After the usual WDW Marathon Weekend/Princess Half Marathon Weekend hiatus, we’re back with another Thoughts While Watching! In this long-running series, we view retro Disney media through a modern lens. Sometimes it’s weird, sometimes it’s wonderful, and sometimes it’s, well, a product of a different time. But it’s always required viewing for the avid Disney historian!
So get those time machines calibrated, because we’re headed back to 1967 for a very special episode of The Lawrence Welk Show...
WHAT’S THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW?
I’m not 100% sure what amount of The Lawrence Welk Show‘s cultural cache remains. I, a millennial, was previously aware that it was a sort of mild variety show that had a lot of singers and dancers. I also knew it was hosted by a guy, and his name was Lawrence Welk. And sketch comedies liked to parody it. And… that’s about it. Depending on your age, you may know much more than me – or way less.
Having done a little research, I can now tell you that the show ran from 1951 to 1982, starting as a small local program under a few different names before going national for both major broadcasters and syndication. Lawrence Welk was a bandleader, composer, and musician turned television host; he selected and introduced the acts.
The end result, at least in my one-episode experience, was gentle, lulling, and wholesome. Welk’s approach to music was known to be very conservative; all the performances had to adhere to a rigid moral code. Even his on-screen persona had a strict dad vibe if you ask me. He shushes applause and everything!
WHAT’S THIS GOT TO DO WITH DISNEY?
This is not my main point by any stretch, but I will first say that Lawrence Welk reminds me of Walt Disney if Walt Disney had no charisma. Welk was clearly one helluva curator; as an announcer, he was most sincerely awkward. Then again, he had one of the longest-running TV shows in history, so his hosting style must have worked!
For our purposes, we’ll be concentrating on one episode of the show in particular: 1973’s “Tribute to Walt Disney.” At least I think it was 1973. There also appears to have been a Disney tribute episode in 1967 right after Disney’s death, but this one commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the Walt Disney Company.
My primary negative about the episode is that as a tribute billed as being for Walt Disney, it seems to be more about Disney’s movie music than the man himself. My primary positive about the episode is that Walt’s theme parks get some play! Mostly in the performance of “it’s a small world” by singers dressed in small world doll costumes. You know, like you do.
There’s a lot going on in this particular piece of Disney history, so go ahead and click play and we’ll watch it together:
16 THOUGHTS I HAD WHILE WATCHING THE LAWRENCE WELK TRIBUTE TO WALT DISNEY (1973)
1 Man, this orchestra is rocking its Von Trapp Family finest.
2 I guess they’ve dressed up their entire cast as dolls from it’s a small world? RIP, Lawrence Welk; you would’ve loved Epcot’s World Showcase.
3 Ooh, and a member of the Pearly Band from Mary Poppins!
4 I assume this man in the blue jacket is Lawrence Welk? Or not? I looked up his picture and I’m honestly not sure. Is that a North Dakota accent? (I investigated, and apparently although Welk was born in America he grew up speaking only German! Now it makes sense.)
5 A crush on Annette Funicello?! Him and no one else!
6 What is this sudden obsession with mambo-ifying the Mickey Mouse Club theme?
7 The Mickey Mouse Club sure hits different when the Mouseketeers are all grown adults. 🤨
8 I wonder if those carousel horses are in a warehouse somewhere. I want one.
9 Oh, so that IS Lawrence Welk. Thanks for the confirmation, Larry Hooper. Oh, hey, I didn’t expect you to be a bass! Love a good bass.
10 “That’s enough, folks; save some of that applause for the upcoming weeks.” Stealing it; using it.
11 Are those Gunne Sax dresses? I kind of sort of love them but maybe not but also yes? Which is often a hallmark of a Gunne Sax dress.
12 DAVY CROCKETT! I tell ya, it just isn’t a retro Disney special without him.
13 I let one “charming little girl” slide already, but “our charming little Mexican girl”? Yikes. No one is safe from Different Times!
14 You heard it hear first, folks: Pig #1 of The Three Little Pigs is the first canonically gay Disney character. (Pig #2, we are explicitly told, dances with lady pigs.)
15 Annnnd now we’re doing “We Are Siamese” from Lady & The Tramp. Of course. Different times, different times, differeeeeent tiiiiiiiimesssss~
16 Oh, so this Bobby guy is a former Mousketeer! That’s cute. I think it’s Bobby Burgess? I love that every Mouseketeer insisted on calling Uncle Walt Mr. Disney despite his objections.
WOULD WALT DISNEY HAVE APPROVED?
Well that was definitely retro, was it not? I’ve never seen such aggressive smiling. I gotta say, though, as a child of the times and a man dedicated to family entertainment, I bet Walt Disney would’ve been a fan. And if the subject of your tribute would approve, you can’t ask for anything more!
Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Threads @fairestrunofall and on Instagram @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!