The Making of Walt Disney Productions' The Black Hole with Major Effects (1979)

This episode of Walt's TV show was produced to advertise the then new release of Walt Disney Productions' big budget film The Black Hole. Hopes were high that this film would be the Disney answer to Star Wars but it tanked at the box office. Very few new episodes of Walt's TV show were being produced after Walt had passed away and of those new episodes that were made, virtually none went behind the scenes of the filmmaking process as Walt so often did and few were this ambitious.

Major Effects follows the template of Captain Marvel (who was later renamed Shazam) where many of the same trappings were there. At the time a Saturday Morning live action TV series based on Shazam was airing and the Christopher Reeve Superman films were immensely popular. The premise of the episode follows a superhero learning about special effects from the wizards who make them happen. The result is a celebration of Walt Disney special effects.

Cast members of note include the Barnstable Twins who were well known personalities at the time having appeared in sitcoms and TV commercials. Mike Jittlov appears as the Camera Wizard and was a stop motion superstar. At the time he was making short subjects for Disney animating Disney merchandise items and always appearing in these shorts in stop motion acting roles himself. Major Effects also includes a short he would later expand into the feature film
The Wizard of Speed and Time utilizing many of the tricks he'd developed. He also co-directed this episode. Animation voice Lennie Weinrib provides several voices through this episode. The most notable of all the cast is Hans Conried in his final Walt Disney role; Bigger Than Life. He passed away a few years later.

The end result of this production is something fondly remembered by those who grew up with it made on a shoestring budget that outshines the film it was trying to promote. It's a unique piece of Walt Disney history and enjoyed a few airings on The Disney Channel when they would air vintage content.

Original airdate December 16, 1979

Posted for historical purposes. This channel is not affiliated with the Walt Disney Company.