Walt Disney’s “The Peter Tchaikovsky Story“ Season 5 Ep 16

From Season 5 of Walt Disney’s Disneyland Anthology program we have Episode 16: The Peter Tchaikovsky Story which originally aired on January 30th, 1959. When work began on the Studio’s animated feature Sleeping Beauty, it was decided to use the music of Peter Tchaikovsky (from the ballet of the same name). Researchers working on the film began to note several interesting facts about Tchaikovsky’s life and decided to produce a show about this famous composer. Starring Grant Williams as Peter Tchaikovsky (adult), Rex Hill as Peter Tchaikovsky (child), Lilyan Chauvin as Fanny Durbach, Leon Askin as Anton Rubinstein, Narda Onyx as Desiree Artot, Galina Ulanova and the Corps de Ballet of The Bolshoi Theater. Following the documentary, Walt Disney introduces the animated classic, Sleeping Beauty and invites the audience to pretend their leaving room is a theater complete with a wide screen to enjoy several scenes from the film. This portion of the program has been edited out for copyright concerns, but of course you can watch the entire film in full Technicolor on Disney !