New Disneyland 70th anniversary 2-hour documentary airing on ABC
A new Disneyland 70th anniversary documentary special, “The Happiest Story on Earth: 70 Years of Disneyland – A Special Edition of 20/20” will debut on ABC.
The special will broadcast on ABC on Sept. 21 at 8 p.m. ET and will stream on Disney+ and Hulu starting Sept. 22. With commercial breaks, the runtime is two hours.
“The Happiest Story on Earth” will look back on seven decades of Disneyland Resort’s history and look ahead to its future, with sneak peeks of the upcoming “Coco” ride, “Avatar” area, and Avengers Campus expansion, all in the works for Disney California Adventure.
Artwork courtesy of Disney
The new Disneyland 70th anniversary documentary will include appearances by:
- Julie Andrews, Mary Poppins herself
- Stephanie Beatriz, actor, voice of Mirabel in “Encanto”
- Jamie Lee Curtis, actor, “Freaky Friday”
- Jon Favreau, filmmaker, “Iron Man” and “The Mandalorian”
- Josh Gad, actor, voice of Olaf in “Frozen”
- Bob Gurr, former Imagineer
- Tiffany Haddish, actor, “Haunted Mansion”
- Neil Patrick Harris, actor, Disney superfan
- Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
- Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company
- George Lucas, filmmaker, “Star Wars”
- Lin-Manuel Miranda, songwriter, “Moana” and “Encanto”
- John Stamos, actor, Disney superfan
- Patrick Warburton, actor in Soarin’ pre-show, voice of Kronk in “The Emperor’s New Groove”
“Good Morning America” first announced “The Happiest Story on Earth” on Sept. 15, along with a trailer for the special:
Throughout this new Disneyland 70th anniversary special, the documentary crew will take viewers inside the control room for the “World of Color” nighttime water show and backstage for a look at the making of “Walt Disney – A Magical Life” (which debuted earlier this year at Disneyland with the first-ever Walt Disney animatronic).
Photo by Richard Harbaugh / Disney
“The Happiest Story on Earth” is separate from “Disneyland Handcrafted,” a documentary feature from director Leslie Iwerks about Disneyland’s early years coming this winter. “Disneyland Handcrafted” was announced two weeks ago among lots of Disney theme park news revealed at Destination D23, Disney’s official fan convention.
Meanwhile on Sept. 29, the new docuseries “Epic Ride: The Story of Universal Theme Parks” will debut on Peacock.
The brief clip of Julie Andrews used in the trailer for “The Happiest Story on Earth” seems to recycle the same footage of Andrews’ remarks for “The Most Magical Story on Earth: 50 Years of Walt Disney World,” similarly a two-hour “20/20” special that aired in 2021 on the occasion of the Florida resort’s 50th anniversary. In that interview, Andrews reminisced on visiting Disneyland with its namesake. That special is available for viewing on Disney+. (In the same sitting, Andrews delivered an anniversary message for Disney World, revealed on the resort’s official 50th birthday, Oct. 1, 2021.)
Disneyland’s 70th anniversary celebration continues through summer 2026. If you’re planning a vacation or considering a potential trip, read these tips for visiting Disneyland’s 70th celebration shared with us by our friends at Mickey Visit.
Photo by Christian Thompson / Disney
Will you be tuning in to the new Disneyland documentary?
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