Dr. Heinz Haber Movies

A pet project of Disney animation director Ward Kimball, "Man in Space" was the first "Tomorrowland" segment on the Disneyland TV anthology series. A pageant of space travel past, present and (especially future), the film uses a modernistic animated style to speculate the challenges facing human beings when they ventured into the Great Unknown. Also featured are silent-film excerpts of the earliest rocket experiments of the 1920s and the German V-2 program of the war years. Narrators include space expert Willy Ley and rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun. Remarkably accurate in its prognostications, Man in Space was durable enough to warrant a "special" presentation on a 1959 edition of Walt Disney Presents,when several of the film's predictions about satellite technology and guided missiles had actually come to fruition (though we were still two years away from actual manned flight). The film was also released theatrically in 1956, earning an Academy Award in the process. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Physicist Dr. Heinz Haber is both narrator and technical consultant for this "Tomorrowland" installment of Disneyland. Describing atomic energy as a "genie in a bottle", Haber explains that it has the potential for both good and evil--though the episode concentrates almost exclusively on the good. When orginally broadcast, "Our Friend the Atom" was promotionally tied in with Haber's 1956 book of the same title, published under the Disney imprimatur. This episode would be released theatrically in 1958. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Although advertised as a "premiere," the first episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color was actually a continuation of the ABC anthology series that had run under the titles Disneyland and Walt Disney Presents since 1959. The major changes in the "new" version were twofold: Disney was now seen on NBC, and (of course) his program was broadcast in "living color" (and in fact was sponsored by RCA, foremost manufacturer of color TVs). Episode one opened in black-and-white, with Walt Disney discussing his plans for the future, then magically switched over to a full rainbow of hues. Further emphasizing the advantages of color over black-and-white, Disney compared his 1927 Mickey Mouse cartoon vehicle Plane Crazy with his earliest Technicolor effort, the 1932 "Silly Symphony" Flowers and Trees. Walt also introduced the viewers to his latest cartoon creation -- a brilliant, erudite Viennese duck named Ludwig Von Drake, who happened to be the uncle of good ol' Donald Duck (Professor Von Drake was not so brilliant as to disbelieve Donald's claims that Disney worked for him, instead of the other way around!). The remainder of the episode consists of the 1959 animated theatrical short subject Donald in Mathmagic Land, an entertainng foray into the world of numbers, angles, and shapes. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi