asks Diana if she has heard from Marcellus, and, as she has not, tells her of Marcellus' involvement with the Christians. The Gallios' slave Marcipor, who is secretly a Christian, shows Diana where Marcellus is hiding, shortly before Marcellus leads a raid to rescue Demetrius. Demetrius is brought to the house of Senator Gallio, where Peter miraculously heals his grievous wounds. Marcellus and Demetrius attempt to flee

3224-627: Is killed by a surprise arrow, Marcellus manages to halt the attack, but Paulus informs him that Caligula has succeeded Tiberius as emperor, so Marcellus' commission is no longer valid. Paulus initially refuses Marcellus' order to leave the town, but he complies after Marcellus beats him in a duel. Jesus' apostle Peter invites Marcellus to join Demetrius and him as missionaries, and, after confessing his role in Jesus' death, Marcellus pledges his life to Jesus. When Peter's missionary group comes to Rome, Demetrius

3348-505: Is responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus . The film was released by 20th Century Fox and was the first film released in the widescreen process CinemaScope . Like other early CinemaScope films, The Robe was shot with Henri Chrétien 's original Hypergonar anamorphic lenses. The film was directed by Henry Koster and produced by Frank Ross . The screenplay was adapted from Lloyd C. Douglas 's 1942 novel by Gina Kaus , Albert Maltz , and Philip Dunne —although Maltz's place among

3472-521: Is to handle the execution of three criminals—one of whom is Jesus. Marcellus wins Jesus' robe from Paulus in a dice game on Calvary , but when he uses it to shield himself from rain, he feels a sudden, intense pain. Grabbing the robe, Demetrius denounces Marcellus and the Roman Empire and frees himself, leaving a mentally unstable Marcellus, who is haunted by nightmares of the crucifixion, to report to Tiberius at Capri alone. The emperor's soothsayer says

3596-482: Is usually shown during the Palm Sunday or Easter weekend ( The Robe , which made its TV debut in 1968, had been shown on Easter weekends by ABC prior to being sold to local television stations). The telecast of Patton , which took place in 1972 at 9 P.M. E.S.T., was remarkably mature, in that very little of the film's profanity was cut for television. ABC would occasionally telecast Movie Special s on other days of

3720-544: The True-Life Adventures ). The show's continued ratings success in the post-Walt era came to an end during the 1975–76 season. At this time, Walt Disney Productions was facing a decline in fortunes due to falling box-office revenues, while NBC as a whole was also slipping in the ratings. The anthology series became even more dependent on airings of live-action theatrical features, its True-Life Adventures , reruns of older episodes, and cartoon compilations. Nothing from

3844-477: The Disney Channel . While ratings were a factor, the final decision to end the show came from Walt Disney Productions' then-CEO Card Walker , who felt that having both the show and the new channel active would result in cannibalization of viewership. The new channel would provide a home for the show in reruns for the next two decades, but for the time being, Disney's presence on U.S. network TV would be limited to

The ABC Sunday Night Movie - Misplaced Pages Continue

3968-562: The Disney animated features canon aired, with the exceptions of Alice in Wonderland and Dumbo , as part of a long-standing policy placed on the program by Disney. Additionally, in 1975, when CBS regained the broadcast rights to the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film The Wizard of Oz , it was scheduled opposite Disney , as it had been between 1960 and 1968. At that time, telecasts of that film were highly rated annual events, which largely attracted

4092-473: The Disney+ library. The show has had only two hosts, Disney co-founder Walt Disney and former Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner . The show is the second longest-running prime-time program on U.S. television, behind Hallmark Hall of Fame . The anthology series was an outgrowth of Walt Disney looking for funding for Disneyland with his brother Roy Disney approaching all the big-three networks with American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres taking

4216-510: The United States' burgeoning efforts to explore outer space and others, such as "Moochie of the Little League", were set in the then-present day. Some episodes even mixed live-action and animation, showing Mickey Mouse , Donald Duck , Goofy , Chip 'n' Dale , Professor Owl and Jiminy Cricket talking with Walt himself, while one 1959 episode (titled The Adventures of Chip 'n' Dale) turned

4340-460: The Wonderful World banner, such as The Sound of Music from 20th Century Fox ( which is presently owned by Disney, now known as 20th Century Studios ). On December 12, 2015, ABC's The Wonderful World of Disney officially returned to its anthology format with a showing of Mary Poppins for the first time on ABC since 2002, hosted by Dick Van Dyke. Van Dyke took viewers on a tour through

4464-489: The blacklisted Hollywood 10 led to his being denied his writing credit for many years. The score was composed by Alfred Newman , and the cinematography was by Leon Shamroy . The film stars Richard Burton , Jean Simmons , Victor Mature and Michael Rennie , and co-stars Jay Robinson , Dean Jagger , Torin Thatcher , Richard Boone , Betta St. John , Jeff Morrow , Ernest Thesiger , and others. A sequel, Demetrius and

4588-569: The centurion Paulus, Marcellus arrives in Jerusalem on the same day that Jesus , who is being hailed as the Messiah, enters the city . Demetrius feels compelled to follow Jesus and later attempts to warn him of a plot against him , but a distraught man tells Demetrius that Jesus has already been arrested. Pontius Pilate , the governor of Judaea , informs Marcellus that he has been recalled by order of Tiberius, and gives Marcellus his last task, which

4712-498: The deal for programming for ABC. Although Walt Disney was the first major film producer to venture into television, two established independent film producers successfully ventured into television production before Disney, Hal Roach and Jerry Fairbanks . Disney wanted to produce a television program to finance the development of the Disneyland amusement park. After being turned down by both CBS and NBC , Disney eventually signed

4836-603: The 1980s, films with more mature and politically charged themes, such as The Day After and Consenting Adult ( homosexuality ) aired under the ABC Theater banner. Beginning in 1999, a Saturday night variant on the formula began, and has been somewhat of a ratings favorite. However, and more importantly nowadays, the ratings have varied from week to week. Since 1999, The ABC Saturday Night Movie has alternated with random repeats, The Wonderful World of Disney (up until 2008), and Saturday Night Football , which runs from

4960-450: The 1989–1990 season, during which the company was negotiating with Jim Henson to buy The Muppets , they aired two Muppet specials; one of them was The Muppets at Walt Disney World , which turned out to be Henson's last Muppet special. He died May 16, 1990, 10 days after the special aired, and the company only acquired The Muppets more than a decade later. After two seasons experiencing the same lackluster ratings as it had accrued during

5084-575: The 2014 Marvel film, Guardians of the Galaxy , filling a gap in ABC's fall 2020 schedule. On October 9, 2020, ABC announced the program would return on October 14, with the broadcast television premiere of the 2017 Disney/Pixar film, Coco . Captain America: The Winter Soldier aired on January 12, 2021. The 2015 live action film Cinderella aired on January 19, 2021. On April 28, 2021, it

The ABC Sunday Night Movie - Misplaced Pages Continue

5208-559: The Beast was canceled but was instead replaced with the 2019 film The Lion King . In May 2023, it was announced the program would air on Sunday nights for 3 weeks in June (when the NBA Finals were not being played) in a 2-hour block, it would also air on Sunday nights in the fall of that year with a three-hour block. In May 2024, it was announced that the program would return the following month with

5332-516: The Disney Archives, as they explored props and costumes from the production of Mary Poppins and discussed the film's history and context within the Disney legacy. It was then shown on February 21, 2016, with the special Disneyland 60 , which honored Disneyland's 60th anniversary; on November 24, 2016, for their Magical Holiday Celebration, filmed at Walt Disney World; and on December 11, 2016, for

5456-489: The Disney Movie Club), with the possibility of additional future releases. From 2014 to 2019, live-action Disney films from the 1950s to the 1980s including special episodes from Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color aired on Turner Classic Movies , without commercial interruption, and presented uncut and with letterboxing on the network's standard-definition feed. All of the episodes and existing material used on

5580-400: The Gladiators (1954), continues from where The Robe ends. On the way to a slave auction, Marcellus Gallio, a Roman military tribune and senator 's son, helps recapture Demetrius, a defiant Greek slave. At the auction site, Marcellus is reunited with Diana, his childhood love, who is now a ward of Emperor Tiberius and has been pledged in marriage to the regent Caligula . Marcellus has

5704-520: The Moon , which aired December 28, 1955. This format remained basically unchanged through the 1980s, though new material was scarce in later years. Other episodes were segments from Disney films such as Seal Island and Alice in Wonderland , or cartoons of Donald Duck and other Disney standbys. The program spawned the Davy Crockett craze of 1955 with the airing of a three-episode series (not shown over

5828-541: The Prairie miniseries ran for several weeks in 2004 under the Wonderful World of Disney banner. For most of its second run on ABC, the program aired throughout the television season, with the exception of the 2005–06 season (when it aired during the midseason only), and in 2007 and 2008 (when it was relegated to the summer months), with a broader array of films occupying the network's Saturday primetime slot at other times, when sports programming did not air. The series ended as

5952-527: The US box office , setting box office records at each location; it more than doubled the previous record at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in LA, with a gross of $ 80,000. The film gradually expanded to 44 locations by the end of October, and it remained number one at the box office for nine straight weeks. Its fourth week of release, Variety reported that the film had a weekly gross of $ 1,026,000 from 16 cities that it sampled,

6076-498: The Week , only when the network has no other sports commitments, usually confined to holiday weekends). Only cable networks exclusively devoted to films, such as AMC or Turner Classic Movies , show theatrical films in prime time every night; the big three networks , including the newer Fox network no longer follow this practice, except perhaps on holidays. The grand opening sequences of the past are now usually eschewed by merely mentioning

6200-502: The airing title in an 'up next' sequence, or a direct cut to a disclaimer noting the film has been edited and presented for a broadcast television presentation with the assumption viewers have already viewed the basic electronic program guide information for the film. Disney anthology television series The Walt Disney Company has produced an anthology television series since 1954 under several titles and formats. The program's current title, The Wonderful World of Disney ,

6324-424: The announcer depending on the film's tone; Owens would do so for comedies). The advent of such cable television networks as HBO , Cinemax , Showtime and The Movie Channel (all of which broadcast theatrical films on cable before they appear on commercial television), along with the emergence of various home video formats, led to the decline of theatrical films regularly airing on commercial network TV. During

SECTION 50

#1732875839118

6448-400: The anthology series premiered. While the broadcast that aired three days after his death featured a memorial tribute from Huntley-Brinkley Report anchor Chet Huntley with film and television star Dick Van Dyke , the introductions that Walt already filmed prior to his death continued to air for the remainder of the season. After that, the studio decided that Walt's persona as host was such

6572-464: The art of motion picture production." Kate Cameron of the New York Daily News claimed, in an eight-star review (four stars for the film and four for CinemaScope), that "any picture projected on a flat screen...is going to seem dull" after The Robe . Variety wrote: "It is a 'big' picture in every sense of the word. One magnificent scene after another, under the anamorphic technique, unveils

6696-409: The audience enjoyed their show. Although the basic format remained the same, the series moved to NBC on September 24, 1961, to take advantage of that network's ability to broadcast programming in color . In addition, Walt Disney's relationship with ABC had soured as the network resisted selling its stake in the theme park before doing so in 1960. In a display of foresight, Disney had filmed many of

6820-429: The beginning of 1983, it went on hiatus on February 15 while the aforementioned Gun Shy took up the second half of its time slot. When it came back for summer reruns on May 3, it was still on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.; its final network broadcast was on September 24, bringing an uninterrupted 29-year run on all three networks to a close. The end of the show coincided with the launch of the studio's cable television network,

6944-432: The broadcast was expanded from two to two-and-a-half hours to fit a film's longer running time, as in the two 1966 network telecasts of Rodgers and Hammerstein 's Carousel (a 1956 film not to be confused with the 1967 videotaped television adaptation of the musical, also broadcast by ABC). The first major network showing of Superman in 1982 was broadcast in two parts with previously unused footage. Extra footage

7068-535: The broadcast. Art Linkletter was assisted by Bob Cummings and Ronald Reagan , and the program featured various other guests, including various appearances of Walt himself as he dedicated the various lands of Disneyland. In 1958, the series was retitled Walt Disney Presents and moved to a Friday-night timeslot; by 1960, ABC had switched it to Sunday nights, where it remained for 21 years. During this iteration, The Peter Tchaikovsky Story , an episode made to promote Walt's latest animated feature, Sleeping Beauty ,

7192-414: The broadcast. Walt apparently wanted people to see Sleeping Beauty in 70 mm, so, in the introduction, he explained the difference between 35 mm and 70 mm and held up a card with both sizes on it. In addition to episodes devoted to the latest additions at Disneyland, many episodes during this period were Westerns such as " Texas John Slaughter " and " Elfego Baca ", while others talked about

7316-413: The city, but horsemen dispatched by Caligula pick up their trail, and Marcellus gives himself up so Demetrius can escape. At his trial, Marcellus admits to being a follower of Jesus, but denies that the Christians are plotting against Rome. He is condemned to death, unless he renews his tribune's oath of loyalty to the emperor and renounces his allegiance to Jesus; while he does the former, he refuses to do

7440-407: The conventional 2-D form, Lloyd C. Douglas' powerful novel of the birth of Christianity in the days of ancient Rome would have made a great picture, but having been produced in the revolutionary CinemaScope process, it emerges as not only a superior dramatic achievement but also as a spectacle that will electrify audiences with its overpowering scope and magnitude." The Monthly Film Bulletin called

7564-411: The course of consecutive weeks) about the historical American frontiersman, starring Fess Parker in the title role. Millions of dollars of merchandise relating to the title character were sold, and the theme song, " The Ballad of Davy Crockett ", became a hit record that year. Three historically based hour-long programs aired during late 1954/early 1955, and were followed up by two dramatized installments

SECTION 60

#1732875839118

7688-409: The earlier shows in color, allowing them to easily be repeated on NBC; since all but three of Disney's feature-length films were also made in color (the three black-and-white exceptions were The Shaggy Dog , The Absent-Minded Professor , and Son of Flubber , all family comedies starring Fred MacMurray ), they could now also be telecast in that format. To emphasize the new feature, the series

7812-491: The edit involved the film being split into two for a two-night broadcast while including a voiceover (primarily for the first showing) meant to sound like George Lazenby that starts with the ski chase scene before including flashbacks to prior scenes. A subsequent re-airing of the film years later showed it in a three-hour time slot with no edits. ABC held the rights to the James Bond films until 1990, when The Living Daylights

7936-483: The end of its initial NBC run and its subsequent runs on CBS and ABC, Disney elected to end the broadcast television run of The Magical World of Disney and began airing the anthology on the Disney Channel – in the same time slot it had been airing for the past decade – starting in September 1990, expanding back to a two-hour format. Since the Disney Channel operated as a premium channel at the time, films presented on

8060-690: The episode An Adventure in Art, four different artists were given the task of drawing the same tree, with each artist using his own preferred ways of drawing and imagining a tree; this led to cartoon examples of differently animated trees, as in some of the early Silly Symphonies shorts, and later full-length animated films. "Tomorrow Land" was an opportunity for the Disney studio staff to present cutting-edge science and technology, and to predict possible futures, such as futuristic automobiles and highways, and featured Wernher von Braun as an on-air technical consultant in Man and

8184-400: The established 60 Minutes and scripted mystery series Murder, She Wrote on CBS , both of which Disney was competing with for viewers, remained the leading primetime programs on Sunday nights. In 1987, ABC reduced The Disney Sunday Movie from two hours to one. The move did not help drive ratings, and the network decided not to renew its contract with Disney or pick up a fourth season of

8308-508: The film "a routine addition to the numerous Hollywood Biblical films," which presents "a characteristically distorted and simplified view of Imperial Rome, with a ranting Caligula, a doddering Tiberius, and the customary scenes of 'spectacle' in the palace, the marketplace and the torture chamber. The performances lack enthusiasm, and Richard Burton in particular seems ill at ease as the morose Marcellus." Basil Wright wrote in Sight & Sound : "As

8432-502: The film and the Tony Award-nominated Broadway stage version and was performed in front of a live audience with giant projection surface. The title was used again on November 28, 2019, for a two-hour music special, The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration , hosted by Emma Bunton and Matthew Morrison . On May 7, 2020, it was announced that The Wonderful World of Disney would bring back its banner for

8556-489: The film were starting up again. The ABC Sunday Night Movie was also famous in the mid 1970s for its theme music and brightly colored marquee. The opening has been parodied on the G4 network under the title Movies That Don't Suck . From 1968 to 1970, ABC ran a concurrent movie series on Wednesday nights, under the title The ABC Wednesday Night Movie . A Tuesday night ABC Movie of the Week featuring only made-for-TV movies

8680-454: The film's composer, longtime Fox musical director Alfred Newman . Charles Gerhardt conducted London's National Philharmonic Chorus for the recording. The Robe set a record one-day gross (for a single theatre) of $ 36,000 at the Roxy, on its way to a record one-week gross (for a single theatre) of $ 264,427. In its second week of release, it expanded to Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia and grossed $ 490,000, placing it at number one at

8804-479: The first Saturday in September, up into the first of December. Movies also alternate on various other nights of the week, for sweeps and also as holiday-based programming, such as the annual pre-Easter telecast of The Ten Commandments . For many years, until the early 1980s, the announcer for all of ABC's movie shows was network staff announcer Joel Crager. Afterwards, the duties would be handled first by Ernie Anderson , and then others, including Gary Owens (with

8928-469: The following year. The TV episodes were later edited into two theatrical films. On July 17, 1955, the opening of Disneyland was covered on a live television special, Dateline: Disneyland , which is not technically considered to be part of the series. It was hosted by Art Linkletter , with whom Walt Disney had worked out a deal prior to the opening to allow Linkletter to lease a shop on Main Street in return for

9052-467: The four aforementioned lands, one of which was then identified as the main feature of that evening's program. Consequently, Davy Crockett and other pioneers of the Old West , and American history in general, appeared in "Frontier Land". Similarly, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea might be the focus of an evening spent in "Adventure Land", although a documentary on the film could also be possibly presented as

9176-416: The historical title The Wonderful World of Disney for the first few years, while other networks broadcast the show with another title, A Disney Special ). During this time, one of the telefilms shown under the banner was spun off into its own series -- The 100 Lives of Black Jack Savage , a collaboration with Stephen J. Cannell Productions. In 1997, with Disney acquiring ABC the previous year, ABC gave

9300-406: The hosting job. Eisner hired Michael Kay, a director of political commercials for then- U.S. Senator Bill Bradley , to help him improve his on-camera performance. The Disney Sunday Movie initially aired as ABC's lead-off program on Sundays, running from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time. By this point, the format was similar to a movie-of-the-week. Gary Barton, a Disney senior vice president,

9424-528: The imperial throne, was already dead at the time of Jesus' crucifixion. Also, Caligula did not systematically persecute Christians, as depicted in the film. The first persecution of Christians organized by the Roman government was under the emperor Nero in 64 AD after the Great Fire of Rome and took place entirely within the city of Rome. In 1942, producer Frank Ross acquired the rights to Douglas' novel—before it

9548-414: The late 1970s and early 1980s, print ads for The ABC Sunday Night Movie regularly played up the quality of the film being offered to viewers at no cost ("Another Great Film Not On Pay TV"). Whereas one used to be able to see a relatively recent theatrical film on prime time commercial network television every night of the week, this is now done only occasionally (or, in the case of ABC's Saturday Movie of

9672-581: The latter. Diana stands with Marcellus and denounces Caligula, who declares that the couple will die together. As they depart the courtroom, Diana hands Jesus' robe to Marcipor, telling him to give it to Peter. Marcellus and Diana are led away to begin eternal life together in the kingdom of their true king . Despite the careful attention to Roman history and culture displayed in the film, there are some inaccuracies. For example, in reality, Emperor Tiberius' wife, Julia , who had been banished from Rome by her father Augustus years before Tiberius acceded to

9796-409: The life and works of beavers and their dam-building) or those using stroboscopic stop-action photography (such as investigating what really happened when a rain-drop fell in a puddle, as part of a "Fantasy Land" episode), explaining the techniques of cartoon animation. The multiplane camera used to create the three-dimensional effects of Bambi was also a topic for a "Fantasy Land"-set telecast. In

9920-486: The movie night anthology as The Magical World of Disney Junior on its new 24/7 channel. The channel also premiered its first Disney Junior Original Movie, Lucky Duck during Magical World on June 20, 2014. Prior to the launch of the Disney Channel, several of the films and specials made for the anthology series were licensed to pay-TV networks such as HBO ; in HBO's case, the kaleidoscopic-pattern titles that preceded them in

10044-426: The network television premiere of Frozen . On August 5, 2019, it was announced that The Wonderful World of Disney would present The Little Mermaid Live! on November 5 of that year with Auliʻi Cravalho , Queen Latifah and Shaggy starring as Ariel, Ursula and Sebastian, respectively. The cast also included John Stamos as Chef Louis and Graham Phillips as Prince Eric. The special featured music from both

10168-504: The network television premiere of Toy Story . On October 5, 1997, Disney Telefilms' first production, Toothless , debuted on the series. In addition to the planned 16 original Disney telemovies, ABC and Disney added a few direct-to-video movies and films from other sources. In 2001, a Spanish-language version of the program premiered on Telemundo (which, incidentally, was acquired by the English version's former home, NBC, that same year) as El Maravilloso Mundo de Disney , with more of

10292-399: The new CinemaScope process, each scene of The Robe was shot both with and without CinemaScope's anamorphic lenses , resulting in there being two versions of the film: a "scope" version, and a "flat" version. Setups and some dialogue differ between the versions, as the takes for each process were filmed back-to-back, rather than simultaneously. For decades, the flat version of the film was

10416-515: The occasional holiday special, theme park anniversary, or cartoon compilation. The CBS version of the shows' intro would also be featured on Disney Channel. After the studio – which was rechristened as the Walt Disney Company in 1986 – underwent a change in management, Disney sought to bring back some sort of programming to broadcast television. Their efforts led to the premiere of The Disney Sunday Movie , which debuted on February 2, 1986, on ABC . Many names were considered to serve as presenter for

10540-446: The one typically shown on television, as its 1.33:1 aspect ratio would fill the then-standard television screens. American Movie Classics may have been the first channel to broadcast the scope version of the film. Recent DVDs and Blu-ray discs of the film present it in the 2.55:1 widescreen format, and also feature the original multitrack stereophonic soundtrack. The film was advertised as "The modern miracle you see without glasses!",

10664-429: The original run were retained. Around the same time that the 1980s incarnations aired on ABC and NBC, reruns of older episodes of the Disney anthology series, airing under the Wonderful World of Disney banner, were syndicated to broadcast television stations throughout the United States as well as in various international markets. In Australia, the program aired on Network Seven on Saturdays at 6:30 pm, before it

10788-455: The program did not present any film made by Disney's Touchstone subsidiary , as such films were not considered appropriate for children. However, Splash, Too , a sequel to the 1984 film , aired on the series over two weeks in May 1988. The series had increased Disney park attendance and ABC's Sunday night ratings for the evening by an average 27% for the rest of the season. Disney, wanting to make it

10912-412: The program had done during its last season as The Disney Sunday Movie , The Magical World of Disney ran for one hour, airing at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time; Michael Eisner also returned as its host. During this period, the show attempted to reintroduce the rotating format the show started out with in 1954. It also introduced new versions of Walt-era movies and TV shows such as The Absent-Minded Professor ,

11036-480: The program returned for five weeks with a series of theatrical movies from the Disney+ library, which includes the 2019 CGI film The Lion King and Finding Nemo , as well as the broadcast television premiere of Iron Man and The Avengers . Due to the death of Barbara Walters on December 30, 2022, the schedule would be moved by a week and the broadcast television premiere of the 2017 live action film Beauty and

11160-402: The program started up again, one would see the screenwriter and the director's names respectively - superimposed over the film's opening scene in credits manufactured by ABC. At film's end, another commercial would follow, after which, somewhat anti-climactically, the movie's actual opening credits, together with the studio logo , would then be presented exactly as they were originally made, as if

11284-496: The program. The show shortened its title to Disney's Wonderful World , and updated the opening sequence with a computer-generated logo and disco -styled theme song, but largely kept the same format. The problems for the show continued. As a result of the ratings strength of 60 Minutes , compounded by low ratings, increasingly less original material, and frequent pre-emptions (primarily due to sporting events such as NFL game telecasts ), NBC cancelled Disney in 1981. One factor that

11408-475: The revived show, including Julie Andrews , Dick Van Dyke , Cary Grant , Tom Hanks , Walter Cronkite , Roy E. Disney (who closely resembled his uncle), and even Mickey Mouse . The studio finally decided to have Michael Eisner , the company's recently hired CEO, host the series. Although he was not a performer, after filming a test video with his wife Jane and a member of his executive team (which required multiple takes), studio management believed he could do

11532-412: The robe must be cursed, so Tiberius gives Marcellus an imperial commission to find and destroy the robe, as well as identify the followers of Jesus. At Diana's request, Tiberius leaves her free to marry Marcellus once he has successfully completed his mission. Marcellus eventually makes his way to Cana , whose inhabitants experienced Jesus' miracles and believe he rose from the dead. Learning from Justus,

11656-562: The same family audience as the Disney series. From 1968 to 1975, when NBC held the television rights to Oz (which it had acquired from CBS in 1967), it usually pre-empted Disney to show it. However, the show's stiffest weekly competition came from CBS's newsmagazine 60 Minutes . In 1975, an amendment to the Prime Time Access Rule gave the Sunday 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time slot back to the networks, allowing NBC to move Disney back by

11780-406: The same function that the anthology series served in the days before cable. The original opening titles were restored to the episodes in 1997. Reruns of the anthology series were discontinued when the channel exclude all vintage material with the removal of its Vault Disney late-night block on September 8, 2002. However, a few select episodes are available on VHS or DVD (some of which are exclusive to

11904-549: The score, rather than the stereo sound that was originally recorded. MCA , which acquired the rights to the American Decca recordings, later issued an electronic stereo version of the mono tape. In 2003, Varèse Sarabande released a two-CD set of the film's original stereophonic score on its club label. RCA Victor included a suite from the film—recorded in Dolby surround sound—on its 1973 album Captain from Castile , which honored

12028-415: The second iteration of the anthology series. The Disney Sunday Movie was also being run on the Disney Channel , also hosted by Eisner. In early 1988, NBC decided to renew its association with the company after it cut ties to the anthology series seven years earlier; the network brought the series, now named The Magical World of Disney , to serve as the lead-in of its Sunday lineup in September 1988. As

12152-484: The sequel was completed before The Robe was released, and it begins with Caligula's challenge to Marcellus and Diana as they climb the stairs to their execution at the end of this film. In the first episode of the 2020 miniseries The Queen's Gambit , The Robe is playing for the staff and wards of the Mathuen orphanage, and the film's final chorus of "Alleluia" provides a diegetic source of music while Beth breaks into

12276-451: The series a regular slot in the schedule. Disney CEO Eisner formed Disney Telefilms by 1995 to supply original films to the series and program together with ABC. It led ABC's Sunday night lineup at the 7:00 p.m. Eastern time slot, resulting in the displacement of Sunday mainstay America's Funniest Home Videos , which had occupied the slot since 1992. On September 28, 1997, the all-new The Wonderful World of Disney premiered with

12400-409: The series aired infrequently. The program resumed a regular schedule in 1997 on the ABC fall schedule, coinciding with Disney's purchase of ABC in 1996. From 1997 to 2008, the program aired regularly on ABC. Since then, ABC has continued the series as an occasional special presentation from 2008 onward, the most recent being a holiday music special in 2019. In 2020, the series returned with movies from

12524-461: The series up to 1996 are listed in the Bill Cotter book The Wonderful World of Disney Television , which was released in 1997 by Hyperion Books (which was owned by the Walt Disney Company at the time of the book's publication). The Robe (film) The Robe is a 1953 American fictional Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that

12648-805: The series were presented without commercial interruption. The Magical World of Disney originally aired on the cable channel as a weekly Sunday-only program for its first 5½ years; but in December 1996, as part of the first phase of a programming revamp that culminated in its formal conversion into a commercial-free basic cable channel in April 1997, the Disney Channel expanded the Magical World brand to encompass its Monday through Saturday primetime film block, maintaining its 7:00 p.m. Eastern time slot. The Wonderful World of Disney returned in 1991 as an umbrella title for Disney specials airing on major networks (CBS airings used

12772-420: The series' format remained unchanged. During the 1981–1982 season, the series had a full season's worth of material again, but little of it was new. Among the little that actually was new were a handful of pilots based on Pollyanna , Escape to Witch Mountain , and The Apple Dumpling Gang , but only the last of the three pilots was sold and became the half-hour sitcom Gun Shy the following season, one of

12896-415: The splendor that was Rome and the turbulence that was Jerusalem at the time of Christ on Calvary." Bosley Crowther of The New York Times was more critical, writing: "The human drama of this story of Christian conversion occurs amid sumptuous and scenic surroundings and are mighty impressive to see. But the mightiness of surroundings—the spectacle of settings and costumes—is meaningful only in relation to

13020-405: The spotlight on Chip 'n' Dale, combining their theatrical cartoons with mixed media wrap-around footage including the chipmunks' own theme song. The episode's genre is a live action/animated musical comedy, and as the title suggests, it stars the titular chipmunks. At the end of the episode, Chip 'n' Dale say (singing) their goodbyes to the audience and return to their nut home on the counter hoping

13144-512: The story that is being told. And the story in this instance is not spectacular, so that the amplitude of its surroundings does not enhance its scope." Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times stated that the film was in "a class that is unique, deeply spiritual and even awe-inspiring," though Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post wrote that, "Partly through the writing, partly through

13268-490: The studio's first entries in that genre but only lasted six episodes. The 1982–1983 season had enough material to fill the time slot, but almost all of it was pre-existing material, the lone exception being the celebrity-laden opening ceremony of Epcot on October 23. It also did not help matters that NBC slotted the family-friendly sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and Silver Spoons at 8:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. up against it to draw children away from CBS. After moving to Tuesday at

13392-400: The top 20, until the mid-1970s. In 1976, Disney showed its hit 1961 film The Parent Trap on television for the first time, as a 2½-hour special. This marked a major step in broadcasting for the studio, which had never shown one of its more popular films on television in a time slot longer than an hour (although it had shown Now You See Him, Now You Don't and Napoleon and Samantha in

13516-449: The two hour time slot finished. The program presented theatrical feature films airing on TV for the first time. The feature films were edited for content, to remove objectionable material, and for time - one such instance was the first network telecast in 1962 of John Huston 's 1956 film Moby Dick , a Warner Bros. film which runs 117 minutes uncut, and yet was shown in a two-hour time slot with commercials. In many cases, however,

13640-459: The variety of acting styles, this reverence does not stir the emotions. It is very hard to take seriously a film which presents so petulantly obvious a performance as Jay Robinson's sophomoric Caligula or a script which early observes: 'You have made me the laughing stock of Rome.' These and matters like them are not aspects of fine motion picture making." Harrison's Reports called the film "Excellent!" It continues: "Even if it had been produced in

13764-451: The week as well, among them Fiddler on the Roof , and Godspell (which was shown on network television as a Thanksgiving season special in 1974). Beginning in 1965, The ABC Sunday Night Movie used a rather unusual method of presenting the films that movie series on other networks did not use. Except on rare occasions, such as the aforementioned Movie Specials , or films which already had

13888-613: Was Goldfinger . Unlike the British broadcasts of the James Bond films, the franchise was not presented in production order. ABC made edits to the Bond films for violence, sexual content, and so that the films would fit in the time allotted, but perhaps the most controversial of these was the re-edit of the 1969 film On Her Majesty's Secret Service broadcast on the ABC Monday Night Movie . Broadcast on February 16 and February 23, 1976,

14012-490: Was added in 1969. The series was renamed Tuesday Movie of the Week and a Wednesday night Wednesday Movie of the Week , also presenting only made-for-TV films, was added in 1972. Both series continued until 1975. From 1975 to 1983 (and again, briefly, in 1999) ABC ran a concurrent movie series on Friday nights, under the title The ABC Friday Night Movie . Other concurrent movie series during that time also aired on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. During

14136-526: Was also added to the ABC broadcast of Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1983, Superman II in 1984 and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in 1985. Because the concept of letterboxing films for television had not been introduced yet, the films shown were also pan-and-scanned so the image would fit the standard 4:3 television screen. In 1972, ABC bought the broadcasting rights to the James Bond franchise (also by United Artists). The first film broadcast

14260-540: Was an outright flop in its initial theatrical release) were also aired on the program in the form of two-hour broadcasts that year. However, the multiepisode format for feature films had not been discontinued; as late as 1981, films such as Pollyanna were still being shown on the Disney program in several installments running a week apart. During the early 1970s, the show began to increasingly concentrate less on animated cartoons and dramatic or comedy films, and began to place an emphasis on nature-oriented programs (such as

14384-575: Was announced that the program would return on May 3, 2021, for five weeks with a series of theatrical movies from the Disney+ library, which includes the broadcast television premieres of Incredibles 2 and Finding Dory , Monsters, Inc. , Tangled and The Princess and the Frog . On October 28, 2021, the program returned with the broadcast television premiere of the 2019 Disney/Pixar film Toy Story 4 . Hocus Pocus aired on September 29, 2022, to promote Hocus Pocus 2 , which premiered on Disney+

14508-515: Was beyond the control of either Disney or NBC was a 94-day strike by the Screen Actors' Guild that cut the number of shows for the 1980–1981 season, but the damage was done nonetheless. Following NBC's announcement that it would drop the anthology series, CBS picked up the program and began airing it on Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, in September 1981. Despite a more elaborate credit sequence and another title change, to simply Walt Disney ,

14632-420: Was completed—for $ 100,000. Development of the film began at RKO in the 1940s, with Mervyn LeRoy set to direct, but the rights were eventually sold to Twentieth Century-Fox for $ 300,000, plus $ 650,000 from future profits; Ross received $ 40,000, plus 20% of the profits. Jeff Chandler was originally announced for the role of Demetrius. Victor Mature signed in December 1952 to make both The Robe and

14756-478: Was dropped in 1994 due to Optus Vision (later Foxtel )'s launch of a domestic version of the Disney Channel , with Saturday Disney replacing it as the channel's main block of Disney films. Reruns of the shows were a staple of the Disney Channel for several years under the title Walt Disney Presents (which used the same title sequence as the 1980s CBS incarnation), when it was an outlet for vintage Disney cartoons, television series, and films, basically serving

14880-691: Was in charge of the program. Help Wanted: Kids was the first episode's film. Other first revival year films were, Young Again , The Richest Cat in the World , I-Man (starring Scott Bakula), and My Town . Sometimes the slot would feature a special instead of dramatic material, such as "Disney Goes to the Oscars" featuring the studio's Academy Award winners, and "The Greatest Moments in Disney Animation". A handful of Disney Channel original films made their network television debuts during these iteration as well, but

15004-468: Was one of the first stereo simulcasts on TV; in this case it was 3 channel stereo. FM radio stations across the country carried the left channel at the same time as ABC broadcast the TV show in mono, which served as a center channel, and AM radio stations broadcast the right channel. In the second half of the show, a lengthy clip of Sleeping Beauty was shown, with its 6 channels (70mm version) mixed down into 3 for

15128-445: Was retitled Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color when NBC began airing it. The first NBC episode even dealt with the principles of color, as explained by a new character named Ludwig Von Drake (voiced by Paul Frees ), a bumbling professor with a thick German accent, who was the uncle of Donald Duck . Von Drake was the first Disney character created specifically for television. Walt Disney died on December 15, 1966, 12 years after

15252-444: Was the final film aired prior to Turner Broadcasting buying the TV rights to the franchise. The Bond films have also aired on several cable channels not owned by Turner. ABC broadcast the films again as a promotional tie-in when Die Another Day was in theaters in 2002, dubbed as The Bond Picture Show on Saturday nights. Occasionally, The ABC Sunday Night Movie would telecast what they termed an ABC Sunday Movie Special when

15376-468: Was used from 1969 to 1979 and again from 1991 onward. The program moved among the Big Three television networks in its first four decades, but has aired on ABC since 1997. The original version of the series premiered on ABC in 1954. The show was broadcast weekly on one of the Big Three television networks until 1983. After a two-year hiatus it resumed, running regularly until 1991. From 1991 until 1997,

#117882