Davy Crockett (TV miniseries)
Encyclopedia
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 real-life frontiersman Davy Crockett
and Buddy Ebsen
as his fictional best friend, George Russel.
The first three episodes of the serial were edited together as the 1955 theatrical film Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier
, and rebroadcast in color in the 1960s when the Disney program went to NBC. This series and film are known for the catchy theme song, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett
". 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.
The final two episodes were edited together as the 1956 theatrical film Davy Crockett and the River Pirates
. It was filmed in Cave-In-Rock, Illinois
.
Walt Disney Home Video released a two-film set of this miniseries on DVD September 7, 2004.
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 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
) are posing themselves as Native Americans
.
, 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.
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 cap
s and bubble gum cards. In his Archive of American Television
interview, Fess Parker noted that his contract called for a percentage of the merchandising sales from Disney's company but that this was voided by the fact that his contract was with Walt Disney
personally rather than the company itself, costing him millions of dollars from the runaway bonanza of Crockett merchandising.
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.
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in one-hour episodes on the Disneyland series. The series stars Fess Parker
Fess Parker
Fess Elisha Parker, Jr. was an American film and television actor best known for his portrayals of Davy Crockett in the Walt Disney 1955-56 TV mini-series and as TV's Daniel Boone from 1964-70...
as real-life frontiersman Davy Crockett
Davy Crockett
David "Davy" Crockett was a celebrated 19th century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture by the epithet "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U.S...
and Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen
Buddy Ebsen was an American character actor and dancer. A performer for seven decades, he had starring roles as Jed Clampett in the long-running television series The Beverly Hillbillies and as the title character in the 1970s detective series Barnaby Jones, and played Barnaby Jones in the movie...
as his fictional best friend, George Russel.
The first three episodes of the serial were edited together as the 1955 theatrical film Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier
Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier
Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier is a 1955 live-action Walt Disney adventure film starring Fess Parker as Davy Crockett. This film is an edited compilation of the first three stories from the Disney television series Davy Crockett :...
, and rebroadcast in color in the 1960s when the Disney program went to NBC. This series and film are known for the catchy theme song, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett
The Ballad of Davy Crockett
"The Ballad of Davy Crockett" is a song with music by George Bruns and lyrics by Thomas W. Blackburn.The first recording of the song was made by Fess Parker, quickly followed by versions by Bill Hayes and Tennessee Ernie Ford...
". It was filmed in color at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North...
at the Mountain Farm Museum adjacent to the visitor center at Oconaluftee
Oconaluftee (Great Smoky Mountains)
Oconaluftee is the name of a river valley in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, located in the Southeastern United States. Formerly the site of a Cherokee village and Appalachian community, the valley's bottomland is now home to the main entrance to the North Carolina section of the...
near Qualla Reservation
Qualla Boundary
The Qualla Boundary is the territory where the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians reside in western North Carolina.-Location:...
's entrance and Janss Conejo Ranch
Conejo Valley
The Conejo Valley is a region spanning both southeastern Ventura County and northwestern Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States...
, California.
The final two episodes were edited together as the 1956 theatrical film Davy Crockett and the River Pirates
Davy Crockett and the River Pirates
Davy Crockett and the River Pirates is a 1956 live-action Walt Disney adventure film starring Fess Parker as Davy Crockett. It was shot in Cave-In-Rock, Illinois...
. It was filmed in Cave-In-Rock, Illinois
Cave-In-Rock, Illinois
Cave-In-Rock is a village in Hardin County, Illinois, United States. Its principal feature and attraction is a large nearby cave on the banks of the Ohio River. Cave-in-Rock was originally a stronghold for outlaws including; river pirates and highwaymen, Samuel Mason and James Ford, tavern...
.
Walt Disney Home Video released a two-film 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 IndiansNative Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
who assaulted a military outpost. He and Russell fight in skirmishes under the command of General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
, portrayed by Basil Ruysdael
Basil Ruysdael
Basil Ruysdael was an American film actor and opera singer.-Early life:He was born in Jersey City, New Jersey and started as a bass-baritone in the Metropolitan Opera Company from 1910 to 1918...
. Along the way, Crockett kills a bear
Bear
Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...
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
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, 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
Tennessee House of Representatives
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...
and later the United States House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
.
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
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, where they arrive to battle Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
's General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna
Antonio López de Santa Anna
Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón , often known as Santa Anna or López de Santa Anna, known as "the Napoleon of the West," was a Mexican political leader, general, and president who greatly influenced early Mexican and Spanish politics and government...
at the fortress, the Alamo. They see a bison stampede and watch a Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
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
Battle of the Alamo
The Battle of the Alamo was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna launched an assault on the Alamo Mission near San Antonio de Béxar . All but two of the Texian defenders were killed...
, 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
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
when they meet Mike Fink
Mike Fink
Mike Fink called "king of the keelboaters", was a semi-legendary brawler and boatman who exemplified the tough and hard-drinking men who ran keelboats up and down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers....
, known as the best boatman around and portrayed by Jeff York
Jeff York
Jeff York was an American film and television actor who began his career in the late 1930s using his given name Granville Owen Schofield...
. Fink challenged Crockett to a keelboat
Keelboat
Keelboat has two distinct meanings related to two different types of boats: one a riverine cargo-capable working boat, and the other a classification for small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yachts.-Historical keel-boats:...
race to New Orleans.
In "Davy Crockett and the River Pirates" (December 14, 1955), The men pick up a traveling minstrel (Walter Catlett
Walter Catlett
Walter Catlett was an American actor. As a San Francisco citizen, he started out in vaudeville with a detour for a while in opera before breaking into films.-Early career:...
) 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
Samuel Mason
Samuel Mason or Meason was a Revolutionary War militia captain on the frontier, who following the war, became the leader of a gang of river pirates and highwaymen on the lower Ohio River and the Mississippi River in the late 18th and early 19th centuries...
(Mort Mills
Mort Mills
Mort Mills was an American film and television actor who had roles in over 200 movies and television episodes. He was often the town lawman or the local bad guy in many popular westerns of the 1950s and 1960s. From 1957-1959 he had a recurring co-starring role as Marshal Frank Tallman in Man...
) are posing themselves as Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
.
Cast
Kenneth TobeyKenneth Tobey
Kenneth Tobey was an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early years:Born in Oakland, California, Tobey was headed for a law career when he first dabbled in acting at the University of California Little Theater...
, later of the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
television adventure series Whirlybirds
Whirlybirds
Whirlybirds is an American drama television series....
starred as Jim Bowie
Jim Bowie
James "Jim" Bowie , a 19th-century American pioneer, slave trader, land speculator, and soldier, played a prominent role in the Texas Revolution, culminating in his death at the Battle of the Alamo...
in the "Alamo" segment and then as Jocko in the two later episodes. Future Zorro star George J. Lewis
George J. Lewis
George J. Lewis was a Mexican-born actor who appeared in many films and eventually TV series from the 1920s through the 1960s, usually specializing in westerns...
portrayed Chickasaw
Chickasaw
The Chickasaw are Native American people originally from the region that would become the Southeastern United States...
chief Black Eagle. Thirty-three-year-old Don Megowan
Don Megowan
-Career:Born in California USA, Megowan starred in the Sci-Fi movies: The Werewolf in the role of sheriff Jack Haines, and in The Creation of the Humanoids as a captain in the army who must stop the Humanoids....
was cast as 26-year-old William Travis
William B. Travis
William Barret Travis was a 19th-century American lawyer and soldier. At the age of 26, he was a lieutenant colonel in the Texas Army...
. Pat Hogan
Pat Hogan
Pat Hogan was an American actor.- Career :Born in Oklahoma, U.S. to Native American family. He has appeared in many western television series and a few movies. Onstage, he starred in Arrowhead , The Last Frontier , . Indian Paint starred his brothers-in-law, Johnny Crawford and Robert "Bobby"...
portrayed Chief Red Stick. William Bakewell
William Bakewell
William Bakewell , also known as Billy Bakewell, was an American actor, who achieved his greatest fame as one of the premiere juvenile performers of the late 1920s and early 1930s.-Life and career:...
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 DisneyWalt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
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 cap
Coonskin cap
A coonskin cap is a hat fashioned from the skin and fur of a raccoon. The original coonskin cap consisted of the entire skin of the raccoon including its head and tail...
s and bubble gum cards. In his Archive of American Television
Archive of American Television
The Archive of American Television is a division of the non-profit Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation that films interviews with notable people from all aspects of the television industry....
interview, Fess Parker noted that his contract called for a percentage of the merchandising sales from Disney's company but that this was voided by the fact that his contract was with Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
personally rather than the company itself, costing him millions of dollars from the runaway bonanza of Crockett merchandising.
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
Jerome Courtland
Jerome Courtland is an American actor, director and producer. He acted in films in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and in television in the 1950s and 1960s...
as a pioneer who traveled from Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
to the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
. "The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca" followed in 1958, with Robert Loggia
Robert Loggia
Robert Loggia is an American film and television actor and director.- Early life :Loggia, an Italian American, was born on Staten Island, the son of Elena Blandino, a homemaker, and Benjamin Loggia, a shoemaker, both of whom were born in Sicily, Italy...
as New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
lawman Elfego Baca
Elfego Baca
Elfego Baca was a gunman, lawman, lawyer, and politician in the closing days of the American wild west. Baca was born in Socorro, New Mexico just before the end of the American Civil War to Francisco and Juana Maria Baca. His family moved to Topeka, Kansas when he was a young child...
. Some thirteen segments of Texas John Slaughter
Texas John Slaughter (TV series)
Texas John Slaughter was a television series run from 1958 to 1961 as part of the Wonderful World of Disney, starring Tom Tryon in the title role. The character was based upon an actual historical figure, Texas Ranger John Slaughter. Tryon memorably wore an enormous white cowboy hat with the brim...
aired in 1958-1959, based on a real law-enforcement officer John Horton Slaughter of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
and starring Tom Tryon
Tom Tryon
Tom Tryon was an American film and television actor, best known for playing the title role in the film The Cardinal and the Walt Disney television character Texas John Slaughter...
. Another Disney miniseries, The Swamp Fox
The Swamp Fox (TV series)
The Swamp Fox is a television series produced by Walt Disney and starring Leslie Nielsen as American Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion.The theme song * was sung by Nielsen as well. One of the Swamp Fox's adversaries was Colonel Banastre Tarleton, played by John Sutton...
, starring Leslie Nielsen
Leslie Nielsen
Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...
as Revolutionary War fighter Francis Marion
Francis Marion
Francis Marion was a military officer who served in the American Revolutionary War. Acting with Continental Army and South Carolina militia commissions, he was a persistent adversary of the British in their occupation of South Carolina in 1780 and 1781, even after the Continental Army was driven...
, 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.