1965 marked the 10th anniversary of Disneyland, and to celebrate the occasion, Walt gave TV viewers a sneak peek into the upcoming Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean attractions and other upcoming plans for his park on the “Disneyland’s 10th Anniversary” show for Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. For the tour, he brought along the very first Disneyland Ambassador, Julie Reihm, introducing her to his now familiar team of creators.
The show also brought viewers to Disneyland to see the newest attractions along with some special performances. Tom Mahoney, who started with Disney on the Mickey Mouse Club, choreographed the dance numbers featuring Disney’s newest star, Mary Poppins, as well as a dancing cake and candles. Rikki Lugo, who began her Disney career doing the can can in Disneyland’s Golden Horseshoe Revue, assisted Tom with the choreography, and ended up becoming part of the show when one candle went out. “They were wearing character heels in those ‘candles’ and doing turns without being able to use their arms. In the very first shot, one dancer, Emmy Lou, got her heel caught in the cobblestone and broke her ankle, and Tom said, ‘Okay, Rikki, there you go!'” and thus, Rikki lit up the screen as one of the dancing candles, dancing to a new Sherman brothers tune with lyrics proclaiming, “Ten years of fantasy, ten years of fun, ten years of growing and you’ve only just begun…”
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