True-Life Adventures

Best Of Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures series is a collection of short subject documentary films produced by Walt Disney Productions roughly between the years 1948 and 1960. The series won numerous Academy Awards for the studio including five awards for Best Two Reel Live Action Short. It inspired a daily panel comic strip that was distributed from 1955 to 1971. Several of the films were adapted in comic book format as one shots in the Dell Comics Four Color series. The films were among the earliest production experience for Roy E. Disney. Also this film series was the launching pad for Disney's new distributor, Buena Vista International. TV episodes are from Disney's anthology TV series.

In 2007, Disney established a new nature film label called Disneynature.

Films

#	film name	type	date	educational film
1	Seal Island	Two-reel short	December 21, 1948
2	In Beaver Valley (a.k.a. Beaver Valley)	Two-reel short	July 19, 1950
3	Nature's Half Acre	Two-reel short	July 28, 1951
4	The Olympic Elk	Two-reel short	February 13, 1952
5	Water Birds	Two-reel short	June 26, 1952
6	Bear Country	Two-reel Short	February 5, 1953
7	Prowlers of the Everglades	Two-reel Short	July 23, 1953
8	The Living Desert	Feature	10 November 1953	Following educational films were excerpted from The Living Desert: Animals at Home in the Desert (1974) Predators of the Desert (1974) What Is a Desert? (1974)
9	The Vanishing Prairie	Feature	August 17, 1954	Following educational films were excerpted from The Vanishing Prairie: The Buffalo – Majestic Symbol of the Plains (1962) Small Animals of the Plains (1962) Pioneer Trails, Indian Lore and Bird Life of the Plains (1962) Large Animals that Once Roamed the Plains (1962)
11	Secrets of Life	Feature	November 6, 1956	Following educational films were excerpted from Secrets of Life: Secrets of the Ant and Insect World (1960), Secrets of the Bee World (1960) Secrets of the Plant World (1960) Secrets of the Underwater World (1960)
10	The African Lion	Feature	September 14, 1955	Following educational films were excerpted from The African Lion: The African Lion and His Realm (1968) Birds, Baboons, and Other Animals – Their Struggle for Survival (1968) Elephants and Hippos in Africa (1968)
12	Perri	Feature	August 28, 1957
13	White Wilderness	Feature	12 August 1958	Following educational films were excerpted from White Wilderness: The Arctic Region and Its Polar Bears (1964) Large Animals of the Arctic (1964) The Lemmings and Arctic Bird Life (1964)
14	Nature's Strangest Creatures	Two-Reel shorts	March 19, 1959
15	Mysteries of the Deep	Two-Reel short	December 16, 1959
16	Jungle Cat	Feature	August 10, 1960	Following educational films were excerpted from Jungle Cat: Animals of the South American Jungle (1974) Jungle Cat of the Amazon(1974)
17	Islands of the Sea	Two-Reel shorts	March 16, 1960

Educational shorts

The following short were edited out the other shorts/films/episodes for educational purpose ether a fragment were experted out of longer film or two or more sequence were edited together from more than two or more different films to form "new" film. Thus they are not included on the Legacy DVDs. Films made up of stock footage two or more Disney nature films and thus not listed with respective original film above:

• The Weasel Family (1968)
• The Wild Dog Family - The Coyote (1968)
• The Wild Cat Family - The Cougar (1968)
• The Deer Family (1968)
• Of Horses and Men (1968)
• The Bear Family (1970).
• The Beasts of Burden Family (1970)
• Teeth are for Chewing (1971) with animated inserts.^{[citation needed]}
• A Day in Nature's Community (1975)

DVD release

All of the True-Life Adventures have been released on DVD over four discs as part of the Walt Disney Legacy Collection which launched December 5, 2006.

Volume 1: Wonders of the World

DISC ONE

• 1. Introduction by Roy Disney
• 2. White Wilderness
• 3. Water Birds
• 4. Beaver Valley
• 5. Prowlers of the Everglades

DISC TWO

• 1. Mysteries of the Deep
• 2. "Wonders of the Water Worlds"
• 3. "The Crisler Story"

Bonus Features

• 4. "Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Birds"
• 5. Tribute to James Algar
• 6. Filmakers' Journal
• 7. Collectors' Corner
• 8. Original Theatrical Trailers

Volume 2: Lands of Exploration

DISC ONE

• 1. Introduction by Roy Disney
• 2. The Living Desert
• 3. The Vanishing Prairie
• 4. Seal Island

DISC TWO

• 1. Islands of the Sea
• 2. Nature's Strangest Creatures
• 3. "Prairie"
• 4. "Behind the True Life Cameras"

Bonus Features

• 5. Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Desert Insects
• 6. Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Snakes
• 7. Filmmakers' Journal
• 8. Collectors' Corner
• 9. Trailers & Promo

Volume 3: Creatures of the Wild

DISC ONE

• 1. Introduction by Roy Disney
• 2. The African Lion
• 3. Jungle Cat
• 4. Bear Country

DISC TWO

• 1. Olympic Elk
• 2. "Cameras in Africa"
• 3. "The Yellowstone Story"

Bonus Features

• 4. Tribute to the Milottes
• 5. Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Elephants
• 6. Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Cheetah Medical Exam
• 7. Filmmakers' Journal
• 8. Collectors' Corner
• 9. Trailers & Promo

Volume 4: Nature's Mysteries

DISC ONE

• 1. Introduction by Roy Disney
• 2. Secrets of Life
• 3. Perri

DISC TWO

• 1. Nature's Half Acre
• 2. "Searching for Nature's Mysteries"
• 3. "Adventure in Wildwood Heart'

Bonus Features

• 4. Backstage with Roy Disney at Disney's Animal Kingdom: Butterflies
• 5. Tribute to Winston Hibler
• 6. Filmmakers' Journal
• 7. Collectors' Corner
• 8. Original Theatrical Trailers

See also

• List of Disney live-action shorts
• List of Disney theatrical feature films
• Disneynature

Documentaries

• Circle-Vision 360°
• People & Places

References

• [1] Volume 1 DVD Stats
• [2] Volume 2 DVD Stats
• [3] Volume 3 DVD Stats
• [4] Volume 4 DVD Stats
• [5]
• [6]