Walt Disney has taken it upon himself to answer in some detail the comments printed in the November 15 issue of Film BULLETIN, when we remarked that the launching of his "Disneyland" television show on Wednesday nights would probably arouse "squawks of dismay from those theatremen who hold that anyone who provides TV with saleable film material is engaging in hostile activities".
This must have touched Disney on a sore spot, because he now says the motion picture industry might have been better off to link-up with TV years ago, instead of fighting it, and that it is an excellent medium for creating "excitement" for movies, thus boosting their boxoffice potential.
He admits, however, as Film BULLETIN hinted, that "Disneyland" will probably prove to be a money-losing operation in itself, and adds that it is still, to him, secondary to theatrical motion picture production—which was precisely the point of our prior comment.
Now, perhaps, having admitted that we were right, Walt Disney will be wise and generous enough to deal with another point.
"Disneyland" is televised throughout a large section of the country at the peak business hour for most motion picture theatres. By the time the program is over there is little time for the average family to get out of the house to see a movie.
If, therefore, the Disney brothers are putting "Disneyland" together, at such great expense to themselves, merely because of its publicity and boxoffice promotion value, plain commonsense indicates that it should he moved forward to an hour at which it would not be competitive with the theatre; say, between six and seven o'clock.
