Walt’s foray into TV and live-action production would probably have been very different without the seminal contributions of producer and writer Bill Walsh.
[…]
As a side job, he began writing jokes and gags at the suggestion of Edgar Bergen, and got his first job with the Walt Disney organization in 1943 as a writer for the Mickey Mouse comic strip.
Within a few years, Walsh phased out the press-agent side of his career and went to work for Disney full time, helping to write and produce the Walt Disney Christmas shows of 1950 and 1951, and serving as producer of the Davy Crockett television series.
Meanwhile Walsh had brought 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea to Disney’s attention, had written a film entitled The Littlest Outlaw, and helped cut the pattern for The Mickey Mouse Club. […]
