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Davy Crockett (miniseries)

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Please do not use {{Infobox television film}} directly. See the documentation for available templates. Davy Crockett is a five part serial which aired on ABC in one-hour episodes on the Disneyland series, the series stars Fess Parker as Davy Crockett and Buddy Ebsen as George Russel.

The first three episodes of the serial were edited together as the 1955 theatrical film Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier.[1] This series and film are known for the catchy theme song, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett".[2] It was filmed in color at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at the Mountain Farm Museum adjacent to the visitor center at Oconaluftee near Qualla Reservation's entrance and Janss Conejo Ranch, California. [2]

Walt Disney Home Video released a Two-Movie Set of this miniseries on DVD September 7, 2004.

Episodes

The series began with "Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter" (December 15, 1954): Crockett seeks a truce with Indians who assaulted a military outpost. He and Russell fight in skirmishes under the command of General Andrew Jackson, portrayed by Basil Ruysdael. Along the way, Crockett kills a bear armed only with his knife.

The second episode is "Davy Crockett Goes to Congress" (January 26, 1955): Crockett, with his companion Russel, travels to Tennessee, where he learns of the death of his wife, Polly Crockett, played by Helene Stanley. He wins a seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives and later the United States House of Representatives.

The third episode is "Davy Crockett at the Alamo" (February 23, 1955): Crockett and Russel join a gambler named Thimblerig (Hans Conreid) on their trek to Texas, where they arrive to battle Mexico's General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna at the fortress, the Alamo. They see a bison stampede and watch a Comanche tribesman fall off his horse. Davy and Georgie nickname him "Busted Luck". Although Crockett and all the defenders perished at the Battle of the Alamo, two other segments followed. (Crockett's death is not actually shown; all we see is Crockett, the last survivor in the battle, on the parapet swinging his rifle at the oncoming hordes of Mexican soldiers. The picture fades and the flag of Texas is shown flying in the breeze as the male chorus reprises the last lines of "The Ballad of Davy Crockett".)

In "Davy Crockett's Keelboat Race" (November 16, 1955), Crockett and Russel are fur trapping in Kentucky when they meet Mike Fink, known as the best boatman around and portrayed in the miniseries by Jeff York. Fink challenged Crockett to a keelboat race to New Orleans.

In "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" (December 14, 1955), The men pick up a traveling minstrel (Walter Catlett) who unknown to them is in league with local river bandits. On their way to get horses from friendly Chickasaw tribesmen, Davy and Georgie are kidnapped by a group of Chickasaws because white men have been murdering members of their tribe. Crockett and Fink discover that the river pirates led by Samuel Mason (Mort Mills) sre posing themselves as Native Americans.

Cast

Kenneth Tobey, later of the syndicated television adventure series Whirlybirds starred as Jim Bowie in the "Alamo" segment and then as Jocko in the two later episodes. Future Zorro star George J. Lewis portrayed Chickasaw chief Black Eagle. Thirty-three-year-old Don Megowan was cast as 26-year-old William Travis. Pat Hogan portrayed Chief Red Stick. William Bakewell portrayed Major Tobias Norton and in the final episodes as a Keelboat Race Master of Ceremonies.

York, Parker, Tobey and Megowan met again as cast members for The Great Locomotive Chase.

Popularity

The Walt Disney Company acknowledged that the broad public popularity of the first three segments came as a surprise, but Disney capitalized on its success by licensing the sale of various types of Crockett paraphernalia, including coonskin caps and bubble gum cards.[3]

After the Crockett miniseries, Disney attempted to create other heroic characters, such as six episodes of "The Saga of Andy Burnett" (1957), starring Jerome Courtland as a pioneer who traveled from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the Rocky Mountains. "The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca" followed in 1958, with Robert Loggia as New Mexico lawman Elfego Baca. Some thirteen segments of Texas John Slaughter aired in 1958-1959, based on a real law-enforcement officer John Horton Slaughter of Texas and starring Tom Tryon. Another Disney miniseries, The Swamp Fox, starring Leslie Nielsen as Revolutionary War fighter Francis Marion, aired between 1959 and 1961. Marion wore a foxtail on his three-cornered hat, but the headpiece failed to attract the attention of the Crockett coonskin caps.[3]

References

  1. ^ Dave Smith. Disney A to Z. Disney Editions, 2006. 161.
  2. ^ a b "Davy Crockett". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved March 16, 2009.
  3. ^ a b Alex McNeil, Total Television, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, 4th ed., p. 892
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