TV Show Review: Davy Crockett - Walt Disney Treasures

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Fun programs from 50 years ago.

Cons: Picture quality shows its age

The Bottom Line:

Started 50's craze

With tales of Davy Crockett

And still fun today

Davy Crockett: Still King of the Wild Frontier

I have a confession to make. Even with as big a Disney fan as I am, I had never seen any of the Davy Crockett movies before this set came out. I'd seen pictures and heard stories of the Crockett craze, but had no idea what these movies were really all about.

This set of DVD's contains all five of the Davy Crockett episodes from the TV show Disneyland as they originally aired in the 50's. This includes the opening show animation, Walt's intros and outros, and promos for next week's episode. They are presented here unedited and in their original order. Leonard Maltin introduces each episode and hosts the interviews on the second disc. Of those, the one about the Davy Crockett craze is ok, but hearing Fess Parker's memories of playing the title characters is interesting, especially to a Disney fan like me. The picture and sound quality could be better but is great for something from the 50's, although I did notice that the picture does go to black and white once per episode.

These five episodes cover Davy Crockett's life. The first three are fairly factual and follow his life as he fights Indians on the frontier, becomes a representative in Congress and fights at the Alamo. Disc two features some legends from Davy Crockett's life on the might Mississippi and introduce Mike Fink as they compete in a keelboat race and fight river pirates.

Watching these for the first time over the weekend, I was captivated by the movies. The scenery is beautiful and the acting is good. There are a couple spots where a couple stories seem to drag, but they never last long. My favorites are the two on the second disc, particularly the keel boat race. Still, I plan to rewatch all the episodes on these DVDs many more times.

Any Disney fan will be pleased to have these Davy Crockett movies in their collection. They are a fun trip to yesteryear for every generation to enjoy.