1:15 am – An Adventure in Color/Mathmagicland

So far in tonight’s lineup, we’ve seen the very first animated short in color (Flowers and Trees) and the first Mickey Mouse short produced in color (The Band Concert). Now it’s time to take a look at Disney’s first venture into color TV. When Walt’s contract with ABC was set to expire, he had grown frustrated with the network’s failure to embrace color broadcasting, which he saw as the future of television (and he was right!). With other networks vying for Disney programming, Walt made the jump to NBC with his newly renamed program, The Wonderful World of Color.

Audiences in 1961 would have been seeing the kaleidoscope intro and hearing the Sherman Brothers “Wonderful World of Color” for the very first time when this debuted. To kickstart his new series, Walt began the first episode, “An Adventure in Color,” with a look at the ink & paint department. He then passed over hosting duties to Professor Ludwig Von Drake, a new animated character that delighted audiences with his lecture on color, which includes a few songs. Collectors of Disney music will no doubt be familiar with “The Spectrum Song,” which is set to animation in this episode.

“An Adventure in Color” has two parts to it. After Ludwig Von Drake finishes his set, Walt returns to explain how important math is when mixing colors at the studio. He then sends Donald Duck into “Mathmagicland” for an educational adventure. This portion of the show was later edited into an educational video that has been used in classrooms for decades.

Recommendation: Walt Disney, Ludwig Von Drake and Donald Duck in the same hour of television and in color to boot? You can’t miss this opportunity. And be sure to look for a cameo by the NBC peacock in glorious color!

2:15 am – Hot Lead and Cold Feet

Jim Dale, best known for playing Doc Terminus in Disney’s Pete’s Dragon, plays three drastically different characters in this Western comedy from 1978. Eli and Jasper are long-lost brothers who must compete for the will of their cooky father, Wild Billy Bloodshy. Similar to The Parent Trap earlier in the evening, this film employs the split-screen technique to allow the same actor to appear on screen multiple times as Dale plays the entire Bloodshy family. To add to the hilarity, Don Knotts plays the Denver Kid in a supporting role that was greatly overemphasized in advertisements for the film.

While a Western film that takes place in the second half of the 19th century, the music is incredibly ’70’s. Hot Lead and Cold Feet is not a musical, but the film features two songs. “May the Best Man Win” is by Al Kasha and Joel Hirschorn, the songwriting team behind Pete’s Dragon, and “Something Good is Bound to Happen” was composed by veteran Disney composer Buddy Baker. Disneyland fans should look for locomotive number 11 used during the race sequence, which has been parked outside of Big Thunder Mountain for decades. This film also bears the distinction of being associate produced by Kevin (Moochie) Corcoran, who was one of Disney’s biggest child stars in the 1960’s.

Recommendation: If you’re a fan of Don Knotts, 1970’s Disney comedies or Pete’s Dragon, you owe it to yourself to watch Hot Lead and Cold Feet. If none of the above appeal to you, skip it.

4:00 am – Trenchcoat

The evening ends on a downbeat with a film from 1983 that was one of Disney’s first attempts at producing mature films before the creation of Touchstone Pictures. You won’t see the Disney name anywhere near Trenchcoat, which was to the company’s benefit as I’m sure no studio wants their name attached to this dud. It’s inclusion in the evening’s lineup is puzzling for a number of reasons. Margot Kidder may provide a colorfully dynamic performance, but it barely qualifies as a Disney film, let alone a treasure from the vault.

Margot Kidder stars as Mickey, an aspiring mystery writer who travels to Malta for research on a book she’s writing. While there, she falls in love with a mysterious American and uncovers a plutonium smuggling plot. The film is described as a “spoof” of film noir and mystery genres, but there is nothing funny about the film.

Recommendation: Miss this. There is no reason to watch it unless you’re the world’s biggest Margot Kidder fan or you simply don’t like yourself.

And with that, the most colorful installment of TCM’s Treasures from the Disney Vault comes to an end. With a truly classic film (The Parent Trap), an array of wonderful shorts, a hilarious appearance by Ludwig Von Drake and some ’70’s Disney fun, there was a lot to love with this lineup (except for Trenchcoat). I can’t wait to see what Leonard Maltin has in store for us this Fall when Treasures from the Disney Vault returns to TCM.