The Walt Disney Company has a rich and lengthy history with decades of amazing movies, shows and park experiences. To commemorate Disney’s 100th birthday this year, I am spotlighting the company’s history year by year in this new ‘Disney by the Years’ series.
Here is a quick rundown of everything that happened in the world of Disney in the year 1965. I hope you find this lookback in time helpful and entertaining.
Disney Movies Headlines in 1965:
In 1965, Disney released several movies, including:
- August 18 – The Monkey’s Uncle
- November 5 – Those Calloways
- December 2 – That Darn Cat!
Disney only reissued two movies in 1965- Cinderella and Old Yeller.
The most notable Disney movie headline was the five Oscars the company won in April for Mary Poppins.
Overall, 1965 was very much a down year at the movies for Disney, but coming off a year when they released mega-hit Mary Poppins, we’ll give them a pass for the year.
Disney Parks Headlines in 1965:
1965 was relatively quiet, but important year of transition for Disney parks. In California, a wave of changes are about to take place and a number of now-iconic attractions are only a few years away from their debut. Across the country, rumors swirled for the better part of the year about a new Disneyland which was confirmed at the end of the year, kicking off an all-out sprint to build the massive new resort.
Disneyland Headlines:
Disneyland celebrated its 10 year anniversary in 1965 which was commemorated with a number of special events throughout the year.
We also began to see some of the benefits to the team’s hard work on the 1964 World’s Fair as Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln made its debut at Disneyland in July. In the coming years, we will see a number of World’s Fair attractions make their way to the California park.
Other notable changes at Disneyland include:
- The Plaza Inn opening in place of the Red Wagon Inn.
- The Fantasy on Parade Christmas parade debut.
Disney World Headlines:
Walt Disney World was still 6 years away from opening day, but the resort was in the news in 1965, kind of. In May 1965, the Orlando Sentinel reported for the first time about rumors surrounding a new Disneyland on the East coast of the US. Also, in May, the Miami Herald took the rumors one step further and reported that Disney may be the entity behind all of the Orlando land purchases.
Later, on October 24, the Orlando Sentinel also reported that the belief was that Disney was purchasing the land and the next day, this rumor was confirmed by Florida Governor Hayden Burns. On November 15th, Walt, Roy and Burns held their now-famous press event at the Cherry Plaza Hotel in Orlando to speak to the plans they had for the local land purchases.
Disney Television Headlines in 1965:
Walt’s anthology series, Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color, chugged along every Sunday night and will continue to for the rest of the decade. The most notable episode of the series in 1965 was Disneyland’s 10th Anniversary special in January.
That’s all for 1965. Stay tuned for in-depth looks at additional years in the very near future!
